Origins Game Fair 2016

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Zarathud
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Origins Game Fair 2016

Post by Zarathud »

Who else besides hepcat and me will be attending the 2016 Origins Game Fair in Columbus, Ohio from June 15-19?

I submitted Paranoia events for Wednesday 7-10 PM, Thursday 9-12 AM and Friday 9-12 AM. This year's mission will be a Zap-style formula to take full advantage of the Kickstarter rules. Since they're still not going to be available yet, I get to use my handmade prototype cards again (rather than my double set).

Instead of playing the Venture Brothers, the Troubleshooters will essentially be Minions from Despicable Me serving their new master -- Friend Computer -- as efficiency auditors! You can count on Friend Computer to put the right clones on the job -- except for that jerk Bob.

Trust no one. Keep your laser (or fart gun) handy. Bring Jelly.

Last year's groups failed to live up to the glorious fun of RMC's group (who as Dermott made Brock seem like a girly man) and the general craziness of the prior year's teams. It wasn't the new rules, but reserved players who couldn't get into the mindset. But I figure everyone can get into character as a Minion and the theme gave me the excuse to buy props!
"If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts." - Albert Einstein
"I don't stand by anything." - Trump
“Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.” - John Stuart Mill, Inaugural Address Delivered to the University of St Andrews, 2/1/1867
“It is the impractical things in this tumultuous hell-scape of a world that matter most. A book, a name, chicken soup. They help us remember that, even in our darkest hour, life is still to be savored.” - Poe, Altered Carbon
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hepcat
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Re: Origins Game Fair 2016

Post by hepcat »

I'm cosplaying Lorenzo Lamas again this year. If someone would like to join me, they could be Bobby Sixkiller, my trusty Indian Bounty Hunter sidekick from the hit tv show Renegade.

Other than my drunken, one man pageant show late on Friday night in the convention center lobby, I'll be in the bar.
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Re: Origins Game Fair 2016

Post by paulbaxter »

Once again I'll have to miss this year. Next year may be possible.
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Re: Origins Game Fair 2016

Post by RMC »

Yeah, I am out this year as well. I might make it down for one day for a vendor hall walk through. But the family is going to Disney again this year, so all my money is tied up in vacation plans.
Difficulties mastered are opportunities won. - Winston Churchill
Sheesh, this is one small box. Thankfully, everything's packed in nicely this time. Not too tight nor too loose (someone's sig in 3, 2, ...). - Hepcat
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Re: Origins Game Fair 2016

Post by hepcat »

Hot damn, the event list for Origins is out and it's chock full of gaming goodness. I must admit, I've been rethinking my attendance the last few years because they never really seem to have anything I'm really interested in. But this time around I see demo games of Star Trek: Ascendancy, full games of Mistfall, huge games of Firefly, and many others. This may be the year where I book my game time as heavily as I do Gencon.
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LordMortis
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Re: Origins Game Fair 2016

Post by LordMortis »

I really should make it point to return to Origins one year soon. It's a shorter drive than OctoCon but a whole lot less personable and more expensive.
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Re: Origins Game Fair 2016

Post by hepcat »

Origins is more of a gamer's convention, whereas Gencon is more ComicCon for geeks (it's all about the spectacle). I would say it's less stressful by a significant factor.

I'll still go to Gencon, of course. Most game designers/publishers premiere their newest and latest during it. And I'm all about buying whatever I want that weekend. I have zero willpower for 3 straight days.
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LordMortis
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Re: Origins Game Fair 2016

Post by LordMortis »

I preferred Origins to GenCon.

After my first GenCon that is. My first GenCon was a world of amazement in 1989 to a kid still at the end of his teenage years, long before the Internet was meaningful. The spectacle you speak of was amazing. The displays from FASA and GW were unforgettable. And they had cool video games!

Whereas Origins had me gaming and gaming and gaming and then some gaming.
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Re: Origins Game Fair 2016

Post by Jeff V »

hepcat wrote: I'll still go to Gencon, of course.
Naturally. Where else can you wear your chain-mail Speedo and not feel out of place?
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Re: Origins Game Fair 2016

Post by hepcat »

Your back yard?
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Re: Origins Game Fair 2016

Post by Jeff V »

You're not afraid that you'll fall into the kiddie pool and become immobilized by rust?
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Zarathud
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Re: Origins Game Fair 2016

Post by Zarathud »

Hepcat is well greased. ;)
"If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts." - Albert Einstein
"I don't stand by anything." - Trump
“Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.” - John Stuart Mill, Inaugural Address Delivered to the University of St Andrews, 2/1/1867
“It is the impractical things in this tumultuous hell-scape of a world that matter most. A book, a name, chicken soup. They help us remember that, even in our darkest hour, life is still to be savored.” - Poe, Altered Carbon
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Zarathud
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Re: Origins Game Fair 2016

Post by Zarathud »

Leaving in the morning. Looking forward to a week of board games and Paranoia.

