I am SO lazy...

So, this is just a cut and past of a post I made at the Gaming industry Network forums. I SO owe the folks at Wotc some nice words on the way Dreamblade plays, and I will get to it as soon as I can. It was REALLY fun. I liked it...more to come. Here are my Good, Bad, and Uglies of GTS 2006

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My turn. I should have done this earlier, but I did so much blogging at the show, I burned myself out. As I enjoy looking at the crappier things first, here goes:

Ugly:
- Getting up at 4am monday morning to catch a 6.30am flight, which you changed so you could get to vegas on Monday specifically to see the Dreamblade announcement. Then seeing the announcement, which I must honestly say was one of the worst product introductions I have ever personally seen at a professional trade show.

Bad:
- The Riv. Being that it's on the slate for demolition in the next couple years, and the management obviously knew we weren't coming back, it felt like they had flat out given up on us. I was also sad to not see some people at the show I was hoping to see there: Indie Press Revolution, Reaper, and honestly GW. I know they want to be their own hobby, but being an Island in a pond is sure dumb.
- I think Rackham's plans for OP and such are far too little far too late. I also have a sense that they are just approving the die hard fan-boys for their Sentinel program...which IMHO was the same thing WK did at the beginning of the envoy program, and that didn't always go so hot either. The silent folding of Rag N'Rok into Confrontation within the catalog also shows that is essentially a dead item...
- The AT-43 models were totally underwhelming to me as well. Odd that it's going to be a pre-painted game to street at Christmas, yet all the way into March the only examples they have are grey plastic. Doesn't bode well for an on-time 2006 launch.
- This has been brought up before, but I think there are just too many board-games coming out. And on this note, I simply _hate_ how Fantasy Flight gives away a copy of their latest and greatest. I dunno about the rest of you, but I was fairly busy a majority of the time at the show. Waiting in line for 2 hours to get a $50 game is just unacceptable waste of valuable time. If this is the only way they can come up with to give away demo copies of a game, I am happy to skip demoing their games in store...The same could be said for the dinners and the resultant lines, but others have already covered that.
- Finally: The food. I am a snob, and by Weds I was getting a little ill from the food. That's just me...

The Feh:
- I had oodles of problems with the on-site wireless. Made answering email, etc a real challenge.

The Good:
- Getting an email from the PR folks working with WoTC hours after I blogged a very negative commentary on the Dreamblade presentation, asking me to come for a one on one demo of the game. I was totally impressed how important they felt negative viral marketing could be for them, and they wanted a second chance. Huge props there. I played the game with my partner Aaron (who lost like a big chump!), with John Tweet showing us the ropes. I actually enjoyed the game quite a bit, and think it has a place...unless it gets ruined by the massive push for OP they are wrapping around it.
The show felt busier this year. I felt like I had more to see and more people to talk to. Breaking up the exhibit hall was fantastic from my point of view. I never once felt closed in, or unable to get at people.
- I give mad props to the folks at Your Move Games. They gave one of the best presentations of everyone during the whole show, telling us about Battlegrounds. We stock this game, and I like it...and they really "sold" the game well during dinner.
- I was pretty happy with WoTC's Year of the Dragon presentation. They have some very strong stuff coming up, and I was happy to see D&D coming back again this year.
- The Battlefront guys have a very solid plan with Flames of War and how they are releasing the new version of the rule-book. The trade-in policy is fantastic, and should shut even the cheapest gamer's pie hole right up. Moving into late-war is a good move.
- GF9 has some wonderful "gamer bling" on the horizon. We are stocking even more of their items than in the past.
- I was VERY happy to see Perplexcity get some buzz. We have had it for a little while now, and I am happy to see more of you getting excited about it.
- Staying at Paris rather than the Riv. A couple people met me for food there, and they commented on how much nicer it was than the Riv. The move to Bally's is incredibly strong. I just hope it's not too late...
- Finally Wizkids. Over the past two years, I have been a pretty vocal nay-sayer on the WK product lines. For the longest time, we stocked only pirates, and nothing with a clicky base. I walked into this years small retailer seminars feeling like I had been listened to last year. They have made some seriously strong moves for us retailers in the past year, and it sounds like it will get even better this year and next. I also think that the Great Cthulhu stole a lot of the Colossal Red Dragons thunder at the show....so, I wanna thank WK here and now for listening.

The Awesome:
- The new Battletech relaunch could have a lot of legs. I know Fanpro has a lot of stuff in the queue, and some hurdles to jump...but this is the strongest move for my favorite game in over a decade. The galley's showed that the new "Total War" book will put BT in line with almost any other modern minis rule book. Full color throughout, good examples of play, nice photography, and if they can get it in the $39.99 price point they are hoping to...it could really invigorate the game. (Crosses fingers.)
- Coming in 2nd at the GTS Poker tourney! I want to thank ABC NW, Gamestation.net and Eagle Games for holding such a fun, well managed event. I had never done a "live" poker tourney before, and this was a thrill. Many thanks again, and congrats to the person who beat me head to head, when I went all in on a "Brunson." I was stressed enough that I didn't even catch his name. ;) I should especially thank Rob and John for gathering all the bounties I won, and shipping it back to their warehouse with their booth. We were on the plane before the exhibit hall opened, and would not have been able to do it ourselves.

Thats about it I think. I am sure I missed a lot...