Woohoo! A button still, for me!

Hmmm... a mailing might, indeed, be in order, as my luck with driving up north, even to Wausau, has been quite poor... I'll PM you. Thank you so very, very, very much!

That will go down as one of my coolest Gen Con acquisitions this year... and that includes a copy of The Order of the Stick: No Cure for the Paladin Blues which, I discovered upon purchasing it, had an excerpt from my Comics Buyer's Guide review of the first OotS book as the leading review on its back cover...

Prufrock wrote:I got to tell you guys, the button is very cool.  Thanks to Frank for doing that and taking time to give me his autograph and personal tour of the Darlene paintings.  I was hard pressed not to come back to the auction, but I knew I would go after one of the skeleton drawings and I just do not have the money right now.

Next year everyone plan on attending the 1st annual Acaeum luncheon.  Details to follow.

Martin

You know what would be better! An Acaeum dinner on the Friday prior to the collectables auction.  Get everybody together about 7:00 and eat, talk and get merry for a few hours and hit the auction all in one swoop.  It would be a blast.  

Blackmoor wrote:You know what would be better! An Acaeum dinner on the Friday prior to the collectables auction.

Would indeed be fun, but not for me.
We run collectibles from 6 to 12 (or 1 or 2). Every night (Thu Fri Sat).  

But please don't defer on my account; I'm just unusually busy. I heartily recommend the best steakhouse within 300 miles, "St. Elmo's", right across the street from the Ram (the infamous gamer joint that's #1 in the national chain every GenCon week). St. Elmo's is a very classy upscale place.

Buca's Italian is reasonably good but they cheat on desserts (I caught them with their cannoli half-filled and using runny pastry cream; the ones at my bakery are better by at least two orders of magnitude).

Count me in.

I've eaten at St. Elmo's and its good (but you also pay top dollar for it).

ShaneG.

The reason I suggested lunch was because the auction would be running during dinner and I figure everyone will want to be there.  However, we will hash it out over the next few weeks and figure the best way to go.  I will get menu's from a couple of place's and post them here and we will have a poll to see which you all want.

Look for a thread in the coming weeks for 2007 Acaeum Lunch/Dinner.

Martin

Blackmoor wrote:I was one of the first people to buy a copy. I joked that maybe I should buy them all! They didn't care!  Buy one or buy ten they said.  Very odd!

Congrats to the few, the proud, the quick  If anyone has a spare to trade, please let me know:  I'd like a copy since I playtested the thing

Oh, and FYI, Gygax made a comment @ ENWorld today that he'll be attending GenCon next year, too

grodog wrote:
Actually, I was told by my friend Jon, who did the AD&D conversion, that he only got one copy.  And he was supposed to get about 20, for the about 20 people who playtested the adventure.  But none of the playtesters got copies at all.  Le sigh.

I understand being upset, but if Goodman's pointing the bag at Jon, then they're wrong.

The PLAYTESTERS didn't even get copies?

I don't feel near as bad now.

And much thanks to Gus and and Prufrock.....who didn't get copies either, and in the process didn't snag me a copy.  I have to keep scratching my head on this one.  The public relations blunder of something this magnitude is astounding.

Mike B.

Contrarian wrote:

I didn't hang around long enough to hear "the only 60 copies" part.  I got pissed and walked away after they told me the guy who did the 1E conversion bought a big pile of them.  Nice to know he got a good investment out of his work.  I look forward to seeing it on ebay.

Seriously, I'm really, really pissed.  I now officially hate Goodman Games with a passion I lack the words to fully describe.  Why'd they bother announcing this module on Dragonsfoot if they didn't want to sell that many?  Dumbasses.

(If you think this post is harsh, I assure you that the words in my head are much nastier.  Much, much nastier.)

IttyBitty wrote:

Yes, they are pretty dumb....

MShipley88 wrote:

It would be good to choose the most civil and constructive words possible and send them directly to Goodman Games.  They need constructive criticism.

grodog wrote:

Actually, I was told by my friend Jon, who did the AD&D conversion, that he only got one copy.  And he was supposed to get about 20, for the about 20 people who playtested the adventure.  But none of the playtesters got copies at all.  Le sigh.

I understand being upset, but if Goodman's pointing the bag at Jon, then they're wrong.

Badmike wrote:

The PLAYTESTERS didn't even get copies?

I don't feel near as bad now.

