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Okay…so I made it back from my first day at Origins — and I seem to have made it out relatively unharmed.
For those of you who have never attended a convention of any kind, it is quite possibly the most exhausting and overwhelming experience that one can have. There’s just so much going on — and there are so many people everywhere — that, after a few hours, you pretty much just want to curl up in an empty corner and take a nap. But before I take my nap, I need to fill you in on the day’s events.
So here’s a little bit more about my day:
As I said before, I got there at around 10. I found myself a parking spot, loaded my pocket with business cards, clipped my cell phone on my belt, strapped on my messenger bag, and headed in. As soon as I got off the elevator, I was in the middle of everything. There were gamers everywhere — some in shorts and T-shirts, others in full gaming costumes. I followed the crowd toward the main hall, where people were waiting in long lines to get their badges. I found the press room, got my badge, and headed for the exhibit hall.
There were a few booths that I knew I needed to check out, so I planned to hit those first. You see, I do my homework before I show up at Origins. I go through the entire list of companies who will be set up in the exhibit hall. I check out the new games, find the ones I’m interested in seeing, and I mark them on the map that I printed out — everything is highlighted and color-coded. Then I made a spreadsheet of the companies, their booth number, the name of the person I need to look for, and the games that I’m interested in. That, too, is highlighted and color-coded. Call me obsessive compulsive if you will, but you need to be prepared when you go to these things, or the crowd will eat you alive.
My first stop was the North Star Games booth — because I’d gotten an email from them earlier in the week, and I promised I’d be there this morning. There, I met Luke, who walked me through both Wits & Wagers and their newest game, Say Anything. As I sat down to check out Say Anything, my cell phone belt clip broke, sending my phone flying. And, as I was going to pick it up, I ended up writing on myself in black marker. Clearly, I had not yet hit my stride.
My next stop was Playroom, where I chatted with Dan for a while about their latest games. Then I headed over to one of my long-time favorites, Out of the Box.
Having stopped by my three must-see booths, I then decided to wander through the whole hall to get an overview of who was where and where I needed to stop. I wandered up and down the aisles, noticing a few old favorites and a few new companies. Every once in a while, I stopped to check out a game or two — but, mostly, I just wandered. With these things, you need to remember to pace yourself.
Now, Origins isn’t just a big room full of board games. You can also find all kinds of miniatures (to go with your games) and costumes. I could have gotten Medieval peasant wear, leather corsets, and a bikini made of chain mail (which, btw, I actually saw one woman wearing later — I’m guessing she was paid to be there…either that, or she’s a bit of an exhibitionist). You can buy swords and other weapons and various and sundry other knick knacks, too. And the place is packed with gaming types. While a fair number of them are normal-looking, many of them are the kind that you’d see hanging out at your neighborhood video game store. Or in calculus class. Other than that, you’ve probably only seen these people portrayed in movies — because they don’t actually go outside much. They’re geeks. And they’re an intriguing breed. And they’re part of what makes Origins so much fun.
Fortunately, I’ve spent a lot of time around geeks in my day. I was a math geek in high school. I was friends with the entire computer science department in college. I once worked in the web development part of an ad agency. And I’m also a film critic, which means that I often find myself surrounded by over-eager fanboys. Oh…and I married a computer programmer. So I’m used to geeks. For those who aren’t, however, Origins might be an overwhelming experience. The first year I came to Origins, in fact, the press guy was a bit concerned about me. When I stopped by the press room for lunch on my first day there, he took a few minutes to see how I was doing. He looked concerned.
“So…have you been to something like this before?” he asked me.
“No…” I replied. “But I knew what to expect.”
At that, he looked a bit relieved. I can imagine that the uninitiated may occasionally run screaming from the building. But I’m tougher than that. In fact, I live for this stuff. Sure, I don’t show up in peasant garb, but I’m actually a geek in disguise.
So anyway…after my lunch break, I took a minute to regroup and plan my afternoon, and then I made my way back into the crowds. I met all kinds of wonderful people, and I even played a game or two. I met the guys at brand-spankin’-new game company Bucephalus, and I got a copy of High School Drama autographed by the designer, Boyan Radakovich, who also took the time to explain it all to me (and I was actually able to follow along, which was nice). To be honest, I have no idea how so many people were able to sit around and play games in the middle of all this insanity. Maybe I’m just seriously ADD, but I often had a hard time following along with someone’s explanation of a game — or reading the instructions on a playing card. There are just so many people there. It’s so loud, and there’s so much going on. And it’s just impossible to focus. So today I gained a whole new respect for those who sat down at a table in the middle of the hall for a demo of an involved strategy game — because I couldn’t do it. That’s why I try to get an overview and choose a few to take along — so I can play them in the relative peace and quiet of my own home.
After another couple of hours of wandering through the exhibit hall, meeting people, memorizing rules, and trying to balance everything while taking notes, I decided that it was time to call it a day. I dragged my exhausted behind back to my car and headed back out of the city.
Since the convention runs for three more days — and I haven’t quite covered all of the territory that I was hoping to cover — I’ll be back at least once more before it’s over. And, afterwards, I will have all kinds of great new games to report on. I can’t wait to tell you all about them!
But first…it’s time for my nap.
