Crackin' Open Copper...

This past week I've been crazy with emails from folks looking for WEGS advice. Seems that there were at least three games running this weekend. These were the first official WEGS 101 games that have taken place without me... Cool stuff!

I also cracked open WEGS Copper Players Notebook this week to assess how much work that book needs. Copper is the version of WEGS I had wanted to release at GenCon last year (as all 12 of you who read this blog religiously might recall...). Luckily that did not happen, allowing me to circle back and kreate WEGS 101 as the first official WEGS offering instead. Lots of detail on this tale can be found blogged out below...

Copper was put on ice in its near-completed state about a year ago and is sitting pretty at 210 pages right now. It needs a solid re-write and, just maybe, a little content. It's jammed with art. Copper is the next level for players, allowing them to custom-build the Ark of their desires. Whereas WEGS 101 really limits folks to stay within their Arketype (not really allowing much in the way of player options), Copper tears that wall down completely and folks can mix/match the hero of their dreams.

It also gives folks a little taste of the things to come...

Two Mo' Cons...

We've submitted our game menu for Ubercon (NJ) and MACE (NC)! These should be the final two cons for the Wegshogs this year (not counting the Wegzoramacon in December). As Ubercon is our home con chances are the full Wegshog team will be there in force. We've got an aggressive game sched - we tend to go bttw at Uber. It's the con where WEGS got its start. This year is extra-special as we finally have a product released!!! Sweetness indeed.

Willy the Second helped with one of the new scenarios we're launching called From Dusk 'til Dead, subtitle "Say 'ello to my little boomstick". It's pretty much Evil Dead (the movie) so it fits in perfect for our traditional midnite quicky on Saturday. I love/dread the midnite quickies... They are anything but quick and at my age, sleep is a precious thing. On a side note, me and Will were floating around in a pool this weekend (not a pretty site), discussing the various mechanics we will be using for the "boomsticks", "chainswords" and the evil book at the center of the horror - the Wegsronomicon... This is gonna be one deadly scenario!

MACE, the other con, will be a first-timer for me. Folks have told me good things about MACE, so it's high on the list of cons to do. Plus it's in one of the 13 colonies and helps us to check off our "First 13" little marketing hit list.

That's all for now, folks!

A Little Trip To Triadcon...

For those of you following my exciting travels from con to con, I hit Triadcon in Maryland last weekend. This was a solo endeavor, sans Wegshogs. Never been to this one, but it looked ok from the website - where it promised a small and friendly atmosphere. It also had a superb online event listing, but no pre-registration. The website made the con look better than it was - but I was not disappointed. It was nice to be at a no-pressure con.

It's always dicey hitting a con for the first time and you never know what to expect. I had four games on the schedule, of which only two ran. So, I ended up with lots of downtime. One such gap allowed me to sit down with Mel W. and be introduced to the game Agon, which has really cool design elements and character progression options. It's ancient greek hero-mythos that neatly entwines character creation, advancement and story-telling challenges for some super results. It's def a game that I'll be buying and playing. Thanks, Mel!

The WEGS 101 games were placed right by the entrance to the "rpg flea market", so lots of folks passed by all day. The con kinda cleared out at night. I think I was a little shocked by the lack of college age folks attending the con (being that the con was held at the University of Maryland). All in all, it was a slow-paced con that does not have a big role-player base yet. I'd be tempted to do it again next year if time allows.

One of the funniest things about this con was that the games were held in the dining halls that surrounded a central cafeteria. The perimeter of each room had a conveyor belt system to put empty cafeteria trays on which then traveled around the room to the central kitchen area. Luckily, the room I was in was not actively using this device, however the rooms other games were held in had the apparatus in full swing. All day long, discarded trays with leftovers went chunking by the gamers. Lots o' fun!

Sales So Far...

Well, WEGS 101 is officially three weeks old. Sales are trickling in via the internet/Paypal store. For all 12 of you who read this blog (and who haven't picked up your copy yet), details are here:

http://www.gamewick.com/Buy_WEGS_101.html

So far we have WEGS 101 in Ohio, Colorado, Oregon, New York and, of course, New Jersey (I made my mom buy a copy...). We did a limited run of 250 - so don't wait to get your copy of the first print run! I had wanted to go with 300 copies to be in sync with the fated Spartans, but just couldn't muster the courage to do so...

I'll probably need those 50 for the Christmas rush, too...

GenCon - Beginning or End?

The last week I've been trying to figure out if GenCon is the start of the "gaming season" or the end. I've been so conditioned by my life in theatre that I think of things in "seasons". Heck, everything has a season - especially sports. Theatre, however, generally encompasses a full year, traditionally with the summers dark. Big opener in the fall, followed another production pre-year end. Second half is a mid-winter show and then a pre-summer closer. Factor in that rehearsals for the first show of the season begins mid-summer and there really isn't a break to speak of. Enough of theatre talk, I gave that life up for my gaming...

So, GenCon... What is it? I'd like to say "end". This is probably because GenCon is so draining with the schedules we run that once that con is over, I don't want to think about gaming or working on games for a couple of weeks following (hence, my lack of postings of late). GenCon also comes hot on the heels of Origins, so the ramping up for Origins is like starting the engines for GenCon. If anything, I use Origins as my final playtesting ground for the games we offer at GenCon.

GenCon definately has that world series feel (and Origins a penultimate feel). GenCon is the big moment that you strive for if you're releasing a product. After the con is over, there's definately a lull until the local cons begin to pick up speed. The fact that summer ends a couple of weeks thereafter also gives it the flavor of an ending point.

So, end it is.

Time to get the new season of gaming started!