From: MOBTOTRM@vaxc.cc.monash.edu.au
Date: Wed 04 Dec 1996 - 14:24:40 EET
G'day all,
Loren has ascended to the sky, to take his place among the panoply of
latter day Gloranthan heroes. The previous abrupt depart of the Digest
meant that we weren't able to publicly thank Loren for all he's done, so
I'll take that opportunity now! And a big slap on the back to Shannon
for taking over!
I posted a version of this on Loren's penultimate Digest, but I have
actually made one or two corrections, slightly rewritten the cap and close,
and added *some interesting news* at the end!
__________________________________
RQ CON DOWN UNDER - SURVEY RESULTS
From Andrew Bean, John Hughes and Michael O'Brien - co-organisers
of RQ Con Down Under, 19-21st January 1996, Melbourne, Victoria Australia.
Well, as it's now exactly 10 months since RQ Con Down Under, we thought
we'd better get round dealing with the looming pile of con-related stuff
teetering precariously on the corner of MOB's desk before it falls and
injures his cat.
We sent out a con survey afterwards, and Home of the Bold players
were invited to write an account of their adventures in the freeform
(these will be published in Questlines II).
The con had 131 attenders - 45% from Melbourne and the state of Victoria,
41% from elsewhere in Australia (including a sizeable contingent all the
way over from distant WA), and 14% who made the supreme effort and jetted in
from overseas. Thanks to the nearly 40% of you who returned the survey and
congratulations to Jeffrey Cheah, whose name was pulled out of the Reaching
Moon barrel. Your "Jar Eel Assassin" t-shirt prize is on its way!
Here, then are the results of the RQ Con Down Under Survey! In good
old-fashioned RQ2 style, we've rounded all figures to the nearest 5%.
THE CON
*The con location (Bayswater) was...
15% - inconvenient
40% - ok
45% - fine
*The con venue (Bayswater Primary School) was...
5% - unsatisfactory
50% - acceptable
45% - fine
*Was the emphasis on tournaments (14 on offer)...
5% - Not enough
95% - Just Right
0% - Too much
*Was the emphasis on seminars (13 on offer)...
20% - Not enough
75% - Just Right
5% - Too much
*Good aspects of the con were (typical responses):
"The pre-con party at MOB's place - great way for folks to meet
informally and break the ice before the madness of the con!"
"The people who went. Their attitude to fun."
"The people were great. Aussies are among the most friendly people I've
ever met, and they all were very welcoming to us foreigners."
"The conviviality and good spirits."
"Organized well - with intro, wrap up, and central food/meeting room."
"The canteen"..."vegetarian selection"..."effort at recycling (just
because we're playing in Glorantha is no need to trash Earth.)"
"The seminars were well organized and well timed. Important things
like the auction happened when people would be available and in the
main room."
"Splendid organisation"..."Patient organisers"..."Relaxed, unpretentious
atmosphere"..."Nice wrapup at the end."
"Plenty of opportunities to mix with the special guests."
"Questlines and all the other Glorantha material available."
*Ungood aspects of the con were (typical responses):
"NO BEER!"
"The trollkin-sized furniture in some rooms was too small for comfort."
"Clash of tournaments and seminars meant I couldn't get to everything
I wanted to - darn!"
"Sandy couldn't make it."
"NO BEER!"
"Hard to get to the con site without a car, especially for early morning
sessions."
"Not getting to throw Nick in a pool/pond/lake/etc.."
"The queue-jumping unpaid vultures at the Roast on Saturday night."
"NO BEER!"
"There was no convenient place nearby for people to gather, talk, and
have a few drinks each night after the con closed."
"Air conditioning wouldn't have hurt (OK, so I'm spoiled)"
"That shithead flake Loki failing to show up to run his tournament (third
time running I believe*)"
*fourth to our knowledge.
"Only went for 3 days!"..."over too soon!"..."how many years do we have
to wait for the next one?" etc..
*How could we improve the convention? (typical responses):
"BEER!"
"The weather sucked."
"A slightly bigger venue, with time between things to generally
relax and jawfest - like a 15 min break between sessions."
"Perhaps have a bit more formal scheduling system, so games and seminars
don't clash in the same blocks".
"Get Sandy and Ken out next time."
"Hey, it was great, if it ain't broke, don't fix it!"
"I prefer having the con at a hotel with plenty of meeting rooms and
onsite facilities. (I know that is a lot more expensive though)
"Get corporate sponsorship and blow all the money on beer."
"More more more!"..."add another day"..."Hold it more frequently"..."Add
another freeform!" etc..
"Hold it at a similar (ie cheap) location, but one more central; apart
from that, seriously, it was the best con I've ever attended."
FAVORITE THINGS
*My favorite seminar at RQ Con DU was (in top three ranked order):
1. Greg Stafford on HeroQuesting
2. Nick Brooke Cultural Exchange
3. The whole Sunday Morning Show (Get your RPG Published & Meet
Tales/Nick's Cultural Exchange/Lunar Tunes)
Honourable mentions:
-John Hughes 'Hit & Myth'
-Great Southern Land.
