Post/Author/DateTime	Post
bhale187 02-10-08, 02:24 PM	I went to a local Con this weekend that is not by any means RPGA, or even D&D specific. But, I did notice that RPGA attendance was down...alot. I'd guess it was down by about 1/3. Last year I seem to recall having around a hundred people at the peak, and this year it was about 65 to 70. I was wondering if anyone else had noticed a big drop in the RPGA numbers at your local recent gaming conventions.
Vamroc 02-10-08, 07:03 PM	I went to a local Con this weekend that is not by any means RPGA, or even D&D specific. But, I did notice that RPGA attendance was down...alot. I'd guess it was down by about 1/3. Last year I seem to recall having around a hundred people at the peak, and this year it was about 65 to 70. I was wondering if anyone else had noticed a big drop in the RPGA numbers at your local recent gaming conventions. It's about inevitability the campaigns grinding to a close so no point in starting new charactors and many players are trying to retire the high level ones. It was hard before to find a lot of 12-14th level charactors and once you reach 15 you can't play down. The bulk of players are in that 6-10 range that is a narrow and challenging range so players are opting to wait till 4th ED. Rather than continue with a charactor that will never get high enough to be rewarding to play.
_metz_ 02-10-08, 07:10 PM	We just had one of our biggest games days yet here in Sydney. However it would be reasonable to assume with the lack of new mods coming out (see Iuz: metaregion for details and how the ball has been massively dropped) That, and a lot of people have played most things. I for example am currently in Year 8 and have played everything but Red Hand, and Year 8 mods. Only problem is that there haven't been any year 8 mods released. It is quite reasonable to be in my position, Year 7 was last year, and If I had gone to a lot of premiere cons (which I did) than I would have played almost everything. Coupled with the fact that LG is going to disintergrate in a few months can you really expect people to undertake the same level of committment in traveling for their characters? (Of course I know its more for the fun and the game, but its daft to think that people will still be as eager in a defunct campaign setting) Thus for me, I know HEAPS of people that would play, but have few games to play, and are less likely to be willing to travel so far in order to get a single game than they may have been once willing to.
kenobi65 02-10-08, 08:40 PM	I was at the same con you were at, bhale (Winter War), and your numbers may be a little low. I'm pretty sure that we had 11 full tables for the Interactive last night; when you include the DMs in the count, that puts you at 77 (two of the DMs were Triad, but my understanding was that most of the DMs didn't DM every slot). There might have been players who played at some point during the weekend, but not during the Interactive, but I'd guess that there weren't that many like that, so total LG attendance was likely somewhere in the 80 range. I'm not sure what we had last year; Gregg would know. I wouldn't be surprised if it's a little lower, for the reasons that people have already suggested. I've lived through an awful lot of RPGA campaigns ending, and it's inevitable that you have some players who lose interest after that annoucement is made (as well as it becoming harder to bring new players into a lame-duck campaign).
kenobi65 02-10-08, 08:42 PM	Coupled with the fact that LG is going to disintergrate in a few months can you really expect people to undertake the same level of committment in traveling for their characters? You may well be right, for some players. In this case, the convention was 2 hours south of Chicago, and I'd be willing to bet that at least half of the LG players at it drive down from Chicago, if not farther. OTOH, this year, I know we had several guys drive over from Iowa, and another guy who came up from Miami (!) for it.
_metz_ 02-10-08, 09:17 PM	You may well be right, for some players. In this case, the convention was 2 hours south of Chicago, and I'd be willing to bet that at least half of the LG players at it drive down from Chicago, if not farther. OTOH, this year, I know we had several guys drive over from Iowa, and another guy who came up from Miami (!) for it. Oh, I am not disputing that some still do :) I know many who do, and I myself travel to what cons I can, funds and time permitting. I just feel it is reasonable to assume some do not. And I know some that no longer do.
kenobi65 02-10-08, 09:22 PM	I just feel it is reasonable to assume some do not. And I know some that no longer do. Agreed in both cases; what I didn't make clear was that I think it was likely a contributing factor if Winter War's RPGA attendance was indeed down, since so many of its players are traditionally traveling to attend.
bhale187 02-10-08, 09:58 PM	I thought it was only 10 tables, my mistake. I am pretty sure last year we had over 100 at the Duergar special event. Regardless, I had a great time this year and last. I was just curious as to other regions experience with people jumping ship until 4E arrives.
kenobi65 02-10-08, 10:24 PM	Regardless, I had a great time this year and last. I concur with that; the folks who've organized the LG events at Winter War have done a good job, and it attracts a lot of good players. I'd note that, in most, if not all, of the convention's slots, they filled every table that they offered (though, it may well be that they didn't offer as many tables as last year, expecting lower attendance).
