SFR, Inc.

[dproman]

Hello All,

We will be present at PAX Prime in Seattle, Sept. 3rd - 5th at the Washington State Convention Center. http://www.paxsite.com/paxprime/index.php
PAX is gaming festival run by Penny Arcade. 60,000 people attended last year. This year promises to be the same or better.
I'm looking for demo players and volunteers. Come help us make this event a success! Let me know if you can/like to help.

Thanks,
Dave
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Rep (director)

[JonPrud]

I am interested in some DD at PAX this year. It is still a ways out on the callendar, so I cannot promise much help yet.

What kind of events/tourneys are planned/desired?

As a n00b, I am interested in Sealed and Intermediate formats.

Thanks,
Jon

[JonPrud]

Will there be any DD events at PAX, or will there only be a demo table. I'd be interested in attending if there was a competition of some type.
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Dobbelsteentje hebberig

[dproman]

Since this is our first appearance at PAX, I didn't want to over-do it. I don't what to expect. I'm just trying to gain exposure for us. If this goes well for us, we'll definitely try something for next year! But, please stop by, play a pick-up game with one of us. What better advertisement than to see a real game happening!
Depending on the response, I'm open to putting together a tournament if we need to. Again, I have no idea of what to expect, except good things!

Thank You for your support and see you this weekend!
-Dave
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Rep (director)

[Kane]

Hey guys! Got a demo for myself and a friend and we immediately went over to the Dreaming and bought some starters. They only had 3 left after we purchased, so I'd say you were very successful in getting people interested! Have another friend who played in the old days who could not make it but was VERY excited to have another chance with the game!

[dproman]

Hello All,

Wow!! PAX, What do I say? Where do I begin?
I will try to describe this event the best I can. First, PAX (Penny Arcade Expo) is a gaming festival. It takes up the entire Washington State Convention Center. 60,000 estimated in attendance. Show tickets (1 day badges) were completely sold-out almost 2 weeks prior. (3-day badges were sold-out 2 months prior!) The 4th floor is the Exhibit Hall(s) (they needed both of them!) It was the area where all of the Electronic gaming took place. People stood in lines for 2+ hours to play a 3 minute demo of upcoming games. When this was done they could come down to the 3rd Floor where there was more retailers and game demos (both Electric and Board). When they were tired of the hustle and bustle of upstairs, they came "back to their roots" down to Table-Top games on the 2nd Floor where we were. Also, remember that we were in a Public access area of the Convention Center (you didn't need a badge to get to us) so, we did have to set up and tear down every day.
Now that I've given you the brief over-view, let me try to break it down, day by day.

Friday: Day One - "The Beginning of Things to Come"

The first few hours of course were very slow, because everyone was checking out the Exhibit Hall and because of our location. It was at this point that I was doubting my decision to commit to being there. By early afternoon, however, this thought was dismissed. We started doing demos and when I say demos, I mean real demos (not Cheese Weasel demos, like GenCon). It was very encouraging. Being the first day, early traveling (3 hour drive) etc., we called it a day around 8:30p.

Saturday: Day Two - "Excitement and Exhaustion"

We were set up by 10am when the Exhibit Hall opened (we could have been set up earlier, but we wanted a good nights rest. It turned out that we really needed that rest. I let Jace and Kaitlin go explore for the first two hours of the day. I did a demo here and there, not too busy. However, after they returned, around 12:30pm, we got slammed! I don't think any of us got a chance for a real break until after at least 10pm.
Excitement: We had a guy come back on Saturday (he did a demo on Friday), that had driven home (2-hour round trip) to get his collection so that he could trade dice. Needless to say, he went home a very happy camper, because we were able to upgrade him (from our personal collections) to 7 complete races! He will now go get his friends and "make them play DD" (those are his words ).

One thing that was going on around us which was an annoyance at first but became a blessing quickly, was MTG!. WotC decided to put a scavenger hunt (Cheese Weasel-type) contest station right across from us. Their participants had to decipher a riddle using the artwork directly behind us (see pics). So, needless to say we had a lot of traffic!
PAX 2010 002.jpg
PAX 2010 003.jpg
The organizer for PAX had no idea that this was going to happen, so he was very apologetic and accommodating, offering us a different location, I declined the offer (not my best decision).
In spite of all of this distracting activity, we had a great response to our demos. So great in fact that they had to kick us out at 2am! (when the Convention Center closed). Jace, Kaitlin and some of our new converts were playing multi-player games where ever they could find room. (pics)
PAX 2010 004.jpg
PAX 2010 007.jpg
The other thing to note is that we also had a retailer (who was stocking DD) located on the same floor, and since we were all Public Access, he was open until 2am (like the rest of the Convention Center)! Yes, he sold out of 2-player starters!
Exhaustion: We got to bed around 3am (PST), a very long but rewarding day!

