I completely agree that a meatspace solution is good. The issue is that Prime tabletop is spread between several different area that are not only not viewable from a single spot, but aren't even all that near each other. The electronic solution would be best served used in conjunction with some sort of flag indicating an open game.
Keep in mind that a lot of data plans Critically Fail in the convention center. Probably because of the crowds. I've never had any luck with reliable service (over ATT, anyway) either at East or at Prime, and at East this month my attempts at using twitter to find a group resulted in delayed tweets of up to 12 hours. I kid you not. I didn't have a single successful experience using any e-tools. Total mission failure. I know for a fact that a lot of people had similar experiences.
However, we did have multiple tabletop areas a little like Prime: there was gaming going on in hotel lobbies, and the Westin had a dedicated gaming area on the mezzanine, and the tabletop floor in the center was segregated and spread out. I saw a lot more participation from folks walking by and seeing the games than using apps.
Not that an e-solution shouldn't be considered, but just consider the proportion of effort to return, or centralize it with a local solution.
If projectors won't work, how about a dumb terminal in each room? I'm sure there are devs out there who would be willing to build a little local app (hell, even a shared excel spreadsheet would work), and if it's hardwired you circumvent the wireless performance issues AND relieve the cellular traffic a little bit for others. Put a station in each room with a big sign on the wall above. People could then use the terminal much like one in a library: find games or advertise their own.
Did anyone else have trouble with the block system? I wasted so much time trying to find a Carcassonne group to play with and didn't get one game in. And I couldn't find one Carc box in the library (were they hoarded at tournament?). It just felt so much easier last year - you could just plan your day around the 3 hours you needed for that tournament - if it conflicted, you just didn't play. I was looking forward to that all year again. I wonder how many people actually played it this year... the list was maxed out last year.
Any thoughts?
We're working on that, and your feedback is very welcome. It was an attempt to make things more flexible, when in reality it just added confusion. I'm not in charge so I can't say how it will change going forward, but we heard every concern about the system we used and are taking it to heart.
I completely agree that a meatspace solution is good. The issue is that Prime tabletop is spread between several different area that are not only not viewable from a single spot, but aren't even all that near each other. The electronic solution would be best served used in conjunction with some sort of flag indicating an open game.
Keep in mind that a lot of data plans Critically Fail in the convention center. Probably because of the crowds. I've never had any luck with reliable service (over ATT, anyway) either at East or at Prime, and at East this month my attempts at using twitter to find a group resulted in delayed tweets of up to 12 hours. I kid you not. I didn't have a single successful experience using any e-tools. Total mission failure. I know for a fact that a lot of people had similar experiences.
However, we did have multiple tabletop areas a little like Prime: there was gaming going on in hotel lobbies, and the Westin had a dedicated gaming area on the mezzanine, and the tabletop floor in the center was segregated and spread out. I saw a lot more participation from folks walking by and seeing the games than using apps.
Not that an e-solution shouldn't be considered, but just consider the proportion of effort to return, or centralize it with a local solution.
If projectors won't work, how about a dumb terminal in each room? I'm sure there are devs out there who would be willing to build a little local app (hell, even a shared excel spreadsheet would work), and if it's hardwired you circumvent the wireless performance issues AND relieve the cellular traffic a little bit for others. Put a station in each room with a big sign on the wall above. People could then use the terminal much like one in a library: find games or advertise their own.
A local hardwired solution would be essentially the same as a mobile based solution, just without everyone having their own terminal. I'm mainly talking about an e-solution because that's one that I can work on and help out with. Everyone else has proposed great analog solutions, but I'm no help with that so I'll focus on what I *can* do.
Every time you write parallel fifths, Bach kills a kitten.
3DS Friend Code: 2707-1614-5576 PAX Prime 2014 Buttoneering!
So I'm old. And a fart. And technologically retarded. Well, maybe not... but many folks are.You know what my favorite method of communicating in a common gaming area is? The Universal "Join Us" message. No technology (or lame ass failing wireless connections) needed.
Put the box of what you're playing on the table, with the cover standing up vertically. Anyone who is walking by can see what you're playing and that you're looking for players.
Occam's Razor is your friend.
YES. That was my best experience at my first PAX. When watching a group of fiends play Dixit, they asked me to join the game. I felt home and among friends. Another simple solution is for the people at the sign-out table to keep track of games started in the past five minutes and directing new players to games just starting.
I've seen many technical solutions proposed for events (LAN parties, event registration) that are never fully implemented, which actually ends up detracting from an experience more than not having any solution. I would say if you're going to go technical, keep it simple. Maybe something like table # and game being played, that is updated from a laptop and displayed on a TV. You could really do that and look sharp with a tool as simple as PowerPoint.
Currently playing Stardew Valley and I Am Setsuna.
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Keep in mind that a lot of data plans Critically Fail in the convention center. Probably because of the crowds. I've never had any luck with reliable service (over ATT, anyway) either at East or at Prime, and at East this month my attempts at using twitter to find a group resulted in delayed tweets of up to 12 hours. I kid you not. I didn't have a single successful experience using any e-tools. Total mission failure. I know for a fact that a lot of people had similar experiences.
However, we did have multiple tabletop areas a little like Prime: there was gaming going on in hotel lobbies, and the Westin had a dedicated gaming area on the mezzanine, and the tabletop floor in the center was segregated and spread out. I saw a lot more participation from folks walking by and seeing the games than using apps.
Not that an e-solution shouldn't be considered, but just consider the proportion of effort to return, or centralize it with a local solution.
If projectors won't work, how about a dumb terminal in each room? I'm sure there are devs out there who would be willing to build a little local app (hell, even a shared excel spreadsheet would work), and if it's hardwired you circumvent the wireless performance issues AND relieve the cellular traffic a little bit for others. Put a station in each room with a big sign on the wall above. People could then use the terminal much like one in a library: find games or advertise their own.
We're working on that, and your feedback is very welcome. It was an attempt to make things more flexible, when in reality it just added confusion. I'm not in charge so I can't say how it will change going forward, but we heard every concern about the system we used and are taking it to heart.
A list of things, should you be of the gifting persuasion
A local hardwired solution would be essentially the same as a mobile based solution, just without everyone having their own terminal. I'm mainly talking about an e-solution because that's one that I can work on and help out with. Everyone else has proposed great analog solutions, but I'm no help with that so I'll focus on what I *can* do.
3DS Friend Code: 2707-1614-5576
PAX Prime 2014 Buttoneering!
YES. That was my best experience at my first PAX. When watching a group of fiends play Dixit, they asked me to join the game. I felt home and among friends. Another simple solution is for the people at the sign-out table to keep track of games started in the past five minutes and directing new players to games just starting.
I've seen many technical solutions proposed for events (LAN parties, event registration) that are never fully implemented, which actually ends up detracting from an experience more than not having any solution. I would say if you're going to go technical, keep it simple. Maybe something like table # and game being played, that is updated from a laptop and displayed on a TV. You could really do that and look sharp with a tool as simple as PowerPoint.