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Issue # 8
This Issue:
* Arevar's Ramblings
Arevar's Ramblings
GenCon '97 by: Connie McMillan (Beth Mc63@aol.com) Certified AD&D addict here who loves spellfire!! I have always wanted to go to a big convention. I met someone who granted me that opportunity & helped guide me while I was there. For that, they will always be a friend; that thanks goes to Kurt Otterstein. Good thing I had a guide too, with all of those one-ways in Wisc it was worse than being in a maze! He even got me to fly & that was something I swore I would never do. ::chuckling:: If you have never flew, try it, it is beautiful. I was in awe at the size of the convention halls. The Con was 4 times the size of the one here in Coastal Ms. ::rubbing my feet:: It was 2 buildings connected by a skywalk & even the skywalk was full of people!! The arena was always running. It seemed no matter what time I went there, there was always some kinda of game running. There would be occassional tempers heard or shouting & that was just level 1. Stepping downstairs was a mad house. There were thousands of card players in & out. ::chuckling:: I saw this 1 kid getting himself a whole set of magic cards cause someone got mad & threw them across the room. I will get back to this later.... There were so many people at the Con from so many different places. I met this one guy from France who could barely speak english & it was his first time in the USA. I made him feel welcome & spent extra paitience understanding him & showing him around some. Found out he is one mean spellfire player & came all the way here just to play the tournaments. woow! The convention center itself was a worse mad house. Some people dressed in costumes every day. There werent alot of costumers the day of that party but the ones there did very well with their ideas. There were vampires, witches, Klingons, &...just too many to name. The most interesting I think was the "hired" jester & "bard". You would be walking down a hall when you rounded a corner & came face to face with this lady wearing the "I dream of Jeannie" costume & a guy playing spanish style music with a voice that made you want to walk faster just to round another corner & find a guy in a Jester suit juggling balls (nerf of course) ::chuckling:: All of the walls were lined up with tables & there were hardly any vacant for long. There was always someone playing a game or going thru their fresh card packs. And the food. I had my first greek dishes, which was pretty good. I did notice that the food there wasnt "common". You couldnt find a good burger, hot dog, or chicken, but you could find wierd things or "foreign" dishes. Maybe thats just common for Wisc. ::shrugs:: Even the coffee wasnt "regular". <--not complaining though. As for those night owls.. they ran AD&D modules, played card games & did seminars at the Hyatt hotel until dawn. The only thing negative I know of that happened was a robbery of the great hall & an accident. I dont know the details of the robbery but it was enough to get them to tighten the security. The accident was really nothing. A guy fell off a ladder but he is ok. The great hall was really crowded. There were thousands of people there...all at once. Thats where the special games were held; like the AD&D adventure that Ed Greenwood ran. That was interesting watching a master at work. & WotC didnt waste any time bringing people over to their side. They had games, giveaways, & etcs. The most aggrivating thing for me was being 5 ft. The Armory started throwing things out into the hall & I was too dang short to get anything. ::shrug:: oh well. I think what I did get was more valuable. <-- Pictures & autographs of authors, artist, & TSR staff!! They had Battletech games too, not the board one either!! They even had a computer room. The great hall was also where the main setup booths were. I think everybody selling something found a spot. books, trinkets, real weapons, figurines, toys, Franklin mint, ... The thing I hold most in memory were the "important" people I met there. (no offense to any of us little folks.) I met & chatted several times with artist Jeff Easley who is a pretty cool dude. It makes him feel good when people tell him they like his artwork, which is very good, (he is not egotistical) & he enjoyed doing the signings. He didnt see it as a "duty". Next was Keith Parkinson. He was nice & signed some cards but had that "busy man" look. K.P. is a fantastic artist but his stuff is expensive though. I also got Clyde Caldwell to sign cards. I love my trading cards!! C.C. is the kind of person that can sit & be doing nothing & have that "I am busy" look to him. His artwork is great & he knows it. <refraining from commenting> Larry Elmore didnt show. I found out why. I chatted with Ruth Thompson, who told me what happened. Ruth said they were telling people Larry had an asthma attack. nope. He really had a heart attack. I talked to an old friend of mine who is a friend of Ruth's & Larry's, & he said that was the 2nd. Larry's artwork is fantastic but not at the rate of killing himself over! I hear he has been working on a new project but he needs to slow down. & speaking of Ruth.. if you like dragons you will like her artwork. She is VERY good. I cried cause I ran out of $ & could'nt buy any. After meeting the artist I ran over to meet some authors. I met Ed Greenwood. ::laughing:: That man has a wild personality. After