Rolling for Initiative is a weekly column by Scott Thorne, PhD, owner of Castle Perilous Games & Books in Carbondale, Illinois and instructor in marketing at Southeast Missouri State University.  This week, Thorne shares his first reactions to ACD Games Day.

I had a great time at ACD's Games Day this year.  Thanks to Bob and the rest of the ACD staff for putting it on and putting up with the retailers that showed up.  The Monona Terrace facility was spectacular (as was the view from the rooftop) as well (though hard to navigate at first) and is the first Frank Lloyd Wright designed edifice at which I have had the opportunity to attend a function.

I would also especially like to thank John Kovalic and Steve Jackson for their courtesy in signing the umpteen Munchkin t-shirts I brought with me and for answering the number of questions I asked during Steve Jackson Games' presentation on Thursday (probable reprint of Ogre within the next year, little chance of a reprint of Car Wars or Munchkin d20).  For my money, the big announcement that came out of Jackson's presentation was the single print run of Munchkin Deluxe.  Once the current supply sells out, that is it for Deluxe, though there is a good chance the board and pawns would get reprinted later as a supplemental set.  SJG showed off the prototype box for the full Munchkin Conan releasing next year as well as the upcoming plush Zombie Cthulhu and, in non-Munchkin related additions, a plush tentacle, suitable for leaving protruding out of cabinets or from behind couches or for playing along with your favorite Japanese anime.  SJG also handed out copies of what Jackson billed as the "world's smallest Munchkin expansion," the Luggage card handed out at the recent Discworld convention celebrating Sir Terry Pratchett's series of novels (in other Discworld news, Mayfair Games showed off their new Discworld board game, releasing later this fall).

Attendance at the ACD Distribution panel filled the room, with a number of retailers inquiring about the feasibility of including ISBNs or bar codes on invoices or along with pre-order announcements.  ACD said they would look into the possibility.  An inquiry about packing materials that ACD uses revealed that of peanuts, paper and foam inserts, foam peanuts are the cheapest but also result in the most damages reported, while the foam inserts (which I have found very hard to recycle, unlike the other two), result in the least amount of reported damages, with paper right in the center.

Meals took a different tack from past grade events, as the schedule listed Sandstorm Productions, Wizards of the Coast and Spin Master as the sponsors of breakfast, lunch and dinner, respectively, but only WotC took the opportunity to make a presentation about the company or product line, emphasizing, with a short video that got a number of laughs from crowd, the company's focus on "Play = $."  Despite the fact that many retailers complain about mealtime presentations, we do realize that you are paying for our food and are willing to sit through and listen to your slideshow or talk, especially if you discuss your upcoming release plans.  Telling us about items you have already released, probably not a good use of our time or your money.  Tell us about your new products and we are generally all ears.

More on what I actually saw at the show, next week.

The opinions expressed in this column are solely  those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect th views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.