|
Viewing 1 - 17 out of 17 Blogs.
Announcement (from the Wizkids webpage) The Topps Company announced today that it will close WizKids and discontinue its product lines for the immediate future. WizKids has been Topps’ core hobby gaming business based in Seattle, Washington. Scott Silverstein, CEO of Topps, said “This was an extremely difficult decision. But in light of the current economic conditions, we feel it is necessary to align our gaming initiatives more closely with Topps current sports and entertainment offerings which are already being developed within our New York office.” Upon notifying our partners, Topps will immediately pursue strategic alternatives so that viable brands and properties, including HeroClix, can continue without noticeable disruption. To that end, WizKids will continue supporting Buy it By the Brick redemption for Arkham Asylum, and the December Organized Play events for HeroClix.
This makes me sad. I have the great Cthulhu clix action figure displayed on my mantle. I loved working with the Wizkid envoy team that came to TotalCon last year and I liked the horror themed events. I hope the "strategic alternatives" come through.
Came home from Carnage last night which is a fantastic fall event held yearly in VT. I'm still tingling, or better put, still riding the post con high that I and many of my friends get after attending these events. It doesn't matter if someone gamed 24/7 or took breaks at night to gather for a party, fun was had by all.
I, like many of my friends, leave with fresh ideas for new adventures, new tatics to explore, a few goodies from the dealer hall, and lots of great stories. It's great to catch up with people I only see at the area cons and I always enjoy meeting new peeps along the way too. I can honestly say that I have yet to meet anyone who was unwilling to give me a place at a table as a newbie. Everyone is there to have fun and share in the experience. There is a great electricity in the air when hundreds of like minded people gather together with the sole purpose of enjoying their favorite hobby togehter. The fun is infectious.
Plus local cons are usually cheaper than the big shows with less travel, still packed with 100% great gaming goodness, are a good way to support your local gaming community, and a great (and usually needed) break from the ordinary hum drum of life. I walk away always feeling bouncy and filled with a renewed sense of excitment for gaming in general. I know I am not alone. 
I saw this listed as a great gift idea for potential Dr. Horrible's. It's billed as an educational tool for future generations, to help the youth in this great country. I give you... http://www.xylocopa.com/product/mad-science-alphabet-blocksDon't know about you, but I say, to heck with the kids...I want my own set!! 
Ok, I will be showing my geekiness in full. I don't care! This is the time, before the con, that I love the most. Other con organizers have said they don't know where I get the energy to do what I do, as far as posting, promoting, and shouting the news about TotalCon. It's easy for me!! I LOVE IT!! Nothing makes me happier than being able to gather players for four days of pure gaming fun. This year, the news is some of the biggest and best since I started my con work in earnest. Please allow me a few moments to babble about the good things that I am looking forward to this coming February 19-22, 2009 (in MA for those unfamiliar with Total Confusion) Coming to TotalCon XXIII: Frank Mentzer: a fantasy writer and game designer best known for his work on early materials for the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) fantasy role-playing game. Frank was an employee at TSR, Inc. in the early stages of the company from 1980 to 1986. In 1981 he founded the Role-Playing Games Association (RPGA). Among other positions he held at TSR, he was Creative Adviser to the Chairman of the Board, Gary Gygax. He continues to be an active member of the gaming community and is a principal auctioneer at many GenCon and Origins game conventions. He will be running 1st edition D&D games as well as other being part of other special events through-out the entire convention. In addition, several local Frank Mentzer fans have come forward to volunteer to run other early edition games, hoping to create one of the largest gatherings of 1st and 2nd edition fans. Want to re-live the fun of playing back in the day? Want to experience the original D&D game that started it all? Come join the gathering and have a great time!! I saw Frank at OGC this year but was a little star stuck so I didn't introduce myself and now I get a second chance. Can't wait!! Flames of War Regional Qualifier: New England FoW and historical miniatures fans prepare!! Gordon Pittsley of Alder Hobby in NH (formerly Empire Games) is hosting a FoW mid-war 1500 point tournament, 3 rounds on Saturday followed by a 3 round Mega battle "up the bloody boot" on Sunday. Tables will be themed for a Italian theater operation so any army painted or themed for that theater will have a special game option of deciding to go first or second for each round. Not a game breaker but just a fun way to encourage and thank people who get into the theme . I've met Gordon and he is by far, the biggest fan of FoW I have met. I believe that he will put his whole heart into these events. Jay Libby: co-owner of Dilly Green Bean