Gary Con Report!

[thegreyelf]

So it's not a stretch at all to say that Gary Con this year may have saved Elf Lair Games.

Wasted Lands has been a major blow to the ego for me. I really believed in that game like nothing I've ever done before. It was a passion project of mine for a long time and I really felt it had something unique and original to bring to the table. The first hit came when it barely funded (thanks to a last-minute angel). Then we saw pretty much zero in direct sales and I'd heard nothing from my distributor. I was starting to figure, what's the point? After all, you're in this biz to sell books, right? If they're not selling...

It wasn't really a depressive, feeling down on myself thing. Just a growing feeling that this thing wasn't going anywhere and maybe it was time to call it a day and say I tried my best.

Seems I was wrong. I've been revitalized thanks to a few things that happened just before and during the con.

Anyway, the first boost came right before the con when my distributor emailed me to say they needed more (a LOT MORE) books to fulfill the surprisingly large distribution order they had in. Then at Gary Con, after a slow day one, Wasted Lands ended up being a hit of the convention. We nearly broke even (which for a publisher ELG's size with the low amount of product we have at this stage in the game was astonishing), and got lots of eyes on the game. We also found a number of folks were pretty excited about Thirteen Parsecs and grabbed our bookmarks to go follow the campaign after the con (how many of them remember to do so is something else, but the enthusiasm was there).

Made a few potential new business contacts that might help us out in the future as well, and it seems that we are starting (STARTING, mind you) to find our feet as a company, and a fan base.

So, thanks to everyone who already supports us, and to everyone who is just discovering us now! As you all know, it means the world. Now, if we can just knock Thirteen Parsecs out of the park, all will be right with the world. As for Wasted Lands, I still believe in it and think it has something unique and original to bring to the table. It's more fun to play than any fantasy game I've ever encountered, and while yes, I'm biased on that front, I also speak as a PLAYER and not a GM. I'm playing in a game right now and it's wildly fun. Also, we got that comment from almost everyone who played in one of our games at the con, and from everyone who played in the pickup games one of our fans ran upstairs.

I am revitalized and excited for the future, which I think is looking bright. We came up with an idea for a dungeon crawl scenario that will span Wasted Lands, Night Shift, AND Thirteen Parsecs. We're looking to develop a kid-centric version of Night Shift to introduce young players to the game, based on our Generation HEX Night World. We're looking to do tons of other things with all three games and I'm super excited about all of them. On my own, I've started putting together a game powered by Cd8 (the Chutzpah! system) called "The 77s: Tech-Noir Adventures in the Retro Future."

The trick now is to get all these ideas organized, project management timelines laid out, assigned, and through the queue while focusing on the existing projects I have (including a bunch for Troll Lord Games that I MUST get moving on). First up, however, is this 13p Backerkit in May, which if you're not following, you should! tinyurl.com/13psignup

[Finarvyn]

I think that creating an RPG from scratch is a tough project, and creating a game company ground-up is even more difficult, so I'm not sure that I can really understand what you are going through but I applaud you for what you have accomplished so far. The RPG market is full of games, and I think it's really hard to get others to try new games. The best I can do is spread the word where I can, wear t-shirts to advertise the game at conventions and at my local game store, and try to be encouraging and supportive of new games and small companies. You write a great product but I think it takes a lot of luck to make the product a hit. Fingers crossed, and your experience at GaryCon sounds fantastic. I wish I had been there, and maybe next year...

[thegreyelf]

Mar 27, 2024 4:53:21 GMT -6 Finarvyn said:

I think that creating an RPG from scratch is a tough project, and creating a game company ground-up is even more difficult, so I'm not sure that I can really understand what you are going through but I applaud you for what you have accomplished so far. The RPG market is full of games, and I think it's really hard to get others to try new games. The best I can do is spread the word where I can, wear t-shirts to advertise the game at conventions and at my local game store, and try to be encouraging and supportive of new games and small companies. You write a great product but I think it takes a lot of luck to make the product a hit. Fingers crossed, and your experience at GaryCon sounds fantastic. I wish I had been there, and maybe next year...

Thankee, Sir! Your support is always appreciated. I was actually wondering if you were there and if I'd see you. Here's to hoping next year! Maybe we can even work something out to game together one evening?

[Finarvyn]

I try to go most years, but this year we have been dealing with some family issues and so planning in advance wasn't in the cards. I'm thinking that next year I will be able to plan ahead and buy tickets/housing and make the trip to Lake Geneva. We can definitely try to schedule something!

[thegreyelf]

If anyone is interested, here's a more complete post-con report!

elflairgames.blogspot.com/2024/03/gary-con-post-convention-report.html