Fantasy Authors at Phoenix Comicon

As I was about to walk into the panel, I noticed Patrick Rothfuss standing next to me outside the door. This struck me as rather odd seeing as how he was supposed to be part of the panel I was going to watch, and normally guests of honor enter in through the back door instead of the main door. We exchanged a few words before walking in, at which point the Line & Access Control staff directed us to the open seats in the back corner.

Oops. Probably best for staff to see photos of the people they’re supposed to be hosting. To her defense, though, most guests of honor wouldn’t normally be entering at her port.

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Mark Sheppard at Phoenix Comicon

Prior to seeing Sheppard’s name come up on the Phoenix Comicon guest list some months ago, I had only recognized Mark Sheppard from Firefly and Leverage. Apparently he was also in Battlestar Gallactica, Dr. Who, and about 55 other things, plus still has a spot in Supernatural. I’ve been duly informed. I was also surprised to see just how many people were waiting for his panel. “Lines at a con???” *shockface* No, not shocked at a line…just shocked by the line for him. Apparently his a bigger deal than I realized with us nerds!

For the record, Sheppard absolutely killed it. Witty, engaging, sincere, and captured the audience from the moment he walked on stage…twas a definite joy to be there!

What will follow is a selection of Q’s, A’s, and general quotes from the panel. Because of Mark’s style, sometimes you’re not sure if a question has been asked, and if it has, it’s quite easy to forget. Many times, however, the question is irrelevant – it’s the musings that pour out of his mouth that matter, and he’s not stingy with them.

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Ivy Doomkitty at Phoenix Comicon

When I first saw Ivy Doomkitty on the list of panelists, all I knew about her is that she was a cosplayer that recently exploded on the national and international scene (and I only knew that because the Phoenix Comicon website said so!). I was trying to go for some variety in my interviews, though, and her bio pic was in costume so I figured she would be as good as a choice as any.

Turns out I was wrong. She’s WAY better of a choice than that!

What’s about to follow is a selection of questions I was able to document during her Q&A, although she honestly gave enough great material and insight while answering the first question that she could have used that as her walk off shot. In fact, she’s got an entire panel tomorrow dedicated to the first question that was asked today. So without further adieu…

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The day that solicitations went to the media for PHXCC interview requests, I replied with a list of Patrick Rothfuss, Jim Butcher, Michael Stackpole, Ivy Doomkitty, and a local couple that does comic inking.

I found out last night at about 9pm that Guest Relations wasn’t able to accommodate any of my requests.  Not a great way to start things off, but honestly not all that unexpected – it’s my first year serving as a member of the media at Comicon so I didn’t expect much favor. Gotta earn my stripes with this outfit.

In any case, I still perused the exhibit hall a little bit and hit a few panels before a medical incident tripped me up – I started showing signs of an eye infection. A trip to urgent care confirmed that I’m in the early stages of pink eye. Psh…timing! I hated to leave early tonight as that meant sacrificing Eliza Dushku and the burlesque show, but staying tonight would have meant sacrificing tomorrow, and there’s no way I’m missing Nathan Fillion’s panel. Besides, y’all need your #phxcc2014 Twitter updates from me!

I’m about to start dumping all my notes on the panels to blog posts. I doubt I’ll mess much with pictures tonight, but rather will save them for tomorrow night or Sunday night. Probably Sunday.

Almost definitely Sunday.

So yeah…sorry about the black and white about to hit your screen. I just want to get the content out there as soon as possible, and will color it up with pictures later.

FYI, the pics of the panels will be very, very minimal since folks aren’t aloud to stand in almost any panel, including in the back or periphery, so don’t expect too much in regards to panel photos. Cosplay, however, is a different story.

Assorted character dice from Marvel Dice Masters by WizKids

I was told for weeks that Dice Masters was a game. I saw websites and updates about it. I had game store-owner friends of mine up in arms due delays surrounding it. I heard great things about it. All kinds of positive press and hype surrounded it.

I had just never seen it. Every store in every known universe apparently sold out of it in January, which is weird because the game didn’t debut until April and stores quickly sold through their allotment.

