Trinoc*coN/2007
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[edit] David Artman
I decided to pack my demoing into a single day--the main event: Saturday.
[edit] First Session - 9am to 1 pm
I setup my table in what is now my "standard layout" that tries to use every pyramid I own:
- Volcano on a Volcano Board with Volcano Caps
- 3-way Martian Chess using yellow and clear (to keep them looking similar)
- Armada as Black versus White, full stashes (Gray available for a three-way)
- Martian Coasters + Black Coaster with the rules card and dice nearby
- Treehouse, using a Blue mono stash and a leftover yellow stack for the House, with the rules tube nearby
- A small stack of micro-catalogs and pamphlets.
Well if it wasn't for a couple of existing Rabbits showing up to play a demo or two, this slot would have totally bombed. As it turned out, we got in a few games of three-way (!) Martian Chess and some Zendo.
I also got a chance to show a guy how to play Armada, which is one of my favorite "miniature" games for pyramids. I tried to be nice and give him a chance to grok the "lunge and retreat" rhythm of Armada... but, well, it's usually painful the first time, right? I had him picked apart in very short order and was, basically, lolly-gagging to give him a chance to sink a few ships.
Once again, being stuffed into the board gaming/miniatures room just knocked me out of view of half the folks I could have swayed to try a five-minute game. Folks in that room don't do "five-minute games" or abstract--that's why they have miniatures painted with excruciating detail and managed with excruciatingly nuanced rules; that's why they play board games with five hundred counters and cards and pieces and pips. And that's why I always ask for a table in the hall, to be seen by non-hardcore gamers, RPGers between sessions, literary and art guests, etc... but no joy this year.
Lesson Learned Bring a book, if Trinoc*coN staff put your in the wargaming room at 9am on Saturday.
[edit] Second Session - 2pm to 6pm
OK, now we're cooking with gas. Some long-time players joined me and helped to draw in at least five or six folks new to pyramids.
Zendo was the hands-down favorite, though Martian Coasters was also well received by the new players and, of course, there was a round or two of Treehouse, just to give props to the "flagship" game. Basically, the time slot flew by--a far cry more successful than the morning slot, if not my most successful con slot in history (still held by afternoon at MACE, where I helped sellout Treehouse in the Dealer Room and demoed for far more people).
I'll confess that it was made more enjoyable by the quite attractive young woman from D.C. who joined in early on and stayed the whole session (and beyond: we played Carcassonne while waiting for a raffle drawing in the same room at 7pm). What can I say? I'm a single male; those things work for me. :)
Lessons Learned
- Martian Coasters just gets better with more players; I need a second set, marked as Xeno... and for my own game, Wormholes.
- Zendo works with everyone, seriously. I've seen every age above toddler, every gaming interest, every market segment just flip for this game once they grok it.
- The list of Zendo rules is key when allowing new players to be Masters. It totally eliminates the bizzaro rules folks tend to try to do their first few times, before they realize that even a simple, single-state rule can be a stumper, depending on the attribute count of your starting koans and disproofs.
[edit] Third Session - 8pm to 12pm
Are You A Werewolf night, baby! Oh, yeah!
Well... actually played Icehouse (for the FIRST time!) with three other guys, all of us being taught by an existing icehead who'd helped in the earlier slot's demoing. I won one game, so I must not totally suck. But the feeling of tension I get while playing must be a sign that I don't totally grok what I should be doing at a given moment; and so I'd probably be crushed by any experienced player (our tutor played "at half speed" to give us a chance).
But it wasn't long before Hope Evey and friends piled in, having been drawn in by someone wanting to get an AYAW town started. BAM! Just like that, AYAW rears its furry head and takes off. We play several towns, both with me moderating and with an experienced moderator taking over to let me play a few rounds. There was some difficulty with younger players not really understanding the need for quiet and secrecy, and the eventual tired grousing and crying that comes to pre-adolescents around 11 pm, but all-in-all they were a fun addition.
But once the kids were spiraling down for the count, the parents had to leave, too. By about 11:30, I was packed up and heading out of the con for home. I considered returning for Sunday, to do my own thing, but just couldn't get my gumption up... and I was invited to swim at the quarry that afternoon, which I'd never done.
Lessons Learned
- If young kids are going to play AYAW, they just can't be Werewolves or the Seer. They tend to forget to keep making noise, or they blurt out that they are the Seer, or even blurt out that they are a Werewolf! In a town of 8 to 10, that's just too "tippy": it makes the game flop. So, I'd advise moderators to "bottom deal" to young kids, to be sure they get Villager roles. Maybe someone has a better suggestion for admitting the very young (7 to 10)?
- I already knew this, but AYAW needs early promotion. I tried to stump better than I did at my last (failed) AYAW attempt at Stellarcon this year, but I still didn't get enough early adopters to build momentum fast. Without Hope, I'd never have gotten a game off. It also didn't help that there was a "no flyers" policy at the con, which prevented me from posting any promo signs (it was argued by a guy also trying to stump for me that, had we been able to hang signs, there would probably have been so many that it wouldn't have mattered anyway--Icehouse players are damned smart people!).
- I need to work on my Day patter a bit more: the other guy who moderated was simply much better than I was with injecting little jokes and details and color into his descriptions of events (but not into his Night questions, which he followed to the letter).
- I simply must make a conscious effort to remember who the Werewolves lynch! *blush* In fact, I am half tempted to reverse the Wolf/Seer order, because I would forget the victim while dealing with the Seer's pointing and nodding or shaking while not letting my voice or presence focus on any one person or thing. At one point in a game, I literally had to guess at who was lynched becasue I had forgotten. I knew it was "one of the guys on this side" but between distractions of Seer management and a small touch of "stage nerves," I totally forgot who it was. Bad Rabbit.
So, in closing, Trinoc*coN remained a one-day affair, for me: satisfying if not inspiring or elating. I really MUST get a hall table next year, though....
--David Artman 12:55, 24 August 2007 (PDT)
