Well, everyone has to have a gripe at something and my gripe for today Is the
UK Dragonmeet, that I went to yesterday which was Saturday 27th November.
first has nothing to do with the meet, but It set me up for the rest of the day. I dressed for the occasion. Bowler hat, tie, waistcoat, coat, gloves and Cain. looked the part I thought, dropped my Cain just as i got to the doors of the meet hall. yes it broke, anyway I digress.
The Dragonmeet, was In London so It had to be good, no not good, It had to be great. why did It fail to meet my expectations. Is It because the other year I managed to get to one of the biggest gaming events in the world GenCon Indianapolis USA. Or did I just expected more from and event in London for my hobby.
It was the latter, Dragonmeet let me down.
It was underwhelming, drab and you know what, just down right Boring. The hall was dull, nothing to brighten your welcome to the event. people on the desk looked like they wished they were somewhere else. I paid my ticket, got my shameful goody bag. (at least I got one I guess) wasn’t even told that on the ticket was a number that was to be put in a draw for later. If I hadn’t decided to stay until the event ended I would have known nothing about It.
Tables were bare wood, not nice wood either, that king that you cover broken windows with on stores. It was a push to get to the RPG gaming lists to place my name down to play an RPG. I Did It and decided on a Savage Worlds Horror game.
The stall hall or whatever its Is meant to be called took less than Four minutes to walk around. The same Stalls that you get at any other event. that I do not mind but aren’t they there to sell themselves too. no not good at all.
Savage worlds. This was the game I got my name down to play. The GM (Kevin) was good and entertaining the players we has were also a fun bunch of guys/gals and we all put our own twist to the characters all good.
The story was fun and exciting, yet I found the system seemed to get in its own way. We had our sheets, check. we had our dice, check. then some tokens called bennies, (I wont explain) er check. then our hit point counters, little heart-shaped glass pieces, er check. now a playing card is dealt for initiative, good Idea but to be honest are you sure i need all this arround me to play the game.
So the short of It, Savage Worlds, I will not be buying It, at all.
I listen to a Talk on Trail of Cthulhu, that was interesting the writers were fun but they told me things that to be honest If you are not doing It in your games already then what are you up to. there game sounded as though It had everything every other RPG hadn’t. It was a Sales pitch and nothing more, sorry guys.
I still went and tried the demo…30 minutes was, well ok. do not get me wrong the guy who ran and wrote the short adventure was nice and the game was ok, where they say their game is unrestrictive is true but then so Is any other game. I didn’t see the difference except that the GM had to do way more work that the players and that In my opinion Isnt right. Share the work divide the fun with everyone.
Back to the Event, lack of food choice, food price . food in general was, well not good. I didn’t buy any not, even a can of drink. At least there was free water fountains. walking around bored most of the time, I only stayed untill six just to get my monies worth. Will I go again If i can?. You bet I will, I do not have enough gaming In my life and what little I get has to be good. So next time, Dragonmeet Will be better. It has to be.
I’ve rambled, so sorry I hate to read long blogs myself, now my first one so I shall stop.
Symatt 
Shame about that. I’ve been to great conventions and lousy conventions. They either seem to be one thing or the other; there’s no such thing as an average con, it seems.
Savage Worlds is a very tactile game, especially if played with all of the added tokens, bennies & cards – as it was in your con game. That’s a good way to play with a three or four friends over a bowl of Doritos & dip, but not a good way to play at a convention. It’s a shame that the GM played it that way, and lost you as a result.
Pingback: Dragonmeet 2010 Convention Report | impworks | Mark Caldwell
I was a few rows back from you in the Pelgrane seminar. I can see your point of view of it. I don’t agree with all their claims and everything they say about investigative gaming. I didn’t think it was a complete sale pitch – I’ve been to seminars where game companies really tried to hard sell their games.
If you go again the big tip about food and drink is simply to nip out to the high street theres a lot of choice from M&S to burger bars to Restaurants in 5 minutes walk.
The funny thing is – even though its been running for years now – Dragonmeet felt like a con that needs more polish.
Yeah… pretty much figures.
I’ve done 3 Dragonmeet’s, the last one being 2007 I think, and they have got progressively worse. The bags got worse, the first one I went to in 2000 I got free dice, free books etc, the last one was just flyers.
One of my major problems with it is that it was (presumably still is) run by Angus from Cubicle 7, who from my experience is an egotistical arsehole.
The stalls got worse, too many crowded into too small a space, the demo games poor, the free tables not marked etc.
I’ll never go again…
I enjoyed the half day I was there – checked out the stalls, bought some stuff, and played in a fun Feng Shui game – but wouldn’t have found enough to occupy me for a whole day. Would have liked to have gone to the Green Ronin and Pelgrane seminars though.
Had no idea there was a number on my ticket!
Rich