Origins Report
Origins went well. Not great, but well.
We had 15 tables of White Star go off with a headcount of 75 players. We talked to most of the players, and only one person was dissatisfied. That person was expecting a more typical d20 campaign set up, which is something we were intentionally not creating, so I'm fine with his complaints.
Working the booth in the exhibit hall was a lot of fun. I took time to play some events after the hall closed.
I was a bit disappointed in the attendance and in the hall. The attendance was down, visibly. The hall was never full of attendees. Even peak times of the day were slow. And, the hall itself was smaller. Chessex's booth was about half the size it normally is. A lot of big names were conspiciously absent (such as White Wolf Games). And, even little dealers were absent.
For example, there are usually two or three anime booths. This year there was only one, and he was new and didn't really have anything. (Most people at conventions are looking for the obscure titles and/or financial deals. He only brought wide-market big name items and was firm on his prices.)
We didn't sell out of books, which I fully expected us to do. We did have a lot of convention representatives approach us and ask for events at their shows. That will create more players, which should translate into online sales of our book. So, breaking even is still in scope. And, the fan list is buzzing asking us for rules expansions.
Basically, we have a lot of rules that are simplified for ease of game play. We have a vocal audience asking for more complicated rules.
I'm not thrilled with our Origins launch, but I am happy with it. And, I think that long-term it is going to really be something great.
Theno
We had 15 tables of White Star go off with a headcount of 75 players. We talked to most of the players, and only one person was dissatisfied. That person was expecting a more typical d20 campaign set up, which is something we were intentionally not creating, so I'm fine with his complaints.
Working the booth in the exhibit hall was a lot of fun. I took time to play some events after the hall closed.
I was a bit disappointed in the attendance and in the hall. The attendance was down, visibly. The hall was never full of attendees. Even peak times of the day were slow. And, the hall itself was smaller. Chessex's booth was about half the size it normally is. A lot of big names were conspiciously absent (such as White Wolf Games). And, even little dealers were absent.
For example, there are usually two or three anime booths. This year there was only one, and he was new and didn't really have anything. (Most people at conventions are looking for the obscure titles and/or financial deals. He only brought wide-market big name items and was firm on his prices.)
We didn't sell out of books, which I fully expected us to do. We did have a lot of convention representatives approach us and ask for events at their shows. That will create more players, which should translate into online sales of our book. So, breaking even is still in scope. And, the fan list is buzzing asking us for rules expansions.
Basically, we have a lot of rules that are simplified for ease of game play. We have a vocal audience asking for more complicated rules.
I'm not thrilled with our Origins launch, but I am happy with it. And, I think that long-term it is going to really be something great.
Theno