FallCon - A Cornucopia of Gaming

I'm just putting the final touches on my FallCon 24 to-do items before moving on to next year's business and one of those to-dos is announcing winners of a couple promotions we were running.

First off, I'm happy to announce the winner of our 2011 survey draw: Julie Imbach. Julie's won a $100 gift certificate at the retailer of her choice. Julie we'd love to hear what you ended up buying with your gift certificates! Thanks to everyone who sent in their feedback. We'll be combing your responses with a fine toothed comb this month to figure out how to make FallCon 25 something truly worth celebrating.

Next up are the winners of the RPG-to-Boardgames cross-over promotion. In early August, I invited folks to email me if they were into RPGs and boardgames. Those that did stood a chance of winning one of several new D&D books and game add-ons. Without further ado, here are the winners:

• Andrew Crowe: D&D 4th Edition Rules Compendium
• Diane Quan: D&D Heroes of the Fallen Lands
• David Bligh: D&D Heroes of Shadow
• Jason Sallay: D&D The Shadowfell - Roleplaying Game Supplement
• Shane Dalager: D&D Dungeon City Tiles: The City

Send me an email to claim your winnings!

Jasen

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For those of you who weren't at our awards ceremony on Saturday, let me share with you the 2012 Canadian Game Design Award winner: Matt Tolman for his design, Undermining.

Matt got an early birthday present and seemed to be floating on air for the rest of the con. He's now in Essen proudly demoing Undermining at the Z-Man booth while sporting the CGDA logo on a t-shirt. Congrats Matt - best of luck in Essen and we look forward to hearing how things went in Germany.

While we're on the topic of the CGDA, Valley Games flew in an advance copy of Octopus' Garden just for FallCon and I saw it played a number of times at the convention. The production is truly top notch and the game play is just as I remembered it last year when we played it during the final eval. It's a great family game that I would heartily recommend.

We have now received 50 advance copies in Calgary which we're making available for $35. These advance copies will come with the Diver expansion, 4 extra tokens that you can mix in with the other tiles. When you buy them from the market they clean up the garbage in your garden but also pocket the relics (those greedy divers!). If you're interested in picking up a copy 1 or 2 months in advance of your local retailers, send me an email. I'll have them ready for pickup at my place in the Calgary NW or downtown as of Friday this week.

I know I'll be picking up a couple copies myself. These are the perfect family holiday gift!

Jasen

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Well today's the day: FallCon officially starts at 5:30pm this afternoon. Looking forward to seeing all of you.

For those of you commuting to Commonwealth Hall via transit, I just wanted to highlight the fact that we're only a few minute walk away from the Westwinds-McKnight C-Train Station. If you've got a transit pass, simply get off at Westwinds, walk a few minutes to catch the 95 southbound on 40th St. NE, then get off when the bus makes its turn onto 52th Ave NE. You can map out your route below.

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See you in a few hours!

Jasen

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Part of the momentum seen in the expanding boardgame market has been through the delivery of boardgames via iOS devices. Apple’s iPad has proven to be the first mobile device that can truly provide a real board gaming experience. The screen is large enough, and the picture is crisp enough, to be viewed by groups of people sitting around a table. The iPad also improves gameplay by managing the minutiae of piece management and rule application, freeing the players to focus on strategies, interactions and the joy of the game.  In short, gamers can play what they want, when they want, and finish an entire game in the time they might otherwise spend trying to find that missing card or pawn!

Unbeknown to many in town, we have our own development and iOS publishing house right here in Calgary. I invited Chris and Graham from Codito and Sage Board Games to attend this year so they could showcase some of their iPad games in the Open Gaming area. Sage Board Games has licensed and is publishing an upcoming “who’s who” of board games being developed for iPad, iPhone, and iTouch by Codito Development Inc. To date, they have published Reiner Knizia's "Medici" and "Ra", as well as Wolfgang Kramer's "Tikal".  All of these are currently on sale at the time of this blogpost. They also developed Andreas Seyfarth's "Puerto Rico" for Ravensburger Digital. Next up on the development list: Tigris & Euphrates, Le Havre, Through the Ages. I know I can't wait for those to come out! 

So come by and learn some new games from Chris and Graham on Friday night. Put that iPad to good use!

PS. To keep tabs on Sage Board Games developments, you can like them on Facebook, follow them on Twitter, or subscribe to their email newsletter.

Jasen

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All of us on the FallCon Team are eagerly counting down the days until FallCon 24, especially those of us who get to greet you first thing upon arrival. It's such a thrill seeing so many grinning faces anxiously waiting to receive their con badges. So when you arrive at the convention those of us at the registration desk will be happy to help you, whether it is your first time or your 24th time!!!

First Stop: Registration Desk

Our hope is to serve you as quickly and efficiently as possible. Everyone is eager to set-up or find their scheduled tournament game, check out the open game library and submit auction games. Our attendance numbers are steadily increasing each day, so make sure to arrive early. Normally at least 150 attendees walk through our door on the first night, so your patience is much appreciated!

