NineWorlds Geekfest 2013

Posted 2/7/13 12:09 PM

NineWorlds NineWorlds on Kickstarter [Its] a weekend-long, multi-genre, residential GeekFest in London next summer, on August 9th-11th ... The idea behind Nine Worlds is to create a large fan-run multi-genre geek event in London. That said, we're not really a sci-fi con either; we're more than that. We started off self-defining as a sci-fi con because there aren't really any other models (or words) for what we're trying to create. But we always intended to be inclusive of all kinds of things from board games to costumes to Dr Who fandom to rocketry. As we're been developing the project, the label Sci-Fi Con has been fitting less and less well, and eventually, we decided that GeekFest is a better description. And while there'll be lots of sci-fi/fantasy TV/film & lit stuff going on at Nine Worlds, there'll be even more other stuff like science and creative writing and filmmaking, that have no direct link to sci-fi (other than a degree of overlap in fan bases). We're really looking to make Nine Worlds about fan-led events, and having conversations with creators (writers, directors), rather than focusing on merch and celeb signings. The merch and celeb market feels pretty well covered by the soulless corporate expos. We've rented out the entire conference space and hotel rooms of two large neighbouring Heathrow conference hotels for the weekend. So, we have lots of space, which is great because we've got lots and lots of content organised into a couple dozen tracks. Some of our GeekFest Tracks are being run as mini-cons in their own right under the Nine Worlds umbrella, and some are run as discussion streams hosting conversations on aspects of particular fandoms. Some are put on by fandom clubs looking to introduce their passion to new fans, and some are hosted as taster events for other fan-based conventions that run at other times of year. All proceeds from the Nine Worlds convention will go to our charity partner English PEN, a charity that supports persecuted writers around the world and is the UK's oldest human rights organisation. None of the Nine Worlds organising team are being paid for their work.An event that LoB is going to be part of. They're raising the startup money via Kickstarter now, why not go and throw a few dollars their way? See:

Edited by Paul A on Mar 22, 2013 11:43 AM

Posted 2/7/13 1:25 PM

This area should start filling up with content as zero hour approaches: http://nineworlds.co.uk/track/board-gaming They're also still looking for organisers for their 'social gaming' track - so if you've ever wanted to run a multi-room, mass-effect Knees Up Mother Brown Hubbard session, this is your chance. PS: Do not poke the Ymir.

Edited by Jeroen van den Hark on Feb 7, 2013 1:55 PM

Posted 2/7/13 1:33 PM

Well, it'll fill up as soon as we decide what we want to do ... NineWorlds have basically given us carte blanche (and a small budget) to do whatever we want in the scope of putting on a public gaming stream. We have some ideas, but we fix them down closer to the event.

Robin Brown

Posted 2/11/13 1:23 PM

I'd love to help out with doing something at this event, sounds like it could be a load of fun. Unfortunately it clashes with the World Croquet Championships so I can't make it.

Posted 2/12/13 2:00 PM

Can't decide whether you're serious or if this is the weakest (and weirdest) excuse ever ... In any event, the flyer for the event is now available (see here). I'm also calling for volunteers for the event. In return for a few hours (either running a particular event or just hanging around the boardgame area) we can subsidize your ticket to NineWorlds. For a few more hours, we'll pay for your whole ticket. And again, event ideas are very welcome.Unfortunately it clashes with the World Croquet Championships so I can't make it.

Edited by Paul A on Feb 12, 2013 2:37 PM

Posted 2/12/13 5:05 PM

Big whoopsie, Paul. With a current world ranking of 41, I think you'll find Robin takes his croquet very seriously. Backtracking furiously in 5, 4, 3...Can't decide whether you're serious or if this is the weakest (and weirdest) excuse ever ...

Posted 2/12/13 5:07 PM

In other news, that flyer is an affront to mine eyes - but consider me a volunteer anyway.

Alex Borwick

Posted 2/13/13 9:13 AM

Looking at the flyer, I'd love to be involved sounds like a lot of fun.

russell

Posted 2/13/13 9:26 AM

I might be interested in volunteering, but can't commit so long in advance

Posted 2/13/13 2:32 PM

Much appreciated guys. I know it's a ways off, but a vague promise is good enough at this point. Suggestions about what to actually put on are needed as well. We've had talks by speakers and designers, game sales, demo games, a game library, event games (giant Settlers or Carcassone set?), etc. We'll need to firm these plans out in the next few months. As for Robin's expertise in an unknown area - I once worked for the world tiddleywinks champion and thus have no cause to comment.

Edited by Paul A on Feb 13, 2013 2:33 PM

10 comments

10 Comments

Mar 12, 2020

•

Posted 5/17/13 5:44 PM

Paul, rather than me listing the games I own here would it be easier to make the Google sheet editable by everyone?

Posted 5/18/13 9:08 AM

Done. That link again: https://docs.google.c...

Posted 5/22/13 12:15 PM

I only got to speak to a few people last night, my bad. Anyways, some points to raise: * I need to soon forward a list of helpers who will be getting free tickets to the NineWorlds people. (And this also lets me know how many tickets we got to play with). Could you all email me (pma at agapow.net): - Full name - Name for badge (if that's different) - Email address - Whether you can do the weekend or just one day - If you might make Friday night I understand that things may change or still be uncertain for you, but I need a rough idea of what we got to work with. So if you will "probably" make it, that's good enough. Details can be revised later. * We're grateful for the interest and number of volunteers that have forwarded. But don't think that you're trapped in the boardgaming room all day. If you want to go see some shitty brony dubstep, you can do that. (Actually, there's an interesting looking sceptics program, some creative writing workshops, a film program with cool stuff. And a whole lot of SF/F.) * Our schedule runs from 10am to 6pm. There are various "entertainments" planned for the evenings but we can game on into the night if we wish and the management has expressed interest in having evening gaming for people to wind down to. * Any opinions on whether we should shift this to an email list. It might may it easier for people to keep track of and keep private anything that has to be kept private. * The gamelist has been made open for editing. Please add and comment. * We thus far have ... next to no one volunteering for the debate. You're all very vocal spilling your vitriol for particular games at LoB nights but not in front of people? Shame. You just have to speak for 5 minutes and be amusing / controversial / erudite. Hell, I'd settle for coherent. And there will be a prize. * Ideas about publicity and who we can tell about NineWorlds are welcome. I've got a host of postcards / flyers to pass out.

