"One of the best Origins ever," said Tom Shaw of The Avalon Hill Game Company. "One of the worst," countered Hero Games Inc's Ray Greer. Game manufacturers and distributors who attended this year's National Adventure Gaming Convention, Origins XI, in Baltimore, MD, come head-to-head when analyzing their experiences in the dealers' room. While many dealers commended convention manager Wes Coates and his staff for a well-organized convention, others recognized several factors that they believe undermined the events success. "It was a nice area with plenty of room and air-conditioning," said Loren Wiesman of Game Designers' Workshop. John Olsen of Games Workshop U.S. agreed that the rooms lay-out made it easy to set up the companys booth. But Greer and Zocchi Distributors' Lou Zocchi had problems setting-up and dismantling their booths. Because the organizers made the dealers responsible for getting their displays from their cars into the exhibition area, "it took a long time to set-up and break-down the booths:' said Zocchi. I would have provided roller carts and volunteers to help (the dealers);' he added. Many dealers were also disappointed that the dealers' room was located about a mile away from the main gaming areas. Although there were shuttle buses running frequently between the two locations, the distance inconvenienced both dealers and gamers who attended the convention. Forest Brown of FASA Corporation explained that his company had to work everything around the shuttlebus schedule. "It inconvenienced us in being able to run events and the booth at the same time. We often had only one or two people working at the booth;' he said. Chris Christensen of Iron Crown Enterprises said that the directions were inadequate and that company representatives had difficulty finding their way around. The distance also hindered gamers from ever going to the dealers' room, according to some dealers. Darwin Bromley of Mayfair Games Inc. speculated that one-third of the people attending the convention never saw the dealers' room. Dragons of Avalon's Scott Walpow explained that people playing in games didn't have time to participate in both activities. "If a player has a half hour between games, he's not going to spend 20 minutes on a bus or 30 minutes hiking in the heat, "said Hero Games Inc.s Greer. Greg Stafford of Chaosiurn Inc. remarked similarly, "The dealers' room should be a place to go if you have ten minutes to spare, not a 10 or 15 minute bus ride." Consequently, many dealers do not know how many potential customers they lost due to the inconvenience. "We had more customers than expected. How many more would have been there had it been closer is incalcuable," said Holly Rubenstein of West End Games Inc. In addition to the comments concerning the location of the exhibition hall, many dealers voiced strong opinions about the company demonstration areas. This year, demonstrations were held in the balconies overlooking the dealers' room rather than at the booths themselves. A am a proponent for demonstrations in the dealers' room," said FASA Corporation's Brown. He explained that after a demonstration the exhibitor could easily point out FASA Corporation's booth to the players who wanted to buy a product. Holding demonstrations in the balconies gave the dealers more room on the floor, according to GHQ's Jim Moffet. "The demonstrations were close enough, but not in my back pocket," he said. Yet, Paula Myers of MicroProse Software Inc. said that the demonstrations were too far away "People had difficulty getting from the demonstration down to the booth," she said. Troy Denning of Pacesetter Limited also remarked that he was unhappy with the demonstration area. "It didn't allow for spontaneous demonstrations which are affective for introducing new people to a game. I prefer setting-up demonstrations at the booth or in a hallway nearby," he said. In the same vein as Denning, Mayfair Games Inc.'s Bromley recommended that a separate place on the floor be set aside for demonstrations in order to attract passersby, because the balconies were too far away to attract new players. Eric Goldberg of West End Games Inc. said that the company always gets extra space for demonstrations at the booth. He explained that after a successful demonstration, players rush to buy the product. Having the demonstration at the booth makes the product immediately available for purchase. Despite the differing opinions concerning the locations of the exhibition hall and the company demonstrations, most dealers agreed that the attendance in the dealers' room was satisfactory and that their sales were good. Danny Kilbert of The Compleat Strategist said that he favors an east coast show, because there are more sales to he made on the east coast than on the west coast. Mark Herman of Victory Games Inc. said that the distance between the dealers' room and gaming areas did not affect sales, because everyone showed up by Sunday. The bestselling games at Victory Games Inc.s booth were Sixth Fleet, Pax Britannica and Ambush products. Walpow of Dragons of Avalon, which did not have a booth, observed that people, who were definitely going to buy games, were at the dealers' room. "People came to spend money," said Bernie Sher of The Armory. Yet "impulse buying," which happens when the game and dealers' rooms are close together, did not occur at this convention according to FASA Corporation's Brown. FASA Corporation I s sales were as high as they have been at past Origins. By the convention's second day, the booth had been sold out of The Triangle and The Romulan Recognition Manual, which are Star Trek Role-Playing Game supplements, and Battledroids. Stafford of Chaosium Inc. said that the company made a profit at the convention. The best-selling product at Chaosium Inc.'s booth was the Elfquest Companion. Although Bob Watts of Grenadier Models Inc. said that the distance between the gaming areas and the dealers' room kept potential customers from seeing the company's products, the Dragon of the Month and the Giant's Club miniatures sold very well at the booth. The Talisman board game and new samples of Dungeons & Dragons figures were best-sellers at Games Workshop U.S. booth, according to Olsen of Games Workshop U.S. Hero Games Inc.'s new release Fantasy Hero did not arrive at the convention until late Saturday night. But the game sold successfully on the last day of the show, said Hero Games Inc.'s Greer. Game Designers' Workshop fans made the trip to the booth no matter how far they had to hike, said Wiesman of Game Designers' Workshop. The company had several bestsellers: Operation Market Garden, Twilight 2000 and two of its modules, The Free City of Krakow and Pirates Of the Vistula. David Crump of Task Force Games Inc. said that attendance in the dealers' room was "real good." The company sold 180 units of Star Fleet Battles, Volume III. Pacesetter Limited's new release Sandman and Chill products sold reasonably well according to Pacesetter Limited's Denning. MicroProse Software Inc. couldn't keep their products in stock, because sales were so high at the booth, according to Myers of MicroProse Software Inc. Although Crusade in Europe was the company's bestseller, people were ordering Silent Service, which won't be released until September, she said. According to GHQ's Moffet, the company has a large following on the east coast. The Modern vehicles sold very well, he said. The Avalon Hill Game Company had three bestsellers at Origins this year: the newlyreleased Advance Squad Leader module Beyond Valor, Russian Front, and the RuneQuest module, Vikings. Space Master and two Middle-earth Role-Playing campaign modules, Ranger of the North and Moria were bestsellers for Iron rown Enterprises. West End Game Inc.'s Air Cav was the company's bestseller. Paranoia and its modules including Yellow Clearance Black Box Blues also sold well. DC Heroes was Mayfair Games Inc.'s best-selling product. Bromley of Mayfair Games Inc. said that he was surprised that both Empire Builder and British Rails sold out on the first day. The two railroad games also sold out again on the second day after Mayfair Games Inc. had re-supplied the booth with games from The Armory. Joyce Boyle of Greenfield Hobby Distributors said that she was pleased with the convention overall. Sword and Flame Rules Supplement #1 was the bestseller at the booth. Zocchi Distributors sold out of several products including weather dice and blank playing cards. "People were also asking for the 100-sided dice which won't be available until Christmas," said Zocchi. Back to Table of Contents -- Game News #8 To Game News List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1985 by Dana Lombardy. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com