Armchair Dragoons Forums
Wargaming => Conventions, Clubs, and Events => Topic started by: bayonetbrant on June 25, 2019, 04:00:06 PM
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Origins 2020 will be back in Columbus again, and in mid-June again (though this time a little later)
Make your plans and/or excuses now!
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So are we talking June 17-20, or June 24-27?
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So are we talking June 17-20, or June 24-27?
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I'll start planning my excuses.
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Mine too!
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It's after 59 of my birthdays.
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I’m just going to reuse my prior excuses.
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I’m just going to reuse my prior excuses.
:bigthumb:
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Email from Origins/GAMA today
Mark your calendars for these upcoming dates! We'll remind you of other important deadlines later in the year.
Friday, Nov 15 - Badge Registration AND Hotel Block open
We'll share a detailed walkthrough for both of these events as we get closer to make it as smooth as possible.
Sunday, March 1 - Early Bird pricing closes
Discounted rates on badges will end on this date. Make sure to register before then and use the money you save on events!
Saturday, May 2 - Event Registration opens
We'll share the Event Grid beforehand so you can snag all the events you're most excited for ahead of time!
Monday, June 1 - Event Pre-registration closes
You will still be able to register for events on-site, but closing pre-reg early helps us minimize potential problems during the show.
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Changes to the Origins Awards
https://www.originsawards.net/news/2020-origins-awards-changes
Of note (our emphasis)
1. 2020 Categories
The Award Categories should be an accurate reflection of the current industry game offerings, and we felt there were some tweaks to make. To that end, we have removed some categories, re-added others, and additionally introduced completely new categories.
2020 Awards Categories:
Board Game
Card Game
Collectible Game
Digital Adaptation of a Physical Game (NEW)
Family Game
Historical Game (BROUGHT BACK)
Historical Miniatures Game (BROUGHT BACK)
Miniatures Game
Role-Playing Game
Game Accessory
The Game of the Year will also be awarded, but this will be voted upon by all active GAMA members. They will choose their single preferred title from amongst all the nominees in the physical game categories.
We will continue to have a Fan Favorite for each category listed above. Origins Game Fair attendees will be able to cast their votes in the mobile app launching in 2020.
While the new mobile app removes the need for a voting booth, we will have an area for attendees to peruse the nominated titles. To that end, we will be displaying the final nominees in one of the most highly-trafficked areas of the convention center - the foyer at the foot of the escalators leading from the Hyatt. Here, we will create a walk-through gallery with the oversized Callie statue encircled by glass displays housing the final nominees. To help promote engagement with the publishers, we will have an info card in front of each title indicating the booth number where attendees can purchase and/or demo the title.
There will continue to be an Origins Awards Showcase area where attendees will be able to play the finalists in the Board Game, Card Game, Family Game, and Historical Game categories. A library of the final nominees will be available and attendees can enjoy playing on luxury Game Toppers for an elevated gaming experience. We also plan on delineating this area with red carpet and velvet stanchions to draw attendees in and associate the Awards with the high level of prestige they deserve.
why is that "of note"
part of the feedback from ACD to Origins/GAMA back on 22 July
ISSUE: Feeling of neglect by the wargamers, as though Origins (and by extension, GAMA) is no longer interested in their niche of the hobby since the larger audiences (as therefore the larger dollars) are in games with a broader audience appeal.
Solution 2: This was not discussed on the call, but mentioned in a follow-up conversation with one of my team. Origins needs to bring back an award category for historical board games (the traditional title of the wargaming area) or re/create a category specific for wargaming, if the “historical board game” title is going to open the door too wide to “the Castles of Burgundy”. Honestly, for a lot of wargamers, this was the turning point where they thought Origins had completely abandoned them. Bringing back recognition for wargaming in the awards, instead of lumping them in with the mass-market products, will undoubtedly be a serious step in the eyes of the wargaming community.
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I wouldn't get too excited about it until you see what games are actually chosen for those awards.
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I wouldn't get too excited about it until you see what games are actually chosen for those awards.
this is true, which is part of the point I'd made in our initial feedback. But it seems to be that they're at least listening to the feedback.
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I, for one, am happy with small wins!
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Like standing in line for an hour to get Hot Chicken Takeover? :whistle:
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;D
winner winner chicken dinner!
