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Gottacon 2015 Journals
At Gottacon, its all about how long people can stay seated.
First Day Thoughts
The good news is that GottaCon 2015 now takes up two buildings to give the people from Victoria, BC and elsewhere an exposition in the best of what the world of gaming offers. But can I call it a true haven for pop culture geeks? The bad news is that technically, that’s not what Gottacon is about. It does offer quality entertainment in that genre during the evenings, but that is not enough to define a show that deals with competitive level gaming tournaments more than free play events in the board games, miniature battles, card play and video games department. Plus, just where the heck are the big outdoor vinyl banners (I remember them using one in years one to four at the old location) or Hollywood style posters saying Gottacon is taking place now? Did a wind storm happen or is there no marketing arm to this show?
The big question I ask is if they will succumb to getting big name celebrities to draw more people in? They do get local names from the Pacific Northwest (like Crafty Games founder of Alex Flagg and Salt Spring Island based author Jordan Stratford) to give talks as well as various tabletop RPG designers and developers (like Ryan Macklin, Johnathan Tweet, Rob Heinsoo, and Rodney Thompson), but I’m curious as to why they are not offered tables so they have time to interact with the public or sign autographs? Stratford wrote a very engaging tween novel for girls, The Wollstonecraft Detective Agency, and this book is drawing the attention of Hollywood. To not fully advertise him was very remiss, I feel.
I’m fascinated with the world of mobile/tablet gaming because that’s what I’ve been playing more of lately. Strangely, Kano/Apps was there to represent that world but they were mostly showing off their own products than doing discussions. I saw signs from them revealing that they are recruiting computer programmers and I wondered why there’s nothing listed as panels to explore this young industry. Was last year this developer and other group’s only time to shine? Hopefully the convention organizers are not burning bridges because without them, I suspect Gottacon would not have survived for another year.
Until GottaCon catches up with this mobile world or offers industry type technical panels, I have no reason to attend this event. I like to see a continuation of panels from last year to instruct folks in how to break into the industry. Avid gamers are artists and writers too. To find jobs should not be restricted to video games. Every other convention I’ve been to offers at least one panel with tips in how to get a career within this industry (and I’ve been to a lot since the early 90s). For myself, I’d love to get into writing marketing speil for or learning how to develop my own RPG. Last year revealed that Victoria was ripe for companies to hire up-and-coming computer programming wizards. The brain drain does not need to happen. What happened to this enthusiasm? Did the idea work? or has interest fizzled now that the tax incentive to these operations is gone?
When I hit a show, I love to explore the exhibition floor so I can discover new products that I have not seen before. This convention has a long way to go before it can grow its display space to a level where it’ll draw the attention of Sony or Nintendo. For example, I was very surprised Fan Expo Vancouver in its second year had a Sony booth. Its flagship show in Toronto was enough to convince them but the third time around they were missing. At GottaCon, all they have visiting are local vendors and talents from the Pacific Northwest to show off their wares. Deals cannot be found here; this show is not one to attend for that, and on the last day I was present, there were no deep discounts that convinced me to buy. I was looking for some cool minis to grab, specialized miniature painting utilities to stock up on and old DS / 3DS games to add to my collection. Sadly, the selection was pitiful. My scouting mission on the first night yielded nothing of interest. There was Arkham / Eldritch Horror which piqued my interest, but with Emerald City Comiccon, Fan Expo Vancouver and Anglicon coming soon to hit, no money left my wallet unless it was a unique product that I must have.
The Dealer’s Room, Artists Alley and Cosplay Hall all crammed into one space.
Final Day Retrospective
A Rennaisance Fair at Gottacon?
My world is with cinema and the cross-over potentials it has with video gaming products. I’m not talking about LEGO Ghostbusters, but instead about God of War or Angry Birds. The richness offered in the mythos established in present video games are sometimes missed by Hollywood producers looking for the next big thing.
For example, Magic the Gathering has lots of novels and comics books created from the card game, and thankfully a movie is being developed. To wonder what that will encompass will depend on what Game of Thrones series writer Bryan Cogman has in mind when he mines the nearly two decades worth of narrative for a plot that defines what this card game is about. It just needs to borrow just the right elements from Inception to make it work. In that regard, there was only one panel out of the entire show that interested me. The World Building panel on Sunday morning went well. Here, storytellers, RPG makers and video game gurus talked about how they went about creating universes where the player characters can influence change.
The World Building Panel, with (L-R) Steve Saunders of Black Goat Games moderating, author Ryan Speck, Crafty’s Alex Flagg, renowned trivia host IQ 2000, FATE’s Ryan Macklin, and the immortal Johnathan Tweet.
