Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Surviving Adepticon 2013


I'm back from Adepticon and wanted to get a quick post out into the wilds of the internet while things are still filtering through my head. I intend to get some more detailed discussion up soon, so this will be just a brain-dump so readers know I'm still alive. To be fair, I intended to get regular game reports up as well this year and have failed at that pretty spectacularly!!!

So, high level of Adepticon. I helped TO a number of events that seem to have been very successful. Nilus and I pulled off a great Cake Event, Malifaux Team Tournament, and Story Encounter. I also got to play in four rounds of the Masters (Tied for 5th place) and 1 round of the Avatars (knocked out round 1 due to clumsy mistakes). I would say that on the organization and tournament front, that makes an incredibly successful weekend! I want to give a huge thank you to my opponents (Ryan Hummel, Steve Babcock, Doug LeSavoy, David Barnickle, and James Kroesh) for five really fun games.

I got to play in 2 games outside of tournaments against opponents I have wanted to face in person but not had the chance. Greg who has worked with me at past Adepticons and Gencon was a fantastic gremlin opponent, although things did not go his way. Old Man Mike of Malifools fame was also a fantastic opponent, again with Rasputina falling to a Misaki God Hand. Fun games and Fantastic opponents.

As for the con itself, while it was still an amazing weekend of gaming, this year was a little less enjoyable than years past. Mack Martin brought a dark shadow over the con for me, which I am sure he is pleased with. As the new head developer for Wyrd, he and I had one very contentious conversation, then I got to hear about and field questions of his backbiting all weekend. I will say that it is incredibly disappointing to see this behavior in a company representative. It's expected to some extent from general gamers, but company representatives are often held to a higher standard. Apparently my less than positive opinions on upcoming moves within Wyrd has made me "The Enemy you know" for some Wyrd employees. That was disappointing. Going beyond that, an unexpected stretch of no sleep for over 34 hours ended with me passing out and missing Poker and Board Game night, which I look forward to every year. I have come to the realization I am older than I think and cannot hang with 30+ hour marathons of no sleep any more. I need to carve out sleeping time at future con's to make sure I get in everything I want to do.

News of where Wyrd is going with Malifaux were all over Adepticon this year, with the company representative sharing the plans with anyone who would listen. This is exciting on one hand, as the news is out there. On the other hand, my own NDA keeps me from sharing anything until those other sources share what they heard. I am really looking forward to The Joey Berry (You Tube), Wargamers Consortium, Screaming Heretics Podcast, and Eternal Warriors podcast sharing their interviews!  I was also pleased to hear that one of the dedicated Malifaux podcasts (Through the Breach) was actually granted the privilege of getting some of that Malifaux news as well. I am excited to hear what news was let into the wild as those sources get back from Adepticon and publish!

Overall the best part of the weekend was connecting with friends who I only really get to see a couple times a year. I know it seems like a trite comment, but that really makes these conventions the best. To anyone who I hung out with over the weekend, played games with, or just passed in the hall and chatted with for a while, thank you! You are the people who make Adepticon great for me.

More will be coming (I hope) about individual thoughts and aspects of Adepticon over the next few days/weeks. I have to admit, I am already looking forward to Adepticon 2013.

17 comments:

  1. It is sad when a company rep is rude to someone that puts so much time and effort into their product. It is REALLY sad that we have to wait for other sources to break news, especially when several of them are not Malifaux fans. Through the breach is the only Malifaux centric podcast, though, I guess there is Joey's Malifaux one. A good, solid fan support need to be taken care of. Without leaders in the fan community, your item will fail. That is just basic community management.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the feedback Kevin. I will reiterate that I had a good time overall, it's just that Mack brought a pall over the event as a whole. I have some more posts coming up once I get settled back in and get work and personal stuff caught up.

      Delete
  2. My biggest regret was I still didn't manage to get time to play a game of Malifaux against you Bill. I figured out the sleep thing a few Adepticons back honestly. I set a goal of at least 5 hours every night and a power nap each day and it worked out well. This was the first Adepticon I had enough energy to make it out on Sunday night(and got to play a game of Zombicide with Dixon and a few other Malifaux players(including two other guys named Dan).

    Adepticon 2014 will be fun but I honestly hope I don't have to wait a year to hang out with you or some of my other Malibuds again.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Likewise Dan. Next year we need to carve out time to play a game finally!

      Delete
  3. Wait.. You mean people actually played Malifaux? DAMN IT!!!
    I do hope I get a chance to hang out in a relaxed atmosphere with everyone, unfortunately I don't see Adepticon being that Con in the future. As for the Mack Martin Interview. It will be time delayed by a hair as requested. So if the others get their interviews out before us.. It is what it is.
    Bill, I appreciate beyond belief that you were willing to sit down and talk with me in many of the loud venues we got the chance to sit down and talk at. Hopefully we can touch base again in the future and perhaps play a few games. I heard Wreckage was really good :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Apparently they did Mark!

      I have heard nothing but compliments about the job you guys did with the live broadcast for 40K. I would check some of that out but I would not understand the new-fangled 6th edition stuff.

      It was a great time to spend time with you and the TTB crew. Stand up individuals, all of you!

      Bill

      Delete
  4. I thought you guys checked out WWX? :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A bunch of us did. The models are nice but the rules didn't really grab me. Also there idea of skirmish level is 20 to 30 models a side. They say you can play with less but I still want to stick to a game where 5 to 8 complex models are all you work with.

      Delete
  5. Oh lord. Even though it sounds like you had a great time, Mack's conduct sounds less than stellar.

    And who was a better opponent? Me or Mike? Be honest. It was me, right? ha

    ReplyDelete
  6. So that explains the extremely uncomfortable vibe that Mack brought to the room. That is sad. Still I hope he had fun playing games made by the company he works for. Oh wait....

    Well still, for my first major Tournament I had a complete blast and it was fantastic to put faces with "internet" names and celebrities. LOL

    Can't wait for next years Adepticon. Though I think I'll be using public transportation this time!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Always a pleasure sir. Fantastic as always and I look forward to seeing you all again soon.

    ReplyDelete
  8. It was great getting to see you again and hang out some! Part of the fun is competing, which was slightly denied to me for reasons beyond my control, but the other part is getting to spend time with other members of the community who are not in my immediate vicinity.

    Sorry to hear about the Mack situation. A company rep should be able to field any criticism and take it in stride. Hearing the good stuff about your product is fun, but hearing the bad stuff will tell you where there are problems that need to be fixed, and should be approached as opportunities.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Always great hanging out and talking with you Bill. I'm glad we were able to have the time to go out to eat again this year. Getting the chance to talk face to face has become one of the things I look forward to. Just remember, whatever happens with this storm that is brewing, we are right here with you. Already looking forward to aCon 2014. Are we there yet!!!?

    ReplyDelete
  10. You and Dan are the two most "cost effective" employees Wyrd has. Bummer to hear portions went poorly.

    I hope no component of it sours you on returning next year. It was great having you again.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Mack Martin's presence at Wyrd worried me long before Adepticon 2013. These impending "storms" sound ominous and I suppose those of us unable to attend Adepticon just need to sit tight and wait for more coverage. Looking forward to hearing more about this in whatever capacity your NDA will allow as your opinions and impressions carry significant weight, as I'm sure you're well aware.

    ReplyDelete
  12. My husband is awesome... I don't just have to say that... I really think he is. Thanks for all the nice posts about him.

    He LOVES Malifuax! He loves the game, the people, volunteering, demos, tournament events, judging, writing, pod casting and many more countless things.

    ReplyDelete