Interest in Phenomenon 2011?

[Trithemius]

By now many of us will have read the various reports of people's experiences at Phenomenon 2010. (If not they can be found here.

I thought about asking this in that thread, but decided not to glom it up with non-report stuff.
So, I ask here: based on their experiences, or the reported experiences of others, who is keen to come along to Phenomenon 2011?

To start it off: I had a blast, again, and will be back next year!
(feel free to ask my why, or to explain why you will/won't be going along yourself)

[danconnor]

Yes, I am interested. Especially if A Coder War part 2 is running.

[Seacore]

ACW will almost definitely be running.

Assuming there is not another Canberra based con around new year (we heard rumours of an Australia Day con), then it will be ACW 2, otherwise, we might be up to 3.

I also have grand grand plans to run a freeform of my own at Pheno 11. Armageddon survivalist type plans.

And I intend to play at Pheno 11.

[Trithemius]

ACW will almost definitely be running.

Assuming there is not another Canberra based con around new year (we heard rumours of an Australia Day con), then it will be ACW 2, otherwise, we might be up to 3.

I also have grand grand plans to run a freeform of my own at Pheno 11. Armageddon survivalist type plans.

And I intend to play at Pheno 11.

The Australia Day con is CanCon - which is predominantly wargaming, and by a large margin. ACW might be the kind of freeform that would appeal to wargamers though?

[danconnor]

The Australia Day con is CanCon - which is predominantly wargaming, and by a large margin. ACW might be the kind of freeform that would appeal to wargamers though?

The last time I went the role-playing that does occur in CanCon was upstairs and was mostly ad-hoc D&D games.

[Narayan]

I'm not entirely sure if I will attend Pheno 2011 at this stage, as I was a bit disappointed with the some of the games I played. In particular, two out of the three of the Triptych games fell way below the mark for me - I struggle to describe them as actual games. I have observed that most of the games at Phenomenon place little, if any, emphasis on system. Anyone who has conversed with me on the topic of RPGs will know that system is very important to me.

On the other hand, I really enjoyed the freeform I played in. I think this is one of Phenomenon's strengths. I wonder if the writers of the Triptych games are trying to import freeform elements into table-top games, which doesn't always work.

So, if I attend Phenomenon next year, I think I will be very choosy about the games I'll be playing in. I think I'll avoid the Triptych games altogether - I've played all the Triptych games for two Phenomenons and the format just irks me. Instead, I think I will concentrate on playing more freeforms and games that sound interesting and/or appear to have given some thought to system.

Also, I would really like to play A Colder War! I tried to sign up for it at Rego but it was all booked up

[Narayan]

The Australia Day con is CanCon - which is predominantly wargaming, and by a large margin. ACW might be the kind of freeform that would appeal to wargamers though?

The last time I went the role-playing that does occur in CanCon was upstairs and was mostly ad-hoc D&D games.

Yes, you'll need a big space of some type to run it. Also, freeforms call for different skills than wargaming - I find that freeforms can be quite confrontational and employ a lot more social tactics than a wargame would. Still, I agree the subject matter would be quite attractive to wargamers. You'd probably get even more attention if you ran it as a Warhammer 40K freeform, or something.

[Terence]

I shall be at Pheno next year and am in the early stages of writing up a grand game. In fact, I have already written a lot of material for it already. That said, it will be a tryptych game so the motto of write early, playtest often is in effect.

But yes, as I will be running one of the uber games next year (unless I am hit by a piano), it is unlikely that I will play too many games next year.

Pheno 2011 will be super awesome

[andrewthotep]

Narayan,

I encourage you to think about offering a game yourself for Pheno 11 — one that features the game element of the game that is important to you!

Pheno comes from a tradition of gaming that massively deprecates system in favour of story and characterisation. To be perfectly honest, many of us veterans of this tradition do not know any better. And without continued interaction with other traditions, how can we learn otherwise?

I have been of the nervous opinion for several years that the current Triptych format (and the other games that follow its lead) is a dead horse, but I have not been able to suggest how it could be updated or its appeal widened.

Teach us.

Regards,
Andrew

[emmajeans]

Narayan,

I encourage you to think about offering a game yourself for Pheno 11

Yes!!!
Character gen using pedagogy of play, then Contenders!

[Trithemius]

SKEWING WILDLY OFF TOPIC

Yes!!!
Character gen using pedagogy of play, then Contenders!

Does Contenders need pedagogy of play?

I guess you could make picking stats and in-ring techniques a process (I've thought about a character-gen "list"/"menu" to simplify things) - mostly I ask people what they want to do, describing some stress that comes from the previous action (or round if that rule is used) and say "what are you doing?" in narrative terms, translating that into game actions as appropriate. You'd be unsurprised to learn how often people say "I WANNA FIGHT A MAN" in that game!

Curious about how to add this technique to Contenders though.

SKEWING BACK ON TOPIC

[Trithemius]

I encourage you to think about offering a game yourself for Pheno 11 — one that features the game element of the game that is important to you!

Pheno comes from a tradition of gaming that massively deprecates system in favour of story and characterisation. To be perfectly honest, many of us veterans of this tradition do not know any better. And without continued interaction with other traditions, how can we learn otherwise?

While I technically wrote a system for a Pheno 2010 game this year I don't really count that (although I am stunned/pleased/horrified that the only dice I touched all con was in John and Pip Hughes' game!). I'd like to put together either a vaguely mechanised freeform (got a couple of ideas...) or a tabletop - but my main problem is that I really enjoy playing games at Pheno with my team! and I would have to scale back on that if I ran a game.

I might bite the bullet and see if I can follow on Terence's (new) tradition of Vance-esque road-movie romps though?

[nysalor]

While I technically wrote a system for a Pheno 2010 game this year I don't really count that (although I am stunned/pleased/horrified that the only dice I touched all con was in John and Pip Hughes' game!).

You promised not to mention that.

I'm with Andrew about traditions and innovations. While we dinosaurs love the systemless and multiforming genres we all helped to craft (and which make the Australian gaming tradition so unique) the emphasis has always been on *creativity* and innovation. Bring it on, surprise us. With or without dice.

I'd like to think I'll be writing for Pheno 11 (if they let me back of course). At this stage it will either be 'Aliens3: Rebooted (How It Should Have Been)' with Ripley, Newt, Hicks, Dillon and 85: which will make the character sheets easy - or a sequel of sorts to our Ontolosnan game, in which a group are pursuing this years' party into the mountains of the World Wall. If things continue to progress (and I'd like to publicly thank Trimethius for the elegant game system he's devised for our brave new world), we'll be in a position to launch the full system and campaign book at Pheno 2011.

Alas, I didn't get time to actually play this year. I hope to do some post-con play of offered modules in the weeks ahead.

Cheers

John

[Trithemius]

While I technically wrote a system for a Pheno 2010 game this year I don't really count that (although I am stunned/pleased/horrified that the only dice I touched all con was in John and Pip Hughes' game!).

You promised not to mention that.

(I mentioned it before I promised not too... >___>)

Clearly you are innovating again John!
The Great Wheel Turns!

[Shy]

I always have a fantastic time at Phenomenon and am very greateful to all the GMs/STs who put so much effort into writing games and to my wonderful team mates, who make the experience so enjoyable. I will definitely be back in 2011. After three years of doing the Triptych, next year I plan to choose my games without reference to whether they are Triptych/Diptych games, so long as my team is okay with that.

Seacore - I think your post-apocalypse survival freeform sounds awesome - count me in!

One day, I hope to be good enough role-player that I can run a game at Pheno.