And much thanks to Gus and and Prufrock.....who didn't get copies either, and in the process didn't snag me a copy.  I have to keep scratching my head on this one.  The public relations blunder of something this magnitude is astounding.

Hey Guys,



I'm new to the Acaeum site, but I wanted to tell you the truth of what went down at the Goodman Games booth at GenCon last Thursday.  



Grodog's right - I am the guy that did the conversion of DCC #12.5 Iron Crypt of the Heretic from 3.5/d20 to AD&D First Edition.  I put a bunch of hours into that little project, including having the converted version  playtested by no less than 12 people from my gaming group.  I did the conversion to be able to run the module under AD&D at a couple of  conventions.  My compensation for the effort was the personal satisfaction of having done it at all.  I would do it again, for the same pay (and may indeed do just that in the near future).  



Before the convention, I promised the first edition playtesters that I would get each of them a copy of the module, even if I had to buy them myself.  (As I understand it, it is somewhat the industry standard that playtesters get a free copy for their efforts.)  I even let Joseph know that I was planning to buy 15-20 copies for the playtesters and a few other guys that I thought would like copies (including Superfan, the guy that did the awesome Dundjinni battle maps for the module, who was not going to be able to attend the convention).  



I knew that Goodman Games was going to do a small print run.  I think Joseph even said that in his announcement on the Dragonsfoot board.  I had no idea what the module price was going to be at GenCon, nor did I know how big (or small) the print run was going to be ahead of time.  But I suspected that the modules would sell pretty quickly.  



I arrived at the dealer hall at about 10:20 on Thursday morning and headed straight to the Goodman booth.  There it was, a small stack of the AD&D modules, right along side some of Goodman's newest releases.  Joseph came up, interduced himself, and gave me my one comp copy of the module.  I even had a storage tub with me to be able to carry the copies I had intended to buy.  



Then I managed to meet the author of the module, Harley Stroh.  We talked until about 11:30, but I was getting anxious about not getting the playtester copies of the module.  So, I excused myself and went back to the front table of the booth to get the other copies.  



I was told that the 1E modules had already sold out!  Goodman Games did a 60-copy print run of the modules, and they were all gone!  I was in shock!  I got one copy, my copy, and I had promised to get almost 20 copies for other people.  Harley, the author, didn't even get a copy!  The author himself!  



I quickly located Joseph and asked what had happened.  He said that he did a 60-copy print run since he didn't have any idea how it would sell, good or bad.  He honestly didn't think it would sell out at the Con.  He certainly didn't think it would sell out before 11:30 on the first day of GenCon.  



Joseph has done a few special release convention modules for a couple of recent conventions.  Typically, they have been sequels to other adventures in the DCC line.  He had some basis for estimating the number of 3.5/d20 special release convention modules, but he had nothing on which to base the print run for this AD&D compatible, DCC conversion, module.  So, it boiled down to a business decision based upon Joseph's instincts and a few, a few, positive posts on one or two message boards.  



He may have made a bad business decision.  But, there is a good ending to this tale.  Joseph has offered to do a second printing of the module.   Goodman Games is going to take orders for the module for a couple of weeks before doing the second printing.  I think this is a great way for Goodman Games to rectify the error made in underestimating the demand for these modules.  I intend to order the 15-20 I need, even though they will be from the second printing.  



This is a great opportunity for the OD&D/AD&D to speak to the market as one, and to let Goodman Games know how many of us are out here, still playing by the older rules.  I think we could get Goodman's attention if a bunch of folks place orders for the 1E version of this module over the next couple of weeks.  Nothing would make me happier than for Joseph to "have to do" another, much larger print run of this module.  



This module is a proven product.  The 3.5/d20 version has sold well.  It was nominated for Best Adventure for this year's ENnies.  I've ran the converted version 6 times, and it is still fresh and exciting for me as a DM.  Don't miss the opportunity to order a copy of the second printing of the module.  Head to Goodman Games site and place your order.





I know this sounds self serving and all, but honestly, I'm not making anything on the sale of more modules.  The only satisfaction I get is that some other guys that enjoy the same hobby that I do will have the opportunity to get a copy of this great module, and I played a part in making that happen.  



So, don't be too hard on Joseph Goodman and his hard working staff and writers.  A poor business decision may have been made, but they're trying to make things work out in the end.  





Sincerely,



Jon Hershberger

tacojohn4547