Games, a Maine based independent role-playing company. He is a designer, artist, editor, and writer for DGBG and I am very pleased to have him join everyone by bringing his special brand of Dilly Green Bean humor to TotalCon. It's been great reading your posts, Jay!! TC Realms supplement release: New release for TotalCon's own 3.5ed role-playing game, TC Realms, now ten years strong! This is an on-going campaign system with character updates, offered at several NE conventions during the year. Starting at TotalCon, guilds will become available offering expanded classes, prestige classes, and new skills for characters to explore. As someone who has had to proof read the supplement, I am really happy that they are expanding the offerings for TC characters. Good stuffs! Brad Younie: president of Carnivore games, is returning to offer more great role-playing events. Carnivore Games received the first New England Gamers Choice Award for best independent game at TotalCon XXII. It is great honor to have Brad returning to TotalCon. I've heard nothing but glowing reviews of his events. RealmsMasters GameForge: a great indie game company featuring the card game Chaos Isles. This year the great team from RealmsMasters was in our exhibit hall and they have decided to come back and run events featuring their great products in 2009! Their games were well received and I know you will enjoy them too! Mark Edwards: is a writer for Catalyst Game Labs and has written several Shadowrun missions. He will hosting several Shadowrun events over the course of the con. Players can create their own characters or pre-gen ones will be available. For more information about the campaign or character creation, please visit: http://shadowrun4.com/missions/index.shtml . I've had the pleasure of meeting Mark and hope I get the chance to peek in on his events this year to see him GM!! Special Wits and Wagers event: join your friends for a special hosted Wits and Wagers event that you won't want to miss. It's all about having some fun!! If I can get a break from my on-site duties, I want to check this out too and have some laughs! And this is only the beginning!! New events are coming in each week. TotalCon..it's all happening here!! And I am very proud to be a part of bringing first rate gaming to the heart of New England. I will be happily bouncing around other cons and events in the coming months, please introduce yourself. Can't wait to blog about more cool games, events, and peeps in the coming months with full post-con reports too. Hey, who needs a life when I've got so many good games to explore 
I am a fan of Bruce Campbell. It started with Evil Dead but true fandom came with the reading of his book, If chins could kill, confessions of a B movie actor. I had the chance to meet him on his tour for the Man With the Screaming Brain. His Q&A and stories were great. The movie, sadly, was not. I have not made it through the whole thing yet and I've tried twice. But he is still cool. I still like his work and I've heard word that he is starting another tour for ... My Name is Bruce! http://www.bruce-campbell.com/pilot.asp?pg=mnibHe will be coming through the New England area around early November but also hitting other parts of the country. I know a few of you have commented on my picture I have posted with him so here's your chance to spend 2.3 seconds with man who put the S in S-Mart! If you get the chance, I recommend it, if only to hear his stories directly from the source. He is a wonderful story teller with a truly off-beat sense of humor. Now go shop smart!!
Every once in a while, games can be come stale. Enthusiasm wanes. You seem lag. You seem to loose the will to get in the game.
A few years ago, I was ready to give up.
But suddenly, something changed. For me, it's the sense of competition that drives me. When a competitor comes on the scene that shakes things up a bit, I love it. It is the fuel for my fire. The twinkle comes back to my eye. It gives me more energy than a dozen red bulls and pushes me to go beyond what I thought possible.
With the recent on-slaught of events in my life, I thought I was loosing a bit of my edge. But I got very LUCKY. The fire has been sparked again. I truly thank those that give me the boost I need to keep going. Without them, I may have burnt out long ago.
GAME ON!!
To all my RPGBomb friends: I haven't been around much that past week and that may continue for a while but know that I have not forgotten about you!! I bought a house last Friday with my SO which needs updating over the next few weeks before the big move at the end of the month, started college again  , and will be gearing up to do alot of work for the big promotional season with Total Confusion XXIII!! All very good things, I am really excited but my computer time will be limited. I will pop in from time to time to read some blogs and posts but will be commenting much less. Can't wait till I have the time to catch up with the Bomb properly again cause this site is awesome and the peeps even better!! Good Gaming! Angelia
Ok, not exactly gaming news BUT genre related with monsters, sci-fi madness, and totally tacky nonsense. For those in the USA...Attack of the BMovie Monsters is on!! http://www.attackofthebmovies.com/I wish I had seen this when it started a few weeks ago but since it's going until Halloween, good times are still to be had! Enjoy. 