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Any chance of daily "High Noon" (at noon) Multiplayer Tank Duels in the Armchair Dragoon's Lair? 4-8 player Tank Duel ... special prize for Highest Kill ribbon # for week?
Maybe an Aloha version too (at 5pm local, noon Hawaii time)?
(sorry, I miss posted this to the Events topic yesterday ... and brant said he needed to wait for the meds to wear off)
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Hurry! The hotel blocks are now open for Origins 2020. I couldn't get into the Hyatt this time. :(
I did manage to get a room at Courtyard. The cancellation policy is 72 hours prior to arrival which is nice if I can't make it.
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Do we have a 2020 game plan for Origins? Who is in and out? Inquiring minds want to know.
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Do we have a 2020 game plan for Origins? Who is in and out? Inquiring minds want to know.
Yes, with a few caveats. There are some changes to GAMA's processes / expectations that haven't fully disseminated to us yet, so we don't have all the details
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For those still looking for hotels at/near the convention center, best to keep calling the hotels directly, rather than going thru the OnPeak site at the origins website. I got a room at the Hyatt last week, but I called the Hyatt itself. At that time, they had 2 rooms available.
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The What Are You Bringing/What Are You Playing list has started over on BGG. And some people are already looking to narrow down time slots for things. Don't suppose that we've got an idea of what and when you'll be running things this year as that would make this a lot easier to start planning out.
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Should have a draft up in the next few days
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Current draft plan for the 'big' events includes
Drop-in Kriegsspiel on WED evening (6-10pm)
Full KS on THU 6pm, FRI (noon), SAT 6pm
CPX THU noon, FRI 6pm, SAT noon
Will also have the Team COIN game again, plus epic-scale C&C, and a big 4-hr multi-player giant map Fulda Gap game, among others
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Per a message today w/ a GAMA Board Member, they're going to revisit in mid-April and make a call then
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Sadly I don't see Origins happening this year. Hope I am wrong.
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Sadly I don't see Origins happening this year. Hope I am wrong.
I was thinking last night we might do a "Virtual Origins" using some of the same techniques we've been using for SNF. It ought to be possible to also do CP exercises using Zoom. Reach out and get some vendors to sponsor it, at least with some prizes that could be sent to participants.
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Interesting.
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Sadly I don't see Origins happening this year. Hope I am wrong.
I was thinking last night we might do a "Virtual Origins" using some of the same techniques we've been using for SNF. It ought to be possible to also do CP exercises using Zoom. Reach out and get some vendors to sponsor it, at least with some prizes that could be sent to participants.
https://twitter.com/ADragoons/status/1239999500007231493
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Obviously we can't call it "virtual Origins" without pissing off GAMA. Still, it's very do-able. We could use our corporate Zoom account, which can host up to 100 people for the CP exercise. Cap'n Darwin could screen share his screen running Flashpoint Campaigns. James could do the same with his orientation slides. Players could speak, but also use the chat function to communicate to the CO without cluttering up the voice comms.
In terms of running other games, a lot of stuff is already available in TTS. Throw a schedule together and go.
There's even a TTS module for Kriegspiel now that Jason Patterson put together.
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In terms of running other games, a lot of stuff is already available in TTS. Throw a schedule together and go.
OK, shifting planning discussion to the Event Team area
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May 1 is the cutoff date
https://www.originsgamefair.com/news/status-of-origins-game-fair-2020
GAMA is very concerned about having a safe and fun environment for our attendees, game organizers, volunteers, and exhibitors and are closely monitoring the recommendations from the CDC and the Ohio Department of Health. This crisis is rapidly evolving and we want to give people as much notice as we are able of any changes. As such, we will make a go/no-go determination on the convention by May 1st. If the situation changes before that date, we will issue an update but as of this moment, we are proceeding with Origins 2020 as scheduled.
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Not sure what this means for Origins, but the governor of Ohio is taking nobody's BS
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52113186
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You know how much I abhor talking politics anywhere and I will not start here, but he is reason #3 that I have said for a while now that Origins is buggered.
And let me be clear, I think he has been and is doing the right things.