Until a week ago, that is, when I finally snagged me some. Now I roll it.

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Play or Draw – Avondale, AZ

Ah, the smell of fresh paint and cleaning supplies! The folks at Play or Draw in Avondale have been working hard at getting their store set to go, and today they finally moved forward with their soft launch. It’s a bit early for a full review – they were still stocking and facing some of their cases, pricing merchandise, etc when we went in – so we’ll return for their grand opening and will post plenty of pictures at that time. In the meantime, however, here’s some things that captured our attention…

• It’s clean. Sure, there were supplies and open boxes all over the place as they worked to finish stocking the shelves, but the place was free of stains, smudges, dust and dirt.

• It’s comfortable. There were plenty of things to notice in this regard, the first of which was the fact that it was cool. Not frigid, but certainly cool enough to retreat to from a triple-digit Arizona high. It didn’t have the scent of failed personal hygiene that so frequently permeates game stores which means my wife and other lady gamers I know won’t be afraid to go in and pick something up. Plus – and this might be the first time I’ve ever seen this in a game store – the chairs in the gaming area are padded cloth seats. WHAT!!?!

• The gaming area is large. For casual gaming, this will allow for multiple different games to be simultaneously played without encroaching on other games. For larger tournaments, assuming that they have sufficient tables and chairs they’ll easily be able to fit 64 players in the store and could probably expand to 96 if necessary.

• They’re attentive. Although the staff was busy with the store we were still greeted within about ten seconds of walking in, and a couple of the folks were happy to take some time to converse with us, find out what we played, and engage with us in general.

• They have their bases covered. TCG’s, paintable mini’s, RPG’s, board games, gaming supplies…the works. The only thing I didn’t see was anything from WizKids.

•  The store is well-stocked with snacks, and there are plenty of food options nearby – always important for longer tournaments and gaming sessions! – although at the moment the only restaurant in the same plaza is a pizza place.

Play or Draw has all the raw material to be a fine game store, and if they play their cards right they could end up being one of the premier gaming destinations in the valley. We definitely look forward to seeing the finished product in a few weeks and will be sure to post an update once their grand opening is announced.

Front cover of the Koryo box

Since yesterday was International Tabletop (Gaming) Day, it seemed only appropriate to add some more substance to my addiction in the form of a new game. When it comes to games, my brain tends to go for lots of systems, intricacies, and complexities. Sure, there are some exceptions, but for every Pente that I favor, I could list five Pathfinder Adventure Card Game’s or Firefly’s (yup, I like the boardgame – and the comic, because Firefly – too!)

Koryo, interestingly enough, has both simplicity and complexity.

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Put them all together, and they make a post! Credit: Zach Copley https://www.flickr.com/photos/zcopley/

That’s what they say, anyway. I hope it’s true since I haven’t posted in lots of days. Out of town happens, apparently, as does “stuff”. Here’s a number of brief updates using everyone’s favorite tool – bullet points! I’d call it a potpourri post but The Blogadin + flowers generally equals no, and melange sounds too cooky and/or French. I think I’ll go with Grab Bag. So, yeah…here’s a grab bag to get you caught up…

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Two billion of’em. Image credit: 401(k) 2012 http://www.flickr.com/photos/68751915@N05/

I was just about to log out for the night when I saw this little gem cross my monitor, and it’s simply too stunning to let sit until tomorrow:

Oculus VR, makers of the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset, was bought out by Facebook for $2 billion.

Let that simmer for a bit, then click past the jump for details and reaction.

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If you can’t go over the pipe.. Image Credit – Steven James Gill http://www.flickr.com/photos/scotiaproductions/

Nobody will mistake me for a fan of Nexon, their games, or their business model. Atlantica Online is the only game they host that I might consider playing, and Dragon Nest was so off-puting that it earned a spot on our Zeroes list. In spite of their gaming line-up souring my appetite, however, I can still maintain some semblance of objectivity when it comes to the message their CEO-elect, Owen Mahoney, delivered to mobile game developers via interview with Venture Beat last week at GDC 2014.

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