Posted 5/23/13 9:29 AM

Didn't realise you needed volunteers for the debate. I'm up for that. I don't have much vitriol, but I do have love to share. If anything, I think it's better to keep this as a forum thing. Maybe private stuff can be chatted about via e-mail but if anything, a forum thread keeps it all together. There are a few non-LoB games clubs. And possibly flyers could be left at Forbidden Planet and other relevant shops. Why are you being lumbered with PR?

Posted 5/23/13 10:13 AM

Thanks Bez. Don't forget I need your email address for the ticket list. Not really lumbered with PR, but we have the task of promoting NineWorlds to those people who would be interested in our stream. So other clubs, etc. If anyone would like to distribute postcards/flyers to a club or shop, I got a stack of them. And we've got some specialised boardgaming ones on the way. Just ask, or I can leave a stack in the games box at the Red Herring. (Incidentally, I do need to cover the weekend LoB sessions as well, so if someone could take flyers there, that would be great.) The debate don't need to be vitriolic - it can be informative, funny, vindictive, a polemic or whatever. Just make it worth listening to. 5 minutes max. (Should we boost it to 10 minutes?)

Edward Morland

Posted 5/23/13 10:18 AM Link to reply Edit Delete Quote in reply

Report
While I don't think I'll be able to volunteer as I'm going to shattered post Sidmouth I'll just pop in to say that other publicity is definitely happening as some flyers got sent up to my old uni's sci-fi society and several people will be coming down from that so it's definitely not just Paul.

Posted 5/23/13 5:15 PM

Ok I've PM'd you my details for volunteering. My only suggestion on the PR side would be to see us cover any nearby Board Gaming / relevant meetup.com groups in the surrounding area and possibly further a field. Maybe as simple as emailing an electronic flier to a few group organisers. Happy to take a steer on the email/keep this thread open options. You'll be getting everyone's emails from the ticket info so perhaps aim to keep this going for all the open stuff and if anything 'private' does crop up I assume anyone affected can just email you directly and then either work it with those concerned via email or open it up for a separate email discussion as required. I'll pass on the debating side, I expect I'd be awful at it.

Edited by Jason on May 23, 2013 5:20 PM

Posted 5/26/13 2:06 PM

Just some quick updates to keep everyone in the loop: * Have been struck that we should run some sort of competition / contest. However, I don't have the time or inspiration for it and it has to be something that is friendly to people's schedule: i.e. our clientèle will be around some of the time and may not have a great deal of flexibility. Contest for the best Hanabi score? Ditto for Kingdom Builder? * Who did the LoB logo we have on our webpages? I'd like to use it for a banner. * Business cards for Lob (saying who we are and how to find us) have arrived, as have stickers for labelling our games. * Game selection is looking healthy, although is a little weak in some of the themed brackets. * Throwing this out for general thoughts: I've been informed that there's a group coming that plans to install itself in the boardgaming area and stay there all weekend. And there are a few other groups coming "just for gaming". Which seems strange: NineWorlds is obviously not a gaming event primarily and I'm a little baffled why anyone would come just for that. We've not Essen and we've aimed ourselves pretty clearly at the crossover audience and drop-ins. I also have some concerns about a small group monopolising our resources too. Perhaps I'm getting ahead of this. Opinions?

Posted 5/27/13 9:42 AM

* Not sure contests are necessary at all, but highest KB score definitely wouldn't work because it's so dependent on the goal set-up. * Karl did the logo. * Which themes do you need more suggestions for? * Where did you hear that from? Who are they? How odd! If it turns out to be a problem, we'd have to limit the number of sessions people sign up for I think.

Posted 5/27/13 6:05 PM

* Re: people spending whole weekend there - this came via some of the other organisers, so it's reliable. One made a query on behalf of the said group, who wanted to be in the same hotel as the gaming. Another organiser said there were some groups that weren't sure the gaming was worth the trip. Which implies there are other groups that think it is ... I still think that the correct path is for us to cater to the crossover / drop-in audience. It might be handy to think about how we allocate spaces and resources if we're overwhelmed. * Low on games list: - deckbuilders, we got 4 thus far - dexterity: really like Bausack or Villa Paletti - space/race: seems to be mainly my shit games and I can't explain them all. Formula De would be nice - Coop: see space-race - Fiction seems a bit light - Odd things I think it would be good to have: Resistance, Infarkt, Cards Against Humanity, Space Alert

Mar 12, 2020

•

Posted 5/16/13 12:38 PM

I can supply Jungle Speed x3 Ticket to Ride USA Carc x2 Wits and Wagers from the list Carc may be the game best suited to being taught to multiple groups - we will have plenty of it. JSx3 could easily play 24 folk (assuming we have 3 big tables). Above 8 gets silly. Could have a mini-tournament (I won't partake).

Posted 5/16/13 1:17 PM

Not so: Manhattan Project. But you do have a point. Our choices are somewhat constrained by what we can source, what we can easily teach and what can be played in 75 minutes. So suggest away - that's what the list is for.Bez, you are a star.There does not seem to be a single worker placement game

Posted 5/16/13 2:00 PM

Ok I guess lots of small rooms has pros and cons +ve: limits capacity quite effectively so we don't end up getting overrun with people turning up +ve: quieter for gaming (esp space alert), probably less risk of game bits going missing too -ve: we'll be less of a spectacle if people can't drift in and wander around a room full of people playing board games they can 'peer' in on to get an idea of whats going on and the variety on offer -ve: It'll jack up the numbers of volunteers required Once we have a firmer idea of the games we're concentrating on we might have to dedicate some LoB time to those of us volunteering actually learning the rules to our core ones so we're able to teach people (or that could just be me worried about my limited exposure) Perhaps some of the longer games (A Game of Thrones) we could simply aim to be a little less ambitious and just deliver 'taster' plays where people who turn up get to play a few initial turns to get the idea of the game but don't expect to get anywhere near the end? -perhaps being invited back to quieter (evening?) sessions with less of a fixed schedule where they could play a full game.. We can see how game availability pans out but if we do end up in a bind I could see us leveridging P&P if things do get tight -> ie ebay pack of 120 card sleeves (< £4) some card (£1 or free) plus abuse of someone's full colour work printer would probably yield 10 copies of love letter for a fiver. Manhattan project I reckon you could also get down to around £5-£6 per 'reasonable quality' set if you were doing a few of them.

Edited by Jason on May 16, 2013 2:03 PM

Posted 5/16/13 2:32 PM

PS not seen a huge amount of marketing/info about this event *anywhere* other than in this thread... Do they have a plan to spread the word & do a bit of marketing poised to take off imminently? otherwise shifting another 1000 tickets between now and August can only get tougher as the event date gets closer and people booking travel etc becomes more difficult last minute..

