Highmoon's Ponderings

In The Digital Front - Episode 13 we present a recording of the E-Publishing Seminar held at Gen Con 2008, sponsored by DriveThruRPG.com. The host is Steve Wieck of OneBookShelf (owners of DriveThruRPG.com and RPGNow.com), and the panelists are Gareth-Michael Skarka of Adamant Entertainment, Ryan Johnson of Guild of Blades Publishing, and Daniel M. Perez of Highmoon Media Productions. The seminar discusses how to become an e-publisher, a look at the e-publishing market, methods to market your e-products, and some thoughts about the future of the medium.

This episode marks the first anniversary of The Digital Front. Many thanks to everyone who has listened to the show and sent in their feedback, and especially to all my guests so far, without whom there would be no show.

Please feel free to discuss this episode on our forums.

Download TDF - 13

 We all woke up at 9 am so we could take advantage of our last day of free breakfast at the Embassy, and because with a flight at 2 pm, I had no time to loose. We were joined downstairs by Erin Moore and a very hungover David Moore, to whom we bid farewell as they headed out back to Chicago. Josh, Mick and I went upstairs to get our stuff packed up and ready for our checkout.

Josh would go on to stay until Monday so I bid him farewell, and after checking out of the hotel with Mick, I bid him farewell as he would be heading out to Louisville later in the afternoon. At the checkout counter I had the fortune of meeting Eytan Bernstein, one of the people I had hoped to see during the con but had missed so far, so even if it was for a few minutes, I was glad.

I was afraid I wouldn’t have enough time to make it back to the hall before I had to leave to the airport. I like going around the hall one last time saying goodbye to everyone I know that I run into; it gives me a sense of closure for the con, and one last chance to connect with folks before I don’t see them for a year (in most cases). Thankfully I did have time, and at 11 am I was at the Exhibit Hall doing a mad-dash through the corridors saying goodbye to folks. I also had the foresight to bring my camera and take pics with some of my good friends.

Ben Balestra (All Games Considered), Dan, Shawn and Mario Dongu (The Game Master Show) & Me.

 
Ethan Parker (Gamer’s Haven) & Me.

 
Don Dehm (Pulp Gamer) & Me.

 
Judd Karlman (Sons of Kryos), Rob Bohl (The Independent Insurgency) & Me.

Meg, Josh and Zeke (The Brilliant Gameologists) & Me.

Paul Tevis (Have Games, Will Travel: For a Few Games More), Ryan Macklin (Master Plan) & Me.
These two dudes also did This Just In… From Gen Con, a great daily live-from-the-show podcast.

After this it was the express line to the airport and a nice flight back to Miami via Air Tran, which thankfully was not disrupted by the presence of Tropical Storm Fay just south of Miami (it would not affect Josh flying in on Monday either, though it did screw up the rest of the week with tons of rain and winds). By 7 pm I was back home, having pizza with my wife, decompressing after an amazing, hectic, overwhelming, and dare I say magical weekend gaming and sharing with friends from all over the world, and wondering at the back of my head, “Is it Gen Con 2009 yet?”

Given my particular limitations, Shabbat at Gen Con for me is always about taking it easy, strolling the hall in peace and catching up with friends. Like last year, I slept in late, ate breakfast at the Embassy with my roommates, then went upstairs to do my prayers while Josh attended a Quick Write seminar downstairs. At noon, prayers done and a small lunch eaten, Josh and I headed to the Exhibit Hall to see everything we hadn’t so far.

Up to this point, we had all seemingly forgotten that we had brought cameras so the pictures were very few. Saturday was dubbed photo day, and Josh took a number of shots around the hall (which you can see here). My mission for this time in the hall was to look around for stuff I’d come buy Sunday before going back to Miami; it went so-so. We dropped by the Khepera Publishing booth to check out Hellas: Worlds of Sun and Stone aka. Greeks in SPACE!!! As I saw someone state in in a forum, “Any answer other than “Hell Yes!” to that premise is just wrong.” Jerry Grayson seems intent on making awesome games and lots of money with systems that people have tossed to the trash can (D6 for GODSEND Agenda, Omni for Hellas) and this one doesn’t disappoint. I failed to pick it up, however, but later I found out that Josh did get the last copy (Battle-Scarred Edition!) so I’ll be playing it at some point soon.

And because I promised Josh I’d give him hell for this pic:  
Photo courtesy of Andy Kitkowski.

