2008/April - GAMERS Newspaper

FREE Vol 2 Issue 4 * Gaming Articles, Monthly Editorials & Remarkable Stories

April 2008

Anime Punch Delivers with a Right Cross Jeff Eink OGO Publications

Anime Punch ranks as one of the largest anime conventions in Ohio and it’s no surprise why. Those in charge of the convention have a deep love for anime in all its aspects. They played host to the con goers and gave them panels and events that fulfilled everyone’s desires. The game room of Anime Punch was open all weekend at every hour for gamers to get their fix. The panel rooms held discussions on everything from Pokémon to Japanese religion and culture. Each event was well planned and executed by the staff and once again something was available for everyone. The pool was even the site of a fast paced game

of blitz ball. The main stage was taken over for the anime fight club event where characters from every genre of anime and gaming duked it out to prove they were the best. Like all conventions Anime Punch’s dealer room was well stocked with blades, plushies, costumes and of course pocky.

was an incredibly well preformed break dancing demonstration.

Saturday night ended with their best musical event of the weekend. The Rave. Starting at 11 and going until six in the morning the rave was an incredible show of lights music and dancing. The weekend was winding down on Sunday but that didn’t stop anime punch from hosting events and showing anime movies until the last possible second they could.

Anime Punch certainly earns the top spot of Ohio anime conventions.

Also performing at the convention was the band HsuNami.

The band played an amazing concert which blew most con-goers away. The band was loved by everyone and brought out intensity in everyone that led to mosh pits in the crowd. Following the concert

AN ALL-TIME HIGH OF 72 PERCENT OF THE U.S. POPULATION REPORTS THAT THEY PLAY VIDEO GAMES PORT WASHINGTON, NEW YORK, April 2, 2008 – According to The NPD Group’s recently released report, "Online Gaming 2008,” which analyzes the online gaming landscape and focuses specifically on consumers’ behavior, time and money spent in this market, overall participation in gaming rose in 2007 over 2006, from 64 percent of the population to 72 percent of the population. Of these, more than half say they play games online.

The PC platform continues to be the driving force in online gaming, with 90 percent of online gamers stating they use a PC to play games online, 19 percent claiming they use a

video game system (console or portable) and 3 percent claiming they use a cell phone.

Four out of 10 online gamers are ages 2-17, driven heavily by kids ages 6-12. Kids ages 2 to 12 are driving more than 25 percent of online gaming, while 18-24 year olds only represent 10 percent of online gaming.

Among those who use a video game system for online gaming, Xbox 360 is the top system used, with 50 percent stating they play games online via that system. On average, Xbox 360 owners spend the most time per week using their 360s to play games online, followed by PC and PS3 owners using these respective systems for online game play.

According to the report, 13 percent of online gamers spend 20 hours or more per week on online gaming. Per platform, 33 percent of portable online gamers, 29 percent of console online gamers and 13 percent of PC online gamers are in this heaviest online gaming group.

At this point in the lifecycle of today’s video game consoles, multiple console ownership is low, with only 3 percent reporting that they own two of the three “next-gen” systems and only 2 percent claiming to own all three systems.

“Despite the buzz in the industry regarding online gaming, it is still relatively small compared to offline gaming,” said

Anita Frazier, industry analyst, The NPD Group. “There is still a large, untapped market for gaming in general and online gaming in particular.”

Methodology:

Data was collected via an online survey of 20,240 NPD Consumer Panel members ages 2 and older. Respondents age 2-12 were captured via surrogate reporting whereby the female parent (age 21-55) brings her child to computer to answer questions, either with or without parent’s assistance. In order to qualify as an online gamer, respondents had to use one or more of the following systems to play games online: Nintendo DS/DS Lite handheld system, Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Sony PSP handheld system, Xbox, Xbox 360 or PC. Gamers overall (whether online or offline) were included in the study as well. Fieldwork was conducted from January 11 –February 5, 2008.

Editorial: Editor in Chief: Jack R Stewart - jrstewart@ohiogamers.org Copy Editor: Ben Chronister - chronwriter@gmail.com Photography staff: Mike Henthorn - rutilius83@yahoo.com Marissa Alexander - marissa@ohiogamers.org OGO Publications 35 East Gay Street STE #208 Columbus, Ohio 43215

http://www.ohiogamers.org Contribution Support: The Soldiery –See Ad in Back www.icv2.com - Industry News!