Madfox11 02-11-08, 03:58 AM	Around here (here being the Netherlands) I have not seen a particular big drop. We are seeing even a couple of new gamers. Than again, the community is not all that big, and when friends bug you to come along to get a good table few say no ;) From what I gathered from my fellow Triad members, the fanatic players are actually playing more, while the casual players play less.
vvincent 02-11-08, 10:02 AM	I thought it was only 10 tables, my mistake. I am pretty sure last year we had over 100 at the Duergar special event. Regardless, I had a great time this year and last. I was just curious as to other regions experience with people jumping ship until 4E arrives. We ran about 15-16 tables of VERS7-01: In the Halls of the Mountain King last year at Winter War. However, that was because we expanded the number of table onsite to accommodate a number of late-comers. This expansion came at great headache and time consumption. Due to that and other events occurring, we chose to have a hard cap this year of 10 tables for the interactive. We *did* adjust that onsite to 11, but only with the concurrance of all three Triad (who were at the convention). Now - regarding this year: I have already reports 65 tables for Winter War 35. Gregg Homerding will be reporting his portion soon, so I expect the total to come in at around 75-80 tables. Not too shabby - especially when we cut back this year. Vernon L. Vincent CIRCA Coordinator Winter War 35
solbergb 02-11-08, 11:45 PM	The local cons I've been to in the past few months, including the one we're putting on this month still have healthy numbers, but the play mix is shifting a lot. There are a LOT more high level tables, and the 2-8 limited adventures are almost all level 8. The "Sweet spot" seems to be 10-12, tables in that range can nearly always be made. The level 15's would play more, but there are very few 14-16 opportunities out there. They get greedily pounced on :) And then each con has a table or two of level 2-4s, one or two of which drift into the higher level tables if their numbers don't work out right. I had three memorable adventures around last new years eve that involved out of town powerful adventurers escorting baby-locals who had little power but had played prior mods and had favors, local knowledge etc that proved crucial to success. (all of our real plot failures were at "all foreigner table" situations, although in most cases our characters didn't know they did the wrong thing...) The best one was when my level 14 sorceress, who had been dominated by the plot device, convinced the level 1 (yes, level 1 at APL12 table) to take the item, using all of her considerable charm, and a limited wish to shift his alignment via Atonement to match what the item wanted. (criteria #1 for the intelligent plot token....local residence. Criteria 2...alignment. The latter was easier to fix than the former). Fortunately for that level 1 character, we happened to get on top of all the encounters, at least well enough for him to use summoning-items we leant him and ride away to safety on a phantom steed. So he didn't get swatted by random targeting or any area effects. But we warned him that if anything breathed on him, he was dead and we would be unable to prevent it. He wanted to play.....and it worked out ok.
greggh 02-12-08, 12:47 PM	... last year at Winter War... we expanded the number of table onsite to accommodate a number of late-comers. This expansion came at great headache and time consumption. In years prior to 2007 "CIRCA at Winter War" was set up to run 40-60 tables. To meet a surge in player demand, we expanded that to 115 tables (including slot zeroes) in 2007. While the late/casual/walk-in players were happy, that was a tremendous strain on our judges and coordinators - plus, not every player we accommodated was appreciative ;) The after-effects from that experience were not forgotten in 2008. Had we promoted the con and recruited players in the same way as last year, I expect we'd have pulled similar numbers (and caused ourselves similar pain). We deliberately chose a different approach this year. For 2008 we advanced the pre-reg deadline by one week, discouraged late registration and walk-in play, and focused on providing pre-registered veteran LG players the best play experience possible. We still ran 80+ tables (including slot zeroes) and did not turn away a single player on site. It was the second-biggest turnout in our five years at Winter War, and it was all we wanted :D The only unexpected dropoff I saw this year was a reduced willingness to judge. We had 50% fewer volunteers in the judge pool, so many of our local DMs actually had to run more tables than they did last year. IMO that can be attributed mostly to LG attrition - CIRCA has experienced our normal personnel losses since last year, but we're not replacing those folks with newer judges. Also, while veteran players seem more willing than ever to travel to play, they may be less willing to travel to judge. IMO, both factors are normal and unavoidable byproducts of LG's approaching conclusion. Gregg Homerding CIRCA @ Winter War 35
RanielK 02-13-08, 11:20 AM	You may well be right, for some players. In this case, the convention was 2 hours south of Chicago, and I'd be willing to bet that at least half of the LG players at it drive down from Chicago, if not farther. OTOH, this year, I know we had several guys drive over from Iowa, and another guy who came up from Miami (!) for it. Yeah, Lord knows if I had the money (didn't win the lottery last night so no luck there) I'd go to so many different cons. Gotta finish the Eight of Wands out in Furyondy (Pan Mayhem here I come). I'd love to get to Verbobonc and finish up the Skyroads bit and that special race mod (gotta have what 10 other folks along for that one), but that's not likely unless there's a pre-GenCon deal. Saw some region who had what looked like a series of mods in the underdark which took up most of year 7 (one in year 6 IIRC). Love to do that not sure if I can make it. UConn won out over Axecon as the Eight of Wands had more year 6 mods as part of the storyline. I couldn't make any end of year stuff last year due to funds. Had to save up for the cons this year. All that said, I ran a character who was 5th at GenCon last year to just almost 12th (will be by DDXP). He'll probably get to 14th at a minimum (Frostfell Reach APL 14 anyone?). I'll play Demonweb Pits even if I end up taking half in parts 2 and 3. I'll get to Pandemonium Mayhem to finish out the Eight of Wands (and lobby for the Fire Lord's open post!). DDXP, Origins, AnnonyCon (Bissel), whatever local Geoff con I can drag my wife to (or get the wife points to go), I'll get in every play opportunity I can. I'm bound and determined to end a guy as close to 16th as I can! Anyone who says it can't be done or doesn't try to do this themselves is slacking! I'll let you off a little if you claim finances, though I'm selling off stuff on Ebay to fund my con run.
