ScapeCon 2022 Feedback

[Dragon Ruler]

Thanks to all who attended ScapeCon II 2022. We had 46 full Con attendees (49 badges were sold but three people were unable to attend) and 7 different one day attendees for a total of 53 unique attendees.

We are working with the hotel for dates for ScapeCon III 2023 and we should have confirmation and details for 2023 in mid-August.

We are interested in feedback from attendees as to how we can improve upon ScapeCon I and ScapeCon II. OEAO and I have some ideas to reduce the logistical issues we encountered this year (we actually had more issues this year than last year, and at times we were extremely frustrated even though most attendees were probably not aware of these issues).

In any event, we would love to hear your ideas and feedback -- what did you like, what didn't you like, and how we can improve the Con for 2023.

[Viideosayg]

The only real piece of feedback I have is the prize wall prices. I think the top end was just a little bit too heavy for people to realistically purchase (to get the zelrig I had to make day 2 in every event with a cut, play in everything, and still needed to ask NecroBlade, MegaSilver, and Deroche for their extra tickets). Other than that everything went smoothly from my perspective after the talk before main event.

[Chris Perkins]

First off, ScapeCon II, like ScapeCon I, was awesome and I highly encourage anyone on the fence to try and make ScapeCon III; I know I'll be attending again.

Some specific feedback:
Events - I really liked the addition of more cut events, and I thought VCheese & General Wars were the perfect events for them. I liked Shifting Alliances, but I would prefer the format where it's fully power ranked instead of inverse power ranked so that both teammates are more equally invested in the outcome of each game (i.e. playing more casually in the 0-1 game and more seriously in the 2-0 game). I thought Multi-Player madness worked well as the opening event. Regarding the figure bans, for some of the side events I liked having the A+ units available, especially for Good Ol' Days; I think messing with the figure/hex/point totals is a better way to change the meta year to year than bans personally. The introduction of VCheese was great, and I hope it makes appearances again in future years. One event that I'd enjoy seeing return in the future was Sideboards; I didn't get a chance to play it last year, but it looked like a lot of fun had the point totals been shifted away from the Raelin + 2 armies dynamic.
People - Great both years; enjoyed meeting some new people this year who hadn't been able to make a previous ScapeCon/GenCon, and I think the addition of 1-day badges helped a bit in that regard, so I see those 1-day badges as a big plus because of that.
Maps - My favorite maps were Aeon, Bad Moon Rising, & Wingspan; didn't notice any real issues with any of them. My middle-tier maps were Blackridge (a bit too narrow, but I enjoyed the raised glyphs), Percolator (quite fun, but the middle can be a bit too choke-pointy with the double water on each side), & Desolation (the parts of the map I used were fine, but there were big swaths of it that didn't get used in any of my games because it's just so big). My least favorite map was Odin Wept; it felt like a 2-hills map except where the hills were just partially inside the SZ. I think this map exacerbated the advantage a 7 range unit has over a 6 range unit too much, and few of my games on this map involved really contesting the center. Also, I kinda like molten lava spaces, and having 0 in the map pool was kinda sad (less of an issue though).
Prizes - I enjoyed the addition of both the custom OMs and (especially) the 3-D printed figure trophies; those were really cool
Food - The only difference I noticed was turning the one plated dinner into a buffet (like the rest), which was an improvement to me.
Timing - I actually think August will be slightly better for me; not sure if that's true for others or not but I'm looking forward to trying August out.

Specific feedback aside, huge thanks to Mike, George, and everyone else involved in the planning / execution of ScapeCon I & II.

[TREX]

I did not go to the Con, but was interested in hearing about it. It was surprisingly under covered on details and hype shared with the community. If you guys were to cover the event a bit better it might help you get more excitement and hype for the Cons in the future.

[S1R_ART0R1US]

ScapeCon was a blast for me, and it was the first time I'd done a multiple day HeroScape event (others were just single day tourneys). Just an awesome experience well worth the price of admission.

Things that went well:
1. Food setup was great - I liked the food the whole time and having it in the room adjacent to the main room was super convenient.
2. Event varieties - I really liked the diversity of event formats and that it wasn't all straight kill 'em all with cheese. Control points was a fun format, and I really enjoyed the 3-headed hydra event where many matchups were 1-1 with both sides cheering on their last player to get the team win. I was also happy that I got to play some VC in events.
3. Event registration and results - Awesome to see results from other tournaments recorded online, and I think capturing army inputs was great - I know it would've helped my prep to have seen more of the 2021 armies. Opening these earlier and having set close times might help as well.
4. Rotating TDs - I thought all the TDs did a great job, and I'm glad that folks were dedicated to this function to keep things moving and they got to play in other events themselves. Kind of like the rotating designated driver.
5. Alternate art cards - These looked great and I think were awesome as a unique prize that was affordable (both in terms of production and for ticket-redeemers). I need to finally buy some plastic sleeves for my cards to keep these in good shape!
6. Army restrictions - I really like the Rule of 9 restriction used in a lot of formats, and banning A+ units for some (but not all) events was a good idea.
7. Trophies and Dice Towers- They looked awesome, great prizes to shoot for!