Executive Director: Jack R. Stewart - jrstewart@ohiogamers.org Chief Operations Officer: Matt Ferrell - bigmatt@ohiogamers.org Events Coordinator: Marissa Alexander - events@ohiogamers.org ARCHIVES: http://www.gamersnewsohio.com Submissions: press@ohiogamers.org Advertising Services/Info: press@ohiogamers.org 614-923-8291 Printers: Capitol Square Printing 59 East Gay St Columbus, OH 43215 (614) 221-2850 Legal Department Jason Webb - Advantia Law Group jason@advantialaw.com GAMERS Newspaper is published Monthly, 12 times per year by OGO Publications, 35 E. Gay St. STE 208 Columbus, OH 43215. For More information or Copyright concerns, please contact press@ohiogamers.org.

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Announcements - READ ME!!!

Jack Stewart OGO Publications

So for whatever reason GAMA has gone and done something really weird this year with the 50% discount that we receive each year. So, pay attention true believers and you'll know what to do to save money this year! First off, the 50% discount is ONLY available on preregistration this year! You MUST Pre-reg!

You will not be able to receive your 50% off if you wait to register on-site!

(Just for Note: 50% off this year means a full weekend pass for only $30 , On-site will be $70 this year!)

Here is a list of the Featured events we have running at Origins this year: Heroes and Villains Costume Contest: (Saturday 4pm) It's Back! The Heroes & Villains Costume Contest! Fight the good fight for Good vs.

Evil! Show your support for your side of choice in this costume contest of Heroes & Villains! Guest Judges include Darryl Banks, Captain Ohio, Jack Emmerit & This Year will include Feedback from Stan Lee's "Who wants to be a Superhero?" as the Guest MC for the event! Prize support from City Of Heroes!

Also, we still have several on-site rooms left, you must log into the site to access the page that will allow you to book your room at the Drury at the rates we have negotiated for you. Keep in mind, YOU MUST BE A LEVEL 2 OR ABOVE member to receive this discount. DO NOT waste time trying to get the 50% discount if you have not upgraded your membership! You do not need to be a Lvl2+ Member to use the hotel link. However you must be logged into the site!

Assassin Live! (starts Thursday Noon) It's Back For another year. The non-stop, convention length game of kill or be killed, based off the Steve Jackson game Killer!, join in this 72 hours of looking over your shoulder, peeking around corners, as your next meal may be your last!

Game Starts Thursday...Ends Sunday! Will you be able to sleep? In the dangerous world of a hired gun one never knows who is the target, and who is the assassin. Free Badge to Origins 2009 to the winner!

Deadlines are as followed: • Level 2 Membership Upgrade to receive 50%: May 15th (you may prereg as of May 1st) • Hotel Rooms Booked under our Link: May 20th (after that I cannot promise there will be any rooms left.)

• 50% Pre-registration Deadline: May 25th (There are no 50% registrations On-Site this year!)

Dungeon Crawl Tournament (3.5) (Thursday Noon & Saturday Noon) Can you survive the 10 rooms of death, you awake to find yourself in the deepest depths of a dungeon, you must fight your way out. Nobody has ever survived all 10 rooms. Big Prizes to the team that can fight their way the farthest! Ready to test your skill adventurer? Big Prizes to the team that can fight their way the farthest!

Registration opening at 7 a.m. on the Wednesday June 25th, 2008 (games starting at 8 a.m.) running 'till 8 p.m. on the 29th. Registration is open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Wednesday - Saturday (and 'till 4 p.m. on Sunday) and though gameplaying is 24 hours a day, games tend to be between 8 a.m. and Midnight. The Exhibit Hall is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Thursday - Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday.

Shattered Glass: A Murder Mystery: (Thurs 8pm, Fri 8pm, & Sat 8pm) Last year's surprise cult hit is back. Is it a murder mystery, is it a role playing game, is it real? You will never look at gaming, or gaming conventions, or a lot of things the same way after experiencing this reality bending head trip. Mature Audiences: Not for the weak of heart or weak of mind.