RanielK 02-13-08, 11:30 AM	The only unexpected dropoff I saw this year was a reduced willingness to judge. We had 50% fewer volunteers in the judge pool, so many of our local DMs actually had to run more tables than they did last year. IMO that can be attributed mostly to LG attrition - CIRCA has experienced our normal personnel losses since last year, but we're not replacing those folks with newer judges. Also, while veteran players seem more willing than ever to travel to play, they may be less willing to travel to judge. IMO, both factors are normal and unavoidable byproducts of LG's approaching conclusion. Gregg Homerding CIRCA @ Winter War 35 Yeah, I've seen this at a few cons I've attended recently. Mostly overheard conversations between con organizers and a few direct conversations with friends coordinating LG have shown that other regions have seen a sharp increase in players (especially "feriners") and a decrease in judges. It seems now that we're down to the final mods to wrap up the storylines, there are fewer people willing to eat mods.
paulharries 02-13-08, 03:41 PM	Hi 'Conception' is a regular event in southern England held at end of January. We have a regular group from mainland Europe & a few American/Canadians working in UK amongst the large contingent of RPGA gamers. (Lots other games also played). 13 official 'slots'. Played them all, including 3 'double' slots. (Effectively 16 slots). My main (Oskar Thorinson, Dwarf Clr 3 Warmage 4 Mystic Theurge2) went from 9th to 11th lvl. Also got my second character to 2nd lvl. Happy Days! Will try to get as many LG slots in as I can before the end.......... Cheers Paul H
Vamroc 02-13-08, 04:21 PM	Just got my AR's from Genericon via email they added up to over 4,000 exp. Which puts me within a stones throw of 12 it's a very important level for my spellsword a feat, an ability point, and 5th level spells all in one shot. GO TEAM VENTURE:duel:
Sieylianna 02-13-08, 05:25 PM	Saw some region who had what looked like a series of mods in the underdark which took up most of year 7 (one in year 6 IIRC). Love to do that not sure if I can make it. Shieldlands. It's nice that you are enjoying the last days of LG. Locally, play has dropped to almost nothing. And by locally, I mean the Cincy/Dayton/Columbus corridor. I've played more of the year 7 Highfolk modules than Veluna, despite the fact hat I live in Ohio and Wisconsin is seven hours away. Ed
Reylance 02-15-08, 04:26 PM	I've had no problem playing the Veluna Year 7 modules, mostly in Columbus.
Lomiat 02-16-08, 10:47 PM	Saw some region who had what looked like a series of mods in the underdark which took up most of year 7 (one in year 6 IIRC). Love to do that not sure if I can make it. UConn won out over Axecon as the Eight of Wands had more year 6 mods as part of the storyline. I couldn't make any end of year stuff last year due to funds. Had to save up for the cons this year. The Shield Lands adventures were actually in the "Shadowdark," a notable distinction, I believe, because IIRC we're not supposed to use the "Underdark." And... um... they were absolutely nothing alike... And traveling in the Shadowdark for an extend period of time has no impact whatsoever on your character... Yeah, yeah... That's the ticket... Meanwhile: I got back recently from PanFrost in Michigan (Furyondy) and had a blast. I don't know what their numbers typically are, but they had over half a dozen tables for each slot. With the convention and some travel, I managed to level 2 PCs and nearly level a 3rd. Certainly, among the friends I met there and myself, we focused more on our higher-level PCs but not at the exclusion of all others. I think we were aiming toward "retirement goals." The con organizers appeared to have their judges covered, but it appeared they were relying upon the same half-dozen or so judges to run adventures for the entire con. I know that doesn't always work for a lot of judges in MN, whose schedules prevent them from making several slots of a con, and we were actually a touch fortunate at our last con that it was less well-attended than the year's previous conventions as we'd hardly scrapped together our slot zero tables.
Koushiro 02-17-08, 03:53 AM	I personally felt a little shafted from that whole shadow dark thing seeing how much the end reward was hyped up. Erm, that's not a spoiler, is it? I need to get more LG going around here in MN, but no cons seem to be planned. I guess I'll just have to run one myself. Village Con held in scenic Anoka on the scenic Rum River at the scenic Village Games! Hmmm, maybe Scenic Con would be a better name for it? http://www.villagegames.net/