*My favorite tournament at RQ Con DU was (in top three ranked order):
1. 'Rune Metal Jacket' (RQ) by MOB
2. 'Embarrassment of Riches' (RQ) by Mike Dawson
3. 'The Scarlet Moonflower in Pent' (RQ) by Mark Holsworth
Honourable mentions:
-'Musik of the Spears' (Glorantha Freeform)
-'The Adventure of the May Queen and the Rosebriar Knight' (Pendragon)
-'The Loyalty of Men' (Pendragon)
-'Riders of the Sun' (Pendragon Pass)
- and the Nephilim tournament whose name is lost in the mists of time.
*My favourite event (seminar/tournament/other) at RQ Con DU was (in top
three ranked order):
1. Home of the Bold
2. Live Action Trollball
3. The Lore Auction
Honourable mentions:
-Stafford's HeroQuest seminar
-Storytelling Contest
-Rune Metal Jacket
-Eat at Geos(!)
HOME OF THE BOLD
*If you played in Home of the Bold, was it:
60% - BETTER THAN I EXPECTED
40% - ABOUT WHAT I EXPECTED
00% - WORSE THAN I EXPECTED
[Thanks to the 20 HotB participants who've written and sent us write-ups
of their characters' escapades. These entertaining accounts will be
published (along with seminar transcripts and more) in Questlines II, due
out in the first half of 1997. Congratulations to Michael Hitchens
(General Lergius) whose account, a masterpiece of self-serving sophistry,
wins our HotB Character Write-up Competition: he wins one of the limited
edition Lunar gold coins, a Nephilim badge and a complete transcript of
the HotB game, all 600 pages of it!]
FUTURE RQ CON DOWN UNDER
*Would you be interested in attending a future RQ Con DU?
In Melbourne YES - 90% MAYBE - 5% NO - 5%
In Sydney YES - 55% MAYBE - 30% NO - 15%
In Canberra YES - 45% MAYBE - 40% NO - 15%
*Would you be interested in playing in another Gloranthan freeform, similar
in scope to HotB?
75% - YES
20% - MAYBE
5% - NO
*If the con didn't have such a freeform, would you still be interested in
coming?
75% - YES
20% - MAYBE
5% - NO
SPECIAL GUESTS
*Would you come to a RQ Con that didn't feature Greg Stafford as special
guest?
75% - YES
25% - NO
*Which special guests would you like to see at a future RQ Con Down
Under?
Dan Barker YES - 60% NO - 25% WHO DAT? - 15%
Nick Brooke* YES - 95% NO - 5% WHO DAT? - 00%
Mike Dawson YES - 60% NO - 10% WHO DAT? - 30%
David Dunham* YES - 60% NO - 20% WHO DAT? - 20%
David Hall* YES - 90% NO - 5% WHO DAT? - 5%
Kevin Jacklin* YES - 75% NO - 10% WHO DAT? - 15%
Steven Martin YES - 10% NO - 35% WHO DAT? - 55%
Mark Morrison* YES - 65% NO - 10% WHO DAT? - 25%
Sandy Petersen YES - 85% NO - 15% WHO DAT? - 00%
Ken Rolston YES - 80% NO - 10% WHO DAT? - 10%
Greg Stafford* YES - 95% NO - 5% WHO DAT? - 00%
*denotes actually attended RQ Con Down Under as special guest
QUESTLINES
*Do you own a copy of our fund-raiser book, Questlines?
90% - YES
10% - NO
THANKS!
These results reflect the general feeling around after the con that it had
been a good one. So, once again, we'd like to thank everyone who worked so
hard to make it so: our special guests Greg, David H., David D., Nick,
Kevin and Mark; canteen wonder-worker Lynn James; con gopher Leslie;
auctioneer-extraordinaire Rick Meints; the writers and GMs of the
tournaments; those of you who billeted our guests and attenders from out of
town; and everyone else who pitched in to lend a hand!
Cheers
MOB, Andrew & John
RQ Con Down Under co-organisers
______________________________________
RQ Con Down Under II - GloranthaCon VI
Yep, it's being planned - now that the guys in Washington DC have pulled
out of Janaury 1998, we're looking to hold the event once more! The likely
date at this stage is 17-19 January 1998 (weekend before Can Con), somewhere
in Melbourne, Victoria, Austrlia - but not good old Bayswater Primary
School this time round! The aim is to find a location that is central and
has access to BEER (see, we do take note of our survey responses!). The
featured LARP is likely to be Reaching Moon's LIFE OF MOONSON, and we'll be
pulling all stops out to import the special guests you want to see!
Everything's still in the planning feasability stage at the moment, and we're
assembling of team of like-minded volunteers to assist.
For more information and offers to help in any way, please contact
Andrew Bean at: "zbraun@minyos.xx.rmit.EDU.AU".
Cheers
MOB
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