I'm glad to hear your booth will be present again this year.
I picked up "44," "Galactic," and "Psi Run." I know I offered feedback to Matt Synder both via e-mail and at the convention last year. I think I talked to Matt Wilson about Galactic as well, although that could have pre-dated the convention.
I'll hold off any further questions until I see what's in your announcement.
Hey, Paul. I have a question about participation this year.
In general, there seems to be some confusion about the role of ashcans: Are they games which have been widely playtested, but still have niggling problems (ala Acts of Evil) or are they games which have little-to-no-playtest and are publishing largely to garner attention (ala XXXXtreme STREET luge, which is to some degree a parody of this phenom)?
What's the expectation of the state of games participating this year?
Ben, they are meant to be the former. Not all games at the booth last years were "widely playtested," but we did want "playable" games. By that we meant they've actually been played and fun was had, however thorny.
I expect that anyone who publishes to garner attention with zero playtesting should find another avenue to gather said attention.