Sat 9am & 6pm) Large scale Age of Sail combat. Royal Navy Captains, Pirates, Privateers and all other Sea Dogs welcome! Uses a new rules set for 15MM age of sail that will be taught at the beginning of each scenario. Ships and needed game materials are provided by GM team. Easy to learn, fun fast paced explosive play.

Come see if you are the master of commanders! Expanded to two tables for 2008!

Call Of Chuthulu: (Thurs Noon, Fri n o o n , S a t 1 1 a m ) Players summoned to work for the mysterious Ian Mcbain,it seems he has an old tome he wants them to obtain for him.

What secrets does the book hold? What will it release if used??How do players have any chance of stopping whatever is coming? Story time with Dr. Gary Moon Just embrace the madness Ohio Gamers Organization Meet & Greet: (Saturday 8pm-10:30pm) An open meet & greet for all OGO Members, Interested attendees, special guests, press, and more. We will have pizza, food, fun & more as you get a chance to meet the Executive Board of the Ohio Gamers Organization & ask them all the questions you wish.

Second Life Educational Applications Seminar (Thurs 2pm, Sat 2pm) Second Life Use in the Classroom, Introduction to Second Life (Anthony Fontana and Bonnie Mitchell), Gaming and Science Fiction in the Classroom (Radhika Gajjala and Cassandra Jones), Understanding the Impact of Disabilities Through Second Life Activities (Linda Higbee Mandlebaum), Second Life Scripting Interaction (Bonnie Mitchell), All speakers are from Bowling Green State University.

We also have a Changeling LARP, PRAWN, and a few other Large Special events that are not listed here because we are fine tuning the details…Make Sure to Look For Us in The Dealers Room this Year!!

Sailpower: Fun scale combat in the Age of Sail: (Thurs 6pm, Fri 9am & 6pm, G.A.M.E.R.S.

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Stan Lee to Create New Universe With Virgin Comics Stan Lee and Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Comics Copyright 2008 GCO, LLC. announced at New York Reprinted with permission Comic Con that they will collaborate on the creation of a new superhero universe, to be launched in early 2009.

Lee will act as both a writer and editor, overseeing the creation of the new characters and universe.

ICV2.com

A team of ten superheroes with varied backgrounds and origins will anchor the universe at first. Over time, some of the heroes will be revealed to be other than they seem, with infighting, abuses of power, and internal struggles which will show the characters that the real villains may be within themselves.

Lee will work with artists in the old school Marvel Method, in which the writer and artists collaborate in the creation of the story from the ground up in stages. Most comics are currently produced by an author delivering a finished script to an artist.

The new universe will be launched with a series of ten graphic novels and associated online animated shorts. Virgin plans to use both comic and videogame artists in the collaborations with Lee.

Upper Deck Announces 'Call of Duty' ICV2.com Copyright 2008 GCO, LLC. Reprinted with permission

Upper Deck has announced that it will launch Call of Duty, a new two-player “real-time card game” based on Activision’s successful videogame series. The World War II card game will play very rapidly, in around ten minutes, with the two players able to simultaneously fire, take cover, and move around the battlefield.

Call of Duty will be packaged in eight different Squad Decks, each from a different army: American British, Canadian, French, German, Italian, Polish, and Russian. Each 60-card Squad Deck will include eight soldier cards and two mission cards, as well as a double -sided game mat and rules sheet. Players can also customize their squads by adding cards from different decks.

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WARHAMMER 40K ORK CODEX - REVIEW

By Eric Adamaszek OGO Publications

To Waaagh! has changed to a Orky "Fleet of Foot". The Orks now have Furious Charge Special Rule. The Mob Rule gives the Ork unit "FEARLESS" if 12 or Larger. The Orks have lost the armor save reduction on the Choppa and the Mobbing Up rule; allowing a broken unit to combine with an unbroken unit.

What was once is old is new again; the Weirdboyz (Psyker) have returned with crazy orky psychic powers. The Mek has the Shokk attack gun again. The Deff Koptas are treated as Da Bikes now, rather than the Da Wheelz (Wartrakks/Warbuggies) Vehicle.

The Gretchin are now BS:3 out shooting the Orks' BS:2. This means the Big Gunz & Killa Kans hit more often than before by 1/3 of a chance! The Special Rule "It's a Grot's Life" allow a player to see them to clear minefields.

