Showing posts with label GaryCon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label GaryCon. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 23, 2022
Thursday, April 7, 2022
Cool New Endeavor - The Griffin & Gargoyle
The fiftieth anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons is fast approaching and there are plans by a large contingent of companies to celebrate the birth of this great hobby. One of those is the restaurant, lounge, retail gift shop/game store, and play space known as The Griffin & Gargoyle.
Conceptually the aim is to provide an immersive experience with not only the various settings, it will also have a story behind it within which patrons and visitors can participate. I hope to have more on this aspect in the future, because what I know already makes this sound like an opportunity for role-players to engage with the world history behind The Griffin & Gargoyle in a fun way.
Intended to become a destination spot for fans of role-playing and Dungeons and Dragons in particular, the developers are not lumping everything in that one basket. Of course the goal is to bring in customers from all over, including the locals and to make the business viable all year long. To that end the restaurant will have in their words, a unique and extensive menu. This establishment will not be for gamers on a pilgrimage alone, it will cater to everyone.
Speaking of catering, I heard that catering is something they might also handle, and weddings too.
Themed areas within the building are not just limited to The Griffin and Gargoyle Tavern (restaurant), they also include Curated Curiosities (retail space), The Gnome Alchemist (bar/lounge with all sorts of interesting concoctions), and a sequestered area for private role-playing sessions on custom built tables.
There are a number of gaming luminaries that are being tapped to contribute. Hammered Game Tables (if you've followed the blog you may known I own one of the early prototype HGT builds), and Stefan Pokorny of Dwarven Forge among them.
The Griffin & Gargoyle people have a lot more planned and a single blog post is insufficient to handle all of the information. With luck maybe the developers will spare a little time to provide us with occasional tidbits and updates as we get closer to March 2024.
Here is a link directly to the source! https://griffinandgargoyle.com/ <---- Link
Tuesday, February 5, 2019
Gaming Conventions and Guests of Honor: Why?
It is traditional for most conventions to have one or more guests of honor in attendance. The primary reason is to draw more attendance to the convention to bolster ticket sales. Star Trek or other science fiction conventions have celebrities directly tied to the franchise in question, for example Bill Shatner for Star Trek. Who does gaming have that would have that level of star power to bring in people that wouldn't otherwise be coming there to play games?
Over the past few years more celebrities from TV and Movies have acknowledged publicly that they are one with nerd culture and either did game or still game. This is definitely a great thing for the hobby which seems to be growing rapidly, but could their presence at a game convention be enough to entice more attendance and non-gamers to come out to the convention? Who do we have that makes sense to invite as a guest of honor to gaming conventions?
These questions are based on two factors: 1) financial bottom line, and 2) boosting participation in the hobby. For 1 you only need to draw enough people to show up, pay admittance to see the guest, and not fall short of break even to cover the expense. For 2) you need someone whose drawing power and influence can convert non-gamers into gamers. Ideally the guest of honor should be able to accomplish both goals.
The objectives of financial draw and participation increase do seem to be growing in likelihood as more stars open up about the hobby, but do game conventions need them? The answer may be, not yet. Perhaps after a couple more years and more popular, high profile figures make themselves known as gamers, the hobby will have gained potential guests of honor that can reliably help conventions. Still to be answered is why would they be needed and maybe they aren't.
Game conventions already draw dedicated followings that come to directly participate and not for any other purpose, so maybe enlisting star power, even those within the industry of the hobby isn't necessary. Still, the larger conventions do have guests of honor. It is up to the convention runners to tell us if the benefits exist or if this is just a way to say thank you to the people who designed or otherwise helped grow the hobby.
Over the past few years more celebrities from TV and Movies have acknowledged publicly that they are one with nerd culture and either did game or still game. This is definitely a great thing for the hobby which seems to be growing rapidly, but could their presence at a game convention be enough to entice more attendance and non-gamers to come out to the convention? Who do we have that makes sense to invite as a guest of honor to gaming conventions?
These questions are based on two factors: 1) financial bottom line, and 2) boosting participation in the hobby. For 1 you only need to draw enough people to show up, pay admittance to see the guest, and not fall short of break even to cover the expense. For 2) you need someone whose drawing power and influence can convert non-gamers into gamers. Ideally the guest of honor should be able to accomplish both goals.
The objectives of financial draw and participation increase do seem to be growing in likelihood as more stars open up about the hobby, but do game conventions need them? The answer may be, not yet. Perhaps after a couple more years and more popular, high profile figures make themselves known as gamers, the hobby will have gained potential guests of honor that can reliably help conventions. Still to be answered is why would they be needed and maybe they aren't.
Game conventions already draw dedicated followings that come to directly participate and not for any other purpose, so maybe enlisting star power, even those within the industry of the hobby isn't necessary. Still, the larger conventions do have guests of honor. It is up to the convention runners to tell us if the benefits exist or if this is just a way to say thank you to the people who designed or otherwise helped grow the hobby.
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