Over the weekend, I caught part of the LOTR on tv which was at the part when the group was in Rivendell deciding what to do with the ring with Gimli screaming about never seeing the ring in the hands of an elf. My friend walked by and commented about the lack of quality role-playing, lamenting that people don't play the races correctly and ,well, said: Man, If I were playing a dwarf I'd be looking to kick an elf in the nuts at every chance I got. That's what makes a good game great... Players getting into characters, not the treasure or levels earned at the end of the game. After I stopped laughing at the thought of little dwarf legs flinging out to damage the gonads of unsuspecting elves, it gave me moment to pause and think... What does make a good role-playing adventure? The kills? The treasure? A good group? Story Telling? and what bumps that good game to great? What are your thoughts?
and, clearly, I have none. http://www.drhorrible.com/mushortio.htmlIt's campy, it turns your brain to mush, but it gave me a needed break and a smile. Remember...I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy it!!
There are many highs and lows associated with my job as a con organizer which are only exaggerated by my personal style of OCD perfectionism. I love my job when I'm meeting great folks like I did at OGC and I hate it when I can't do everything I think would make things even better. I am a firm believer in content over fluff, working your butt off to get the best of the best GM's to come to your event, listening to player wants and needs, but dang-it-all...I want it wrapped up in a nice looking package too (throw in everyone happy, rolling magical dice, and enjoying the con as much as possible!). Is that too much to ask? I want it all and then some. I'm not ashamed to admit it. I can't do it all, and even if I could, I don't know how but I bet I could find some really cool peeps who could help me Hey, a girl has to have dreams!! With 6 months and 13 days to go until TotalCon XXIII, I've got too much time to stress yet not enough time to accomplish everything I want. I need to trust in the game, stop worry about things I can't control, and simply do the best I can. I guess pigs can fly too Anyone who thinks organizers do this for glory, fame, or even fun , has to be crazier than me! Any other organizers out there that can understand my rant? joys? frustrations? Share with me!
I wanted to say thanks to RPGBomb This weekend I went to OGC and met a few of the members on this site and it made my experience there even better than last year! Blinovitch...nice to finally get to meet you face to face. Still can't get over how young you look in person! Why did I ever think you were closer to my age??? I would love it if you could post details/scenario for you game, how did it go?. I had wanted to ask you more about it but got side tracked. As a fan of the discworld books, I'd be interested in hearing more about it. DocUrban...pleasure to meet and greet you!! Thanks for letting me know about RPGBomb upgrades and for grabbing some TotalCon flyers to help support us. I will be trying out some of the new group functions. Hope you enjoyed having a green Meeple buddy! *lol* StupidSmurf...wish I had the chance to do more than just say "hi". Would have loved to sit around and listen to some curmudgeonly ramblings in person. Hopefully next year! Darkforce...great to meet you too! Can't express enough how excited I am that you will be attending TotalCon!! I look foward to working with you in the coming months! Andre...well, meeting you was beyond awesome. I understand now why you were chosen as a nominee for the northeast gamers choice awards. You definitely bring role-playing to a different level than I am used to seeing. Not only that, but it was so nice just chatting with you about everything and nothing all at the same time! Wish I could have joined you for dinner. I hope we get a chance to meet again at Carnage. Last but not least... Dari, Captain_Khel and all the other OGC staff. Had a great time! Congrats to Khel for her first run at con chair...awesome job!! I hope I get to meet more great RPGBomb members at other cons in the future!!!
Recently I heard about some local gaming issues where a group has a member, who while usually a nice guy, can loose his temper, throw dice and generally makes things unpleasant for the others. Advice was sought because the organizer did not want to get rid of the player because "he spends alot of money in the local store and supports local conventions". Wanting to make things better is admirable, especially if you like someone and want to save the group but to start off by citing money spent as the major factor in not offending an offender? Am I right to find that off-putting? Are things so bad that we have to tolerate poor sportsmanship to keep a few dollars? Would I be considered less important as an asset if I played fairly but had less money to spend? What about the others who have a tainted experience because of one bad apple? What if the bad apple starts to spread his bad habits to others? How you would handle a poorly tempered player? Just curious.
This Saturday, April 19, 2008 ,TotalCon is sponsoring an
all day free board game event at the Rising Phoenix Game store in
Leicester, MA.