Posted 5/16/13 2:48 PM

As said, I got a budget and having crafted up a number of games in my time: I'd rather pay the cash and get it done properly than spending hours with glue and scalpel. Also as said, the rooms are still in flux and I'm still negotiating. In good news, it seems like we have more than enough tickets for helpers. Closer to the event, I'll start collecting names and seeing who wants to do the whole thing, who would rather do just a day, who wants a subsidized ticket so they can spend an appreciable amount of time at the con. As for publicity: don't forget this isn't a boardgaming event. Most of the noise will be going on in SF fan circles, amongst fan fiction writers, harry Potter fans etc. But the bottom line is: it's not our problem. We can only publicize it to our demographic. Wider questions about the con and the publicity machine are best answered by the organisers, whom you can contact via their website. Back to what does concern us: the game list. Worker placement games people - what we got?

Posted 5/16/13 4:02 PM

Yeah realise that. I'm just posting up random thoughts on how this could pan out as they pop into my head tbh, and I strictly make no warranties around them being good ideas / relevant ideas / suggestions I'm particularly attached to or otherwise :) -seemed potentially more useful that saying nothing tho...

Edited by Jason on May 16, 2013 4:05 PM

Posted 5/16/13 11:46 PM

I always approve of saying stuff. :-) On another note, I hope that by then my KS-themed economic game will be almost ready for publishing so would love to be part of that playtesting bit if that's cool.-seemed potentially more useful that saying nothing tho...

Posted 5/17/13 10:13 AM

Bez, we can fit it in somehow. We've effectively handed off the playtesting to Rob Harris and the Playtesting meetup, so you can work in with them or we can integrate it with our stuff. In other news, I'm getting banners and stickers and so forth made up. Does anyone know who took the "whole mess of games" picture at the top of the page? It might work well as part of a poster. Looking at the current list of games (which is just a work in progress), there's a few weak spots. We're low on things in the "Party" and "Dexterity & Spatial" stream. And I still haven't heard any suggestions for worker placement games.

Posted 5/17/13 12:15 PM

Who owned the game where you tried to kill everyone else off by hosting parties and feeding everyone coke / burgers / candy to pump up their cholesterol, cancer rate, depression etc etc? That looked kinda short and could be tapped onto either a 'party' themed session or worker placement (-ish)? (Disclaimer: only watched it, never actually played it)

Posted 5/17/13 3:03 PM

I'm part of the Playtest group, so either way works for me. :-) The game mentioned above was Infarkt, owned by Soren, I believe.

Mar 12, 2020

•

Posted 5/14/13 10:14 AM

Thanks Jason, you're on. I agree that Battlestar is problematic lengthwise, but it's such a good fit otherwise that I think it has to be accommodated somehow. We've got 75 minutes sessions with 30 minute breaks between, so it may be doable. Manhattan Project is a surprising choice - my experience is that it runs longer. But it's a great game. Anyway, more news: * There's now a My Little Pony Stream, so the train gamers will fit right in. * The playtesters are on board - I just have to negotiate space and tickets for them * NineWorlds are happy with our proposed program - which can be tweaked and changed around still. * The head of the Discworld / Terry Pratchett stream has approached and said a lot of their delegates are really interested in playing the various Discworld boardgames. Could we do something for them? She's even going to try and source the games for us. So, I said yes. There's also a card game mentioned in one of the Discworld books ("Old Granny (something)") that has been retconned into an actual game.

Posted 5/14/13 3:58 PM

I don't know about a Discworld card game, but Granny Weatherwax makes a cameo appearance in The Witches, Martin Wallace's second game set in the Discworld universe. Some Austrian dudes also created a few Discworld-themed scenarios for Settlers of Catan that I was hitherto unaware of.

Posted 5/14/13 4:01 PM

My bad: the card game is "Cripple Mr Onion".

Posted 5/14/13 7:55 PM

Ankh-Morpork would fit nicely into a 75-min session and is very approachable.

Posted 5/15/13 9:37 AM

It turns out there's a whole host of Discworld games: * Stealth chess * Cripple Mr Onion * Thud * Koom valley Thud * Guards Guards * Ankh-Morpork * Witches * Watch Out * Die Siedler von Catan: Rincewind und der Tourist

Alex Borwick

Posted 5/15/13 10:21 AM

I have played and own Ankh-Morpork, and its great game, I would really recommend it. It won a couple of awards a few years ago so that may be the one the discworlders have heard of. However, they are releasing a new one as well.It turns out there's a whole host of Discworld games: * Stealth chess * Cripple Mr Onion * Thud * Koom valley Thud * Guards Guards * Ankh-Morpork * Witches * Watch Out * Die Siedler von Catan: Rincewind und der Tourist

Posted 5/15/13 1:57 PM

Yup, I played this one for the first time this last Sunday at LoB and it definitely came across as easy to pickup and well paced to fit within 75mins (discussions on removal of the 'you win if all the cards run out' character aside) Anyways had a few more random thoughts, feel free to ignore in no particular order :) : Taking a 'plan for the worst, hope for the best' philosophy; any idea when we might start to get an idea of total numbers attending the conference (600?, 1000?, 2000+?), size/capacity of the room(s?) we might get, table+chair space etc ? With x tracks and us coming up in the 'popular' end of the survey perhaps 5%+ of everyone there showing up at our most popular themed session wouldn't be a huge surprise (the space themed one?) For an 'insanely busy' session I guess in an ideal world we'd 3-4+ copies of a few core/staple games so if numbers do skyrocket we could have have 1 LoB volunteer coaching /moderating a group of 3-4+ simultaneous games, 5 players per game and cut into the numbers that way (key advantage is one set of rules to explain to a large group simultaneously at the start maximising play time). On a calmer session hopefully more space to maybe play ourselves and get more of a variety of games going on concurrently. Any feeling for how well we might end up stacked for sufficient copies of board games? One other thought I had was should we consider going the 'print and play route' with any? This would use a modest amount of any budget to make sure they were reasonable quality (card sleeves, backing card etc) but if we could run off 6 copies of a few easy to learn and play games (love letter, manhattan, any others?) it'd be one contingency we could keep in reserve if numbers jump up, (do we run into copyright issues? unsure what license terms come with purchased P&P editions). Does mean we'd need to worry a lot less about lost components, wear and tear etc, tho obviously we should make sure we have an actual game copy nearby on display/being played so the crowds can see what the component quality should be like.. thoughts??Ankh-Morpork would fit nicely into a 75-min session and is very approachable.

