How do you see yourself evolving as an "athlete-turned-entrepreneur? Ten years ago,the thought of a professional gamer would have been absurd.
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PAX 2007 Firsthand - Day One
For the fourth year running Gabe and Tycho are throwing the mother of all gamer parties. This year it's located in the downtown area of the Emerald City, and though just one of the three days of panels, game demos, and nerdcore is completed, there's much to discuss. Read on for impressions from a first-time PAX-goer of the best nerd ticket in the city, with details on the Wil Wheaton Keynote, the first PA Q&A session, and a plenty of information on the duo's game On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode One.
Wizards of the Coast
The makers of Dungeons and Dragons are Seattle locals, and as such it should be no surprise that they have a visible presence at the convention. Not only are they running the tabletop gaming / card gaming areas on lower floors, but they're showing off their online efforts in the exhibit hall. Standing shoulder to shoulder with Magic: the Gathering Online this year is Gleemax, the company's answer to the social networking craze.
While the line between Gleemax and D&D Insider isn't very clear right now, that will quickly be addressed once more a more complete version of the social site goes live. An alpha version will be available to muck around with by the end of September, exposing tabletop gamers to the personal blogs and friend list features video gamers take for granted on a number of different sites. Gleemax is also free, and will remain so; D&D Insider will have that pesky fee once it becomes the fully featured content site Wizards envisions.
WotC representatives were also eager to talk about some of the subsites that will tie into Gleemax. They intend to offer a number of services aimed at giving gamers something to do once they've 'found' each other. The Avalon Hill library of boardgames will be made available via one of these sites, using simple graphics to allow gamers to relive classics like Acquire at any time of the day or night. Another site is going to feature independent games, pointing tabletop players at the newest games that might have otherwise slipped under the radar. A third will feature electronic games from the braintrust of tabletop designers Wizards keeps hidden in their vaults. These original games (like most of the other games on offer) will offer unique strategic experiences aimed at a very niche type of gamer.
As the Wizards folks put it, though, "it may be niche, but it's our niche." The company feels very strongly that they know how best to serve the community of tabletop players that participates in Dungeons and Dragons, and attends events like Gen Con. In their view, these players are undeserved by current online communities and most video game publishers. To some extent, they're even looking to invite 3rd parties into the picture. They hope to offer players the ability to show off characters from non Wizards RPGs, making this a cohesive 'MySpace for gamers'.
The idea of Gleemax aside (and despite having the name explained to me it's still kind of unlovable to outsiders), the gaming portals seem like a good idea. While 'yet another site offering blogs and forums' can only inherently be a certain level of interesting, the online board games / indie games / original content seems to perfectly compliment the D&D Insider game table. With the capability to play strategy games, traditional board games, and RPGs all via the web, Wizards feels like they're trying to set up a sort of perpetual online games convention. Conventions like Gen Con are a great thing, not so much for the swag and the new games, as for the chance to see other gamers. Some folks who go to conventions do so because they're quite literally the only time all year they can 'excuse' gaming. Whether they have busy lives or unapproving spouses, their homes are just not places conducive to gaming. Offerings like Wizard's initiative would seem to be an attempt to bring more games directly into peoples' lives. Barring the appearance of a great many folks falling under John Gab
The makers of Dungeons and Dragons are Seattle locals, and as such it should be no surprise that they have a visible presence at the convention. Not only are they running the tabletop gaming / card gaming areas on lower floors, but they're showing off their online efforts in the exhibit hall. Standing shoulder to shoulder with Magic: the Gathering Online this year is Gleemax, the company's answer to the social networking craze.
While the line between Gleemax and D&D Insider isn't very clear right now, that will quickly be addressed once more a more complete version of the social site goes live. An alpha version will be available to muck around with by the end of September, exposing tabletop gamers to the personal blogs and friend list features video gamers take for granted on a number of different sites. Gleemax is also free, and will remain so; D&D Insider will have that pesky fee once it becomes the fully featured content site Wizards envisions.
WotC representatives were also eager to talk about some of the subsites that will tie into Gleemax. They intend to offer a number of services aimed at giving gamers something to do once they've 'found' each other. The Avalon Hill library of boardgames will be made available via one of these sites, using simple graphics to allow gamers to relive classics like Acquire at any time of the day or night. Another site is going to feature independent games, pointing tabletop players at the newest games that might have otherwise slipped under the radar. A third will feature electronic games from the braintrust of tabletop designers Wizards keeps hidden in their vaults. These original games (like most of the other games on offer) will offer unique strategic experiences aimed at a very niche type of gamer.
As the Wizards folks put it, though, "it may be niche, but it's our niche." The company feels very strongly that they know how best to serve the community of tabletop players that participates in Dungeons and Dragons, and attends events like Gen Con. In their view, these players are undeserved by current online communities and most video game publishers. To some extent, they're even looking to invite 3rd parties into the picture. They hope to offer players the ability to show off characters from non Wizards RPGs, making this a cohesive 'MySpace for gamers'.
The idea of Gleemax aside (and despite having the name explained to me it's still kind of unlovable to outsiders), the gaming portals seem like a good idea. While 'yet another site offering blogs and forums' can only inherently be a certain level of interesting, the online board games / indie games / original content seems to perfectly compliment the D&D Insider game table. With the capability to play strategy games, traditional board games, and RPGs all via the web, Wizards feels like they're trying to set up a sort of perpetual online games convention. Conventions like Gen Con are a great thing, not so much for the swag and the new games, as for the chance to see other gamers. Some folks who go to conventions do so because they're quite literally the only time all year they can 'excuse' gaming. Whether they have busy lives or unapproving spouses, their homes are just not places conducive to gaming. Offerings like Wizard's initiative would seem to be an attempt to bring more games directly into peoples' lives. Barring the appearance of a great many folks falling under John Gab