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Battue is a very cool game, and the components are beautiful. Be sure and check out the review, and sign up at the CharCon Web site, even if you aren't in the West Virginia area. We're hoping to make it more of a regional site for gamers, and would love to have some more players and game designers helping post some content and discussions.
ME
I took a bunch of pictures that I hope to post here this week. A lot of them didn't turn out too well, though, because of the huge room and the very high lighting, which my poor little camera hates. If the picture was at a distance, it was either dark or blurry, but I did get a couple shots of some games being played which I hope will give a good idea of what the con was about.
I also played in a couple of HeroClix tournaments, though just six months ago I had sworn off the Clix entirely. I didn't do too bad, though I didn't do well. Of course, I am one of the least competitive people I have ever met, so while other players were talking about fighting until their last breath, I was looking at the clock and wondering how much longer it would be before they killed my last character.
I did get to meet and talk with some very cool gamers from different parts of the state and found out there are actually a couple of gaming guilds near my area I had never heard of before. I hope to track down some of these people later and see about getting in a game or two.
All in all it was a great time. Next year I hope to be involved in something other than HeroClix, because quite frankly that takes up a little too much of my time and I felt like I missed a lot of other opportunities this year I likely would have enjoyed more. I am hooked on the collecting, but not so much the playing, so the tournaments really are wasted time for me. This year there was no Clix swag and I didn't place high enough to win anything, so even on that end it was a bust. Next year I will have a better plan, and maybe even get in on some role-playing. Stranger things have happened.
Thanks again to Travis and the CharCon crew for having me out this year. It was a lot of fun and a pleasure to be invited. I can't wait to hear whether I won anything in the raffle, as there were some excellent items up for grabs. If you want to know anything more about CharCon, or might be interested in attending next year, visit their Web site here.
I will write more later this week when I'm a little less sleepy. Until then, I'm going to bed.
ME
Why am I so excited about this convention? Well, in case you didn't know, there isn't a lot of organized gaming in West Virginia. There are some gaming groups, especially in the Charleston area, but most times it is a bunch of friends who quietly get together every now and again to play board games, do some roleplaying or have little plastic men fight one another. There also hasn't been a major gaming convention in the state for as long as I can remember. Last year was the first CharCon, and for a first-year convention it went remarkably well, so I have a feeling it will be even better this year.
If any of you out there think you might be in the Charleston, W.Va., area the weekend of Oct. 20-21, be sure and check out CharCon. The more people who support these kinds of events, the better and more prolific they become. Hopefully we will have a great showing this year, which would lead to all sorts of possibilities for next year and years ahead.
So check out the article and the podcast and let me know what you think. Also visit the CharCon Web site and join the forums, even if you aren't able to attend this year. I'd love to see CharCon.org become a year-round online meeting place for gamers in West Virginia and surrounding areas.
If you are going to be at CharCon this year, I will be there Saturday, Oct. 20, doing interviews, playing games and hopefully recording a full podcast which (again, hopefully) will be posted Sunday, Oct. 21. Look me up: I likely will be the only guy there wearing a tie.
Until then,
ME
Well, sufficed to say, things haven't worked out the way I planned this week. I was hoping to use my time at home to write a couple of game reviews, do numerous updates to these pages and basically wallow in all things gaming. But as is, I was pretty sick and uncomfortable the first part of the week, and now I am just tired and trying to get through the last bit of this. My hope is to be back to normal and back to work at the beginning of next week. We'll see how that plays out.
But this doesn't mean I haven't been working on gaming-related projects this week. I've sent out e-mails to several game companies and even gotten a few replies. I exchanged e-mails with Andy Hopp, coordinator of Con on the Cob, a uniquely-named gaming convention in Akron, Ohio, a little more than 2 hours from here. I hope to write an article on the con as we get a little closer to November when the con is held, and I plan to do updates from the convention using my blog and CU.
Now, Con on the Cob may not sound like much compared with GenCon Indy and Origins, two of the biggest gaming conventions in the United States, but I have high hopes for this event. First off, they have booked some really good guests, including Steve Kenson, designer of Green Ronin's "Mutants & Masterminds" roleplaying game. I am really looking forward to meeting him, and hope to drop him an e-mail sometime soon asking for an interview. I haven't had much luck getting review copies from Green Ronin, but I have played M&M, and would love to review the second edition of the game which came out last year. M&M 2e might very well be one of the best super hero roleplaying games on the market today, and I am a big fan of super hero games.
The convention also will feature as the guest of honor artist Larry Elmore, who is a bit of a legend in the roleplaying community, especially those of us who grew up on Dungeons & Dragons.
On top of that, the convention looks like a lot of fun. Lots of games and gamers. I am eager to learn a little bit more about the convention and to meet Andy and the other convention-goers.
I will write a little more on my gaming convention plans as we get closer to the season, and hopefully do a lot of show floor reporting wherever I attend. I already know Origins in Columbus, Ohio, CharCon in Charleston, W.Va., and Mid-Ohio Comic Con, also in Columbus, are on my list.
Should be a great year.
ME
- Location:still @ home
