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RPGA only conventions still around?

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
CdrcJsn
May 27, 2009 20:18:44 Back in LG days, there used to be a ton of RPGA only cons. Small events with around 100-150 attendees that people used to travel from out of state to attend.

With the general economy and the replay rules, there is less incentive to travel and almost all of the RPGA only cons in my area have disappeared.

That leaves game stores and RPGA in larger cons for the most part.

Did any RPGA-only cons survive in your area? Are they including other living campaigns?
#2
kenobi65
May 27, 2009 20:38:14 COWS, which is a local group that's run 2-3 conventions a year for about a decade, is still doing so.

During LG, COWS cons did focus on LG, but there were always a few tables of other campaigns (Living Arcanis, Legends of the Shining Jewel, Living Death, etc.)

The last couple of COWS cons focused on LFR, but, again, had a few tables of other campaigns (Living Arcanis and Pathfinder). Overall attendance is a bit lower than there'd be during LG (drawing fewer people from outside of the immediate area), but it's not totally dying off, either.
#3
Dragon9
May 28, 2009 7:32:57 I ran one in my area and I killed it off before the death of LG (more because of the death of my mother right around when I would have been setting it up). While i was happy to provide enjoyment for so many people... it was a huge headache, a lot of stress, and a lot of work. And it was never that big. (60-70 people) Not to mention the personal expense. After 4 years of it i was ready to be done with it. I'd rather organize a weekend mini-con at an FLGS. Much simpler.

EDIT: Of course I was already contemplating killing it off when all the con space in town went up in price and was getting prohibitively expensive to find the space I needed for the con. The place I had been using got a new manager who upped the prices and told me that they wouldn't give me a break on the price anymore. So that space went unused and they got nothing during the time when I would have been using it and at least paying them something for it. Their loss.
#4
amysrevenge
Jun 02, 2009 14:46:37 As I mentioned in the other thread, we are probably going to kill off our only real RPGA-only convention. We won't be running it this year, and probably won't pick it up again next year.

Part of it, of course, is that even in the LG heyday we never really got any large numbers of the regular convention travellers - it was much easier for them to travel to Seattle/Portland/Vancouver than to Calgary. I can think of 3 Americans who ever came to Calgary for LG events (counting myself as one of them, as I was living in Seattle the first time I travelled to Calgary for a convention), although there might be a handful more I don't remember. I don't think we ever ran 10 simultaneous tables at any event, and even 7 would have been very very rare.

These days, we can often pull 5 tables at a regularly scheduled gameday, but we were lucky to fill 4 at a convention.

Our plan henceforth will be to add a large RPGA presence to a local general gaming convention, rather than take on the burden of the entire convention ourselves. It is reasonably likely that we might even be the entire D&D segement of the convention - I believe that one or two of the RPGA regulars will be writing the D&D Tournament adventure this time around (some of us have a fair bit of experience writing this sort of thing lol).

We do have one remaining RPGA-only event, but this is a special camping convention where we all pack up and head out to a group-campsite in the Rockies. Attendance for this event is down too, but really it is more about fellowship and a drink or two around the fire than it is about gaming. We will continue to hold this event as long as people are willing to share the cost of the venue.

*To answer the other question, we have generally included other Living campaigns in our events, but as a very minor part. We've had limited success with Spycraft, Force, and Arcanis (which still has a small following to this day).
#5
gamersgambit
Jun 16, 2009 0:48:49 My store -- The Gamer's Gambit in Fair Lawn, NJ -- which holds 100 people (at capacity; comfortably, about 70 for D&D events although it gets loud) ran a convention in April that was well-attended (about 70 people, all told) for an entire weekend.

We're running two more this year--in September and December accordingly--RPGA only, three days, lots of tables.

Of course, we also run 4-5 tables every Thursday and 8-10 tables every Sunday, weekly on a *regular* basis, so we've got a large crowd of folks who are really, really hungry for LFR.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 CdrcJsn May 27, 2009 20:18:44	Back in LG days, there used to be a ton of RPGA only cons. Small events with around 100-150 attendees that people used to travel from out of state to attend. With the general economy and the replay rules, there is less incentive to travel and almost all of the RPGA only cons in my area have disappeared. That leaves game stores and RPGA in larger cons for the most part. Did any RPGA-only cons survive in your area? Are they including other living campaigns?
#2 kenobi65 May 27, 2009 20:38:14	COWS, which is a local group that's run 2-3 conventions a year for about a decade, is still doing so. During LG, COWS cons did focus on LG, but there were always a few tables of other campaigns (Living Arcanis, Legends of the Shining Jewel, Living Death, etc.) The last couple of COWS cons focused on LFR, but, again, had a few tables of other campaigns (Living Arcanis and Pathfinder). Overall attendance is a bit lower than there'd be during LG (drawing fewer people from outside of the immediate area), but it's not totally dying off, either.
#3 Dragon9 May 28, 2009 7:32:57	I ran one in my area and I killed it off before the death of LG (more because of the death of my mother right around when I would have been setting it up). While i was happy to provide enjoyment for so many people... it was a huge headache, a lot of stress, and a lot of work. And it was never that big. (60-70 people) Not to mention the personal expense. After 4 years of it i was ready to be done with it. I'd rather organize a weekend mini-con at an FLGS. Much simpler. EDIT: Of course I was already contemplating killing it off when all the con space in town went up in price and was getting prohibitively expensive to find the space I needed for the con. The place I had been using got a new manager who upped the prices and told me that they wouldn't give me a break on the price anymore. So that space went unused and they got nothing during the time when I would have been using it and at least paying them something for it. Their loss.
#4 amysrevenge Jun 02, 2009 14:46:37	As I mentioned in the other thread, we are probably going to kill off our only real RPGA-only convention. We won't be running it this year, and probably won't pick it up again next year. Part of it, of course, is that even in the LG heyday we never really got any large numbers of the regular convention travellers - it was much easier for them to travel to Seattle/Portland/Vancouver than to Calgary. I can think of 3 Americans who ever came to Calgary for LG events (counting myself as one of them, as I was living in Seattle the first time I travelled to Calgary for a convention), although there might be a handful more I don't remember. I don't think we ever ran 10 simultaneous tables at any event, and even 7 would have been very very rare. These days, we can often pull 5 tables at a regularly scheduled gameday, but we were lucky to fill 4 at a convention. Our plan henceforth will be to add a large RPGA presence to a local general gaming convention, rather than take on the burden of the entire convention ourselves. It is reasonably likely that we might even be the entire D&D segement of the convention - I believe that one or two of the RPGA regulars will be writing the D&D Tournament adventure this time around (some of us have a fair bit of experience writing this sort of thing lol). We do have one remaining RPGA-only event, but this is a special camping convention where we all pack up and head out to a group-campsite in the Rockies. Attendance for this event is down too, but really it is more about fellowship and a drink or two around the fire than it is about gaming. We will continue to hold this event as long as people are willing to share the cost of the venue. *To answer the other question, we have generally included other Living campaigns in our events, but as a very minor part. We've had limited success with Spycraft, Force, and Arcanis (which still has a small following to this day).
#5 gamersgambit Jun 16, 2009 0:48:49	My store -- The Gamer's Gambit in Fair Lawn, NJ -- which holds 100 people (at capacity; comfortably, about 70 for D&D events although it gets loud) ran a convention in April that was well-attended (about 70 people, all told) for an entire weekend. We're running two more this year--in September and December accordingly--RPGA only, three days, lots of tables. Of course, we also run 4-5 tables every Thursday and 8-10 tables every Sunday, weekly on a regular basis, so we've got a large crowd of folks who are really, really hungry for LFR.