Seek the Wolf in Thyself!
MACE East has been in our minds since we started thinking about branching out. We first tried to branch out with a mini-mace South but it was a dismal failure with no one preregistering. Then we went all-in with a MACE West in Hickory, then moved it to Asheville, and that is now entering it’s 6th…
I write about MACE in multiple places but this is where I write about me and my feelings – a place to vent. Most people don’t want to read about how the sausage is made. They just want it cooked and served up. In the case of MACE, give the players “What, Where and When”…
It’s been nearly a month since MACE 2013 ended. I have been caught up in various things post-con related as well as real-life related, so this report is late in coming. Since it has been a month, much of the emotion and energy has died down in me but I have to say that this was definitely one of the best MACE events ever. Between the tons of gaming and connecting up with so many old and new friends, it was an amazing weekend.
One of the more interesting and cool items at Origins 2013 that deserves special mention are from the guys at Mechjock.com and Virtual World. Set up in the main hallway in the convention center were 6 (or 7, I can’t recall) pods that just looked awesome. All around it were logos, posters and video screens displaying Battletech ‘mechs and Battletech combat. I thought it was some new Battletech simulator game being released at Origins. However, it turns out that it’s not something new but it is still very cool.
Now that a little time has passed since my trip to Origins, some more thoughts have been forming in my head that I thought I should write down based on some of my daily posts and my experience at Origins. In some ways this is an analysis of what I experienced at Origins and in others it is an overall discussion of con energy and signs there are problems. It is not a condemnation of Origins and all their hard work. They did a great job! Origins was well organized, even when things like a fire threw the proverbial monkey wrench in the works. They really di well in general and I do not mean to take away from that.
Saturday, June 15, I had a noon game of Savage Worlds – Space:1889. I was really looking forward to that because I really wanted a much more satisfying RPG than the first one. The board games so far have been very satisfying but the RPGs have not.
Friday, June 14 started bright and early for me again as I had a 9 AM game. I was really looking forward to it because it was Fortress America, one of my favorite games. My hope was that I would play with some experienced players and get a good game in. That was not entirely what happened but it still was a very good game.
My second day at Origins – my first full day in truth has been a mixed bag, much like the day before. It started fairly early because we wanted to get a good breakfast before being there when the doors open for the dealers room/vendor hall. Before leaving for breakfast, however, I wanted to check out my tickets since I had not heard from Customer Service about them. It took a matter of 15 minutes to get my tickets, which they had to re-print, and cash in my generics for chips. A very good start to the day.
Wednesday. June 12. Arrival Day
When a friend of mine, Heath Medlin, asked me to attend Origins with him, I jumped at the chance. We had attended GenCon together (with another friend, Neil Spicer) back in 2008 and that was one of my bucket list things to do. Attending Origins at least once was another one of those bucket list things.
MACE 2012 Report Part 2 SATURDAY Saturday started out bright and early for me at 7:30 AM, arriving at the gaming registration desk around 8:30 AM. Saturday for me was going to be very busy and I concentrated most of my volunteer shifts during this time. I had to fill in for two GMs sessions…