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Origins Anyone?
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bbarsh
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Posted: Fri Jun 23, 2006 9:10 pm

Can believe July is right around the corner. That means Origins is up. It is next weekend (Thur-Sun).

I am thinking of making a one day run - probably Friday. It is only a 3 1/2 hour drive from here in Detroit area. Right now it is 50/50 at best, but I will see how the week works out.

Anybody making the trip to Columbus?

And I could've bought these damn modules off the 1$ rack!!!

New modules for your Old School game http://pacesettergames.com/

Everything Pacesetter at http://pacesettergames.blog.com/

Xaxaxe
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Posted: Fri Jun 23, 2006 9:51 pm

I've just got to chime in with my tale of the one time I did the exact same trip.

Ypsilanti to Columbus ... circa 1997 ... I cross over into Ohio, and I get a speeding ticket.

Anyone who has ever lived in Michigan knows exactly what I'm talking about. The Ohio cops love to see Michigan plates.

mordrin
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Posted: Fri Jun 23, 2006 10:35 pm

Not I.

Does anyone else think having 2 of the 3 biggest conventions (correct?) in the country in consecutive months in adjoining (only moderately populous) states is weird?

What does the East Coast or the South have for conventions anyway?

ExTSR
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Posted: Fri Jun 23, 2006 10:35 pm

The cops have bagged me, too, with WI plates.

I won't let you push my button about Origins tho. Brief version: it's run by GAMA, who has forsaken their charter of helping the industry in their chase of the almighty dollar. They don't want a game auction. And they have a lousy website.

The only thing I miss about it is playing wargames. ::shrug::

Marlith
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Posted: Fri Jun 23, 2006 11:34 pm

ExTSR wrote:The cops have bagged me, too, with WI plates.

I won't let you push my button about Origins tho. Brief version: it's run by GAMA, who has forsaken their charter of helping the industry in their chase of the almighty dollar. They don't want a game auction. And they have a lousy website.

The only thing I miss about it is playing wargames. ::shrug::

I was going to post about this myself. I actually live in near Columbus and for a few the last 3 -4 years work has prevented me from attending for one reason or another. This year I could attend but I went to the website and it appears to be a shell of what it was. Is this the case? And do you still attend and run the auction?

Information Superhighway - A Rough Whimper of Insanity - Scott Hansen

FormCritic
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Posted: Sat Jun 24, 2006 2:52 am

Marlith wrote:
ExTSR wrote:The cops have bagged me, too, with WI plates.

I won't let you push my button about Origins tho. Brief version: it's run by GAMA, who has forsaken their charter of helping the industry in their chase of the almighty dollar. They don't want a game auction. And they have a lousy website.

The only thing I miss about it is playing wargames. ::shrug::

I was going to post about this myself. I actually live in near Columbus and for a few the last 3 -4 years work has prevented me from attending for one reason or another. This year I could attend but I went to the website and it appears to be a shell of what it was. Is this the case? And do you still attend and run the auction?

It seems odd to me that WOTC would move to Seattle and ignore the West.

The convention action is in the Midwest, or in California.

Sucks.

Mark

"But I have watched the dragons come, fire-eyed, across the world."

Xaxaxe
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Posted: Sat Jun 24, 2006 3:17 am

I mostly gave up on conventions a few years ago, after completing my "to-do" list:

1. Go to GenCon once;

2. Go to Origins once;

3. Go to San Diego ComicCon once;

As mentioned above, most of them are difficult to get to for us Pacific time zone folks. And GenCon SoCal, of which I have attended all three, is headed straight down the toilet.*

+++++

* Frank (ExTSR), I remember seeing you at the 2004 version (the one with all the 30th anniversary displays). I was one of 5,000 people to introduce themselves to you that weekend. Remember???

bbarsh
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Posted: Sat Jun 24, 2006 9:47 am

My sister lives in Columbus and we make the trek down several times a year - so far no speeding tickets. But you have to be extremely careful on 23 around Marion.

Anyway, it seems I can never get down on Origins weekend. I haven't been to one down there in at least five or six years and I wasn't very impressed - compared to Gen Con which at one time I had a 20 year consective attendance streak. There is no comparison anymore - They used to be closer in scope - Baltimore, Detroit, etc.

I thought for sure once WoTC got their claws on TSR that GC would move west. But why change a sure fire thing. And if you consult a map, you will see that there are more large cities within six hours of these conventions than anywere else other than NY. It is also much cheaper to come to the midwest than it is either coast. Airfare, hotels, etc.

And I could've bought these damn modules off the 1$ rack!!!

New modules for your Old School game http://pacesettergames.com/

Everything Pacesetter at http://pacesettergames.blog.com/

FormCritic
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Posted: Sat Jun 24, 2006 10:16 pm

No question that the Midwest is a logical place for a national convention. It's just beyond the casual scope of people from the West Coast.

(Nothing "west" about "Midwest." Years ago, I couldn't figure out what my Chicago cousins were talking about when they kept saying "back east" or "in the East." I thought, "Dude, Chicago is the East!"