Posted 5/16/13 10:56 AM

Alex, Jason, thanks. Looks like A-M is a must. I've alerted the Discworld coordinator and she's going to source source the games. It saves our budget. NineWorlds has sold 500 tickets so far. It breaks even at 1000 tickets and the organisers hope to hit 1500. 1800 is the max capacity of the site. As for numbers at any session: I asked for a prognostication about how many people might be there on Friday night (where we've been asked to put on something to entertain the arriving guests). Finger in the wind: 25 to 75 people. Looking at the size of the rooms we got, I don't think more than 75 is possible. I ballpark that very roughly as 5 to 15 games, with maybe 1 helper per two games and 1 or 2 on top to run interference and wrangle people at the door. Hence, we need 4 to 13 people. Other sessions and attendances are a bit of a mystery. Numbers of games is something I'm working on. We do have a budget for buying stuff, but that has to be handled carefully. I thought of P&P but Lover Letter / Coup / Hanabi are so cheap that it makes little sense to carve our own. Lost / missing / damaged games is something I'm concerned about and why I don't want the guest / helper ratio to get too bad. We're inevitably going to have to source a lot of games from ourselves, so the safety of that gear has to be ensured.

Posted 5/16/13 12:25 PM

Rooms are still being negotiated: we currently have 2-3 small to medium rooms and 3 small rooms - unfortunately scattered across the complex. I'll work something better out. I've compiled a list of games for discussion and to see what we need and what we can get. I've thrown a whole bunch of my own games on there to pad out the themed sessions and to serve as general stock. See: https://docs.google.c...

Dan H

Posted 5/16/13 12:36 PM

There does not seem to be a single worker placement game

Mar 12, 2020

•

Posted 4/30/13 1:27 PM

Mmm. Did they differentiate between old skool RPG (sitting around with paper, pencils and dice) and LARP (running around with rubber swords and hitting people IN THE FACE)?One final note: NineWorlds sent out a survey after the Kickstarter to see activities people were interested in. Boardgaming - right up towards the top. Even more popular than roleplaying, which is a surprise.

Posted 4/30/13 3:23 PM

They did. And it's still a surprise to me. For interest, the "popularity" results. Delivered in a slightly odd way, but they used the registered interest into sets of activities with roughly equal interest. From most popular down: Group 6: SF & Fantasy Literature Group 5: SF & Fantasy Film festival Board gaming Whedon Group 4: Science Vendor stalls and buying stuff Geek feminism Makers / technology Role play gaming Doctor Who / Torchwood Group 3: Video game culture Discworld Creative writing SF & Fantasy Academia Steampunk Game of Thrones Comics Author book signings Queer fandom Social gaming Video games room Group 2: Costuming / cosplay Star Trek & Star Wars Fanfic & slash LARPing Anime / JCulture Open culture Group 1: War gaming Skeptics Tolkien fandom Harry Potter (fandom) Knitting Collectible card gaming My Little Pony Occult and Paranormal Harry Potter (academia) Celebrity photos and signings

Posted 4/30/13 3:51 PM

Take that My Little Pony! Also "Harry Potter (academia)"?!

Kester J

Posted 4/30/13 5:43 PM

How else would you get on the Ministry of Magic grad scheme? But what an absolutely strange set of things.Take that My Little Pony! Also "Harry Potter (academia)"?!

Dan H

Posted 5/1/13 4:44 PM

Paul looks like a good lineup on the whole

Posted 5/1/13 5:02 PM

It is my birthday that weekend. You may find me in a bar on Saturday evening and ply me with alcohol. Before that I am available for helping, teaching, playing, gophering etc...

Posted 5/2/13 10:40 AM

Cheers Ronan. If you could show on Friday night, Saturday morning that'd be appreciated. I've really got no idea of how much traffic we'll get. I asked for a ballpark for the Friday night, it was predicted to be quiet and "only 25-75 people would be gaming". Which is (a) a surprise to me and (b) sounds like a lot. Any suggestions about glossy / visually interesting games we can leave set out, display pieces of a sort? From my own collection, I've got High Frontier, Dungeon Command, Hour of Glory.

Posted 5/5/13 10:47 PM

During a wide-ranging and unusually frank set of LoB-centered discussions over beer, Gabe came up with a great idea. Instead of running a boardgame design contest during NineWorlds, we can do playtesting of existing prototypes. We get a bit of a drawcard (come play games in development), the designers get a bunch of testing. Win-win. Reactions? I think I can swing free day tickets for attending designers. Also, if we gauge interest now, we can cancel this idea if there's no takers.

Posted 5/6/13 10:08 AM

If you want to do this, you should definitely speak to Rob Harris who runs the Playtest meetup. They do exactly this (calling it 'playtest in public') at Dragonmeet and UK Games Expo, and I bet he'd be delighted to be involved and do the organisation.

Posted 5/14/13 9:16 AM

Hi Paul, This looks fun and I'm happy to commit some time over that weekend to help out. Had a quick glance over the thread and all looks a sound plan, I agree playtesting new games already part developed sounds a lot more do-able than on-the-fly designing. I'd sound a small note of caution around battlestar galactica being on the list as this can be a bit full on and long for the uninitiated but there might be a place that could be found for it (eg you'd probably find a single game spanned 2 sessions especially with new people). Might be slightly clouded by being a recent favourite but I'd propose the manhattan project as a nice easy one to teach both rules and a basic strategy for and should easily play out within 75 mins. Jason

Edited by Jason on May 14, 2013 10:30 AM

Mar 12, 2020

•

Posted 3/6/13 10:09 AM

Only if we tie down Gabi.Also, reaction games. Jungle Speed, Sticky Stickz...

