GenCon 2016 Review and GP Next Steps

GenCon is over, and I'm starting to catch up on sleep! Ok, that's a lie, there is no catching up on sleep.

This was my first time at GenCon, and it was pretty overwhelming. I don't know if I enjoyed the con itself; the best experiences I had were independent of the convention itself. I had a game no one showed up to, which I really wanted to try (Titansgrave). I got a bunch of wrong answers from GenCon customer support, causing me to stand in line at will-call for over an hour, in a line nearly half a mile long. I had to take up at 7:30 AM get my press badge. And unfortunately, both in the expo hall and in general, GenCon didn't seem as good for TTRPGs as Origins was. I gave away almost no cards (maybe 50?) so I wouldn't expect an influx of users like we did after Origins last year.

On the other hand, I got to meet so many awesome people, many of whom I've been chatting on Twitter with for a long time, some of for the first time. Unfortunately, the GP meetup didn't really come together (thanks PhantomNimbus for hanging with me), but I made it to the OneShot Network meetup, and that was great. I'd love for GP to one day have as many passionate users as OneShot has listeners, just so people can meet each other and hang out, and so people who are budding game designers/testers/etc can all meet up. I had a great meeting with Mark Diaz Truman of John Wick Presents, and I have some exciting things coming up for 7th Sea in the near future (and hopefully other games as well).


So what does this mean for Gamers' Plane overall? Not much, except a few days off being a computer and in the industry has kind of reenergized me. I want to try something different, splitting my GP time between 3 projects at any given time: a minor project (like updating a character sheet to Angular), a new character sheet, and a major project (like updating the forums). I also need to think of how I can push the "help support" GP side of things without sounding like I'm asking for money... many of you have been very generous, but I've noticed that though the site is hitting new levels of use (which means costs are rising), donation rates are stagnant. This does not mean I'm actively asking for donations. GP makes more than enough to cover costs. I just want to be able to give you guys all I can, both in terms of site features and getting more users on the site, which means more players and GMs, which means more games.

Currently, I'm updating Numenera and I'll be brachiating The Strange to actually be a The Strange character sheet, with recursions and the whole nine. I'll be working on Warhammer Fantasy as a new system to add, as it's actively played on the site right now (and I'm going to make that my official stance on new systems for the time being: I'll consider any system someone requests, but give priority if you are/going to run it). And I'll keep working on the forum upgrades. As soon as I finish up Numenera and The Strange, I'll get working on my big stuff for 7th Sea (or maybe at the same time).


Remember, if you're heading to a con and want to help support GP, I still have some shirts I'll be glad to send you for free (if you can help cover shipping, that'd be great). All I ask is if you get a shirt, you wear it to at least one day at a con. If you're planning on buying stuff from Amazon, DriveThru, or Easy Roller Dice, please use one of the support links at the bottom of any GP page.


As I ended up saying many many times at the con, every time someone asked what makes GP different and special, you guys are amazing. I see great games being run, fantastic ideas coming together, people developing games and worlds, all of which frankly is brilliant to see. Anyone who's serious about trying to release a product, I'll try to help you get in touch with people who can give you advice. Anyone who just wants to game, thanks for making GP the place you do that.

I can't wait to find out what the cool new stuff involving 7th sea is...

Welcome back!

With regards to the Numenera changes -- will you be taking it down a path that makes it less suitable for other Cypher systems (I'm using Numenera as the basis for a Gods of the Fall campaign).

I was just going to make the Numenera char sheet prettier, but I can make a generic Cypher sheet (and/or a gods of the fall sheet).

I bet a generic Cypher sheet would be more useful than GOTF.

@ Keleth
Hey man sorry we didn't get a chance to hang out. I was mostly busy until Saturday morning and Sunday before we left. Glad you had fun for the most part.
True, Dominions and Obligations could be put in the notes section. Granted that's my stock workaround for most things...

I'm going to be running Urban Shadows (once my friends actually take the time to register...), and I asked about character sheets in the Tavern. I thought I'd ask here too because I got an uncertain no and wanted to check with you directly since you were talking about your future char sheet projects.

If you are using a custom character sheet, can you make a template using html code or whatever (asking as a non programming person who would have to figure it out)? Maybe a better way to ask is, are there formatting tools (bulleting, tables, etc.) that work within the custom character sheet field? And a place where I can go to see what they are? Or is it basically just spacing and carriage returns?

A few other things:

I already said I'm no coder, but it's something I feel like I'd like to learn. What do you use for making the character sheets? If people took up making their own sheet as a project and then gave you the unimplemented code, would that help?

In a forum post, does using @username tag someone in a way that alerts them to the post?

Money suggestion - have you considered setting up a Patreon? Your weekly/monthly/intermittent output (seems like each Patreon has a different schedule) could be the rollout of a site update, and it would help people donate in a way directly tied to the increased benefit and usability of the site.

I remember seeing your post, but I don't remember why I didn't answer. Let's blame GenCon or GenCon prep?
Right now, just spacing, but I'll add the same bbcode that the forums take to the custom character sheet. There are no tables right now, but I can look into getting lists working. In the long run, I plan on making much more customizable "custom" character sheets, but for now, they're basically big text blocks. However, I do prioritize adding systems that people are playing.
A bit, but not a ton. The character sheets are developed in AngularJS 1.4 (moving to 1.5 with the forum upgrade), with some PHP in there. People could maybe come up with HTML mocks, then I could convert them into code that works with GP, but without giving people access to the services and stuff I use, it'd be limited. I could make a those public, but I don't know if it'd make more work or not. I'd be willing to try one.
Not right now, though this is a requested and planned feature.
Patreon uses PayPal and then takes a cut on top, so it makes more sense for me to keep with the direct PayPal donation link. Plus, I don't have a regular enough schedule to roll out code at set periods, and I don't feel comfortable only putting out a feature if I make a certain amount of money. I typically put out 2-3 small projects (new character sheet, small feature, etc) or 1 big project and 1 small project each month, along with bug fixes and on the fly changes. I figure if people like using the site, they can use my referral links or donate directly through the "Support Us" link at the bottom of each page. I was thinking about creating a "Support Us" page, which would mention 2-3 yearly costs (hosting, cons, promotional costs) and any big goals I'm working towards (right now, the IP lawyer, hiring a team to redesign GP), and update it when someone donates or buys something from one of the referral links, so people could see how close/far I am from things.

Over all, I do this for the love of the hobby. It turning into something real is a dream, but only that. As a webdev, I know realistically, unless I come up with a real product, this'll be something I do on the side because I like doing it and you all want to play. I won't deny I'd love to be a name in the industry, but ego isn't my thing. Even if I end up in a position where I can't actively develop the site, I'd still keep it live and running so people could play.

Yay! Warhammer :)

When you add it to the custom sheets, can you add it to the Notes section of the other sheets? :)