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This probably does it for Origins
https://www.wsaz.com/content/news/OHIO-COVID-19--Stay-at-home-order-extended-number-of-virus-related-deaths-goes-up-569322861.html
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https://www.10tv.com/article/photos-inside-columbus-convention-center-be-used-surge-site-during-coronavirus-response-2020
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Yeah... good luck Origins....
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Let there be a miracle...the science kind.
Let some doctor notice something she missed the 30,000th time she checked some results somewhere.
Let a vaccine be found, and soon.
Until then, Origins is the least of it. GenCon is whistling past the graveyard.
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Just moved to Oct. 7-11, 2020.
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https://www.originsgamefair.com/news/origins-postponed-origins-online-scheduled-june (https://www.originsgamefair.com/news/origins-postponed-origins-online-scheduled-june)
Origins is officially postponed to October 7-11
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:biggrin:
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That makes me officially out. :(
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That makes me officially out. :(
no problem. I have a feeling we're going to lose a bunch of people b/c of work
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This overlaps with the local convention that I go to each year, CinCityCon. While there won't be much wargaming at CinCityCon, it's still a lot like being in the Boardroom for the weekend. And while I think Origins can withstand a bad year, a smaller con that pulls in a couple 1,000 people tops cannot. Course, both conventions are now relying on COVID not making a surprise surge in the Fall the way Spanish Flu did in 1918.
Regardless, hopefully I'll see you all next June.
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Yeah, I expect we're going to take a hit on our booth crew, too, bc school is back in session then...
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Looking at a convention free 2020 sadly. Until there is an effective vaccine and smarter people I'm writing off this year. :waah:
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From an email sent to exhibitors this afternoon
Status of Origins Game Fair in October
GAMA made the decision to postpone Origins Game Fair to October to provide time to evaluate the possibility of holding a tabletop gaming convention in 2020. Based on the information we are receiving on the likelihood of a second wave of the covid pandemic this fall and uncertainty around of Ohio’s mass gathering restrictions for festival, fairs and events like ours we have made the difficult decision to also cancel the October Origins show. We regret the timing of the decision but believe that is better to provide as much notice to exhibitors, event planners and attendees to adjust their schedules and plans for the rest of the year.
Details regarding the options to roll over applicable fees paid to date, and/or refunds, will be posted on our website very soon. Thank you for your support and we look forward to seeing you again in 2021!
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...and sent via an awkward email to everyone else moments ago.
They will have much to think about in the coming year.
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...and sent via an awkward email to everyone else moments ago.
They will have much to think about in the coming year.
it'll be interesting to see how long Stacey survives, and if his replacement will also be named John.
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Now that I think of this, GAMA really screwed up trying to pull the Origins Online together in about 3 months. They would have been better to target some time from mid October through Thanksgiving week. You know, at the start of the holiday shopping season when those in the gaming industry would want to get in front of their customer base. Then next year, they could of had their annual show in C-Bus in June and an online show same mid October through Thanksgiving week. Make it an annual event to kickoff the holiday shopping season.
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Now that I think of this, GAMA really screwed up trying to pull the Origins Online together in about 3 months. They would have been better to target some time from mid October through Thanksgiving week. You know, at the start of the holiday shopping season when those in the gaming industry would want to get in front of their customer base. Then next year, they could of had their annual show in C-Bus in June and an online show same mid October through Thanksgiving week. Make it an annual event to kickoff the holiday shopping season.
I don't know. Have you gone by the VGC website (https://tabletop.events/conventions/virtual-gaming-con)? (the BGG and Dice Tower virtual gamecon) ... it seems smooth ... they are a little more relaxed about their approach to game submissions than ORIGINS and GENCON seemed/seem to be trying to treat the virtual con like a real con (in fact GENCON seems to be charging their standard $2 an event ... the initial badge is free but you have to pay for events you sign up for). Looks like they are charging enough to pay for the event management software and then letting the content be free. They announced they were going ONLINE in May and their event is in about a week and it seems to be marching smoothly to reality. About half the tickets to my events have been "bought". And that is just lowly LTP wargames.
I dunno ... It will be interesting to see how the summer goes ... if ARMCHAIR DRAGOONS / STAFF WARGAMING and LARRY BOND and the WAR COLLEGE all migrate to GENCON or WBC ... I will follow ... no particular allegiance to ORIGINS
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well, Crystal Caste still put the dice up on their site for sale