Rolling Along and Spreading Thin

by | Aug 25, 2008 | News | 0 comments

Friday August 22:

Well, things are rolling. Got a very pleasant surprise, the local
alternative weekly newspaper, the Alibi, not only ran my first ad, but
also highlighted Saturday's game tournament as a "Hot pick", something
recommended to do for the weekend. Even got a big photo of the board,
which was nice, may really bring people out to see the game. My head is
spinning, so many last-minute details to work out. I remembered that I
still need to make some brochures for Dragon*Con, as well as a price list.
My friend and graphics guru Chris whipped up a nice 4 color price sheet,
so I'll go get that printed up and ready to go. I was also invited to be a
speaker at a Horror / Paranormal convention called Scare Fest in
Lexington, Kentucky the second week of September. I had to postpone the
official Albuquerque Playing Gods launch party until the following
weekend. I mentioned it to my dad, who responded a bit skeptically:
"You're spreading yourself pretty thin." True enough, but Scare Fest will
be a great place to showcase Playing Gods, it's hard to pass it up.

I spent about 7 hours Frinight at the Albuquerque Airport hotel, where the
Bubonicon was in full swing. I showed up around 5:30 and didn't get home
until 2 AM. It was a typical SciFi / Fantasy fan crowd of geeks and nerds
(I mean that affectionately), gamers, writers, wannabe writers, and
others. I set up the game on two tables, and soon it was drawing a crowd.
I played a bunch of games, and everyone who played it really enjoyed it.
(And I know they weren't just saying that because I as there, since I
didn't always tell people that I had invented the game, I just started
playing it.) People really seem to dig the Badass Buddha with the chain
gun…

I was killed off early in the second game (you might think that the person
who created the game would win most of them, but my winning record is kind
of spotty). Since it seemed unlikely the god I was playing, Moses, would
be resurrected any time soon (there's a way that players can come back
into a game later), I stretched my legs and wandered the room a bit—not
too far in case a question on game play arose. As I did, I heard a roar of
laughter come from the Playing Gods table; somebody had just read a card,
or killed someone off, or something. I don't know exactly what it was, but
I turned around to see four Playing Gods gamers having a great time.

It was one of those magical little moments that only happen once in a
great while. I felt, well, I don't know if proud is the right word, but I
felt a certain satisfaction, a sense of accomplishment that I hadn't felt
at any point in the long process of creating and bringing out Playing
Gods. The guys were really having fun, really enjoying themselves with
something that I had created, something that I made up in my head. It must
be like how a musician feels when he or she is in concert, and looks out
over the crowd and sees everyone singing along to a song. Anyway, it was
just a magical, beautiful moment I won't forget.

Speaking of forgetting…. Oh shit, I can't believe this, but I STILL have
not gotten the envelopes / packaging for the Expansion Pack. When I take
the time to slow down and think about it (such as when I'm doing this
blog), I remember, but then I seem to forget to do anything about it.

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