TOPIC: Skull Con and Patron Side Event in June!

PalaDan wrote:

SnakeEyes (Eric) wrote: ^^^I'm with Fred. However, I would also like to present an alternative that skates around your proclomation for an exclusive event for Skull owners and makes putting on this event less of a hit to the TD coffers.

1) Like TDC, open the event up to anyone. However, those that do not have a Skull of Cavadar cannot participate in that exclusive Skull of Cavadar run.

2) Have the Patron in person event. It's only for Patrons, just like at TDC.

3) Have a second run that anyone who attends can join.

4) Bring back Grind. It could be a small down and dirty, set up in the bar area even so people could watch as they hang out and drink. Grind is fun to watch and will turn the bar into a lively place of TD sport!

Agreed. Having more options at SkullCon would definitely be a great way to offset the Origins absence.

Just to build on the “bring back grind” idea, how about a grind-like room where monsters just keep coming for an alloted period of time, and then have a leaderboard where they show the groups with the most kills, best time etc.

I'll always beg for more True Grind! This sounds like an amazing idea...lol!

Jeff,
I am for one thankful for you doing this. This goes above and beyond what i think anyone expected.
You gave notice years ago a special event. I am sorry some people are Shitting on this.

I for one think it is awesome and was way more than I expected.
So Thank you for being awesome(even though you married someone who is not). Sorry that some people are not and will not be happy. But That is how it goes.

Thanks for bring my family and Myself countless hours of fun. many memories.

There has been so much negative on the forums lately I thought so sunshine and rainbows were needed.

SnakeEyes (Eric) wrote:

Fred K wrote:

Jeff Martin wrote:

Arcanist Kolixela wrote: Yep, basically in a normal year the only thing I need is a badge for the convention and the patron pin/code.

This year if I don't own a skull I can't attend the patron event?

That seems really shitty to people who don't own a skull but might buy enough tokens to be a patron.

Is there something available for patrons who DON'T own a skull or are they just out of luck for 2022?

I guess I could just cancel the Patron event at Skull Con, but I was really looking forward to hanging out with Patrons after a few years of not seeing anyone. It is hard for me to get away from home these days, and I didn't get to go to GHC.

Okay...since I don't want to bum people out, and I want everyone to be happy...

Last proclamation:

We will ALSO host an exclusive Virtual event for Patrons in October of 2022 open to ALL 2022 Patrons -- even those who attend Skull Con. I will update the appropriate pages.

Jeff - I would encourage you to have the Patron event in person at Skullcon. The negative comments were VASTLY outnumbered by positive ones for combining the events. Arcanist doesn't speak for everyone regardless of his volume of posts. Virtual for Patron is good but in person is vastly better. Having 2 different adventures makes the trip more worthwhile for the rest of us who planned to attend. It sounds like placating a tiny number of very loud people to dampen what is available to the vast majority.

Before making changes, I recommend TD quantifies the number of people actually impacted who were really willing to spend the money to go and commit to that now. My guess is the total is less than 10 people would be negatively impacted and I'm 100% certain other skull holders can help them out (between myself and half a dozen other people - we have dozens of extra skull codes we can help with.) On the other side, moving the Patron event negatively impacts an order of magnitude more people who are planning to attend.

Fred

^^^I'm with Fred. However, I would also like to present an alternative that skates around your proclomation for an exclusive event for Skull owners and makes putting on this event less of a hit to the TD coffers.

1) Like TDC, open the event up to anyone. However, those that do not have a Skull of Cavadar cannot participate in that exclusive Skull of Cavadar run.

2) Have the Patron in person event. It's only for Patrons, just like at TDC.

3) Have a second run that anyone who attends can join.

4) Bring back Grind. It could be a small down and dirty, set up in the bar area even so people could watch as they hang out and drink. Grind is fun to watch and will turn the bar into a lively place of TD sport!

Thank you for the suggestions, but I promised a "Skull Bearer Only" event, and we had better stick to that pledge. I think a person who has been faithfully collecting Teeth for seven years deserves what they were promised.

I only added the Patron event because I thought it was a shame to waste the situation with all those Patrons being together in one space -- and not giving them something, too.

Jeff Martin wrote: Thank you for the suggestions, but I promised a "Skull Bearer Only" event, and we had better stick to that pledge. I think a person who has been faithfully collecting Teeth for seven years deserves what they were promised.

I only added the Patron event because I thought it was a shame to waste the situation with all those Patrons being together in one space -- and not giving them something, too.

I think we're all hoping to find a way to justify the trip more than just one or two runs.

That said, I think this community will be great to just hang with regardless.

I expect this will be at least double the attendees of TDC.

I love the patron event being there, live. More live events is awesome.

I would second grind, or True Horde, as a great adjunct if possible.

Perhaps an outdoor event where the most recent patron run was filmed?

Mike Steele wrote:

Jeff Martin wrote: Here's the only way I can see "leasing" your Skull token to someone for money so they can get into Skull Con.

By April 1st you will have to have acquired their name so you can register them.

