The Inside Scoop on Gaming

If you are interested in attending Origins in the future check out Sean Whipkey's review. I felt that his description was fairly accurate.

He did not however cover roleplaying events in any great detail, so I will expand on that front.

There is a basic problem at Origins. There is a desperate lack of open slots for roleplaying events. I have attended this Con for several years and it strikes me that the number of events offered to the roleplaying public continue to decline in the face of increasing attendees.

If you are a serious hardcome roleplayer you had best preregister and pray that you get lucky. I arrived at the 97' origins at 8 A.M. (After a three hour drive) to find that my first event (a Call of Cthulhu event) had been canceled. The confusion within Cthulhuthon (presented by the RPGA, Andon, and Chaosium) continued throughout the four days of the Con. Often Keepers/GMs would be given material they had never seen, and be asked to run a system they didn't know. I felt so disappointed that I returned Andon's survey with an attached letter discussing the problem.

In 98' things became even more grim. The number of events at Cthulhuthon, for example, dropped off by almost half while attendance supposedly rose for the Con at large. I must admit that I was very disappointed. While Andon and Chaosium sponsor this particular event the RPGA is in charge of it's operation. I would say they achieved very low marks in it's execution. This is truly a shame because of the roleplaying events offered at this Con I believe CoC to be a real gem.

AD&D events were sparse. In previous years they had been very poor. I sincerely hope they improve. Were anyone to play them at the Con for the first time they would not be impressed.

Of the events offered the one that bears watching is the RPG Deadlands. It seems to have good support and is developing a following. Check it out if you can.

If anything can be done to make this a great Con for roleplayers I feel it must be done by individual gamers. The organizations that be lack the motivation, leadership, and competence to give the gaming public their due. If you have a great idea for a scenario in any roleplaying game, type it up and get yourself a slot at Origins from Andon (they are interested in independents). You don't have to kill yourself, just run it twice. With the raw number of folks there somebody has got to pick up the slack! It should be independent gamers. If enough independents showed and ran things of their own creation, Origins would become a Great Con!

Style: 2 (Needs Work)
Substance: 2 (Sparse)

Origins 98'
Author: N/A Category: Gaming Convention Company/Publisher: Andon Cost: $45 - 4 day pass Page count: N/A ISBN: N/A Capsule Review by Jeffrey Rhodes on 07/28/98. Genre tags: none	If you are interested in attending Origins in the future check out Sean Whipkey's review. I felt that his description was fairly accurate. He did not however cover roleplaying events in any great detail, so I will expand on that front. There is a basic problem at Origins. There is a desperate lack of open slots for roleplaying events. I have attended this Con for several years and it strikes me that the number of events offered to the roleplaying public continue to decline in the face of increasing attendees. If you are a serious hardcome roleplayer you had best preregister and pray that you get lucky. I arrived at the 97' origins at 8 A.M. (After a three hour drive) to find that my first event (a Call of Cthulhu event) had been canceled. The confusion within Cthulhuthon (presented by the RPGA, Andon, and Chaosium) continued throughout the four days of the Con. Often Keepers/GMs would be given material they had never seen, and be asked to run a system they didn't know. I felt so disappointed that I returned Andon's survey with an attached letter discussing the problem. In 98' things became even more grim. The number of events at Cthulhuthon, for example, dropped off by almost half while attendance supposedly rose for the Con at large. I must admit that I was very disappointed. While Andon and Chaosium sponsor this particular event the RPGA is in charge of it's operation. I would say they achieved very low marks in it's execution. This is truly a shame because of the roleplaying events offered at this Con I believe CoC to be a real gem. AD&D events were sparse. In previous years they had been very poor. I sincerely hope they improve. Were anyone to play them at the Con for the first time they would not be impressed. Of the events offered the one that bears watching is the RPG Deadlands. It seems to have good support and is developing a following. Check it out if you can. If anything can be done to make this a great Con for roleplayers I feel it must be done by individual gamers. The organizations that be lack the motivation, leadership, and competence to give the gaming public their due. If you have a great idea for a scenario in any roleplaying game, type it up and get yourself a slot at Origins from Andon (they are interested in independents). You don't have to kill yourself, just run it twice. With the raw number of folks there somebody has got to pick up the slack! It should be independent gamers. If enough independents showed and ran things of their own creation, Origins would become a Great Con! Style: 2 (Needs Work) Substance: 2 (Sparse)

Origins 98'