The other book I wanted was John Wick’s Houses of the Blooded, but try as I might, I never found where John had set up shop so I left the con without it. I also completely forgot to buy a copy of Things We Think About Games and of The Solar System. Thank goodness for IPR on all three counts. At around 2 pm we left the hall so Josh could get some lunch, and we ended up walking around downtown Indy a bit, which is a fine activity, even in the midst of the convention (it refreshes you, trust me). We went back to the Embassy to eat our lunch because at 4 pm we were scheduled to meet with Chris Perrin to do a playtest of his game Mecha.

 
Mecha Playtest.

The game was great. We ended up in our room and with a party of four (Josh, David Moore, Chris Norwood and myself) playing these kids with mecha who are trying to overthrow the gods of this futuristic and disfunctional Utopia (one of the included settings with the game). That Perrin got some cheap MechWarrior mech minis added to the coolness of it all, and of course, the fact that it is a game about mechas just rocks it to 11. The mechanics are pretty smooth, and play up the whole man+machine aspect very well. I want this game out so I can own it and start hacking it to pieces.

 
Without a battlemat, we had to improvise.

At 7-ish pm, we made our way to the Media Meet & Greet at the Westin, an event that seems like it will become a tradition. I love the Meet & Greet, both because I like meeting fans of gaming podcasts (mine or otherwise), but also because it is a chance to say hello to my fellow podcasters that I may have seen only briefly during the show or have not seen at all.

 
L to R: Chris Hussy (Fear the Boot), Itamar Weisberg (Hamis’hakia), Me, Meg (Brilliant Gameologists) and Chris Perrin (Canon Puncture).

We did the Meet & Greet up until about 9 pm when the party moved to the Boardgames Ballroom for those who wanted to keep gaming. I went back to the hotel, closed Shabbat, changed into my kilt and met up with Dan, Chad, Itamar and a couple of friends from the Fear the Boot forums; our destination: the White Wolf party.

I missed the party last year because I had commited to a playtest at that time. Even this year, I had offered to run a game of Witch Hunter for some folks working the hall during the day, and I would have had no problem gaming at that time. The game never materialized, however, so I was left with the desire to hit the party. One problem, though: I did not have an invite (remember what I said about not being able to do any White Wolf interviews?). Dan however had one and when we got there he managed to get in thanks to a connection, thus I inherited his ticket. However, I had left my ID back at the hotel, so I had to walk back to get it, wisely also using the opportunity to eat something (again, PB&J sandwiches woohoo!). Once back at the ICE Lounge, I was ready to enter The Succubus Club.

The party was fantastic, everything the hype promised and more. It was open bar so I started right upon entering with a Vodka & Cranberry (I won’t do a list, don’t worry) and went to meet my friends, finding fellow Booters Chris Hussy and Daniel “Grungydan” Henson along the way. We hung out for about half an hour, but after that it was time to hit the dance floor, and I pretty much did not leave it for the rest of the night.

The music was an extraordinary mix of modern evocative dance songs (Goldfrapp was especially cool) with just amazing Retro/Goth/New Wave tunes, with a heavt emphasis on the latter. I was in dancing heaven. I used to go to a local goth club called The Kitchen back in the late 90’s pretty much every Saturday night and this music took me right back there. I wish I could get a set list for all that was played that night, because it would go directly into my iPod. Kudos to the DJ for a great experience. I wish there was more to say, but I literally danced for like 4 hours straight with nary a break in between and that’s pretty much it. I will say that I was a good boy. I had a couple of friends who had a few too many drinks and did things that they should be glad there are no pictures of, but aside from having a couple clove cigarettes and drinking a bit too much (though thankfully I spaced it enough that I didn’t get sick or hungover the next morning, just sort of lost in this music-filled trance), I was a very good boy.   

At 3 am they turned on the lights, and around 3:15 am they turned off the music; at around 3:30 I was outside talking drunken crap with Don Dehm and Jeremiah Lynch of Pulp Gamer. We made our way back to the Embassy where I had a glass of Jeremiah’s homemade mead and then went to my room to find everyone awake still. David Moore apparently had as much to drink at the White Wolf party as I did but in half the time and hd gotten himself in trouble with his wife for some drunken comment or other (he also ran into Jared Sorensen and said to him, “You wrote Burning Wheel!” [which, for the non-gamers who read this, he didn't]). Josh and I went downstairs for a bit but turned in at around 4:30 am and promptly passed out.

 
David Moore the morning after the White Wolf party.

