Here's your chance to ask questions and provide feedback to members of WotC's R&D department. Discuss new product ideas, share what you think about existing products, and help R&D plan the future of the original roleplaying game!
Writer Rob Balder and artist Jamie Naguchi discuss their fantasy gaming webcomic "Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob" and what the future holds for Erfworld when the battle is over. (Disclaimer: Giant in the Playground is not legally responsible if Rob Balder breaks into song during this seminar.)
Join Shelly Mazzanoble, author of Confessions of a Part-time Sorceress: A Girl's Guide to the Dungeon's & Dragons Game, and other women game designers and editors for an interactive discussion on female gamers, games, and D&D.
From Dice to Digital-What Computer Games Have to Learn from the Tabletop Industry
Description:
David Williams, designer of the Legend of the Five Rings CCG and other award-winning card games, and Ed Stark, former Creative Director for Dungeons & Dragons Third Edition and 3.5, have made the jump to computer game design. Come talk to them and hear about their experiences working at Red 5 Studios, a company founded by the World of Warcraft team lead. Aww, yeah!
There are many challenges that face a game designer when converting a popular license (movie, book, television program, etc.) into a game. The first challenge is the ability to make a game that "feels" like the license it is paying homage to. The second challenge is making sure the game is directed toward the publisher's target audience. The greatest failure involves feeling like the license is simply "tacked on." This seminar will discuss these challenges and ways that designers overcome them.
What one thing is most important to running a good game? What one piece of advice would you give to a first time convention GM? What is the funniest thing that ever happened to your game? Open mic time at GenCon. Sign up early and reserve YOUR topic! E-mail gencon_gm_lightning@yahoo.com or go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GENCONGMLightning/ and sign up.
How many years have you been running your gaming sessions with the same players?  Have things become routine, predictable, even old? Are your players less enamoured with playing than they use to? Then maybe it’s time to reinvent your campaign? With years of experience in game design and running their own worlds, our panelists will offer ideas about how to improve your existing campaigns and how to brief new life into old story lines.
Each game designer develops his or her own method of bringing an initial game design concept to life. Topics covered include concept development, prototype creation, playtesting sessions, pitching games to publishers, and doing everything that's necessary to help move the process forward. Panelists will also discuss ways for new game designers to approach publishers and get their games noticed.
Explore the interaction of GM and RP gamers. Presentation of roleplaying styles, discussion of GMs that encourage roleplaying. All experience levels welcome.