I applaud Evan Hatch and Carson Upton, this show’s two main chiefs, for keeping GottaCon going for seven years. For its eighth incarnation, I hope they are open to making changes so the event can be more than a gamer’s tournament paradise. They need a proper public relations / marketing team to help elevate them to the next level and investors willing to take a gamble. When I’ve heard from a hairstylist that she knows of a few gamers who have not heard of GottaCon in the few remaining weeks leading up to the show, that suggests word of mouth is not enough. As a casual gamer, what’s offered now feels scaled back and better signage is needed to indicate what each area of the Crystal Gardens and the Victoria Conference Center represents. Although I looked at the maps to identify where everything is,Â
Board games for sale at the free-play area.
I had to wonder why there were no massive banners to indicate the areas. Wondering where silent auction dropoff was not clearly indicated. If I wanted to take part of Games Workshop’s Blood Bowl, I had to be eagle-eyeing the tables than to look for boxes at the end of tables indicating what game was going on.
When I figured out where everything is supposed to take place, I finally got to meet Kelly from the Sable & Spray Blog to get tips on how to best approach painting my DC Villain The Joker miniature. I find painting a decent looking white skin difficult and kept on scrubbing off my last paint job until I can figure out how to do it right. When I spoke to him (sadly, I was in a rush out the door and forgot to bring it), he offered lots of great tips in how to deal with detailing the face on a practice miniature.
A Zentraedi Battle Pod stalks its prey!
Afterwards, I got to sit down to play Pallidium’s Robotech RPG Tactics demo. Unlike other Kickstarter projects which are complete (I’m anxiously waiting for someone local to demonstrate Exploding Cats next year), this item shipped and made it to market just in time for Gottacon.
I love the look of the new models; the Valkyries and Zentraedi Battlepods are excellently scaled. I’d collect them to display but to be able to play with them is equally exciting. In a points based game to build armies, what was taught in how this game operates is with how the rules are streamlined to recreate the flavour of how mecha combat needs to be fast and furious. And I’m told the rest of the series, Southern Cross and Next Generation will come out in due time. I’ll be saving my money to build an Invid army!
In the last few hours of this show, everyone was packing up. That’s to be expected in the exhibitors area and that’s sad. Shut down was already happening at 3pm than 5 and in quickly scouring the remaining dealers, nobody wanted to budge in deeply discounting their goods. I might have bought something, but alas this show is not the place I’d find spending money possible. I’m not the type who likes to pay to enter tournaments even though I understand a bit of the logistics behind why that has to happen, and I’m not one who will give up cash easily. When it comes to entertainment, at least I find the talents hired to put on the evening’s fun entirely worth it.
With Geekenders’ Stormtroopers, they never looked this sexy!
Last year, Electric Ginger Productions Gamer’s Burlesque Show, The Critical Hit Show and Paper Street Theatre’s Improv D&D made staying the night fun. This year, Geekenders‘ Star Wars Burlesque Show spotlighted Friday night and they performed Portal 2 the (unofficial) Musical on Saturday. Even though I may not be here during the day, the evening will always be promising. And the convention organizers are smart to offer evening passes to the public so folks just interested in only these performances can show up. However, to make them available at 8pm than 7pm feels harsh. Two hours should be granted to evening people wanting to get a taste of this convention’s many events before having to line up at the theatre. 90 minutes is not enough to sample a game before the need to rush to the theatre for a good seat takes precendence.
To see Gottacon employ comedy acts is an excellent way to keep me interested. In terms of shopping experiences, discovering something new or meeting new people, all I find are the same folks coming back every year. That may be fine for some, but I know where to locate half the vendors when they are based from this city. When I crave diversity, I’m finding myself leaving the Island more often to get what I want. I enjoyed being at Gottacon in its early days, but when interests in another show shook me all night long and I loved the big names the Victoria Film Festival (VFF) were bringing in, yes, I jumped ships. When Gottacon moved its date so it wouldn’t conflict, that did not feel like enough for me to return. As long as the entertainment stays consistently great, I’ll be back at night. There was one year where they sort of worked together with the VFF people because Lloyd the Conqueror, a LARP comedy was playing, and I’m sad more coordination at this level can not continue. The Vic Theatre is next door now so the many wide and varied opportunities just needs to be explored. Otherwise, this particular cat will be very choosy in the years to come on what entertainment at the Inner Harbour offers. Meow.
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One of the many booths in the exhibit hall
Cosplayer
A Rennaisance Fair at Gottacon?
Alternate View
Knight’s Alive!
Robotech RPG Tactics Demo
Miniature Battles are Abound!
Wandering around was the name of the game here.
Robotech RPG Tactics Demo
Plenty of Hard Core PC parts were spotlighted
Two Favourites of Mine
You Need a Friend?
Getting ready for battle!
Golem Faction For Sale
Excitement was happening across the pool
Need Cosplay bits?
One of the many winners
Game Demo Booth
We Got a Friend.
Battle Challenged
Cosplay Booth
A view of the exhibitor’s hall from above
Plenty of ‘Magic’ can be Found here
Tournaments R Us
