I just got home from the first night at the AH event, and I have to say that so far, my experience has been terrible.

The AH seminar was a lot of fun, and it was nice to bump into Kevin Wilson afterward and get to chat with him about the game, but when it came to the "schedule", both I and the friend I was with got shafted pretty hard.

When I saw that there was a posted schedule for events and open signups for each time slot, I assumed that the schedule actually meant something - that there would be games run at specific tables at the times listed. This was not the case at all. We turned down a couple of offers for a pickup game in order to make sure that we would be free and ready to start for our 2 Hours to Save the World game that was set for 10pm. As we waited for our scheduled game, we asked a couple of the event staff how the scoring should be reported or tracked. The most helpful answer we got was a half-assed answer of "Just tell the guy with the clipboard" (no event staff name, no helpful physical description, and there wasn't anyone with a clipboard anywhere in the room).

As 9:45 began to loom, we asked how we would know which table was ours, so that we could meet up with our fellow players who had signed up for the same event and time. The net result of our questioning was effectively "Just sit down somewhere and start playing". We looked around the room and saw that two tables were equipped with the expansions that we had signed up to play... and they were both occupied. The first table to open up wasn't free until 10:30. Nobody from the event staff came by to clear the previous group from the table, to set up the table for the new game, to introduce the modifications to the game for the event, or to check on the players (or lack thereof).

To top it off, all three of the other players scheduled to be at our table were off playing in other games, and there was no plan on the part of the event staff to ensure that this would not screw over the other players who were attending the event for which they had signed up. By 10:45, my friend and I had checked both rooms to see if anyone wanted to join us for the event that we should have been able to start roughly 45 minutes earlier, and with a net response of "no thanks", we just went home feeling like we'd wasted both our time and our money.

For an entrance fee of 25 dollars, I expect there to be some kind of commitment from the staff to doing some amount of work to ensure that the event schedule means something.

For an entrance fee of 25 dollars, I expect that an event that has been scheduled and signed up for will actually happen as scheduled - or at the very least be merged with another event table in order to make sure that the players are not just screwed.

For an entrance fee of 25 dollars, I expect to have events that I sign up for to be run with even a little bit of consideration for the schedule that has been set by the event coordinators.

At this point, I'm just going to consider the entrance fee that I paid as a chance to be drawn for the Mansions of Madness preview, and otherwise I'll be taking a cue from the event staff and just totally ignoring the "schedule". If the staff cannot be bothered to put some effort into having their scheduled events be run on time (or at all), then I just don't see any other option.

If I were to offer a suggestion to anyone from FFG who reads this (I'll re-format it a bit and add to it after the weekend is over and send off an email to them), I would make this item number one:

If you are going to charge an entrance fee for a weekend that has a schedule of games/events that attendees are supposed to sign up for, then you need to have people under your employ who are there to make sure that the events/games are run smoothly, cleanly, and on time.

wow, that sucks, sorry you had such shabby treatment, maybe you will have better luck over the next day, it seems this event has pissed off those who could not go AND those who could. Way to go FFG,

Sorry to hear about your experience. It sounds like it was frustrating.

But if you can, can you shed anylight on the new Cthulu and Daoloth GOOs? There's a picture up at BGG:

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/834413/arkham-horror?size=large

Wow, that's horrible ~ I'm sorry to hear that, especially since many folks who would have attended value a well-run game. Even with my OCD under control , I'd be more than a little put-off, after spending >$500 in airfare/lodging to attend the event. Hope they read and heed the feedback, and with any luck others have contributed their comments and suggestions to the staff and those walking around with a clipboard...

Yep, not such a good experience, I'm *very* sorry for this. Hope in the following days things will go better ::smiling::

@ Partizan: thank you for the link! I like a lot the improved version of Cthulhu, and Daoloth has some interesting abilities. Really. Pictures seem not be so good as they could have been, anyway

It's a little disappointing to me that we were told there would be two new GOOs, and one is clearly an updated GOO. And Daoloth is okay, but seems like it might be a PITA with switching up the gates. Oh well...

Wow, more disappointment, that version of Cthulhu is hardly any different to the base game version - cultists get aquatic and being driven insane or KOd hurts you at the max level, and thats it? Huh. Scratch the notion that new versions of other base AOs are coming, this just looks like an afterthought with no real imagination applied to it.

Daoloth does look more interesting and original. Badass with the Black Goat.

Did Daoloth come with sinister plot cards?

Why the hell do both GOOs resistances say "See Attack"? Neither attack mentions resistances.

Daoloth did not come with SP cards by the look of the images on BGG, i think they would have included them in the shot otherwise. And yeah whats up with the resistances nonsense? EPIC fail FFG

Veet said:

Yeah, really... Should be "None", at least for Cthulhu.

Doesn't the original Cthulhu have the same "See attack" for the resistance field on the card?

He does. The special text has nothing to do with resistances-he simply regenrates health after each attack.

They must be counting health regen as a resistance since Daoloth does it too.

That's because it's not a "Resistances" field, but "Defenses" field. Cthulhu's regeneration has always been considered a Special defense, just like Yibb-Tstll's double hit-points, so FFG has been consistent there. The only error they've made is that Ghatanothoa's ability to negate the first success against him was not listed as a Special defense, while it should've been.

-Villain

well, I just got back, and I dont know where you guys were, but me and my friends had a great time. True, the orginization wasn't spectacular, but it was ok, I was there most of the time every day, and I never saw a point where all tables were occupied. There was plenty of arkham to go around, and you could just sit down and play. And when you were done, the FFG guys would set everything up for the next game, arkham without setup? Win!

We got to talk with the game designers and the staff, got some questions answered about the new MOM game coming out, and a friend of mine even got to play it, which was awesome. FFG loaned us the demo copies of BSG: Pegasus and Mag Blast so we could try them out and see if we liked them before we purchased them, and it seemed like they had demo copies of just about all thier games. Costumes were good all around and it was great to be around people with as much affection for board games as I have.

Daloth and newthulu were fun. I didnt really expect to be wow'd, they're just a promotion. But hey, new AOs are new AOs.

My friends and I also had a pretty fantastic time. Sure, the organization wasn't super amazing, but there were people playing games pretty consistently and having fun. The key phrase there is "having fun".

Interacting with the developers, the chance to play Mansions of Madness, and playing Arkham with players from around the country (and see how they play) was a blast. Plus, I was one of the few who was lucky enough to get to play AH with Richard Lainius.

As far as adhering to some strict schedule what's the point if people are already having fun? If you wanted a strict following of a schedule, you could've payed $150 and gone to Blizzcon. I've found, in the past, they follow theirs pretty tightly...but still have a sucky event. Weeeeeird.

Bottom line the key thing was having fun. And, for $25, I felt I got my money's worth. It's a shame you feel differently.

Cheers!

-Ian

Yes, the organization was not well-managed. Ultimately, the sign-up sheets where only relevant for the "learn to play" sessions and the "play with the designers" sessions and the Streets of Insanity scenario. The specific expansion tables just ended up being for pick-up games. My wife and I had no trouble just finding groups of people who were up for playing any of the games. In many cases, it would just be for an hour or two while waiting to play Streets of Insanity, or for an upcoming seminar. Then we'd just jump back into another group.

I think FFG staff should have simply eliminated the sign-up sheets and made all the tables aside from the Streets of Insanity into "open tables". That's really what they were all weekend. Having sign-up sheets for them that nobody used and were not enforced was pointless. Sign-up sheets would have been necessary only if there weren't enough tables, but there were plenty of open tables all weekend.