Posted 4/27/13 11:19 AM

The NineWorlds guys have asked for a tentative schedule of stuff we will do, so here is a first pass for comment and suggestions. Some notes: * As said, I see us more as a drop-in / fill-in sort of activity. We'll be playing something all the time, so the session concepts are just a framework to draw people in. * Or course, we may not see anyone all weekend. So we may as well enjoy ourselves, eh? * The session times and lengths are dictated by NineWorlds. We could break them, but there seems little point: people will be arranging their weekend around other sessions, so we should be compatible * The games I have listed below are are a suggested core and open for discussion. I have not written down all suggestions as - we have to source any games we play - we need at least one and preferably several people who can teach the game - I've picked games that may attract people and that can serve in several different sessions (e.g. Battlestar) * After some thought, I've written in two "talks" as loosely moderated debates. Any and everyone can contribute. I'm now looking for people who can talk / rant / argue for any length of time (say 5 or more minutes) on either of the given topics. * We've been asked to provide some free gaming on Friday as there will be a lot of people hanging around. Friday 1800-2100 Free gaming Come along, see what's being played and join in or play something from the game library. Saturday 1000-2000 Free gaming Come along, see what's being played and join in or play something from the game library. 1000-1115 Euro classics Where modern boardgaming began, simple but clever games where the next move may be obvious but the winning move may not be. Take part, be taught or watch demonstrations of several modern classics: Carcassone, Ticket to Ride, Settlers of Catan, Kingdom Builder, Tigris & Euphrates and more. 1145-1300 Friends and traitors We can all be winners, if we all work together. Easier said than done, when you colleagues can't be trusted. Take part, be taught or watch demonstrations of these games where you have to work together but not everyone can be trusted: Battlestar Galactica, Hanabi, The Resistance, Werewolf, Room 25 and more. 1330-1445 The Great Debate: how to design a game What makes a good game? How do you even make a game? Hear real (published) game designers and veteran game players have their say in a sprawling debate which anyone can take part in. 1515-1630 Deck-builders A common game idiom: you play with a deck of cards. A novel twist: you construct your deck as you play the game. Take part, be taught or watch demonstrations of these games where planning is rewarded: Dominion, Legendary, DC heroes, Sentinels, Marvel and more. 1700-1815 Space There's a lot of it. Little surprise there's a lot of games set there. Take part, be taught or watch demonstrations of games where you fly, shoot, blast and explore the final frontier: Xwing, Space Alert, Galaxy Trucker and more. 1845-2000 Dexterity and spatial games Wind down the day with with games in which you stack things, balance things on top of other things and flick things along tracks. Take part, be taught or watch demonstrations of games where a steady hand and good eye are invaluable: The Climbers, Via Paletti, Animal Upon Animal and more. Sunday 1000-2000 Free gaming Come along, see what's being played and join in or play something from the game library. 1000-1115 Stranger than fiction From the big screen (or the small one) to the table top. Take part, be taught or watch demonstrations of games where the script has been translated into a game: Battlestar Galactica, Game of Thrones, Xwing and more. 1145-1300 Card games Let's take it right back to the basics: a deck of cards. What could be simpler? It turns out there's a lot of things that can be done with a deck of cards. Take part, be taught or watch demonstrations of these stripped back games: Karkalaken Poker, Coup, Love Letter, Hanabi and more. 1330-1445 The Great Debate: what's a (bad) game? What's makes a game good or bad? What even makes it a game? What are your least favourite or most hated games? Let's settle this once and for all in an all opinions allowed debate which anyone can take part in. 1515-1630 Business & negotiation Let's do a deal. I'll have my people talk to your people. Together we can beat the others. Take part, be taught or watch demonstrations of games where a good deal is where you find it: I'm the Boss, Cash & Guns and more. 1700-1815 Party games Let's see the con out with noisy, stupid fun. Take part, be taught or watch demonstrations of the loud and raucous: Werewolf, Jungle Speed, Escape, King of Tokyo and more.

Posted 4/28/13 12:58 AM

This looks fantastic Paul! I love the themed sessions idea.

Posted 4/28/13 11:27 AM

Assuming I'm not being (e.g) infected with a flu and isolated from humanity, I'd be up for contributing to either of those talks. Will you be the panel moderator? Framework seems good, with everything represented.

Edited by Bez (née Behrooz Shahriari) on Apr 28, 2013 11:28 AM

Posted 4/28/13 3:11 PM

Agreed. Thanks for getting the ball rolling, Paul. Looks like we have a pretty solid foundation! My only (minor) concern is that the topics for the discussion panels are a bit same-y. Perhaps we could do one on good/bad game design and another on a different topic, e.g. Eurogames vs Ameritrash/what first got us into gaming/good places to buy games (Guru plug optional)/Jo Good and her Monopoly obsession? (That last one was a joke, Martin)This looks fantastic Paul! I love the themed sessions idea.

Posted 4/29/13 6:00 AM

@Bez, I will be bringing my inhuman moderation to bear. @Jeroen (the topics for the discussion panels are a bit same-y): True dat. I want to get a good argument up, so I'm keen to hang onto the "bad game" one, so I've rewritten the description to focus on that. The "design a game" topic came from the idea we had to run a "design a boardgame" contest over the weekend and maybe the first talk could prompt that off. But now I'm wondering if that will actually pull many people in / be too much work / etc. A contest involves judging, getting a game design expert or two in, providing parts for the game design, etc. and I'm conscious of manpower and budget constraints. As for alternate topics, Eurogames vs Ameritrash (possible), what first got us into gaming (not emotional / opinionated enough)? Have also thought that we can lose a session from Saturday. NineWorlds have said that we shouldn't feel we have to schedule something in every session, we may have to be there a bit longer on Friday and going to 6:30 rather than 8 is more civilized. (Although i think we can game on as long as we want to.) So the issue the is: which theme slot do we lose?

Posted 4/29/13 8:23 AM

Simplest/least work solution - just can one of the debates. I agree that the 'design a game' thing might be a bit too ambitious.

Posted 4/29/13 8:50 AM

That works. I was reluctant to lose any of the themed gaming sessions.Simplest/least work solution - just can one of the debates. I agree that the 'design a game' thing might be a bit too ambitious.

Simon H

Posted 4/30/13 7:21 AM

Paul - This looks a great 'jumping off' point. Having previously put myself forward a potential 'assistant' (or whatever we're calling ourselves 📷) I'm definitely getting a bit excited about this. There's a few games I would bring that'd fit into the categories nicely. Are we going to have a separate 'mini-meetup' to iron out details closer to the time? Simon

Posted 4/30/13 8:26 AM

Thanks Simon, Feel free to bring along any and everything - the games I've listed are pretty much a core, things that are good exemplars of a category and fit the criteria we have. Note also that we will have the use of a room at the hotel to store our stuff in overnight, so you won't have to heave everything in and out. You're right that a mini-meeting will be useful. We don't have to get everyone there, but it would be handy to get us all on the one page. Any suggestions of how this might be carried out? One final note: NineWorlds sent out a survey after the Kickstarter to see activities people were interested in. Boardgaming - right up towards the top. Even more popular than roleplaying, which is a surprise.Paul - This looks a great 'jumping off' point. Having previously put myself forward a potential 'assistant' (or whatever we're calling ourselves ) I'm definitely getting a bit excited about this. There's a few games I would bring that'd fit into the categories nicely. Are we going to have a separate 'mini-meetup' to iron out details closer to the time?