It will feature a Race for the Galaxy tournament starting at 2pm.
1st place winner will recieve a free registration to Total Confusion
XXIII next February.
In addition, there will be an MiB on hand running Steve Jackson
Games or you can choose from the Total Con library of games
featuring Power Grid, Puerto Rico, Ticket to Ride, Arkham Horror
Notre Dome, Formula De, Iron Dragon, Union Pacific, Thurin and
Taxis, Ra, GOA, Carcassonne and more! Or you can bring your own
games.
You can register online at www.totalcon.com or stop by for open
gaming fun all day long. 10am-12am.
Rising Phoenix is easy to find in MA: RPG is located at the corner
of McCarthy Ave and Main Street (Rt 9) In Cherry Valley. Cherry
Valley is a township of Leicester, MA just on the Worcester border.
To get to us from the East and North, take rt. 495 to rt. 290 W.
Take 290 W to rt 9 W. Follow Rt 9 W through Worcester, until you
enter into Leicester (Welcome to Leicester Sign). We are 500 Ft on
the left hand side as you enter into Leicester.
To get to us from the West and South, follow rt. 9 going east
through Leicester. After you pass Giguere Gymnastics on your left,
RPG will be the next brick building on your right. Take a right onto
McCarthy Ave.
We hope to see you there! 
This weekend, in Providence, RI, there will be a memorial event in honor of HP Lovecraft. Last year I went on the HP Lovecraft walking tour and have visited the Swan Point Cemetery more than once (it is a beautiful place, that I would (and do) visit for more than just a peek at HP's final resting place. It was very interesting. They read passages and showed us the actual sites he wrote about including pointing out details on his own house that appeared in his stories. I have seen the Shunned House! I'll have to post some pictures that were taken on the tour when the site is fully updated.
Anyways...
Here are the details about the event be held March 30, 2008:
The next H.P. Lovecraft Commemorative Service will take place on Sunday, March 30, 2008, at 3pm at the Ladd Observatory (1891), 210 Doyle Avenue, Providence. Emceed by Christian Henry Tobler, a noted author of several scholarly and splendidly illustrated published texts on German Medieval longsword and field combat, the service will observe the seventy-first anniversary of the passing of the renowned horror fiction author with dramatic readings of select excerpts from his prose and poetry. The service will take place on the front lawn of the observatory. In the event of inclement weather, the event will be moved inside. Following proceedings at the observatory, attendees will be invited to drive to Swan Point Cemetery, 585 Blackstone Boulevard, where those who wish may briefly pay their respects at the Phillips family plot where H.P. Lovecraft is interred. All will then be invited to convene at nearby India restaurant for victuals and conversation. For further information concerning this event, as well as future projects such as lectures, walking tours, and dramatic performances organized by the H.P. Lovecraft Commemorative Activities Committee, please call (401) 732-4870, or email ConstableCJ@Hotmail.com.
Tags: Call Of Cthulhu Lovecraft Event
In the span of one week, at least five times, by different people, I have been told that I am weird, out of the norm and...well...different. The last one was yesterday at work when dropping off a client at a worksite. The women there looked at my t-shirt which was the SMOFcon t-shirt I got last December when I attended the event. They asked what SMOF stood for...um, secret masters of fandom... . To which they replied, "you really like that weird stuff don't you?" They commented on how they have seen me with other t-shirts and knew I was into weird stuff yet, I act so normal. The clients love me, I'm quiet and rational. Well...yeah!! But I guess the two don't mix in the minds of some. Then they wanted to know if I knew about "anime". They made me laugh. I had to tell them yes, I did. I plugged Anime Boston and Another Anime Con since one had two kids who loved anime enough to have costumes, etc. Suddenly, I became cool because I knew people who run and/or work at these events. Well, still weird but in a cool way. I guess I have always been like this...functional yet slightly outside the box. I'm just much more open about it now that I work for a con. More vocal, more visible, and having more fun than ever. I am who I am and I firmly believe that gaming benefits society as a whole. We need creative thinkers. We need imagination to continue to move us forward. We, as social creatures, need more companionship than what you can get by typing letters on a instant message during an on-line game. It is a big motivation for why I do what I do at TotalCon and for the gaming community at large. So yeah, if that makes me weird, it is a crown that I happy to wear. I am a geek and I am proud.
|