"But I have watched the dragons come, fire-eyed, across the world."

grodog
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Posted: Sat Jun 24, 2006 10:53 pm

Alas, Bill, I won't be at Origins this year. Perhaps next year....

Allan Grohe ([email protected])
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Editor and Project Manager, Black Blade Publishing
https://www.facebook.com/BlackBladePublishing/

Xaxaxe
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Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2006 2:02 am

<Edited: following moderation, the original post makes absolutely no sense now. And it wasn't that great of a post, anyway.>

Marlith
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Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2006 9:54 am

I live so close to Columbus I could almost walk there and I am going to have to pass. As I said earlier or meant to I have the chance this year but it looks like it has been run into the ground. I went the first four years or so it was here and they had celebrities from movies and TV that were sci-fi oriented. They do not seem to have that now. The gaming celebs are cool and all but just from the site and the information they but forth I think it will be a bitter disappointment. I may let it live on in my mind with its glory years and shoot for GenCon. If anyone goes that wnt when it moved to Columbus and it is on par with that let me know please and I will try and make it next year.

Information Superhighway - A Rough Whimper of Insanity - Scott Hansen

bbarsh
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Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2006 10:49 am

Before this thread got twisted, there were several posts about the downright lameness of Origins.

I have not been to one in five (+/-) years; right after it first moved to Columbus.

What else is gone other than the games auction. Origins was at one time a great convention. I am not expecting much from what some of you guys are posting.

I know it is weak on rpg stuff - not a big deal for me. What else has faded?

And I could've bought these damn modules off the 1$ rack!!!

New modules for your Old School game http://pacesettergames.com/

Everything Pacesetter at http://pacesettergames.blog.com/

Marlith
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Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2006 11:00 am

bbarsh wrote:Before this thread got twisted, there were several posts about the downright lameness of Origins.

I have not been to one in five (+/-) years; right after it first moved to Columbus.

What else is gone other than the games auction. Origins was at one time a great convention. I am not expecting much from what some of you guys are posting.

I know it is weak on rpg stuff - not a big deal for me. What else has faded?

I have not been in that long myself I would guess. The last year I went was either 2000 or 2001. I was hoping Frank had been going and could give us an update.

Information Superhighway - A Rough Whimper of Insanity - Scott Hansen

Xaxaxe
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Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2006 4:51 pm

bbarsh wrote:I know it is weak on rpg stuff - not a big deal for me. What else has faded?

My one trip was, IIRC, 1997, so it has been a while. I had an okay time ... Columbus is not a bad city at all, and the convention seemed pretty healthy to me.

Two things, though:

1. Even back then, I completely ignored the Origins Awards, which have somehow gotten even worse. It's too bad that what could be gaming's biggest night has just become totally political (uh-oh, there's that word again ... more flames are coming from VFire, I guess).

2. I thought it was odd that I could wait a month, travel a few more miles, and end up at GenCon, which, as we all know, is a wonderful convention. Two big conventions, consecutive months, both in the Midwest ... it's still not making any sense.

Still, even with some definite negatives, there's really nothing like a big gaming convention; it's like a siren call to return to the motherland. Even just talking about Origins these last couple of days has gotten my blood pumping ...

+++++

Got your PMs, Bbarsh. Just let me know, and I'll PayPal you some coin before you leave. Not a big deal either way. Thanks again.

faro
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Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2006 9:16 pm

Aha... we have our board back. Thanks, Scott, if you needed to kick that.
(2am, though.

)

bbarsh wrote:I know it is weak on rpg stuff - not a big deal for me. What else has faded?

Read somewhere that Dave Arneson stopped-by at the WotC stall at Origins a year or two back and they asked him whether he might be interested in learning about RPGs.

Maybe Frank's afraid the same might happen to him; somewhere he's not known, that might be a dumping-ground for newbie staff?

Xaxaxe
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Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2006 9:24 pm

faro wrote:Read somewhere that Dave Arneson stopped-by at the WotC stall at Origins a year or two back and they asked him whether he might be interested in learning about RPGs.

Funny, but not stunning. The WotC folks I have run into at conventions both large and small have generally been friendly enough, but clueless about anything they hadn't been specifically trained for.

Ask a D&D question to a Magic: TG guy ... get a blank stare. Ask a Star Wars minis question to a D&D guy ... get a blank stare. I'm sure you get the idea.

ExTSR
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Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2006 11:01 pm

As I have worked for a largish company a time or two, I bear no ill-will against those who don't recognize me or my name. After all, I'm just an old dude who USED to write game stuff, for a different generation. ;>

By contrast, I must say, some of the high muckety-mucks at GAMA will go into a frothing rage if they're not immediately recognized and honored. I've seen it happen more than once. And if they're ambling about with a few too many under the belt -- which I have also seen more than once -- they're liable to act on that rage immediately.

(I have no problem with someone who drinks so much it's hard to hang onto the rug. I do have a problem with a game executive at a game convention who insists on public demonstrations of that condition.)

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