reading about Elimister, I didnt think Ed would be so...fun. That is one guy who gets invited to parties. I am sure anyone who knows him enjoys having him around for humor & etc.s. Jeff Grubb was there too. He is one of those that likes what he does but looks for the profit in what he is doing. Then I met Margaret Weis. A fun lady who loves what she does. She is very sweet & has an outgoing personality. I also met Tracy Hickman. Alot of people think Tracy is a lady. not! He is..well..anyone ever seen a book of his alone?! I was told however that the newest set, the "Star Shield", was Tracy's ideas. I walked circles around Gary Gygax. I flew all the way from Ms to Wisc cause I was told he would be there & I missed him. ::sobbing:: <--big Gary fan. I was so busy working the Con that by the time I went up to where he was, he was gone. ::crying hard:: Speaking of working...I worked the spellfire booth. I didnt get alot of time to "play" around or do other games but I would'nt trade my experience for anything & would do it again if given the opportunity!! Here is where I have another new friend to thank, Jim Butler. Thanks to Jim I was given, what to me, was a golden opportunity to have experiences I may never get to have again, the Con itself. Jim is a very cool dude. He loves his spellfire. That is one thing he really misses with his new job. WotC keeps him busy in the electronics department now. At the Con, when he wasnt "refereeing" a spellfire game, he was playing one himself. ::chuckling:: Then there is John "Dano" Danovich aka "Ohnad the Weasel". He is pretty cool. He has a fun personality. He enjoyed what he did, but also saw the profit in it. He does miss doing what he really likes though. I did get to see Bill Olmesdahl & get his autographs but he didnt stick around long. Seems he married Dori Hein & they were pretty busy with personal stuff. Dori didnt show. ::pouting:: I also met 2 non--employees but 2 good people, whom I shall not forget & who know their spellfire. They worked as hard as I did at the booth, Mark & Debbie Zielinski of MD games. What did I do?! I ran ALOT of demos. I enjoyed myself, met alot of people who's names I wish I could remember, & learned alot about the game itself. There was always a game to play with someone no matter what time it was. The tournaments were wild. The tension high. Even saw a few tempers run. The Ogre & Jim would just sit down when another question would pop up. & speaking of the Lord Ogre...never mind. I was taught if you cant say something nice dont say anything so...<refraining from comment> I definately saw where having too many cards can be a curse but if you didnt have them...you cant win against some people. I was amazed at how people from other countries came to the Con just to play the tournaments!! & WotC wants to kill spellfire... ::choking WotC for that idea:: What spellfire really needs is for the people who do play to go out & "self advertise" the game instead of saying "oh well, noone in my area plays" darn dudes, go show them how!! There were even kids playing the game. I dont mean teenagers either. It was cool watching adults twitch with a kid who knew what they were doing. ::chuckling:: I can't leave out meeting Tony du Lac aka Wytefang. He is another who really loves the game & has dedicated alot of time, effort, and money to keeping it going. thumbs up dude! The only negative thing that happened at the spellfire booth was the fact that there were not enough 4th edition to satisify the crowds (or me) & the Dungeon cards werent there!! Maybe next year.... ::praying::
Under-rated Spellfire Cards by: Dennis Atkinson (djatkins@blue.weeg.uiowa.edu) When people talk about underrated cards these days, I am inclined todisagree with them about their definition of underrated. I personallyfeel that these cards are not underrated, rather overlooked. Yeah I know,let's not turn Mr. Tecnical Definition on the Spellfire world, but it'sreally more than that. Nowadays people usually look at a card in therespect of how it can benefit their current deck. Many players over-look these cards because they would not be very beneficial to them. If playersstarted looking at the game with the thought that hey this card would begreat for this type of deck, then there would be no such thing as an under-rated card. Too bad that's not the case... Anyway, let's get on to these overlooked cards. There are three suchcards that I feel are overlooked for this reason: I have never seenanyone play with them. I am sorry ahead of time with my previous comment if someone plays with any of these cards.
There will be a Spellfire Tourney held at Quad Con (located in the Quad Cities) on Oct. 3rd at 8:00 PM at the Ramada Inn. The more people who are in the area who know about it the better off they will be.
Next: The History of Spellfire, several decks, and more! Spellfire, Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, BirthRight, Dark Sun, DragonLance, Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk, Planescape, Ravenloft settings, worlds, and characters are all registered trademarks of TSR Inc. Spellfire 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Editions, as well as the Ravenloft, DragonLance, Forgotten Realms, Artifacts, Powers, UnderDark, Runes & Ruins, BirthRight, Draconimicon, Night Stalkers, Dungeons, Fiends, and Incantations booster sets are also copyrighted by TSR Inc. Copyright 1997, TSR Inc., Lake Geneva, WI |