Mar 12, 2020

•

Posted 5/27/13 8:47 PM

I'm assuming there hasn't been a horrible mix-up and we're not talking about the playtesting group. They could be train gamers, in which case KIWF.I've been informed that there's a group coming that plans to install itself in the boardgaming area and stay there all weekend.

Posted 5/28/13 11:59 AM

Not the playtesters - I got them organised. And train-gamers? They never leave their basement. Have had a second detailed look at the proposed room allocation and it sucks magnificently. So there's another problem.

Posted 5/28/13 2:49 PM

Ok perhaps this is a partial solution to the issue of those intending to roll up and 'boardgaming stream squat'. I'm assuming by the above we have rooms scattered all over? Perhaps those intending to permanently install themselves could be the ones we simply park in the more outlying rooms and give them their pick of any games that are 'off theme' for the current session. They'll probably be able to pretty much run themselves, reducing the volunteer workload to focus on the rooms best positioned for drop-ins and dealing with the higher volumes. I think they'd struggle to monopolise our game collection so long as we set clear expectation "we will be pulling this set of games out for this drop-in session". Physical space could become an issue, perhaps we could plan some form of contingency with the organisers for a flexible space allocation (ie if we find ourselves swamped we'll be switched to bigger rooms and get the hotel to put out more tables, streams that prove less popular than planned get moved to the smallest rooms -I see signposts being needed) If we can keep people who want to do mostly boardgaming happy then its probably best to try to rather than have a large slice of people leaving unhappy they didn't get to do much of the thing they really wanted to do..Have had a second detailed look at the proposed room allocation and it sucks magnificently. So there's another problem.

Edited by Jason on May 28, 2013 2:51 PM

Posted 5/31/13 1:11 PM

Simon has just prompted me to remember I had this info: Should you want to book a room, the booking link for hotel rooms at the Renaissance is http://www.marriott.c.... Or people can phone 020 8564 6166 and quote the code NINNINA. Note that we are at the Radisson with all of the gaming and "there will be a booking link and codeword for that in the future". Also, if you know anyone that wants tickets today is the last day of cheap tickets. They go up tomorrow.

Posted 6/1/13 6:20 PM

With the games rooms being split up would it make sense to have some designated for us to be there running and teaching games and others to be 'open gaming' areas much more set up for people to bring and play their own games, flag systems and all that with us just keeping an eye on those areas. At every games related event I have been to everyone eventually just wanted a place to play some games. I think the ratio of need to be taught games vs want somewhere to play will be swayed towards the later.

Posted 6/5/13 10:08 AM

I'm thinking that's how it's going to have to be. We've been offered rooms scattered over two floors (from the looks of the floorplan, to get to some of them you have to actually leave the building, re-enter from another door and walk through the hotels business center). Which is not ideal: the playtesting group would like to be near us, if we loan games out, it would be best to keep them near, it'd be nice to be able to shift noisy games etc. to the next room. But I'm not getting much interest from NineWorlds on these points.

Posted 6/17/13 12:16 PM

For reference, I'm shifting discussion from here to a private email list. You'll be receiving invitations shortly - look out for them.

Posted 6/24/13 10:36 AM

So, of 20 people only about 12 have signed up for the email list. Look in your spam for "lob at nineworlds".

Posted 6/24/13 2:31 PM

It was in my Spam folder, sorry about that. The invitation has apparently expired now.

Posted 8/2/13 12:50 PM

If anyone is helping at NineWorlds and not on the email list - email / contact me toute suite. Also, if you'd like to help and aren't on the official list, I can maybe squeeze a name or two more on.

Mar 12, 2020

•

Posted 2/24/13 6:13 PM

Thanks John. Good suggestion. Although it brings up the obvious question re deckbuilding: do we have any dedicated Magic or Dominion players in the club?

Edited by Paul A on Feb 24, 2013 6:13 PM

Bijmeister

Posted 2/25/13 10:24 PM

Magic...... Wow, did not think I would hear those words uttered here. I have been out for a year BUT can easily teach/have a couple of friends who might be willing as was/possibly still am a player for many years. Magic, Dominion, Ascension..... I am not sure on the dates but I believe I can lend a hand if needed. (Be it card or board games)As for starter games, why is Hey That's My Fish never mentioned!

Edward Morland

Posted 2/25/13 11:19 PM

I've similarly not played a huge amount in the past year but have played a large amount of Magic, casual and limited rather than any of the constructed formats, in the past and so if I make it along would be able and willing to help out there if we wanted any Magic events.

Posted 2/26/13 8:56 AM

Hmm, if the board gaming room is going to be presented as London on Board, I'd rather no Magic really. It would just lead to confusion with our club policy.

Mehran Baluch

Posted 2/28/13 12:34 AM L

Bought my ticket and happy to see the Kickstarter was fully funded... still a couple of days to go before it ends, get your early bird tickets while you can.

Paul Lister

Posted 3/1/13 6:02 PM

Seconded. I'm up for volunteering that weekend if not selling stuff or not at a 50th birthday party weekendHmm, if the board gaming room is going to be presented as London on Board, I'd rather no Magic really. It would just lead to confusion with our club policy.

Posted 3/5/13 11:29 AM

Dear all, An update on our plans and what's happening: * NineWorlds sailed past their presales goal for 200% funding. So we are definitely on. * Exact details unding and rooms are still in a little flux but look to be more than fine. * Broadly the schedule of NineWorlds is a series of 75 minute sessions with roughly hour-long breaks between them. This makes for 8 sessions on Saturday and Sunday (starting 10am, going to 8pm). Note that the late night events tend to be social and entertainment, and we don't have to actually use them. On Friday night, people will be checking in and registering and it might be handy if we put on some unstructured fun gaming. * As said, we can wrangle discounted or free tickets for those who assist to varying degrees. Looks like there will be more than enough and when I have more details, we can start to hammer out shifts and times. * From our discussion here and elsewhere, my pitch to the committee of NineWorlds was that few people were likely to come to NineWorlds _just_ for the boardgaming, and that we saw ourselves more as a drop-in centre or something people might do between events. So while we'll put on explicit sessions of games, we will be open to walk-by traffic. * Suggest we have a game library, where people can borrow games and play them (e.g. turn in a licence or credit card for security). * Suggest we have a game design contest, where one of our local designers can give a short talk, we provide a box of bits (like those from SpeilMaterial.de) and judge the results on Sunday night. I've also become enthused with Tom's idea of "what makes a game", which could be a good throwdown debate, even just amongst ourselves. * Esdevium have offered their help, although I think it's going to be mainly limited to posters and bling. * We should get banners and maybe some info cards for London-on-Board. Funding will cover this. * We will need hard commitments / a schedule two months before the event. * Buy a bunch of games and use as awards / spot prizes? * Put the train gamers in a cage in the corner and pelt them with rotten fruit? * Maybe the playtest guys want to playtest a game there? * Suggested game sessions / themes, can be done as tournaments or just free play: Parameters: * Easy to teach * Complete in under 90 minutes, preferably under 60 * Colorful / catchy / interesting * Cover a variety of mechanisms and subjects * Preferably need at least two people who can (and want) to teach it Choices: * Dexterity games: PitchCars, Via Palleti, Climb * "At the movies": Spartacus, Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek, King of Tokyo? Lord of the RIngs, Anhk Morpork, DC heroes, XWing? * Deckbuilders: Dominion, Legendary, DC heroes, Sentinels, Marvel * Cards: Hanabi, Love Letter, Coup, Karkerlaken, Wee Van Sank * Coops and traitors: Hanabi, Resistance, Space Alert, Escape, Room 25, Shdows over Camelot? * Negotiation / business: I’m the Boss, Cash and Guns * Space: Kosmonauts, Space Alert, Galaxy Trucker * Euro classics / thinkers: Carcassone, Settlers, Kingdom Builder * Other? (Small World, 7 Wonders, Citadels, Alhambra, Thurn und Taxis, Red November, Among the Stars) (What are we missing? Some Euro classics? This feels a little lightweight.)

