Conventions and Events - GenCon 2010

Posted by: Gregor Hutton On: Aug 10th 2010

So, GenCon 2010 is in the books and it was an incredibly positive experience. The attendees were many, they wanted to game and spend money. The hall had no electronic gaming and it was a friendly social con for almost everyone.

Highlights were...

CRITICAL SUCCESS
Neil's Beat to Quarters doing so very well at the Indie RPG Awards announced on Friday. He got a second (Support) and a third (Game of the Year, tied with Little Fears). I was super happy to pass the news on to Neil as he worked at a booth on the con floor.

GAMES SELLING
Graham Walmsley's A Taste For Murder and Trail of Cthulhu chapbooks were shifting.

Hell For Leather by Seb Hickey looked to be doing OK on the IPR booth. I picked up a copy and a play sheet. It looks slick.

We sold out of Labyrinths & Lycanthropes on the Design Matters booth. Admittedly we took a low amount of stock but they found their way into the hands of appreciative gamers.

Remember Tomorrow also sold out (selling more at the Design Matters booth than 3:16 did when it debuted!), which was a genuine and pleasant surprise. It does mean that I don't have any copies of the print run left to bring home to the UK. To make over $500 from a $10 book is pretty satisfying.

3:16 also sold out at IPR and got restocked from Cubicle 7 as far as I could tell.

ACTUAL PLAY
Hell 4 Leather sold slowly but got some great actual play (completely unfacilitated by me -- they ran it just from H4L), which led to more sales and good buzz among people who will be boosters for it. These people are podcasters so I was thrilled that they had such fun and will hopefully spread the word. I'm hoping Joe and I can maybe do an interview on Skype. Watch this space.

Pro Wrasslin' Battle Royale also played great with us at the Embassy Suites when we were too burned out for a roleplaying game. We have some ideas for little variants to add too (elimination matches!).

Remember Tomorrow got some love too and I was super-thrilled that Rob Bohl "got it" really quickly. It was great to talk to Rob about it afterwards as we headed back to the con. Props to Jay too, who played the "Gnome". Rolling 4 successes (1,1,2 and a PCon) when the INF:6 Faction got 3 was awesome and just what this game is about.

OLD FAVOURITES SIGHTED
a|state was spotted in a few places around the con. Cold City and Hot War were at Cubicle 7 too. Solipsist and Contenders on IPR. That made my really happy.

CONVIVIAL ATMOSPHERE
There was a positive vibe at the Indie booths and between the people at the con. No bitchiness or snark. Pretty awesome. Seeing guys like Jerry Grayson and Andy Kitkowski is always a pleasure.

THE OTHER STUFF
The Cosplay/Softcore booth tucked away at the furthest reaches of the hall was bizarre but surprisingly (perhaps) respectful to the cosplayers displaying themselves there. The entrepreneurs alley was interesting and I hope they do it again.

The media guests were a great fit: Felicia Day, the Guild cast and Wil Wheaton were spot on.

The artists alley was awesome as ever and there were some sweet games launched (DC, Death Watch and so on).

Posted by: Tim Gray On: Aug 10th 2010 edited

Great news on the sales front(s)!

I've been following vicariously with http://www.thisjustinfromgencon.com . And a dog collar.

Posted by: Andrew Kenrick On: Aug 10th 2010

Sounds like a great show Gregor. I managed to screw up my printing by leaving it too late, so Dead of Night's Gencon debut will clearly be next year.

Posted by: Iain McAllister On: Aug 10th 2010

Sounds like great fun, and fantastic sales. You can spot Mr. Gow in one of the videos up on the Fantasy Flight site as well, I think it is the third day, playing warhammer Invasion. Well done to him on the well deserved awards.

I would really like to make it back to Gencon sometime soon, always had a great time there.

Posted by: Neil Gow On: Aug 12th 2010

Gregor Hutton:
CRITICAL SUCCESS
Neil's Beat to Quarters doing so very well at the Indie RPG Awards announced on Friday. He got a second (Support) and a third (Game of the Year, tied with Little Fears). I was super happy to pass the news on to Neil as he worked at a booth on the con floor.

Cheers guys!

Gregor accosted me as I was helping Karen and Malcolm of House Atreides out on their stall and to say I was shocked would be a total understatement. I had to ask him maybe three times if he was taking the piss! It seriously made my day and I was all bubbly and bouncy for the rest of the con!

Neil

Posted by: Tim Gray On: Aug 12th 2010

Well done Neil!

Posted by: Rob Justice On: Aug 13th 2010

Gregor Hutton:Hell 4 Leather sold slowly but got some great actual play (completely unfacilitated by me -- they ran it just from H4L), which led to more sales and good buzz among people who will be boosters for it. These people are podcasters so I was thrilled that they had such fun and will hopefully spread the word. I'm hoping Joe and I can maybe do an interview on Skype. Watch this space.

I'm one of the podcasters who picked up H4L. I was so interested that proceeded to scour the Con looking for a deck of Tarot cards. When I failed to find any at the Con I found some at a Borders Bookstore near the Con.
At a party that night I broke out H4L and played a game. To say it was a rousing success would be an understatement. It was a blast and I attribute my lost voice to that game.
I'm looking to kick on a game with H4L serving as the prelude to the game. If things go according to plan I'll be recording the game session and might post an AP episode on our site. I'll keep you informed.
Seriously, H4L was the highlight of my GenCon. Thanks for the awesome game.

Posted by: Gregor Hutton On: Aug 14th 2010

Thanks Rob!

Nathan Paoletta posted the Design Matters results online. Over 5k made and split amongst the partners, which is approximately 200% return on investment.