The Skull token you have leased them will have to be presented at Skull Con so the token can be validated. If you trust them, you can just send them the token and they will return it to you later. If you don't trust them, you (or an agent) will have to be present at Skull Con registration to show the Skull token leased when the leasee wishes to check into Skull Con. The authentication software will record all IDs and we will also record the unique number of each token so that a token cannot be used twice.

When someone checks into the Con, they will get a badge with their name on it. On the back will also be the start time of the two-hour event.

How the start time of their two-hour event is determined is not exactly known at this time. Lori is working that out, but that process won't start for a few months -- maybe even after April 1st.

Any other questions?

Jeff, Thanks, that mostly answers my questions. My main remaining question is: Let's say I'm bringing in enough skulls for 10+ people, some of whom will be doing a second run also. I'll have already registered all the names. Can I just show up at registration with all the skulls and get all the badges and hand them out later (assuming people will be arriving at different times), or does each person that I'm getting a badge for need to be with me at registration when I get their badge(s)?

Thanks for the clarifying question. Each person checking into Skull Con must check-in in person -- and present ID at the time. Also, in Coaching during the two-hour event, each person must show their named badge and the ID again to the Coach. We must go through this whole process because gamers gotta me gamers!

Jeff Martin wrote:

SnakeEyes (Eric) wrote:

Fred K wrote:

Jeff Martin wrote:

Arcanist Kolixela wrote: Yep, basically in a normal year the only thing I need is a badge for the convention and the patron pin/code.

This year if I don't own a skull I can't attend the patron event?

That seems really shitty to people who don't own a skull but might buy enough tokens to be a patron.

Is there something available for patrons who DON'T own a skull or are they just out of luck for 2022?

I guess I could just cancel the Patron event at Skull Con, but I was really looking forward to hanging out with Patrons after a few years of not seeing anyone. It is hard for me to get away from home these days, and I didn't get to go to GHC.

Okay...since I don't want to bum people out, and I want everyone to be happy...

Last proclamation:

We will ALSO host an exclusive Virtual event for Patrons in October of 2022 open to ALL 2022 Patrons -- even those who attend Skull Con. I will update the appropriate pages.

Jeff - I would encourage you to have the Patron event in person at Skullcon. The negative comments were VASTLY outnumbered by positive ones for combining the events. Arcanist doesn't speak for everyone regardless of his volume of posts. Virtual for Patron is good but in person is vastly better. Having 2 different adventures makes the trip more worthwhile for the rest of us who planned to attend. It sounds like placating a tiny number of very loud people to dampen what is available to the vast majority.

Before making changes, I recommend TD quantifies the number of people actually impacted who were really willing to spend the money to go and commit to that now. My guess is the total is less than 10 people would be negatively impacted and I'm 100% certain other skull holders can help them out (between myself and half a dozen other people - we have dozens of extra skull codes we can help with.) On the other side, moving the Patron event negatively impacts an order of magnitude more people who are planning to attend.

Fred

^^^I'm with Fred. However, I would also like to present an alternative that skates around your proclomation for an exclusive event for Skull owners and makes putting on this event less of a hit to the TD coffers.

1) Like TDC, open the event up to anyone. However, those that do not have a Skull of Cavadar cannot participate in that exclusive Skull of Cavadar run.

2) Have the Patron in person event. It's only for Patrons, just like at TDC.

3) Have a second run that anyone who attends can join.

4) Bring back Grind. It could be a small down and dirty, set up in the bar area even so people could watch as they hang out and drink. Grind is fun to watch and will turn the bar into a lively place of TD sport!

Thank you for the suggestions, but I promised a "Skull Bearer Only" event, and we had better stick to that pledge. I think a person who has been faithfully collecting Teeth for seven years deserves what they were promised.

I only added the Patron event because I thought it was a shame to waste the situation with all those Patrons being together in one space -- and not giving them something, too.

Hear, Hear!! Thank you Jeff!

Jeff Martin wrote:

Mike Steele wrote:

Jeff Martin wrote: Here's the only way I can see "leasing" your Skull token to someone for money so they can get into Skull Con.

By April 1st you will have to have acquired their name so you can register them.

The Skull token you have leased them will have to be presented at Skull Con so the token can be validated. If you trust them, you can just send them the token and they will return it to you later. If you don't trust them, you (or an agent) will have to be present at Skull Con registration to show the Skull token leased when the leasee wishes to check into Skull Con. The authentication software will record all IDs and we will also record the unique number of each token so that a token cannot be used twice.

When someone checks into the Con, they will get a badge with their name on it. On the back will also be the start time of the two-hour event.

How the start time of their two-hour event is determined is not exactly known at this time. Lori is working that out, but that process won't start for a few months -- maybe even after April 1st.

Any other questions?

Jeff, Thanks, that mostly answers my questions. My main remaining question is: Let's say I'm bringing in enough skulls for 10+ people, some of whom will be doing a second run also. I'll have already registered all the names. Can I just show up at registration with all the skulls and get all the badges and hand them out later (assuming people will be arriving at different times), or does each person that I'm getting a badge for need to be with me at registration when I get their badge(s)?