Posted 3/6/13 8:56 AM

I would love a chance to playtest HCG (my 20-40minute game about questing wizards). Another category could be abstracts. Palago, Hive, Mijnlieff are 3 off the top of my head that I might suggest. The downside is their 2p nature, in which case Ingenious would be a great 4th choice. Tigris and Euphrates is a great euro classic. As is TtR. Paris Connection? Transamerica? Mord im Arosa is its own category but can it work in a noisy hall? However, it's possibly easy to come up with a list of games and harder to then source all those games... Maybe also Wits and Wagers (with the new only-use-chips-you-won-in-final-round rule). I would suggest a general partygames category but Say Anything would probably fall flat if you don't know the folk you're playing with and don't expect to ever see them again - as might be true at a convention. My copy of Good Question is in the LoB 'library' so it might help broaden the scope a bit? I think that Miam's a possible thing too. Also ESCAPE! Also, reaction games. Jungle Speed, Sticky Stickz...

Chris Marling

Posted 3/6/13 9:39 AM

You're definitely missing TtR - it's not considered many people's top gateway game for nothing.(What are we missing? Some Euro classics? This feels a little lightweight.)

Posted 3/6/13 10:03 AM

Would easily be the hit of the Con. As per Chris' and Bez' suggestion, we need TtR (Europe for newbs, Team Asia for sophomores?) and/or Transamerica. I'd also add RftG, Ra, Thebes (Jenseits von Theben), Oregon and Through The Desert to the list, but I personally think Red November is a little too long.* Put the train gamers in a cage in the corner and pelt them with rotten fruit?

Edited by Jeroen van den Hark on Mar 6, 2013 10:07 AM

Mar 12, 2020

•

Posted 2/15/13 7:41 PM

I am happy to help Paul. I am definitely around that weekend. I am happy to help with any planning, gophering, over the weekend itself, whatever you need.

Simon H

Posted 2/15/13 11:26 PM

Sorry, I am a bit slow off the mark replying but I'd be up for helping on at least one of the days. Always happy to teach any games with which I have more than a passing familiarity! That's quite a few of your provisional list, Paul! Simon

Dan R

Posted 2/16/13 9:22 PM

I'd be up for helping with demos, done a fair bit of board game demoing.

Paul Watson

Posted 2/17/13 11:13 AM

Paul, As a thought maybe we should make sure we have some tie-in games to act as gateways for those in the other streams? I mean DC Heroes, Ankh-Morpokh, the Star Trek Captains game, that sort of thing. If it wasn't so long Battlestar or Lord of the Rings would work

Posted 2/17/13 10:10 PM

I did have thoughts along those lines, although you've named a whole bunch o' games that I hadn't considered. Now, we shouldn't feel bound by the idea of SF/F as themes for gaming (the NineWorlds organisers are adamant that it's not a Scifi con), but those seem obvious marketing / evangelism points. LoTR is probably out (length and complexity). Battlestar is a bit long (2 hours?) but simple enough and I think could be a real attraction. What length does the Star Trek captains game run at? And has anyone played the X Wing min game yet?Aagin, thanks guys. No idea of what sort of crowds we'll get, but it's good to know we'll have the manpower. And hey, will all those streams on, there's sure to be something interesting on for us when not gaming.Paul, As a thought maybe we should make sure we have some tie-in games to act as gateways for those in the other streams? I mean DC Heroes, Ankh-Morpokh, the Star Trek Captains game, that sort of thing. If it wasn't so long Battlestar or Lord of the Rings would work

Posted 2/18/13 11:31 AM

Excellent thinking from Paul W there - cross-pollination for the nation. The GoT card game (HBO tie-in version) would be another good pick along those lines, as indeed everything else in this category. Quick Kickstarter update: A shade under two grand short with two weeks to go. At this rate it will be getting there, but slooooooooowly. 📷As a thought maybe we should make sure we have some tie-in games to act as gateways for those in the other streams? I mean DC Heroes, Ankh-Morpokh, the Star Trek Captains game, that sort of thing. If it wasn't so long Battlestar or Lord of the Rings would work.

Edited by Jeroen van den Hark on Feb 18, 2013 11:34 AM

Rob Harris

Posted 2/18/13 3:55 PM

Slightly late to the thread, but a Playtest member mentioned this to me at our meetup yesterday. Happy to help out and involve the Playtest group if required. We already run events at the UK games Expo and Dragonmeet, so adding another shouldn't be a problem. I'm coming to LoB tonight, so maybe we could discuss it further there. Cheers, RobAs an alternative/supplement to game designer talks, we could do other "celebrity" activities. "Meet the game designer" tables where you get to play fx. Snowdonia, Fzzt!, Coup, Divinare with the designers. "Game designer workshop" where budding game designers can talk to established designers and other wannabe designers - maybe the Playtest group would be happy to be involved.

Posted 2/18/13 9:11 PM

Thanks Rob. Getting the Playtest group involved would be great. I'm usually a Tuesday attendee, but you can discuss this with any of the organisers.

Posted 2/23/13 9:51 AM

The NineWorlds kickstarter has made its money with more than a week to go. And no doubt it's partly down to us. So congratulate yourself and know that the con is definitely on. Next month, I'll start to hammer some details down after we know how much budget and space we have to work with. Also, NineWorlds are still looking for volunteers for various events, so get along to their website if you're so inclined.