Things that could be improved:
1. Round starts/ends - The physical posting of the rounds made a couple chokepoints. Even increasing the font so it could be read from further away from help, but maybe the hotel has a projector or something for more corporate events in that room. Under the same topic, something auditory/visual for round timing could be helpful so TDs don't have to shout. I had a few matches where we wren't sure if we were on last round/last OM or could start again.
2. Prize pricing - I agree with David's point that the top line items were a touch too high making them only available to the very top players playing in every event. I liked the ticket system for prizes.
3. Round length - I think some events regularly went to time based on the format. VCheese and General Wars definitely had issues because so many armies were the high-defense, high-squad type armies that cause the game to be a long grind. While I brought an army that I thought would do well in GW (Nilf, Raelin, Thorgrim, Ratsx2, MW), I knew I'd be bumping against time most games because of the way the army plays. My first game was a win for me with ~260 to 200 points IIRC - that's like half of each army left.

Other notes:
1. Maps - I provided feedback in the tourney map feedback thread, but I thought it was neat to play on fresh maps. I did find that some events tended to rotate between the same maps. For VC Quad Pod all three games were on Blackridge, and 3 of my 4 General Wars games were on Wingspan. I think that's okay for General Wars since the full map pool was available and that's just how things lined up, but for quad pod with <16 players it seems a little weird to play that map so many times.
2. Might be nice to have a dedicated "stuff" corner/area. This was effectively the back of the room, but for myself as a non-hotel guest I kept having to find little nooks to drop my backpack and figures as I rotated through events/armies.

[Sheep]

I’ll expand on the People, Events, and Maps of Chris Perkins comments. Obviously, I loved the 1-day pass. It was a great, affordable opportunity for me to make Con without having to be gone the whole week. Loved meeting and connecting with everyone that I’ve known on these boards for years. I attended Thursday because of the Event lineup (Good Ol’ Days, VCheese, Shifting Alliances). Unlike Chris, I enjoyed the bans. Probably because I mainly attended for VCheese and Good Ol’ Days felt like a slightly more casual version of that. Shifting Alliances was fantastic and I’m torn between the matching of pairs. I viewed the format as a social event, and I think the current pairing system is a good way to match you up with people you maybe haven’t played with (i.e. against) all day. If it was winners with winners, you’d probably play against similar people as you have all day. On the flip side, a 3-0 player will go into Round 4 with a different mindset than the 0-3 player, and at that late of night it can definitely be hard, but finding a way to win that game is quite fun.

I will say that I found it hard to use my second army, and that was a complaint of both of my teammates after Round 1. They wanted to use their alternate army but the right play was to stick with their other army. It was the same way for me. I used the same army for all 3 games. Obviously that could just be army building, idk.

For maps, I think by next year especially, outside of a ScapeCon Map Contest map, there will be enough WoS maps to pull just from those. I think ScapeCon is the place to showcase the best of the best maps and guarantee the highest level of gameplay. My favorite games came from Aeon and Bad Moon Rising. And again, having a Map Contest map in the pool is nice for levity. Local events and OHS are good places to showcase individual map makers’ maps.

[vegietarian18]

Overall my feedback is that the event was amazing, and it's so cool to see it continue to grow. The event list was great and had a good variety of choices. I played in every time slot and was always doing something I was excited about, and there were many events I was sad to miss. General Wars trophies were amazing. Prize wall was amazing.

My minor feedback points:

I thought VCheese ran to time too often. Some of that was the point limit, some of it was my personal very high defense army, but a lot of it is just that Cheese games take a long time. I love VCheese but I think it needs 90 minute rounds.

Multiplayer Madness was a lot of fun. I loved the format, but I think it would be nice to try it with a Fog of War ruleset, as ranged commons seem to be a very strong choice.

It would be really great if there were big clocks up throughout the room, with round end times clearly noted by TDs. I think that would help a lot with games going to time.

I also think it would be great to put up a list of winners and top finishers for each event. Maybe a whiteboard that says who won each event, who finished second, and who went 3-1? It's a nice way to recognize the success of players, and I personally couldn't keep track of every top finisher.

[Sir Heroscape]

I wanna echo a lot of what has been said. Simply, another amazing year! I really can't believe how much work comes together for this event and the fact that so many are excited and willing to attend and participate in 5 days of scape, JUST LIKE ME! We truly are a special community...and all those involved (specifically Dragon Ruler and OEAO) in the management of this event have my deepest thanks and respect. Events like this are what keep our community alive, and I will continue to attend wholeheartedly in the future.