I even recorded voice notes of my children barking (for +1 modifiers), yelling "All Hail King Torg!" and "I'm a baby, please don't eat me" to get a chuckle at the Kobold Midnight Madness. I can even picture poor RMC recoiling from the chaos. :mrgreen:

It remains to be seen how much lubricant hepcat will have applied by the time he arrives.
"If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts." - Albert Einstein
"I don't stand by anything." - Trump
“Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.” - John Stuart Mill, Inaugural Address Delivered to the University of St Andrews, 2/1/1867
“It is the impractical things in this tumultuous hell-scape of a world that matter most. A book, a name, chicken soup. They help us remember that, even in our darkest hour, life is still to be savored.” - Poe, Altered Carbon
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RMC
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Re: Origins Game Fair 2016

Post by RMC »

Zarathud wrote:Leaving in the morning. Looking forward to a week of board games and Paranoia.

I even recorded voice notes of my children barking (for +1 modifiers), yelling "All Hail King Torg!" and "I'm a baby, please don't eat me" to get a chuckle at the Kobold Midnight Madness. I can even picture poor RMC recoiling from the chaos. :mrgreen:

It remains to be seen how much lubricant hepcat will have applied by the time he arrives.
heh. King Torg can suck my... :)

What's the theme this year for good old King Torg?
Difficulties mastered are opportunities won. - Winston Churchill
Sheesh, this is one small box. Thankfully, everything's packed in nicely this time. Not too tight nor too loose (someone's sig in 3, 2, ...). - Hepcat
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Zarathud
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Re: Origins Game Fair 2016

Post by Zarathud »

Empire Strikes BARK!

You should bring some earplugs and come down Friday at 8PM!
"If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts." - Albert Einstein
"I don't stand by anything." - Trump
“Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.” - John Stuart Mill, Inaugural Address Delivered to the University of St Andrews, 2/1/1867
“It is the impractical things in this tumultuous hell-scape of a world that matter most. A book, a name, chicken soup. They help us remember that, even in our darkest hour, life is still to be savored.” - Poe, Altered Carbon
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RMC
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Re: Origins Game Fair 2016

Post by RMC »

Zarathud wrote:Empire Strikes BARK!

You should bring some earplugs and come down Friday at 8PM!
Oh man, I so wish I could. I have a local friend taking his daughter this year for the entire thing. I almost took my oldest as well, but the wife had 'plans' for me for Fathers day.

Next year we will be at Disney, so I already know I am out for next year as well.
Difficulties mastered are opportunities won. - Winston Churchill
Sheesh, this is one small box. Thankfully, everything's packed in nicely this time. Not too tight nor too loose (someone's sig in 3, 2, ...). - Hepcat
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Zarathud
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Origins Game Fair 2016

Post by Zarathud »

Ok, I was wrong. This year's Midnight Madness was Kobolds v. Gygax. Died 5 times. Once after eating a trapped rope bridge because I was hungry and abandoned by the group...by falling into the inside of a stone chicken...by falling off another shaky rope bridge...by reminding the mayor I was the guy who bribed someone else's kids to come with me after bring sent on a scavenger hunt "to find babies" ...and finally after finding the uneatable thing in the Tomb of Unspeakable Doom...

Had a great time watching the gal across me flirt her way with the female mayor and get smashed sneaking drinks in from the bar -- glittery robes are apparently incredibly effective when you shimmy IRL. None of the guys minded.

Had a great time running Paranoia. All three groups were good, two were great. But what is it about the gamers who chose the Dracula minion? They all turned into assholes. Perhaps it was the power to assign Treason points and being forced to take orders by the rest of the Troubleshooters. The shit run down the pecking order, the consequences ran up. The new card system worked very well. One team even made it to end of the hall after R&D!
"If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts." - Albert Einstein
"I don't stand by anything." - Trump
“Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.” - John Stuart Mill, Inaugural Address Delivered to the University of St Andrews, 2/1/1867
“It is the impractical things in this tumultuous hell-scape of a world that matter most. A book, a name, chicken soup. They help us remember that, even in our darkest hour, life is still to be savored.” - Poe, Altered Carbon
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Re: Origins Game Fair 2016

Post by hepcat »

My Origins Summer Vacation
by Hepcat
Age 8

Thursday afternoon I arrived after driving for 7 1/2 hours (thanks, Chicago traffic). I immediately dropped my stuff off at the hotel and headed to my 6 o'clock game: Through the Ages new edition...

