Introduction and Preparation
For many Table-top Role-players Dragonmeet is “the big one”. Yes, UK Games Expo is significantly larger but that is a general gaming convention covering all sorts of different games (except computer games). UKGE has a significant Table-top Role-playing track but it isn’t central to the event and - if we’re honest - the organisers could cut that entire track with minimal effect upon the event as a whole.
Dragonmeet is built around Table-top Role-playing. Yes it seems to be mainly a Trade Hall event but the vast majority of stands are Table-Top Role-playing related or adjacent. And many of them are small producers selling their own unique indie Table-Top products.
It’s also held in London which a lot of southerners like. Sometimes - to them - it can seem that Table-Top Role-playing conventions are disproportionately held in the North of the country. (Mind you, a lot of them count anything north of Milton Keynes as “the North”.)
It’s always been a one-day event. There are people who say they’d like a full weekend event. It has so much one offer. Trade Stands, Demonstrations, Games on Demand, the Organised Games track, Seminars, Shows, Industry met-ups. Too much to fit into just one day.
However:
- the sheer cost of accommodation in London makes the prospect of staying overnight daunting
- It wouldn’t make economic sense for Traders. They would have to shoulder those extra accommodation costs, pay increased fees for their stands and probably wouldn’t see a commensurate increase in sales. It would probably make the whole event unaffordable for most independent/amateur traders.
Dragonmeet has been running many years and has grown year on year. It outgrew previous venues and for years had been forced to put an upper limit on the number of traders, games and gamers it could host. This year it took the leap to the Excel Centre in the Docklands area of London.
I’ve tried many approaches to Dragonmeet over the years but this year I took the decision to treat it as a one-day, two game event. I realise this means I miss out on many things.
(There was an “Industry meet-up event” on the Friday night I would have liked to attend. But I’m not really in the industry however much I like to kid myself!)
As you’d expect the web-site is clear and informative. I submitted my games well in advance. People buy tickets to play in the games so I made sure to submit scenarios I’d run successfully at conventions before. Nothing experimental or untried.
I booked my train tickets well in advance to get lower fares.
Games were published on the web-site well in advance and I was able to monitor the sales of tickets. By the time I arrived, I knew the games would run. (I think there were something like 180 games on offer and I think they all sold out.)
On the day
I’d booked an early ticket. This proved to be a god-send. I’d underestimated the last leg of the journey - from Euston station to the Excel Centre. I’d assumed the Underground and Docklands Light Railway would get me there quickly and easily. But the DLR was out of commission and I had to switch to The Elizabeth Line at the last minute. This was fine. Modern and impressive. What 21st century travel should look like. But I hadn’t planned for it so that made it stressful and I barely arrived on time.
I wasn’t the only one running late.
There was some confusion. The Excel staff (wonderful professional people) hadn’t been informed about the special arrangements for Table-Top Referees and sent us to the trade entrance. When we did find our sign-in table it was staffed by one (pleasant, hard-working) over-whelmed young lady. I got my armband and went to the dedicated Table-Top Role-Playing Referee support table. However, I didn’t need any help from them as I knew my way in and my room from the clear pre-convention instructions.
All of this took place in a massive empty hall.
The rooms with games in were upstairs. As advertised there were 8 tables in each room. Each room had one solid wall and one partition wall - capable of being opened up if the venue wanted a larger space. It was first come first served. I was too late to get a table at the back by the window and solid wall as I’d wanted, for acoustic reasons. But I was able to get a table in the front corner away from the partition wall. I was even able to move that table a bit further to the front away from the other tables.
I needn’t have worried, the acoustics in the room were fine all day - even with 8 busy tables in play.
I was very well organised and so were all the other Referees in the room. I felt a touch of pride at how well my colleagues were prepared.
Because of time issues - due to the DLR and other reasons - players were delayed as well as Referees. My game started half an hour late - with two players, a father and his daughter. They’d just finished making their player characters when my other two players turned up. They selected two pre-generated characters to play.
This was my Science Fiction “You wake with no memory in a wrecked spaceship” game. As I said above, I’ve run this several times now and it went wonderfully.
The game finished on time. I cleared the table, set up my afternoon game and went downstairs to find lunch.
Because The Excel is custom-built to host events there were many, many choices to buy food. There were queues but not long ones. I bought a sandwich and drinks and went back into the trade area. (You could carry food in.)
I had time to look around the trade Hall but found nothing to interest me. Dragonmeet had looked massive in its previous venue at a hotel. But in just one Hall of the Excel centre it was dwarfed. Even with twice as many trade stands and more space between them for people to walk.
I went upstairs and ran my afternoon game. This was my in-development Horror game. The scenario about the tainted beer and haunted brewery.
It went well as it always has in the past. I was disappointed to have to invoke the X-card at one point. One of my players was South Asian and another made an unnecessary reference to “Rupees”. I tapped the card, he apologised. We moved on.
The game finished on time.
My return journey was not from Euston but from London Marylebone. It was cheaper. Because of my failure to grasp the implications of travelling to and from the Excel centre, I found the connections confusing and ended up missing my booked Train. I had to buy a single on the day ticket. This wasn’t as much as I feared. Travelling from Marylebone is cheap. But it was still more my total original travelling costs, was an unwelcome additional expense and delayed me by half an hour.
Summary
Dragonmeet is a long-running, professional and supremely well organised event. There were teething problems with the move to the Excel centre which I’m sure will be sorted out before next year. The massive empty hall used to check in shows it has room to expand.
I will certainly plan my connections between British Rail and the Centre more carefully in advance next year.
If it has a problem it is that it is too good. It has more things to do in a day than anyone could possible manage. It’s a great place to meet up with your gaming contacts from across the country but the more you do of that, the more events you miss out on. There are some events of Friday and Sunday and on Saturday evening but the most cost effective thing way to do it - in my opinion - is to plan what you’re going for and just do that on the Saturday. The really cheap way is to Referee one game. That gets you in for nothing and leaves the rest of the day free to explore the rest of the convention.
Costs
Accommodation: £0 (day visit)
Entry: £0, (Refereeing games.)
Travel: £19.95 (Advance booking.)
This doesn’t include Underground fares. I used contactless and haven’t looked up what that cost was. As explained, I had to buy an unexpected return ticket which cost £26.55.
Next time I’ll try booking a train too and from the Excel centre to include the Underground fees up front.
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