 I managed to get up early-ish on Friday, get some breakfast, and make it to the Exhibit Hall at 10:30 am. My tentative plans for the day included a last-minute midday interview with White Wolf that was set up the day before. Until that time I wandered the upper part of the hall (the lower numbers), meeting the crew from The Game Master Show at the White Wolf booth just shy of noon, as agreed since they would be joining me for the interview. There also were Victor Cantu (Fist Full of Comics and Games, in the red shirt) and Ethan Parker (Gamer’s Haven), on their way to another interview elsewhere in the hall.

Sadly, this was also the day when most of the Hunter designers were giving a number of panels, so while The Game Master Show got an interview about EVE Online, I did not get a chance to record with the Hunter folks (I left my card, but I never heard from WW again during the rest of the con). With some time to kill until my 2:00 pm panel, I went to buy one of the books that had really caught my eye at the show, and in my opinion, one of THE books to get at Gen Con, Starblazer Adventures. I also went by the Paradigm Concepts booth to pick up A Child’s Game, the new adventure for Witch Hunter, and then wandered the hall, discovering that one of my other planned buys of the show, the Pathfinder RPG Beta Rules, had sold out earlier that morning. Grrr.

While wandering the hall I met up with Mick and we went to see the Art Show. Our friend and ex-podcaster Jeff Himmelman was exhibiting his art at the show and we both wanted to say hi to him and his wife Caroline, as well as check out his art. Jeff, without a doubt, is someone who will only get bigger from here on. He has a fantastic style and a range so wide it’s enviable. His pieces just display a sense of the emotion inherent in the scene in a way that is captivating. I ended up buying a print of the piece called “The Witch Hunter”, which will soon appear as the cover of an upcoming Witch Hunter product by Paradigm Concepts. After chatting with Caroline for a bit, and Mick also picking up a print, we were about to leave when I said, no, I have to go and meet Rebecca Guay. 

I have been a fan of Rebecca’s work since the Changeling: The Dreaming 1st edition books, and of course, her days as a regular Magic: The Gathering artist. I just love her work, her style. She is, without a doubt, my favorite artist in the industry, and finding her here at the con was a complete surprise. I was paging through the program book when I turned a page and saw her listed as Artist Guest of Honor. I had basically given up hope of seeing her in person since she doesn’t really work in the gaming industry anymore, so when I saw that page I literally squealed with delight, texting my wife in Miami just past midnight to let her know. When I was finally face to face with Rebecca, I (and I hate to admit this) was completely awestruck and proceeded to be a huge fanboy who suddenly forgot the English language. There’s really no way to express to her how much I love her art, the kind of emotional response it elicits in me, so I simply told her I was a huge fan and had been for years, that I really loved her art, that I once had a website showcasing her artwork (The Art of Rebecca Guay, still there I have no idea how) and that I was happy to see her still putting out excellent art through other mediums. Through this all I had a really corny smile on my face that I could not just wipe off. It all took less than 5 minutes and that’s probably a good thing given how nervous I was (which why I forgot to ask to take a picture with her), but I cherish that experience. I purchased two prints, wishing I had multiple thousands of dollars to buy one or more of the original paintings she had on display. One day, perhaps.

Eventually I made my way to the Embassy Suites (with a quick detour to the Hyatt to meet up with David Miller, who would be sharing his food with me and had brought me lunch) and to my panel, E-Publishing: Bringing RPGs to Market in the 21st Century. 

The panel went off extremely well. Both Ryan Johnson of Guild of Blades Publishing (center) and Gareth-Michael Skarak of Adamant Entertainment (right) have extensive experience in the industry and both have been pursuing alternative forms of publication and distribution for years; me, I was just there to look pretty and promote podcasts.    Actually, the way it worked out, I turned out to be a model example of many of the suggestions being given by Gareth and Ryan; seeing how Highmoon Media started as a direct result of the d20 OGL boom, and that I had learned the ropes the hard way, I was able to provide real-life testimony to back up the advice of my fellow panelists. I think the information we gave out was very useful, and I look forward to releasing the recording on my podcast (you can see the digital recorder at far right behind the cup, resting on my leather dice bag).

Since I was at the Embassy, I took the opportunity after the panel to go up to my room and drop the art prints and the super heavy Starblazer Adventures book in my backpack, and grab a quick lunch (PB&J sandwiches rock!) before heading back to the hall. The trek there took a while as I kept finding people along the way to say hi, or even to actually talk to for a moment. One of the curses of Gen Con is that you get to see a lot of people, but invariably you don’t spend nearly enough time connecting with them, even with your own roommates sometimes. So moments like these, where friends meet when on their way to something or other, and can steal away a few minutes to chat, are invaluable.