The Lootaz & Looted Vehicle have changed greatly. The Special Rule " Don't Press Dat" means that 1 in 6 times the Looted Wagon charges forward. The Tank Bustas now have the Tankhammer with S:10 in Hand-to-hand and Bomb-squigs that MOVE:18" and detonate at S:8. The Special Rule for Tankbustas "Glory Hogs" they must always attempt to shoot at and/or assault an enemy vehicle if there is one in line of sight.

The Flash Gitz now count as Heavy Support instead of Elites. Only the Flash Gitz have the options of upgrading the Shoota to; More Dakka, Shootier, & Blastas. This option is no longer available to the Nobs. The addition of the Battlewagon/Wartruck now gives the Orks a vehicle with Armor of 14 and allot of options to upgrade it.

The Warhammer 40K Ork Army is one of the deadliest Infantry Horde Army, and one of the Faster Armies if you do the Speed Freaks, the Big Mek Army works out to be the shootier option. If any of these Ork Armies can shoot & assault your army, then lock you in hand-to-hand combat you are likely to be chopped up into little bits and lose the battle.

New York Comic Con Rocks!

ICV2.com Copyright 2008 GCO, LLC. Reprinted with permission

New York Comic Con closed on Sunday night after a very successful weekend, with attendance over 64,000 and satisfied exhibitors and attendees. The trade day events kicked off with strong attendance of 250 retailers at the Diamond Comic Distributors breakfast, and although neither the programming rooms nor the exhibit floor seemed crowded before the fans were admitted at 3 p.m. (there was a lot more space for both), trade attendance seemed solid, with major retailers from throughout the country in attendance.

Exhibitors we talked to

were pleased with the crowds and their engagement. “It was a real high water market for New York Comic Con so far,” Comic Book Legal Defense Fund

Exhibitors used more costumed models executive director (and serious convention road warrior) Charles Brownstein told us.

“Reed really pulled it together and put on the show that everybody knows that New York can support. The Fund did fabulously.”

The Fund’s experience was not isolated, as both major exhibitors and retailers seemed to be doing well.

David Webster of Midtown Comics told us from the company’s crowded booth that both Midtown’s exclusives for the show (three comics, two trade paperbacks, and two toys) and its 25% off sale on graphic novels were pulling well. Midtown’s booth was bigger this year, up to 20x40 from 20x30 in 2007. We also heard that other comic retailers were doing well, as were publishers and manufacturers of all kinds.

Ditto.

Lines were present throughout the floor, not only for the typical suspects (signings at the Marvel and DC booths, Mark Evanier signing his new Kirby book, etc.), but also for designers (Continued on page 10)

On Wings Of Frost

By Nate Breidenbaugh OGO Publications

The soldiers gathered around the campfire cheered and laughed as the ragged minstrel closed his latest bawdy song with a flourish of notes on his lute. The night was a starry one, and the campfire’s light danced on the tents, the piles of supplies scattered about, and the jovial faces seated around it. They guffawed at each other’s jokes, clanked ale mugs together, and eyed the whores that leered at them from their tents.

All the men in camp but one was joining in the revelry. Morgan sat alone in his tent, just reading his spell book. The atmosphere inside his tent was not fraught with revelry as was the circle around the campfire, though the shouts and ale mugs of the

soldiers and the squeals of their lusty prizes could be heard. Inside, a smelly tallow candle cast eerie shadows on the walls of the small canvas tent, and the air crackled silently with the energy that Morgan tapped into as he studied. His eyes were fixed upon the words; his mouth was slack, except for when he lapsed into babbling in the arcane tongue as his mind wandered. Even the clamor that had ensued earlier when a scout arrived in the camp, shouting in hurried tones for the regiment commander, had turned to ash in Morgan’s ears.

The others in camp, simple soldiers, pages, smiths, cooks and whores all, stayed away from Morgan. They no doubt saw him as a menace, or as a freebooter liable to betray them as the sorcerers in the old myths had. Morgan

had indeed joined the army of Caenoth under the promise of riches, soon after his wife’s murder and his son’s abduction at the hands of the raiders of Vetland, who had descended in their dragon ships upon their village of Mons Ryddyns five years ago. He had killed their warriors with his spells, and burned their ships by his will, but they had made off with Godric, his eight year old son. They came for riches, but they turned upon him with such virulence as he had never experienced when he began to use his magic. He could still see Godric being carried away, screaming for his papa to do something to save him, and he, being too battered and drained to weave his magic, lay broken in a corner and watched his son carted off across the sea, never to return.

