Now that we’re a little ways past Origins, and the annual ritual complaining about the convention seems to have subsided (except on the "board room" thread here on BGG), I want to ask the community for some constructive advice.
We all know wargaming has spent a few years on the wane at Origins - mainly through neglect rather than malicious intent - and would like to see it come back. This year, we took some first steps toward putting together a wargaming program to give grognards some dedicated events, in a dedicated space, with support from vendors. Included in that vendor support were playing events with the designers/publishers, as well as prizes for participants (and props to Lost Battalion for going *waaaay* overboard on their prizes).
Even with the advance notice, the vendor support, a generous location in the D-Hall, and full slate of events, we still had some fairly light participation. There was, on day 1, some confusion about where we were; that was quickly straightened out with the Tabletop HQ. But there were more than a few events with no participants, and quite a times where just our team were pushing counters around with each other, rather than other wargamers.
So I’d like to put it to you guys - what would you want to see in the wargaming program that would bring you to the table and have you playing in ticketed events with us?
- Different slate of games?
- Bad times on the events / wrong length on the events?
- Bad location?
- Couldn’t find the events in the program book?
- Personal jihad against GAMA / Origins that you’re unlikely to attend no matter what? (and if so, it seems odd you’d even be reading/monitoring this board)
- Confusion between us and the board room?
- Didn’t like the vendors that were participating?
- Didn’t even know the program was going on?
Now, we *are* looking at some changes for next year:
- Games times planned at 2-hr blocks instead of 3
---- only 1 generic token instead of 2 for the game session
---- more sessions for each game, instead of fewer/longer
- Big “event” games, such as the entire Eurofront game from Columbia one evening
- Tournament play for smaller/shorter games like Spearpoint 1943
- Better tie-in with the vendors / gaming area with cards for locations/schedules/times at both ends so vendors can better inform customers when their events are and player can more easily find vendors
Every year there's talk about bringing wargamers back to Origins. We stepped out there and tried something new this year, and we’ve got a commitment from GAMA for at least 2 more years to refine this program, so it’s going away and we’ve got some room to experiment.
What would *you* like to see? What would make *you* more likely to come and participate?
Please keep these comments focused on things we *can* control! We can’t affect the ticket price for the show, or move it Atlanta, or play on levitating tables. But within the things we can influence - scheduling, prizes, location, game choices, etc - what would you like to see?
