:strip_icc()/pic6807518.jpg)
/pic6765380.jpg)
Yes, I attended Gen Con 2021 and BGG.CON 2021, but those shows didn't feel normal — as much as any convention can feel "normal", mind you — whereas GAMA Expo 2022 felt like the traditional coming together of like-minded folks who are abuzz with excitement over what they've created and are bringing to others.
Anyway, here's my non-gaming scrapbook from GAMA Expo 2022:
:strip_icc()/pic6807832.jpg)
I know that hotels in the U.S. typically don't have a 13th floor, and some airlines follow this practice by not having a row #13, but what's with United Airlines' missing row #33?!
I've searched for details, and the only partial answer I can find is that when United Airlines and Continental Airlines merged in 2010, United adopted the numbering system of Continental, which left out row #33. (In the years prior, row #33 existed on at least some United flights as I found a detailed report about the happenings on United Flight 93, which mentions the rows in which people were seated.) This 2011 article from CNN details some of the oddness in United's then new numbering system, but fails to mention row #33. Here's an excerpt:
Quote:
First class will continue to start at row 1, but now every domestic airplane will have coach starting at row 7 for consistency. And the exit row will now start at row 20, regardless of what row was before it. That means in the new configuration on an A319, for example, there will be a jump from row 12 to row 20.
Consistency can make a big difference in a case like this, especially when airplanes have to be swapped at the last minute. The exit row seats are saved for the airline's most-valued customers because of the extra legroom. So, one of the most important frequent fliers may be booked in that prime exit row window seat, 12A, on one of United's A320 aircraft. But United has two seating configurations on its A320s, so what if the airline needs to change the airplane? Not only is row 12 not an exit row, but it's not even in Economy Plus anymore. That is going to be one unhappy traveler.
Going forward, if that traveler was booked in row 20 in an exit row, he will continue to be in an exit row even if the airplane is swapped. And now anyone sitting in rows 7 through 21 will be in Economy Plus, the rows that provide extra legroom for an additional cost, regardless of the airplane. This will make it a lot easier to please customers when the inevitable aircraft swap happens.
History lives on in barely noticed details.Consistency can make a big difference in a case like this, especially when airplanes have to be swapped at the last minute. The exit row seats are saved for the airline's most-valued customers because of the extra legroom. So, one of the most important frequent fliers may be booked in that prime exit row window seat, 12A, on one of United's A320 aircraft. But United has two seating configurations on its A320s, so what if the airline needs to change the airplane? Not only is row 12 not an exit row, but it's not even in Economy Plus anymore. That is going to be one unhappy traveler.
Going forward, if that traveler was booked in row 20 in an exit row, he will continue to be in an exit row even if the airplane is swapped. And now anyone sitting in rows 7 through 21 will be in Economy Plus, the rows that provide extra legroom for an additional cost, regardless of the airplane. This will make it a lot easier to please customers when the inevitable aircraft swap happens.
:strip_icc()/pic6809207.jpg)
Here's how my suitcase came off the plane, which I didn't notice until after I had blued my hands and pants. Strange, but handwipes eventually returned the suitcase to its pristine silver plastic.
:strip_icc()/pic6811012.jpg)
I played a prototype in the lobby from Forever Stoked Creative while waiting for the exhibit hall to open. No details since the designers are still trying to place the game, but I invite you to ponder what might be going on here...
:strip_icc()/pic6807819.jpg)
:strip_icc()/pic6807820.jpg)
Taking photos through glass can lead to nicely trippy images like these, with the sitting area of my room bleeding into the pool or the "Hand of God" appearing over the parking lot.
:strip_icc()/pic6807823.jpg)
If you want to capture the ridiculousness of Reno and Las Vegas in a single image, this might do it. Instead of providing hotel guests with one decent showerhead, the Peppermill Resort Hotel provides them with two weak showerheads. Everything in excess, even mediocrity!
:strip_icc()/pic6807811.jpg)
:strip_icc()/pic6807810.jpg)
For a couple of hours on Wednesday while I wandered the exhibit hall, I kept receiving images like the ones above. I eventually decided that the sender would not realize that they were sending pics to the wrong person, so I had to let them know:
:strip_icc()/pic6807814.png)
Twenty minutes later, I received all of the images again! "This is still Eric receiving the photos", I wrote. "Sorry again. I really don't know what I'm doing (senior moments)". A few minutes later: "I got it now. Thanks for your patience!"
Future GAMA Expos will henceforth be known as Joanie's birthday bash.
:strip_icc()/pic6807763.jpg)
Ceaco, parent company of publisher Gamewright, publishes jigsaw puzzles under its own name, and I could not stop goggling at this all-American oddity on display: a jigsaw puzzle of a painting of Superman fighting Doomsday from Thomas Kinkade Studios. I mean what the what?
If I ever again need to define "cheesy" for a foreign exchange student — something I've had to do in the past — I can now point to this puzzle as Exhibit A. Yes, I can literally point to it as the Ceaco representative kindly let me take this puzzle home. I'll treasure it always.
:strip_icc()/pic6807777.jpg)
If you are an editor, whether for game rulebooks or other written material, you can probably guess why this sign irked me. Sure, the random capital "G" is one prick, but that's not the main grammatical failure here. Let me make the problem clearer:
:strip_icc()/pic6807792.jpg)
Whenever you create a list of actions, e.g., when you tell someone how to set up components in a game, you should use parallel construction throughout that list. Don't create a list in which eleven of the items start with an imperative — wash, apply, rub, lather, etc. — then end with a sentence in a different format. Either break from parallel construction multiple times so that you're not signaling a particular format to the reader or — and this would be the better approach — stick with the parallel construction all the way through! Say something like "Marvel at your clean hands" or "Show off your sparkling mitts" or "Get ready for hygienic high fives" or anything else, so long as it starts with an imperative. Come on!
:strip_icc()/pic6807529.jpg)
After the exhibit hall had closed for the final time on Thursday, Timm Metivier and I found an empty room and played two games of Innovation, splitting them and thereby positioning us for a rematch at some later convention.
Innovation remains my favorite game of all time, and I posted an overview of my evolutionary thinking about the game in this 2012 post. I often feel I'd be happy to play only Innovation, but that would make it hard to do my job, so I'll hold off on that for now.
No trip to Reno, Nevada would be complete without Joey Gilbert greeting you at the airport. Goodbye, Joey Gilbert! See you in 2023!
:strip_icc()/pic6811258.jpg)
:strip_icc()/pic6808252.jpg)
:strip_icc()/pic6762850.jpg)
:strip_icc()/pic6539992.jpg)
:strip_icc()/pic5782985.jpg)
