| From: | ursusgrim@*******.com (Ursus Grim) |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Shadowrun at DragonCon |
| Date: | Wed, 04 Sep 2002 17:44:11 -0400 |
Evidently there was a problem with my mail server, so I haven't been
receiving email from this list for the past couple of weeks. Else I would
have responded sooner to some of the ideas and comments concerning this
topic.
But Graht has graciously set things right for me (thanks!) and I'd like to
answer a few of the points brought up - I checked out the conversation
thread on the archive.
Someone very quickly (and rightly) brought up things I could do locally to
help spread the faith, as it were. Among the suggestions: ask that my local
retailers to carry Shadowrun products.
In point of fact, they all do. But the games which sell better get the best
display space. Others are all in the bookshelves back to back so only their
spines show. So it's unlikely you'll pay attention to any of the other games
in these shelves and only grab what you're looking for. In Gameboard, D&D3
gets a huge space where you can see all the pretty covers. In my local
comics shop, D&D3 has a POP display sitting beside the gaming shelves.
Again, theirs are the only covers which are displayed. So there is no need
to ask the dealers to carry the game and I would scoff at the thought of
asking them to give better visibility to Shadowrun. Their display space is
limited and they are putting items which are demonstrably selling better in
prime spots.
Another suggestion was to spread the word amongst my players and other
gamers. That also I have been doing. But the majority of gamers are fadish
and are not interested in learning games which they perceive as more
complicated. Plus WotC have nailed down the "Cool" factor. Complain all you
like, but they've done a VERY smart thing by giving the D&D line a Hercules
and Zena spin in the look of the books, classes, and characters and by the
addition of feats. Personally I vastly prefer the new system - that
wierd-ass THACO sliding scale was particularly counter-intuitive. I played
AD&D for over a decade and could never succeed in memorizing it. But that's
why I'm an artist and not an accountant. :-)
Finally, I think, the question was asked - why didn't I volunteer to run a
game at Dragon?
Answer: I hadn't been to Dragon (or any other con) in seven years or so. Nor
am I more than a novice at GMing Shadowrun. So I feel that it would not have
been in the games best interest for me to do that. But should I gain more
experience, I would more than happily do so. And, as I've never GMed at a
con before, I wouldn't even have known where to begin to inquire about such
a thing.
Someone else asked why I haven't joined RPGA in light of the fact that
membership is free - well, I didn't know that. But thanks for the intel,
I'll investigate. :-)
Oh, and someone was talking about how Shadowrun is advertised in a couple of
mags other than Dragon. I was in my local Gameboard the other day and only
then noticed "Campaign" and the other mag. Never heard of them before, never
noticed them before. Dragon *also* gets prime real estate on the shelves of
the local shops. These others get the dregs of shelf space. Faced with that
knowledge I believe it would be a safer bet to advertise in Dragon.
Just my two bits,
Urs
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