Reflections on Metatopia 2015

It's currently wednesday as I write this, that may change when I post this. First of all, for the four or five of you that actually do read this blog, I'm sorry for the gap between posts. Work, Freelance Work, Imaginary Work and a dozen other things took over my life. There's also the fact that I'm not larping once a month any more, which lessens how often I get to think about things and ruminate. However, now that Metatopia is done, I have a few things to share with you all.

Going to Metatopia as a game designer for the first time was nerve racking to me. It was kind of funny to sit down and notice the panic attacks the days before. They were regularly scheduled and pretty much anticipated. I was presenting a game for the first time, I was going to be on a panel for the first time in a very long time. 

The first thing I recall from the convention was that this was really the first time that I was constantly doing stuff. Whether it was running around to prep for my panel, or for my game, or just talking to people, I was doing something. Normally at these conventions I have a few hours between events to rest and recharge. I didn't have that here, and I was surprised to find that I didn't need it as much either. Getting home, however, proved to be a lesson in paying up on my sleep debt. In many ways, I still am. 

As I said, I went to present Kensei as a game concept in a Focus Group. It wasn't a playtest, but a stress test for information to make sure the game was feasible. As a Character vs Character boffer larp tournament, I wanted to make sure that the game was feasible and that there was a market for it beyond stick jockeys thwacking each other (that's going to happen, I just want to know other people were interested in it as well). I had two slots. The friday morning slot went about as well as one thought: it was pretty much empty for the most part. It was friday morning, people either hadn't shown up or were still zonked out from travelling or networking the night before. I spent that time writing notes of my own, figuring at the very least I could get some work done on Kensei

Someone did eventually show up, game designer and academic Evan Torner. We talked casually for a while, mostly on Living Games Conference (where we had met a year and a half previously) as well as his recent run of Just a Little Loving, a Nordic Larp set in the early 80's and focused on the LGBT community during the initial outbreak of AIDS. We also spoke of the upcoming run of New World Magischola, a Nordic Larp inspired by the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and run in a similar fashion as College of Wizardry. 

We did, eventually, talk Kensei. The setting was fascinating. The setting was, of course, all I had. He gave me advice on how to start fashioning the mechanics to create the game I wanted: focus on what the theme was. If the theme of the game was the community forming around these fights, then the mechanics should be centered around that. That sounds so simple, but it was something that I wasn't grokking on at all while building this game.

To sum up the experience, here is an excerpt from a conversation I had with my friend Josh:

Josh: So how'd it go?

Craig: Not bad, only one person came in to look at the game. 

Josh: Who was it?
Craig: Evan Torner

Josh: So five people came in to look at Kensei, good.

The next day was more populated, with players I know from Dresden and from DR. One person was a practitioner of Aikido, Kenjutsu and Iaido. I made noises like a seal because I could sit and talk a different kind of shop with them for a few moments. In the end, they gave me a really great place to move on to next in developing the game, and solved a major problem I had fixed myself in to. That being said, people want to play this game, and I think I can make it.

This game is going to get made. 

I also took part in my first panel at a Double Exposure convention. It focused on the use of Sanity Points in games to denote mental health. That's a whole conversation in and of itself and will get a blog post of its own in the near future. The panel consisted of myself, Elsa Henry, Kelly Osborne, and Will Hindmarch. It shows how new I am to gaming and the gaming community when I recognized Will's name but couldn't put my finger on where I knew it. Then Elsa announced his contributions to White Wolf, especially in the writing of Mage the Awakening. 

For those of you keeping score at home, why yes, I'm a fan of Mage the Awakening. It is my favorite setting in the New World of Darkness line, even if it did drive me to drink after a while. So to have Will next to me was kind of a high note. I thanked him for Mage after the panel. The panel itself went beautifully, we could have been there for another hour and only just gotten in it. Signs point to a repeat next year.