My next appointment was an interview with Mark Kauffman of Days of Wonder at 5 pm. The original interview time had been originally set for Thursday at that time, but I completely forgot about it. I was fortunate that Mark managed to make some time for me on Friday, so when it was time, I made my way to the DoW booth to wait for Mark. 

He got back to the booth at around 15 past the hour, and we went off to the Press Room to do an audio interview, joined by DoW CEO Eric Hautemont as well. It was a nice, quick interview and frankly, the one time that I really felt like Press during the con. It was also my only interview for the show, something I intend to remedy next year. My Press duties done, I went back to trying to see all of the Exhibit Hall. The thing is that, for all the times I mention I go to the hall in these reports, it is never time enough to see all that is there, so every bit of time you can manage going down the corridors is good. Almost at 6 pm I found myself in the back corner at the Wizards of the Coast booth, and suddenly I realized that someone I wanted to meet would be there at that time. 

Steven E. Schend (left) and Ed Greenwood (right) had a book signing session from 5 to 6 pm. As a long time follower of the Forgotten Realms, I have been a fan of these two writers in particular for years. Ed was the creator of the world, Elminster himself, so he needs to introduction. Steven was the lead Realms writer at the end of the AD&D 2nd Edition cycle, and produced some of the most excellent supplements for the Realms ever, concentrating on the area of the Sword Coast, bringing a level of intrigue and exoticness to the setting that had been somewhat lacking up to that point. There was a time when a product with his name on it was purchased sight-unseen by me; that’s how much of a fan I became. Aside from that, I had been chatting with Steven on and off via Goodreads, which is how he told me about his schedule and how I found him. I have to admit, I was a bit awestruck (not nearly as much as when I met Rebecca Guay earlier, but still), so I didn’t get a pic with Steven and Ed (again!), but I did get to chat with them and both are super nice. I got an autographed copy of Steven’s new Forgotten Realms novel, Blackstaff Tower, which will released wide in September.

After the hall closed I met up with Mick and Josh at the Embassy’s Happy Hour, where we had chips, nachos and salsa with some drinks. I went upstairs to get ready for Shabbat, and once Itamar met me at the hotel lobby, we went to David Miller’s room at the Hilton Garden Inn for our Shabbat meal. Huge props go to David who hosted us and served a truly fantastic Shabbat meal, far grander than I would have ever expected it, and simply the best meal I’ve had at Gen Con, period. We ate and chatted for about 2 1/2 hours, after which we made our way back to the general convention center area. Itamar went to his hotel to sleep, David went off to the convention center to play some boardgames, and I went to the Embassy where I sat as a spectator and guest GM in a playtest of Ryan Macklin’s Mythender, a game where larger-than-life heroes travel to mythic Scandinavia to end Myths, the great monsters of legend. Great game, from what I could tell, and one I am eagerly awaiting in its final form. After the game ended we sat around talking and Judd Karlman showed up with Zombie Cinema, a very quick story boardgame of zombie mayhem. We played a game set at Gen Con and 15 minutes later all the players were dead, killed by the zombies, and we loved it.

At almost 2 am Josh and I decided it was time to go to sleep, when we happened by Rich Rogers and Chris Norwood, and Rich says, “Hey, you guys wanna play InSpectres?” Sure!

I know for a fact Rich regreted that question later on. We had a ton of fun, but probably for all the wrong reasons. We played a team of InSpectres (think Ghostbusters with the serial numbers filed off) at Gen Con hired by Peter Adkinson to take care of some supernatural problems in the hall. We were all sleep-drunk, so we started comic and ended up slapstick, figuring out that the ghost that was haunting the BioWare booth had been put there by Chessex in an attempt to disrupt non-dice using games, and we tracked down the ghost to the inflatable Monsterpocalypse monster at the Privateer Press booth. The game took about an hour and we never stopped laughing (except for Rich). At 3:30 am we finally got back to the room and simply crashed for the night. About time, too!

 Thursday started a bit later than usual (a pattern that would continue). Where last year I was in the Exhibit Hall during the Trade/Press/VIG hour before official opening, this year I got to the hall at around 10:30 am, after a good breakfast at the Embassy. My only planned thing for the day was my panel at 2 pm, so I simply went in to wander the hall and say hello to friends and industry acquaintances manning their booths.

Something was off, though. To be honest, after about an hour of walking around, I felt out of it, almost like I could have cared less I was at Gen Con. I didn’t know why; it was just this sense of blah-ness. Nothing called my attention, nothing seemed appealing, and the crowds just pissed the hell out of me. I ducked outside the hall when my wife called and after a fairly long time on the phone with her, I ran into the Fist Full of Comics and Games guys and chatted with them a bit.

