GenCon SoCal (Anaheim, CA): Worth the trip?

[Iron_Chef]

Has anybody attended the SoCal GenCon? Is it as big and/or cool as the midwest one is supposed to be? I've never been to any GenCon and was thinking of going to the one in Anaheim this November (because I can drive it and won't need to waste money on airfare or hotels).

Advice on what to do there?

 

[Iron_Chef]

bump

 

[Hand of Evil]

I to am interested...but I do think you may was want to post over on the GENCON forums (if you have not already done so).

 

[coriolis]

I went last year during my vacation -- it was my first large con. I liked it a lot. I got to play games I had always wanted to, but never had the chance, such as the Buffy/Angel RPG (the GM was a guy who worked in show business and used headshots of real actors for the NPCs - cool!). I also volunteered one morning and got assigned to the computer game section. According to the people I met there, Gen Con SoCal is about half the size of Indy, and so is a much more manageable experience, especially for a beginner like me.

As for advice about what to do:
- If you like card/board games, get some open tickets so you can drop in on a game or two
- go to True Dungeon/True Heroes! It is excessively cool
- check out the auction if you want to pick up some rare (or more common) stuff at a good price
- try out games that look interesting to you. Be careful to keep some buffer time between games because they rarely finish at the time they're supposed to.
- volunteer for a few hours, especially near the beginning of the con. It's less hectic and gives you the opportunity to pick up what the 'buzz' is.

 

[seankreynolds]

So Cal is much smaller than Indy, but still a "large" con for the RPG industry -- they had something like 6000 attendees the first year, and more the second.

It's a good show. Less crowded, less fighting for space and games and demos and the attention of the guests and industry folk. Plenty to do in Anaheim (Disneyland is right there) so you can even send the wife and kids to the Magic Kingdom while you get some gaming in over the weekend.

 

[Vonlok The Bold]

I will be attending this year. I have never been before. I hope it is good. I am sure I will find plenty of things that I am interested in.

How is the exhitors hall? Will there be as much merchandise available as at the Indy gencon?

 

[Obfuscated]

I've gone for the first two years so far, and plan on continuing to attend as long as possible.

This past year I was lucky enough to play in one of Sean K Reynolds' New Argonauts games, and I had a blast! (Thanks Sean, I hope to catch another game from you in the future).

I also got together with some out of state friends for 4 days of non-stop gaming.

Granted, SoCal is not the huge monster that GenCon Indy has become, but there is plenty to do, and it doesn't have an over-crowded feel.

Plus - my friends from the star trek band Warp 11 got to play at Rock the Con!

And much fun was had by all.

My only hope for this year is that some more of the Indy regular vendors start coming out to SoCal.

-Robert