Some attendees pre-register and other attendees register upon arrival. Select the pre-registrant or walk-in line-up accordingly and before long you'll receive your name badge. Remember that your badge is your admittance into the con for the weekend, and also allows you to sign out games from open game library. Please wear it at all times throughout the weekend.

After 7:00 pm on Friday, you can swing by the desk to see the selection of games up for raffle. Draws will be made during scheduled tournament times, a total of 5 times over the weekend. Tickets can be purchased with Steve “Long Arm” Lloyd or at the registration desk. The winning tickets will be posted, so you can swing by when your game is done. Make sure to claim your prize before the end of the weekend!

Remember: Doors open at 5:30 pm, Friday 14 October 2011. See you there!

Sarah Stevenson

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Agent Code Monkey (aka Jordan)

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I try not to publish blog posts on weekends as our traffic tends to fall off and I suspect the long weekend will see many folks (other than myself) taking time away from the computer. But for those technophiles like me, here are some quick  reminders worth passing along.

• Online Registrations will close at midnight on Monday October 10th. You'll save yourself time in the lineup if we can print your badges before the convention by letting us know your intentions and signing up online.
  
• Deadline for altering your submitted auction items is Tuesday October 11th
• We tentatively have a short spotlight on Breakfast TV on Thursday morning. 

Also wanted to let you know that your feedback regarding the menu was passed along to Commonwealth. They've agreed to alter the menu accordingly. I haven't seen the new menu but I trust it'll be a step in the right direction. Furthermore, if you have food allergies or sensitivities, they will certainly accommodate outside food. Their intent isn't to be draconian about outside food. Put simply if you intend on eating purchased food at the convention, on an honor system basis, it would be preferable to eat food from the concession. Hope that addresses some of the concerns that were raised.

Jasen

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Our dedicated Games Workshop events moderator, Robert Kuster, emailed us a few days ago and suggested that we may have to drop our Warhammer events due to lack of sign-ups. I've emailed the 3 folks who had registered to date and received responses from two of them that they were okay with a change to the schedule so we're going to go ahead with the event cancellations.

While the events are no longer on the schedule, we will accomodate casual drop-in games of Warhammer in open gaming. If you've got room in your car, feel free to bring your armies with you. Rob has also offered to bring in and demo the new Games Workshop game Dreadfleet.

Jasen

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Want to play a game but all your friends are already rolling dice, placing meeples, or trading resources? Maybe you’ve looked through our massive open gaming library and want to crack open last year’s Canadian Game Design Award (CGDA) winner? Whatever the situation, we know you want to find a table of gamers as quickly as possible! This year at FallCon, find those gamers faster by using Twitter to broadcast your gaming desires.

Tweet the name of the game you’re looking to play, the number of players you’re seeking and the time you’d like to start playing, along with the #FallConOG hashtag. Your tweets will automatically be reposted to our @FallConYYC twitter account. This is the best way to keep in touch with FallCon’s activity (open gaming or otherwise) during the whole convention. Here’s the recommended format:

Game Name / # of players seeking / time          #hashtag

Dominion     / seeking 2-3 players  / ASAP        #FallConOG

Die Macher  / seeking 4 players    / 10am Sun   #FallConOG

Not familiar with Twitter or don’t have an account?  Not a problem. We’ll have whiteboards set up around the open gaming area so you can search for gaming partners that way!  

Sweet, sweet technology.

Ian Blizzard  

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For those of you who read the newsletter I sent out this weekend, I mentioned that Commonwealth Hall would be providing a concession. Here's a quick list of their current menu items:

Commonwealth Burger - $4.50

Lamb & Pork Burger - $5.50

Butter Chicken with Rice - $7.00

Cheese Enchiladas - $5.00

Beef Dip - $5.00

Chicken Fingers and Fries - $7.00

Nachos - $7.00

Veggie Spring Rolls (3) - $2.50

Veggie & Dip Plate - $4.50

Fruit & Cheese Plate - $6.00

Chips/Popcorn - $1.00

Chocolate Bar - $1.75

Water / Juice / Pop - $2.00

Coffee / Tea - $1.00

Team Platter Combo (Spring Rolls + Nachos + Chicken Fingers + Fresh Veggies) - $19.50

It's important to note that the Hall has asked FallCon staff and attendees to self-regulate with respect to outside food. If you happen to see folks walking in with snacks, pop, food (particularly branded items like fast food) that is clearly not purchased at the concession, please remind them that this puts our contract for next year in jeapordy. Nothing stops you from eating elsewhere or packing a lunch and eating it outside, but the Hall is staffing the concession for us and they don't want to do so at a loss. In the same way we encourage you to support our sponsors before and after the con, we hope you'll support the concession during the con.

I know I've got my meals all planned out!

Jasen

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