...except it wasn't the new edition. It was the old edition. Even though the description said it was the new edition. I love this game, but I was disappointed I didn't get to see the new one.

After that, I met up with Zarathud and we decided to head back to the hotel. But along the way, we ran into the owner of Gale Force 9, John-Paul Brisigotti. We started off by discussing some boards they were using for game demos (big, thick, 200 pound affairs), but it came up that we were disappointed by the cancellation of the Star Trek: Ascendancy demo. At which point John-Paul gave us a conspiratorial look before ducking behind his booth's main counter and coming back up with a copy. It was a prototype so the pieces weren't finalized yet, but all the parts and rules are in place so it was a good look at the final game.

And it is magnificent. It's full of fan service of course, but more importantly, it has some really unique mechanics. I especially like the map. You don't have a board, but you have planet tiles. You explore by sending your ships out from home world. You use space lanes (long measuring sticks) to determine your range. Planets aren't actually "locked" into a location until two space lanes are attached to that planet. So it can move, creating some interesting strategic possibilities in the process.

It really is a grand scale 4x game. And it sounds like they've addressed the balance issue of Star Trek: Fleet Captains (the game it seems to spiritually take after) in which the feds could just hang back and win on their science missions before anyone else could even hope to get close to them.

John-Paul likes to...no...loves to talk. We must have spent over an hour listening to him go over the history of Gale Force Nine, how licensing works in the game industry, and how Fox designed the interior of their main building to look like Nakatomi Plaza. He's such a gregarious fellow who obviously loves games, as well as the business end of it, that it's hard not to get caught up in his enthusiasm as well.

Friday I played Mare Nostrum with a full 5 players...and it was glorious. I'm really happy I backed this one. It's easy to learn, plays surprisingly fast, and still feels like a grand strategy game. Academy Games is definitely a family affair as Uwe's (the owner) son and daughter were both teach games and running the booths. At one point, his son walked up to me and proclaims, "I packed your game! I recognize that name!" After I told him that recognizing my name is not something he should admit in public, I got a little background on how difficult it is to deal with overseas shipping schedules.

I also got in a game of GF9's latest game, Tyrants of the Underdark. It's a mix of Ascension and some light area control. I didn't really like it all that much. I'd play it in a pinch, but I think both mechanics are too watered down for any real fun.

Late afternoon we played Last Will and Five Tribes. I liked both a great deal. Last Will sees the player as the grandchild of a rich man who pits his other children against each other in a contest to see who can spend their money the fastest. It's fun, but surprisingly full of thoughtful choices. I highly recommend it!

Five Tribes has been discussed here ad nauseam in the past. But I now can join the chorus of voices that wholeheartedly support it. Such a great, unique game.

Saturday we played Valley of the Kings, a deck builder with a unique twist: you also have to bury your cards in sets to win. And that requires attaining "entomb" actions. I wasn't quite catching on the first few rounds so I avoided the best cards for this and thus lost. It's fun, but I wouldn't buy into it. We did get to play with the creator though. He reminded me of Gil Gunderson from the Simpsons.

Cthulhu Wars was last...and it was a blast. I really, really loved this one. But the problem is the buy in is way too high at this point. Hopefully they'll release a smaller, retail set someday that goes with smaller minis, board, etc..

Overall, it was a nice time.

p.s. my original review of Origins was to be titled:

Origins 2016 or Zarathud Gets a Chance to Organize Stuff for 72 hours straight.
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Re: Origins Game Fair 2016

Post by baelthazar »

hepcat wrote: Cthulhu Wars was last...and it was a blast. I really, really loved this one. But the problem is the buy in is way too high at this point. Hopefully they'll release a smaller, retail set someday that goes with smaller minis, board, etc..
At this point it would be cheaper for you and one other Chicago buddy to move to Dayton or Cincinnati and just play my copy. 8-)

Thanks for the report. I was interested in Tyrants of the Underdark, but I am glad I can cross it off my list. I also want to play Star Trek: Ascendancy, but since it is a three-player affair I am much more limited. You didn't get to see the new Star Trek: Frontiers?

I look forward to playing Mare Nostrum, and I am currently gathering forces to do so. It looks like a nice streamlined trade and war game, which is excellent. And Uwe's group produce good games, so I expect to love it.
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