Sunday: Day Three - "Disappointment and Pay-Off"

Disappointment: Because of our long day/night, we arrived shortly after 10am, only to discover that our table space had been taken by another demoing group. (According to our PAX agreement, we were guaranteed a table, they didn't say it would be the same table.) So, I promptly contacted my PAX rep (whom I had been working with for months), who placed at a table directly across from the Game Library.
Pay-Off: This turned out to be prime real estate! We should have been here from the beginning! They offered it to us on Friday but I didn't know what PAX was going to be like. (Bad decision on my part, sorry ) But, now at least, we had two days of demoing to compare to what we did on Sunday. Sunday, what a day! Our location, being across from the game library (which was attached to one of our retailers "Games & Gizmos") was also, backed up against an escalator. So, people could see us on their way to the upper floors. We had great visibility! We did many demos with people who had heard about us at the show (probably from our retailers). They literally "hunted" us down to find us and do a demo! This was very encouraging! (pic)
PAX 2010 006.jpg
I even did a demo for this guy who wanted to see the rules improvements made by SFR Inc. He thought that the game and rules were broken badly with the Firewalkers, but he saw that they got worse with the Swamp Stalkers (I'm referring to the TSR rules). Being the idiot that I am, I decided to point out that the Firewalkers (originally) were weak, etc. only to later discover that I was talking to Steve Miller! (The man assigned to develop the Firewalkers.) It was embarassing and funny, but we both got a good laugh out of it. I think he liked the changes to the rules.

So, all-in-all, I think this was a very successful weekend to say least! We will have a problem next year, however, that is if we don't show up! We were approached by both PAX officials and Games & Gizmos reps to encourage us to not only come back next year, but to try and run a tournament and/or events!
I may not have a great grasp of the business side of things at SFR Inc. but I think we should really ask ourselves a couple of questions:
(1) How fast/big do we want to grow?
(2) Are we ready to commit to the possibility of a major resurgence and tremendous growth?
I feel that PAX is where we need to be and that it's the "springboard" that could launch us back into the mainstream. (Just my opinion, but what do I know .)

Thank You to all who supported us (SFR Inc., PAX, Games & Gizmos, The Dreaming, and all of our new players and contacts!), We couldn't have done it without you!!
Until next time,
Roll On!
-The Northwest Reps (Dave, Jace, and Kaitlin)
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Rep (director)

[Jace Thomas]

[Jace Thomas]

It was so absolutely awesome running into Steve Miller, and actually being able to talk to someone who designed a race! He told us that the reason the Firewalkers are the way they are, is that back when there was only the first 5 races, none of them were very damage-output oriented. The elves had good range and maneuvers, the goblins had great maneuvers, the dwarves had saves, and the amazons had a little bit of saves, maneuvers, and missile potential. When designing a new expansion race to the game, they wanted to make the Firewalkers very capable in damage at the cost of defense, to set them apart from the other races. However, the deadline was too strict and not enough playtesting was done, and so they ended up with too little saves and not enough damage potential.

Very interesting to me, being a huge fan of Dragon Dice! His explanation immediately makes me think of the Scalder race, who like the Firewalkers are firey, have a HUGE potential for damage, and don't save worth a darn They also have something in common with the Lava Elves, with their feast-or-famine type rolls. Perhaps when they were designing the Scalder race they hearkened back to the Firewalker's development, and tried to make a companion race..?

Anyways, it was so cool meeting Steve Miller that Dave had me run down to Games & Gizmos and pick him up a Firewalkers kicker, so that he could have Steve sign the little leaflet that was included! How cool!
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Alea iacta est.

[Kane]

I am not usually much of a tournament player, but that might just change if DD is involved. I think this may be one of the few games that really is GOOD for tournament play. Have yet to crack open my new dice. Want to read the full rules tome and be sure I have a solid handle before I show my other friends.

[Kane]

Hey! That is my friends and I!
PAX 2010 004.jpg

[Kane]

Oops, wrong one. Pic 6 is me.

[Jace Thomas]

[DialFforFunky]

With the current state of DD, I think hardly anyone will be playing a tounament for the win only. If the community here is representative for most of the players, I think a tournament is mainly an excuse to play a lot of games and spend some more time tinkering about with an army.

F

[dproman]

And now, back to the Show! or back to our Sponsors! or is it both!

PAX was incredible! One reason for this was our 2 retailers. They were very supportive. The first one: The Dreaming located in Seattle, is a comic book/ game store. We met them back in March when we attended/demoed DD at Emerald City Comic Con. The Dreaming had two booths, one in the Exhibit Hall (4th floor) and one in the Annex (3rd floor). We are already discussing plans for doing demos in the store later this month! The second one: Games & Gizmos, is located (I believe) in the Redmond area. They had two booths as well. One in the Annex (3rd floor) and the other very close to us in Table Top gaming (2nd floor). Since they were on the same floor, we took turns checking in on each other, to see how things were going. They had a volunteer force that I wish we could tap into! Excellent job guys! Due to a lack of communication (or forethought), our retailers didn't know where we located for most of Friday (because I didn't think to tell them ). But once they figured out where we were, then things started flowing smoothly. We had a good system. We'd tell people where to buy DD (after the demo), they'd tell the interested folks where to demo. It worked out pretty good. So, good in fact, that the owner of G&G and the PAX official (Christian) came to the table to discuss our plans for next year!
We also had several suggestions of other retailers that we should make contact with! (I will be following up on those.)
Well, that's it for this installment of the PAX (Seattle) update. I'm sure I'll remember more details in the days ahead. As I do, I'll try to post!
Till then, What a great Show! Thank You Seattle! (See ya next year! )
-Dave
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Rep (director)

[Kane]

I would definitely get in touch with Gamma Ray Games also in Seattle. They are a small shop with very little play space, so DD would work perfectly up there.

[PeasantDave]

It was very exciting to see you guys at PAX! I was one of the people who had played several years ago and still had a TSR DD dice bag. I picked up a new starter and plan on getting the old dice out of storage to teach my friends how to play.

Did you know there is a PAX East in Boston in March?

[cliffwiggs]

[cliffwiggs]