He had sworn a vow to himself to gain

the power to find his son and to exact vengeance upon those who had wronged him.

Morgan’s cruelty and contempt toward his fellow men grew as did his power and zeal for his all-consuming cause.

Morgan did not place such value upon gold as the men of Vetland did, such value that they would maim and kill and kidnap for it. As such, he did not lie with the trollops or drink with the soldiers. The women in camp turned their noses at him, and the treatment he received from the men ranged from cool indifference to insults and jeers.

Morgan did not care about any of these fools, however entertaining their drunken exploits may have been. He sought a prize that rarely, if ever came along: A spell book, captured from a Rocarian combat mage.

(Continued on page 9)

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From the Ohio Gamers Organization Newspaper!

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Gleemax: WotC's New Online Initiative ICV2.com Copyright 2008 GCO, LLC. Reprinted with permission

Wizards of the Coast has unveiled ambitious plans to construct a 'next generation' online home for hobby gamers--an initiative that will focus on building a gaming community (including tools for hobby retailers), providing editorial content that supports hobby gaming, and offering games of interest to that audience. The site, which will be known as Gleemax.com, will feature many of the popular tools of social networking sites including blogs, friends lists, and personal pages each of which will have an event calendar.

Every core retailer can have its own place in the site where they can detail what is going on at their store (and these events can be automatically ported to the calendars of gamers in their geographical area).

One of the driving forces behind the creation of Gleemax is WotC's desire to interest online savvy teens in the world of adventure gaming and build the gaming community by attracting the next generation of gamers. 'Our read on the

core hobby industry is that it's stable, but it's aging,' WotC VP of Digital Games Randy Buehler told us. 'We're slowing down in terms of recruiting that next generation of hobby gamers. Today's 15-year-olds have such a different experience than a 15-year-old did five years ago or 10 years ago, or when I was a 15-year-old.

So today's 15-year-old is online and doesn't necessarily have any reason to leave his computer because there's so much to do there.'

WotC feels that it has identified a psychographic profile of the hobby gamer that is different from videogame players, and Gleemax is designed to appeal to that psychographic and recruit new members to the hobby gaming community which in the past was populated almost exclusively through core hobby stores.

The online games portion of the initiative will include game portals, including a board game portal which will provide online versions of a number of classic Avalon Hill games as well as newer games such as Vegas Showdown and allow players to enjoy their favorite board games online at times when getting a group of friends together to play is impractical.

Gleemax will also include an

indie games strategy portal, which will be dedicated to the distribution of PC strategy games that might not have potential to interest the major companies like Electronic Arts, but which can interest thousands of gamers and win the WotC Seal of Approval for fun strategy games.

In addition WotC will use Gleemax to support the company's existing Magic Online game and to introduce Uncivilized: The Goblin Game, a Webbased strategy game. Certainly one of the key stories that may get lost in all the coverage of the launching of the Gleemax Website is WotC's increasingly serious attempts to employ its considerable gaming design resources to fashion new digital games that will intrigue teens and veteran gamers alike.

Uncivilized is the next of these efforts; it is unlikely to be the last.

Finally WotC wants to use Gleemax to provide gamers with unprecedented access to the game design process. An unspecified number of key WotC personnel will have their own blogs and should provide the online gaming community with far more information about the development of their favorite games than ever before. But Gleemax won't be a 'WotC Only' zone, as WotC's Randy Buehler told

ICv2 Gleemax will be: 'a home for gamers brought to you by Wizards of the Coast, but not controlled by Wizards of the Coast.' WotC will let competitors set up in the social network space and will allow criticism of WotC and its products as well. To foster this independence WotC is setting up a Gleemax.com Advisory Board that will include 'industry thought leaders' and WotC is holding an open casting call to fill three gamer spots on the board.

WotC plans to introduce Gleemax in phases with the first phase, which will offer gamers online community tools, gamer personal profiles, and editorial content, to preview at GenCon, where WotC will begin signing up gamers, with subsequent elements of the site launching later in the year and into 2008.