The rest of the panel was playtesting. I tested a freeform larp called Waiting for Slenderman....which is as horrible and amazing as it sounds. The game was designed and run by KN Granger and Jacqueline Bryk. An hour or so in the dark while your character, who either thinks Slenderman is a hoax, real, or is neutral to the situation, is waiting for a promised appearance by Tall, Pale and Faceless itself. 

Another playtest was Nicholas Malinowski's tabletop game, Nementia. A steampunk world based on Welsh mythology? How could I resist. The game shows a lot of promise, and its a setting that I would dearly love to run a campaign for at some point. 

I also got to test Evil hat's Dresden Files Cooperative Card Game. The system was interesting, and since I suck out loud I'm going to leave it to Evil Hat to describe it better. What I can say is that the deck of character cards you get to play are amazingly in keeping with the characters themselves. I got to play a game where Harry Dresden, Michael Carpenter, Karrin Murphy, The Alphas, and Susan Rodriguez got to take on the Storm Front casefile. I got to play Michael, and it felt like I was able to play to the character's strengths and got to have a flavor for 'this is how he does it'. I'm looking forward to seeing how it develops. 

The rest of the convention was talking and chatting with people. I hit that point in my experience at these conventions where I don't always feel like a wallflower. Most of us talked about past experiences in previous clubs, while other conversations were about incoming video games. I also got in to a very passionate conversation about Star Wars (surprise!) and other conventions in the area. 

I also hit that point in my stay there were people assume I've been at these conventions or in the community a lot longer than I have. This is a talent I have no control over, and it happens every time. People assume I've always been in the community. Moments of mentioning someone I haven't met yet as if I would remember them. I know this isn't uncommon, but this happens a lot to me every time I go in to a new community. If I knew how to magically insert myself in to people's timelines, I'd have a much easier time.

The convention was not without its problems. Not to me, specifically, but there were stories of behavior that really didn't seem to jive with the attitude I had attributed to Metatopia. There were a few incidences of playtesters telling designers that there games should use an established system instead of building a new one. There was one incidence of a playtester telling a designer that they should go to the traderoom and buy all of the Fate games to fix their understanding of Fate Core. 

The prize winner, for me, was when one designer was told by one person that her game had no relevancy. To be clear, this game was a bout a sensitive topic in the world (I won't go in to specifics as I do not have permission to disclose). The dissenting tester went so far as to invoke his status as a "Southern Gentleman" to emphasize how little he felt her game was in any way relevant. The quotes are there because this was what was told to me. This is hearsay, but due to the climate of gaming

Let's get a few things straight, one: this was bullshit on the highest level. If it isn't your cup of tea to play, don't play it. No one person or group has the right to say what should and should not be presented. Secondly...a "Southern Gentleman"? Seriously? At what point was that actually relevant to the discussion? What criteria were they using? Normally, if a man is invoking his right as a Gentleman, then someone was entitled to challenging him to a duel for the insult he laid on this designer. It is such an absurd thing to say, made all the worse by the gatekeeping he was perpetrating at a convention where people are invited to develop and try new things. 

I think that was a point that some of the convention goers missed when they registered. Metatopia is, as far as I could tell, a place where designers and testers get together and try out new shit. Its not Metatopia where you drive the new hot car on to stage, its where you have the blue print for a hot new car and want others to look it over and test drive a model. It's an experimental jam session, where designers can tweak their games with the help of their peers and also to hang out and network with one another. It's informal, and there was a small rush of people who seemed to want to make it something a lot more.

But talking to the convention runners, that doesn't seem the case. Avie and Vinny are amazing people. That they were able to sit down with convention goers and talk over their input on the con--both things to fix and things to keep--is something refreshing. I never get the sense that we're just convention goers to them, they know us to one degree or another and are open to reception. 

Metatopia was a great experience for me, and one which I already look forward to having again next november. Hopefully by then, Kensei will be ready for testing. Goal set, see you there.


Later,

C