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View Poll Results: Are you attending Gen Con 2009?
I think it's worth mentioning that I felt as Wombat and some others do for most of my gaming career. My thinking was, "Why would I want to go and game with people I don't know and I'm not friends with when I could be home gaming with people I DO know and I AM friends with?"
That all changed after a couple years of being an ENWorlder. I had "met" many people online that I really liked, would enjoy meeting in person, and would love the opportunity to game with. GenCon seemed the natural place to do so and I started going. What is stunning to me is how nearly universal the awesomeness of the ENW/CM crowd is. Incredibly fun people who are a delight to hang out with and run some amazing games.
These folks have been such a positive impact on my life and that of my family that we spent eleven days at the beginning of this month driving up the east coast and visiting DC, NY and Boston. ALL of the people we stayed with were ones who I met online through ENWorld and met in person for the first time at GenCon.
I'm not saying that you're wrong not to want to go. Only that I shared that perspective for a long, long time and now I wish I'd started going years earlier than I eventually did.
For what it's worth, my first Gen Con was in 2007 and I managed to convince my wife to go with me. She had never played D&D, and had played (and liked) Carcassonne and Setters of Catan a couple of times. She was skeptical, but after the event, was begging to go again.
__________________ "The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth,
and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again."
Even though The Wheel weaves as The Wheel wills, rest assured James Oliver Rigney, Jr. will NEVER be forgotten.
I assume you're not just bragging about how you won the costume contest?
No, no. I was thin and I had hair. Time (and cheese) are evil, evil bitches.
__________________ Jeff Wilder, San Francisco Bay Area If your sig is longer than your posts, your sig is too
long. Nobody reads it, they just get annoyed by it. And if you bore me, you lose your soul to me. - Belly
Time, maybe. But you say anything more about cheese being evil and you and I are going to have words . . . and pizza.
Mmmm... cheese...
__________________ "The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth,
and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again."
Even though The Wheel weaves as The Wheel wills, rest assured James Oliver Rigney, Jr. will NEVER be forgotten.
Time, maybe. But you say anything more about cheese being evil and you and I are going to have words . . . and pizza.
Look, man, just because cheese is evil, doesn't mean it's not hot, and bubbly, and delicious. So, so delicious. Kinda like Bellatrix Lestrange.
__________________ Jeff Wilder, San Francisco Bay Area If your sig is longer than your posts, your sig is too
long. Nobody reads it, they just get annoyed by it. And if you bore me, you lose your soul to me. - Belly
i have gaps in my attendance from the 80s thru present. 6th out the last 25
__________________ Story Hour
OMG! The SKY IS FALLING! --JoeGKushner
Myself, I plan to masturbate less -- der_kluge
I know that I've never really liked d20. I think it was designed by a bunch of hacks --- Monte Cook
I am sickened beyond belief. The half-orc wizard is obviously the best possible PC, and I only had to read 10 pages of the book to figure it out. D&D is dead to me! -- Mike Mearls
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you happen to say that 4E reminds you of the reasons you decided against a career as a special-Ed teacher--noted rpg author Darrin Drader
I've only missed one GenCon since 2000, and this will not be the second! It helps that I can take the whole week off and spend the first half of the week on a "normal" vacation seeing the in-laws. Only 14 days away - not that I'm counting..
__________________ What family doesn't have its up and downs?
I've never been, would like to go, but am not likely to go ever since I am now married.
I have been married for five of the six years I've gone. My wife has come every year, including the year we weren't yet married.
My wife and I love the Con and it would take some serious force of nature to keep us from it.
On an unrelated note who spends less than $200 in the dealer hall.
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by GoodKingJayIII
I'm not a founding member. I don't have an absurdly high post count. I often don't get to threads until they're well under way. I don't have an awesome story hour. I don't grace anyone's signature. I'm not gaming with any of the mods. In short, I'm a pretty average member, and generally go unnoticed around here.
On an unrelated note who spends less than $200 in the dealer hall.
Me.
I think the last two years I've spent a cumulative total of just over two hours in the dealer hall. And total, in the four years that I've gone, I might have spent $250 in the dealer hall.
I'm generally too busy gaming and hanging out with my friends.
I think the last two years I've spent a cumulative total of just over two hours in the dealer hall. And total, in the four years that I've gone, I might have spent $250 in the dealer hall.
I'm generally too busy gaming and hanging out with my friends.
Ditto. I spent a total of 15 minutes on the floor last year and my schedule was packed.
nope... I wish I could, but I don't believe I'll be able to leave Brazil for a game convention (or even the one game convention) anytime in the future.
I think it's worth mentioning that I felt as Wombat and some others do for most of my gaming career. My thinking was, "Why would I want to go and game with people I don't know and I'm not friends with when I could be home gaming with people I DO know and I AM friends with?"
For me, this isn't really the problem -- I like smaller conventions quite a bit and have loved meeting people who I only knew on-line before. The problem for me is the pure crush of people at the larger cons.
I think I've grown crowdophobic in my old age
__________________ Jack, you have debauched my sloth.
For me, this isn't really the problem -- I like smaller conventions quite a bit and have loved meeting people who I only knew on-line before. The problem for me is the pure crush of people at the larger cons.
I think I've grown crowdophobic in my old age
Fair enough. I don't much care for the big crowds either, which is one of the reasons I don't spend a lot of time in the dealer hall. Most of the places I hang out at GenCon aren't even in the convention center proper and are with very small groups.
There's something in the energy of large crowds that I love. I think that's why my time spent in Tokyo will always be remembered so fondly.
Now if there's something specific that I need to walk through a crowd to get to, yeah I hate that. But for just wandering around w/o a schedule, I love the buzz of a good crowd. (being relatively tall probably helps too)
__________________ "The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth,
and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again."
Even though The Wheel weaves as The Wheel wills, rest assured James Oliver Rigney, Jr. will NEVER be forgotten.
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