Feedback:

EVENTS:
- I agree VCheese was an awesome event, especially adding the cut. I also agree longer rounds are needed.
- LOVED the selection this year for events overall. I really felt like there was great representation of all types of standard and unique formats. A little bit of everything to suit everyone's taste.
- Really appreciated those willing to TD...I'd just suggest we get one of those portable microphones/speakers that you see tour guides use. Would make for a simple solution to having to yell at everyone and/or lose your voice for announcements etc.
- I also agree, that maybe we need people to either 1) bring big clocks or 2) purchase some or 3) Bring 2-3 big TV's where we can just plug-in/cast the computer screen to the TVs and show round matchups as well as timers for the different events. Might take some logisitcal figuring out and tech setup to get working, but really could be worth it in the end.
- Would love a couple unique formats that Dignan and I have created to potentially be considered. They'd be more on par with the casual-type format like multi-player, but make for some really fun games.
Scraps
Burnout
- Overall I really felt like the time and organization of the events was really good. I felt like I had time between events and after events and wasn't too rushed. I also really enjoyed the time AFTER all events for the day to do "other things" or games. I think that's a great opportunity to bond with and hangout with people outside of competitive heroscape.

FOOD:
- Great, as per usual. Really like the flexibility you added for those not needing to eat breakfast and not making the last night a plated dinner. I imagine that saved us a bit and helped "sell" it for people to attend. I feel like ya'll have done a really good job dialing in great food options and variety, and we so appreciate it.

PRIZES:
- Overall REALLY good. I think TREX and his brother are a "must commission" each year for something. Doesn't have to be trophies every year or dice bowls (could be, I wouldn't mind)...but honestly anything they do would be sick.
- Would love to see some more custom "swag". Like even just simple Heroscape socks or decals, or keychain or something (though maybe those could just be "door prizes?")
- Fan Art would be sawweeet. @Lady Heroscape has done some really great stuff and would be interested/willing to do some for ScapeCon in the future. I know there are others out there as well that I think would be really interested if they were asked.
- Prepainted "custom" minis. This could be either alternate paints of units or just painted 3D printed units...either classic or VC (I know you already did this with Aquilla's Alliance, so just broadening that could be awesome.)

GENERAL SUGGESTIONS/IDEAS:
- Have a Heroscape "background" like a mural or big picture or logo or banner/flag just to make the "environment" a little more immersive? idk
- Schedule in a Group Picture. Maybe before or after Multi-Player event so we have everyone present at the start of the event. Would be great for future promotion to get a group picture.
- Have an event or contest or something called "Dress/Play as your favorite Heroscape Character". Maybe that's getting too nerdy...but could be fun (I may or may not have a Sonlen costume...)
- Whiteboard or Mural Paper (pretty cheap I believe) to record event top placers (echoing vegie's suggestion)...as I think that would be quite neat to keep tabs on throughout the weekend.

MAPS:
- Already gave feedback in the other thread...

[Master Roshi]

This was my first heroscape event I've ever done, and so I don't have anything else to compare it to but I have to say it was a lot of fun; the food was good, the custom cards are cool, and all the people there were great to meet. Sir Heroscape beat me in the only match we played so I have to wait a full year until I get my revenge

The best part was certainly the main event, reverse the whip was extremely interesting because it encouraged people to use units and play in ways they otherwise wouldn't so I'm looking forward to that most next year.

I also agree with the above posters that the ticket prices for some of the prizes seemed a bit much; I only went for the cards so it didn't personally affect me but I think some things were a bit too difficult to obtain.

I'm struggling to think of criticisms which shows how enjoyable the experience was. The only event I didn't like was shifting alliances, I think it would do better as a day 1 event that doesn't have prizes/benefits for winning because as it was structured in scapecon II your own ranking was too dependent on factors other than your own performance and die rolls. This is the only thing I have any complaints about, my experience all 5 days was great and i'm certainly looking forward to next year!

[Master Roshi]

Also, I've already started making items for the prize table next year. Here's something I finished today, it's a display set that fits three characters so you can put whatever you want in it. I'm working on more, plus I might make some terrain thats usable in the game to add to the prizes. Everthing is glued in place, and the rocks are foam covered in plaster so it isn't heavy, someone would be able to take this home in a backpack/suitcase without it breaking as long as it's wrapped in a bag. If you have any ideas for prizes that need to be hand-made let me know!

[Sir Heroscape]

Displays like that are a super siick idea!!

[Dragon Ruler]

Originally Posted by Sir Heroscape

FOOD:
- Great, as per usual. Really like the flexibility you added for those not needing to eat breakfast and not making the last night a plated dinner. I imagine that saved us a bit and helped "sell" it for people to attend. I feel like ya'll have done a really good job dialing in great food options and variety, and we so appreciate it.

Actually, the buffet was $6 more per person than the plated meal due to the unlimited amount of food you could eat.