John B

Posted 2/23/13 2:55 PM

Given some of the comments and ideas above, I would be happy to run a deck building area. I have DC Comics, three Star Trek ones and from next month the Marvel game as well. They should all go down well with the NineWorlds Crowd.

Mar 12, 2020

•

Posted 2/14/13 4:19 PM

Thanks for all the volunteers. Understand that commitments may pull you away. Right, now we just need someone to run the "design a game" workshop. Get the names ready ... To start bashing out a list of games we could have on constant demo (and we can have other ones here, let's call this the core), off the top of my head: Requirements: * Easy to teach * Complete in under 90 minutes, preferably under 60 * Colorful / catchy / interesting * Cover a variety of mechanisms and subjects Candidates: * Hanabi (coop / cards / fast / simple) * Coup / Love letter? (cards / fast / simple) * Pandemic / Space Alert (coop / colourful) * King of Tokyo (colorful) * Room 25? (traitor) * Settlers (worker placement / trade / alternatives?) * Who's the Boss (negotiation) * Dominion (contempt for social mores) * Cash & Guns (social) * Carcassone (tiles) * Pitchcars / Villa Paletti (dexterity) "Interesting" stuff that may fall outside these parameters or be superfluous: Battlestar, Space Alert, Escape, Forbidden Island, Power Grid. Any other suggestions, especially for Euro, Ameritrash or newer titles?

Posted 2/14/13 5:29 PM

Lords of Waterdeep Small World Kakerlaken Poker Royale 7 Wonders CitadelsAssuming that this is going ahead (the Kickstarter isn't looking to promising), I'd also suggest and can bring:Alhambra Thurn und Taxis Red November Further suggestions that will require others to bring (and no, this isn't troll bait):

Posted 2/14/13 6:21 PM

Game designers in the LoB fold include: Tony Boydell Nigel Buckle Brett Gilbert Rikki Tahta (though I think he is mostly based in New York)

Posted 2/15/13 2:33 PM

Kakerlaken Poker is great. Paul, did you forget Kosmonauts or is it unsuitable? I'm up for volunteering in principle. But my medium term (nevermind long term) work & accomodation are still uncertain at the moment. Are they still looking for folk to make the social game, or is that all being handled by the Haberdashery Collective? I imagine it can't be too disruptive, needs to be optional, involve everyone who wants to be involved and last the length of the con. Are there any other constraints? I'd love to get involved in the creation of that! I'd also love to run a Wee Van Sank tournament. ;-p (Honestly, I think it might work well, since a game can be played in <5min) If neither of those options are open, I'd be willing to demo any game.

Posted 2/15/13 2:49 PM

Appreciated Bez. I think most everyones presence is contingent at the moment, but we need a rough idea of volunteers. I skipped Kosmonauts initially (this is a rough list) due to the lack of teachers. (Me, you, uh ...) But this is just a brainstorm. Dunno about the social gaming. I suggest dropping them a line. There's a lot of talk on Facebook and it may be useful to be inside of that.

Chris Marling

Posted 2/15/13 3:26 PM

That is awesome - nice work Robin! Backed - sounds like it could be good (or bloody terrible, but I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt).Big whoopsie, Paul. With a current world ranking of 41, I think you'll find Robin takes his croquet very seriously.

Dávid Turczi

Posted 2/15/13 3:28 PM

I'd love to teach Kosmonauts. Also for something a bit more meatier I'd drop Among the Stars (similiar to 7 wonders, I find it a bit better...) in the hat too!I skipped Kosmonauts initially (this is a rough list) due to the lack of teachers. (Me, you, uh ...) But this is just a brainstorm.

Pouria

Posted 2/15/13 4:15 PM

I am happy to volunteer given no major life incidents. Maybe Paul would be willing to offer a few copies of the games being played for sale so anyone interested can take them home.

Paul Watson

Posted 2/15/13 4:21 PM

If my nehpew's birthday party isn't being held on that weekend, I'll volunteer. I've already pledged entrance money. I can happily teach some games and can bring the case o'doom from the Red Herring if we need some more games. Obviously my suggestion includes Sentinels of the Multiverse as a fun co-op but I may be the only person to teach it.

Posted 2/15/13 7:03 PM

Thanks guys. We will have a budget to work with - amount to be resolved, but £100 pounds can buy 15 copies of Hanabi to use as spot prizes, if nothing else.

Mar 12, 2020

•

Posted 2/13/13 2:37 PM

What did you do for him, polish his tiddlywinks?

Edward Morland

Posted 2/13/13 3:02 PM

I'll tentatively put my hat in the ring as well, may be completely dead on my feet though as I'll be performing at a folk festival for the week before. Will let you know nearer the time if I decide I'm up to it. Also apparently one of the members of my Molly side is currently ranked 32nd in the English Tiddlywinks Association rankings, doesn't quite stack up a world champion I know.

Posted 2/13/13 4:35 PM

The correct term is "wink". Let's not pursue this line of discussion. Thanks Ed, will chase up closer to the time.What did you do for him, polish his tiddlywinks?

Posted 2/13/13 4:44 PM

Seconded. I once came second in the Dutch Open Titan Championships, donchaknow. As for the suggestions you mentioned, I'm not sure how much mileage there is in inviting speakers/hosting talks about the world o'boardgames - unless we can be certain that the audience will be sufficiently 'up for it'. However, all the other ideas seem sound. Now where did I put that giant Shadows over Camelot set...Let's not pursue this line of discussion.

Edited by Jeroen van den Hark on Feb 13, 2013 4:49 PM

Posted 2/14/13 10:36 AM

That be so - I also just don't know that there will be a lot of people going to a (say) talk by Reiner Knizia. Most of the other streams will have a bit of overlap: Harry Potter with Cosplay with Josh Whedon with Scifi. (Isn't there a quote by Hannah Arendt about some errors being indicative of a completely askew worldview?) So maybe we should just look at doing cool game stuff - demos, giant Carcassone, game library etc.

Soren Vejrum

Posted 2/14/13 12:33 PM

I am happy to volunteer - life in general permitting me to do so.

Soren Vejrum

Posted 2/14/13 12:45 PM

As an alternative/supplement to game designer talks, we could do other "celebrity" activities. "Meet the game designer" tables where you get to play fx. Snowdonia, Fzzt!, Coup, Divinare with the designers. "Game designer workshop" where budding game designers can talk to established designers and other wannabe designers - maybe the Playtest group would be happy to be involved.