Thanks for the clarifying question. Each person checking into Skull Con must check-in in person -- and present ID at the time. Also, in Coaching during the two-hour event, each person must show their named badge and the ID again to the Coach. We must go through this whole process because gamers gotta me gamers!

Thanks, Jeff - that makes sense. I'll just plan on a few trips back to the Registration Desk.

Jeff - will there be a bag check of any sort, where we can drop off some of our tokens (and I'm guessing other stuff) instead of carrying them around with us? No worries if there isn't.

Mike Steele wrote: Jeff - will there be a bag check of any sort, where we can drop off some of our tokens (and I'm guessing other stuff) instead of carrying them around with us? No worries if there isn't.

Assuming you have a car there and it runs at all like TDC did, that shouldn't be necessary. It's probably a 2 minute walk from where the coaching area was last time to the farthest place one might end up parking to lock stuff in a trunk.

Wade Schwendemann (Dr. Uid) wrote:

Jeff Martin wrote: Thank you for the suggestions, but I promised a "Skull Bearer Only" event, and we had better stick to that pledge. I think a person who has been faithfully collecting Teeth for seven years deserves what they were promised.

I only added the Patron event because I thought it was a shame to waste the situation with all those Patrons being together in one space -- and not giving them something, too.

I think we're all hoping to find a way to justify the trip more than just one or two runs.

That said, I think this community will be great to just hang with regardless.

I expect this will be at least double the attendees of TDC.

I love the patron event being there, live. More live events is awesome.

I would second grind, or True Horde, as a great adjunct if possible.

Perhaps an outdoor event where the most recent patron run was filmed?

You hit the nail on the head, Wade! Our #1 concern is what the heck we're going to do for two days since we only get to do the Skull run one time. While I'm not a fan of the group chaos of Horde, I'd definitely be down for any other TD games / activities.

Jeff Martin wrote: Thank you for the suggestions, but I promised a "Skull Bearer Only" event, and we had better stick to that pledge. I think a person who has been faithfully collecting Teeth for seven years deserves what they were promised.

I only added the Patron event because I thought it was a shame to waste the situation with all those Patrons being together in one space -- and not giving them something, too.

Thank you for reconsidering the "skull only" patron event. As a new and enthusiastic player just introduced to the game during VTD earlier this year, then finally in person at GHC, I was entirely understanding of the special event for skull holders only, as that was part of the perks for the token. My boyfriend has one and I'm totally jealous, but after investing in a CoA and a couple other class tokens, the cost/benefit for a skull just isn't there for me as a newer player. I'd much rather add whomp to my barbarian.

Anyway, my boyfriend and I had a post GHC moment of excitement where we realized we could split an 8k patron pack and maybe if we're lucky, pick up an extra patron badge so we could have a fun event to do together. He had mentioned it would likely be at Origins so that would be a new con to go to, etc. We spent hours working on our PYP list for the purchase.

The announcement yesterday was a slap in the face to all that new player excitement. It was a solid "yeah you spent the money but you're still not good enough" feel. That feeling SUCKED. Then other people tried to dismiss similar feelings as ~oh well almost no one fits into that circle on the venn diagram so it's fine~. $8000 is not a trivial purchase and such careless disregard for a portion of those buyers felt beyond bad.

The virtual patron run is a good idea not only for people without skulls but also for people who might have issues traveling. It's a win all around and only feels bad in that it wasn't considered up front.

zinniz wrote:

Jeff Martin wrote: Thank you for the suggestions, but I promised a "Skull Bearer Only" event, and we had better stick to that pledge. I think a person who has been faithfully collecting Teeth for seven years deserves what they were promised.

I only added the Patron event because I thought it was a shame to waste the situation with all those Patrons being together in one space -- and not giving them something, too.

Thank you for reconsidering the "skull only" patron event. As a new and enthusiastic player just introduced to the game during VTD earlier this year, then finally in person at GHC, I was entirely understanding of the special event for skull holders only, as that was part of the perks for the token. My boyfriend has one and I'm totally jealous, but after investing in a CoA and a couple other class tokens, the cost/benefit for a skull just isn't there for me as a newer player. I'd much rather add whomp to my barbarian.

Anyway, my boyfriend and I had a post GHC moment of excitement where we realized we could split an 8k patron pack and maybe if we're lucky, pick up an extra patron badge so we could have a fun event to do together. He had mentioned it would likely be at Origins so that would be a new con to go to, etc. We spent hours working on our PYP list for the purchase.

The announcement yesterday was a slap in the face to all that new player excitement. It was a solid "yeah you spent the money but you're still not good enough" feel. That feeling SUCKED. Then other people tried to dismiss similar feelings as ~oh well almost no one fits into that circle on the venn diagram so it's fine~. $8000 is not a trivial purchase and such careless disregard for a portion of those buyers felt beyond bad.

The virtual patron run is a good idea not only for people without skulls but also for people who might have issues traveling. It's a win all around and only feels bad in that it wasn't considered up front.

I wouldn't assume it wasn't considered up front, particularly given that is exactly what was done last year.

That said, I can see how this would completely feel like a gut punch.

Hopefully there can be both events, and Patrons could choose whether they want the in person or the virtual?