That raised my spirits a bit, and after another quick scan of the hall, I went over to the Westin, where the podcasting event track was set. My panel was entitled “The Impact of Podcasting in the Gaming Industry,” which is really heavy stuff if you approach it correctly. I was saved, as my panelists–Chris Hanrahan, Don Dehm and Michael Stackpole (in that order below)–were all excellent sources of information with unique viewpoints on the subject at hand. 

I cannot thank these three gentlemen enough because they made the panel a wonderful experience full of really good advice and discussion. I look forward to releasing that to my TDF listeners. We went a little over an hour, and when all was done, I realized that I, indeed, had been nervous about this panel, quite surprisingly, but undeniably. With the panel done and the immediate feedback so positive, I felt better, and after saying hi to Dan Repperger and Chad Wattler of Fear the Boot, who were setting up for the next panel, I hit the Exhibit Hall. That’s when I felt it. That’s when I was finally able to start enjoying Gen Con.

Josh arrived that afternoon, and by about 4 pm or so we had met up at the hall where I had been talking to various industry people about some business stuff for Highmoon Media. Once with Josh, we hit the hall again and bought some books: Josh got Hunter: The Vigil, and I got Don’t Lose Your Mind, Thou Art But A Warriorand my pre-ordered copy of Beowulf. Once the hall closed, we went back to the Embassy suites so I could get ready for the night’s activities.

At 7:30 pm I joined the various publishers at RPGNow/DriveThruRPG for a nice dinner at Buca di Beppo, much like last year. I can’t eat there, but trust me when I say that it is very tempting. I had a Peroni beer and chatted by Mark Clover of Creative Mountain Games, Bob from Mongoose Publishing, and Vicky Potter (and a fellow minion whose name escapes me right now) from Tabletop Adventures. My only regret about the dinner is that I didn’t get to meet more of my fellow publishers. I know public introductions are corny, but something allowing us to realize who was who would have been nice. Something to think for next year. At 8 pm, though, I left because it was time for our Star Wars Primetime Adventures game. 

The Star Wars PTA Crew: Paul Tevis, Rich Rogers, Me, Judd Karlman & Mick Bradley.
Rich Rogers took the pic and joined us thanks to Photoshop.

We started this game last year, so we were all pumped for this year’s episode. The players–Judd Karlman (Sons of Kryos), Mick Bradley (TGTMB), Rich Rogers (Canon Puncture), Paul Tevis (Have Games, Will Travel) and I–had all been expecting this moment with baited breath, and the game did not disappoint in the least. Where the pilot episode last year had a good mixture of camp and seriousness, this year’s episodes (we ended up playing through two) were a lot darker, more than Star Wars has ever been, and it was magical. The story we crafted together was just powerful and emotional, and each of the characters experienced satisfying growth as they descended into a downward spiral. Frankly, if my Gen Con had ended after this game, it would have been completely worth it, and I cannot wait for next year for all of us to play again. The game was recorded and will show up soon enough in the Canon Puncture Actual Play feed, much like the pilot episode did.

Our game done, I met up with Josh and after cajoling Mick to join us, we went to the Claddagh for a pint and some non-gaming, friends-catching-up talk. We were eventually joined by Paul Tevis (who was so easily swayed to walk into this bar after he had left another and sworn he was going to sleep), though, alas, Last Call had been announced while we were sitting at the tables outside, so we missed the chance of a second round. Our beers done, we all called it a night and turned in, already making plans for the next morning.

My buddy Josh (Hoade, if you’ve been following the Gen Con pics and reports) came over today and we recorded our Gen Con Wrap-up episode for The Gamer Traveler/The Digital Front. It took us forever! We had phones ring, phones vibrate, people knocking at the door, twice… I mean, seriously. The one I thought could be a problem, my cat Pip, was actually none at all.

After recording (and saving) we played a game of Monsterpocalypse with the review material Privateer Press sent me last week (completely awesome of you guys, thanks). The game is a ton of fun. Giant monsters and mecha bashing each other senseless and throwing each other against buildings and hazards? FUN! If this game wasn’t collectible, this could be a humongous hit. As it is, I really think it has potential to be big.

After we picked up my wife at her work, we got a pizza and had that over six games of Zombie Fluxx, a favorite at this house and a fantastic and fun-filled game. Let it be known that my wife is the Zombie Queen; she just seems to win every single game of Zombie Fluxx we play. And when she doesn’t, it only takes a rematch for her to claim the title again.

Lots of fun games, pizza, my wife and my best friend. What more can one ask for?