The Gleemax launch is being promoted with an Alternate Reality Game around the character of Gleemax, a brain in a jar that has come down to earth and taken over WotC R&D. The first clue in the ARG was a set of foam brains, sent out over the last couple of weeks, that included a puzzle with an e-mail address as the solution. E-mails to that address get a response directing players to the Website, with more to come.

Wizards Play Network: New Organized Play from WotC ICV2.com Copyright 2008 GCO, LLC. Reprinted with permission

Wizards of the Coast is launching Wizards Play Network, a network of local grass roots organizers that supports a wide variety of play formats, according to Magic: The Gathering Organized Play Director 8

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Jesse Decker, who we interviewed late last week. In the past, the entire array of Magic organized play events was all one-on-one sanctioned tournament play, but now WotC will be recognizing a wider range of casual formats, including leagues, multi-player, and team play. Current sanctioned programs will remain; the new programs will be in addition to

those that already exist, according to Decker.

Decker made three main points about the changes.

First, WotC is making these changes to its organized play program in response to feedback from organizers, particularly retailers. He urged continued feedback, noting that “because we are in a mode of

change, this is a very good time to give us feedback.�

Second, the company is making efforts to make its organized play staff more accessible to organizers and players. And third, new digital resources to support this initiative will be rolled out between now and the end of the year.

The new digital resources,

On Wings Of Frost (cont) (Continued from page 5)

The Rocarian combat mages were some of the most powerful, efficient, and terrifying wielders of the art in the known world.

They were feared by all who fought them, and hated by all who sought their secrets, for they broke the unspoken bylaw of magic that there be few secrets between brothers of the robe.

Even the two other orders of magic were at odds with the combat mages’ self-important vow of silence. Morgan shuddered at the thought of his first encounter with a combat mage as much as at the chill breeze that suddenly whipped through his tent, snuffing out his candle with a howl.

Through the now wide-open tent flap he could see the embers whip from the fire, as the men around it pulled up their cloaks and grabbed a whore, for body heat, no doubt. The crackling of the fire placed his

stomach on end. To those around it, it was a source of comfort, warmth, and safety, even in this twice-forsaken wilderness. All Morgan saw was in his imagination, as the cage of fire that the combat mage had cast around him began to surround him once more. He heard the laughing and shouting of the soldiers and the women, and immediately the demons that had assaulted his mind with pain and pleasure alike seemed to come rushing back.

His ears suddenly rang and he felt faint. He pulled the flap closed and placed a ward rune upon it with an up-down gesture of his shaking hand. Was it really true that combat mages could seek out their previous opponents if they had failed to slay them? Fear gripped his mind.

It was as if Alaistarus the Red was pushing his icy claw into the night, reaching for him

from somewhere across the four rivers.

Morgan shuddered, sat up straight, and collected his thoughts. Alaistarus cannot reach me here, he thought with a sneer. He has no doubt grown feeble in his old age.

Besides, he had learned much since then.

All the knowledge of a mage, any mage, was contained in his spell book, a tome which he would lovingly and obsessively add to throughout the course of his life. It stayed with him, ready to be referenced at any time. The combat mages placed bind runes on their spell books so that in the event they would meet with an untimely end, their secrets would die with them.

Often this would take the form of a ball of fire. Even in death, the mages of the Red Order were to be feared. It was this tome that Morgan sought.

He closed his eyes and thought of the battle that would undoubtedly ensue tomorrow. The rival Nations or Rocaria and Caenoth had been at odds with one another over the territory around Four Rivers for a full year now, since the discovery of gold on the Caenothan banks.

Surprisingly, as of this point, no blood had been shed. And they were here to stop Rocarian night patrols from crossing the river.

Morgan scoffed at the idea. To turn the struggle in the favour of his new masters would bode well for him, indeed. But Morgan sought the spells, and only the spells. He cursed the nations of Rocaria and Caenoth as he mused to himself with a wry smile, closing his spell book. Tomorrow, he would pry the ancient secrets from the mage’s stiff fingers, and men and kings would bow to him.

Wizards Play Network (cont) (Continued from page 8)

which will be rolled out through the rest of 2008, will include a new store and game locator (available this summer), and new reporting tools that will support the more casual formats and reduce the organizer workload.

WotC’s goal is to increase the number of its organizers and develop more play locations, Decker said. There are currently five levels of organizers, and that number will probably stay the same. Decker emphasized that if an organizer is already running WotC organized play events, they will automatically be admitted into the new program.

One of the things that retailers have requested is more clarity about

the different levels of organizers and what they entail, and beginning in May, WotC will be providing that information.

WotC’s support materials will also change. In the past, two kits have been available: DCI Intro Kits and DCI Tournament Support Kits, which can be ordered at a cost to the organizer/retailer. The new OP kit, into which the two DCI kits will be subsumed, will be called the Wizards Play Network Participation Kit, and it will be free. New prize support will roll out with the fall Magic set.

Decker would not answer questions about how the new initiative would affect the company’s controversial Magic prerelease program G.A.M.E.R.S.

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NYCC (cont) (Continued from page 5)

(Simone Legno at the Toy Tokyo booth), and even to buy tshirts at the T.M. Revolution booth. Game booths from both videogame and tabletop gaming companies were also mobbed.

And of course, the major film and TV programming, the biggest ever for NYCC, also drew very well.

Press coverage certainly played a role in the size and impact of the show, with local coverage helping to bring the crowds, and national media such as Fox News, Today show, EW, USA Today, and the New York Times all covering events at the show.

And although still a long way from how San Diego Comic-Con takes over its host city, there are starting to be indications outside of the convention center that a major event is taking place---there was a billboard featuring Oracle’s Marvel promotion on a building facing the Javits.

All Tournaments $15.00 entry fee per person Please note the time and date change May 17th - Guitar Hero III - 10am May 24th - Mario Kart Wii - 10am May 31rd - Super Smash Bros. Brawl - 10am

$500 Tournaments, $20.00 early entry fee per person ($25.00 day of tournament) May 3rd - Halo 3 - Slayer - 11am May 10th - Call of Duty 4 - Free-for-All - 11am

Calendar Of Events Morphicon (Anthropomorphic) - morphicon.org

Columbus - May 16 - 18

Marcon (Sci-Fi & Gaming) - marcon.org

Columbus - May 23 - 25

Colossal Con (Anime) - colossalcon.com ORIGINS 2008 (Gaming) - originsgamefair.com

Beechwood - June 26 - 29 Columbus - June 25 - 29

Matsuricon (Anime) - http://www.matsuricon.org/

Worthington - Aug 22 - 24

Buckeye Game Fest IX (Gaming) - buckeyeboardgamers.org

Columbus - October 2 - 5

Con on the Cob (Gaming/Art) - cononthecob.com 10

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Hudson - October 2 - 5

Eight Simple Rules to Storytelling

By Matt Ferrell Chief Operations Officer

Over the past ten years that I have been an active gamer I have been a part of and run many games. Which leads me to want to give out some sage advice to those who would wish to take on the role of Game Operation Director.

In order to do this I have compiled a list of a few points that I believe every storyteller, especially those in live-action roleplaying (LARP), should live by.

For those who want to become the head storyteller (HST) for their own LARP the first and most important rule is: pick assistant storytellers (AST) that know what they are doing!

Having AST’s that know the game you are running and who are competent enough to implement plot is the greatest

tool in an HST’s arsenal. A good story lives and dies by the effectiveness of its implementation.

Know your players.

Do the particular players you have like combat or role-play more? Do they like to be led by the hand, or are they independent thinkers? Are cinematic scenes more important than interactive ones? Tailoring the game to your players will not only make your job easier, but also increase the amount of enjoyment shared by everyone.

Having meta plot is important, and by this I mean the overarching storyline that influences the way the game evolves. Meta plots are great direction givers, but most important is letting the players be creative. There should never be more than one meta plot

Reprinted From Nov 2007

hook in a game session, and storytellers (ST) should never sacrifice player-character driven plot for meta plot. In actuality some of the best games I have ever been a part of are when the ST crew hardly does anything but mediate.

Combat should be as fast and decisive as possible.

Since large, lengthy combat is often the buzz-kill to a good story; the ability to run combat fairly and quickly is the mark of a great storyteller.

Finally, make sure

your players know who the storyteller is. This means that they know the rulebooks are guidelines for you, the storyteller, to tell your story.

I realize that every storyteller has a system that works for them, but this is what I have found to be successful. So for those of you who are thinking of telling your own story, and for those who already are, my desire is that these simple rules help you in the implementation of your imagination.

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