Adkison's Gen Con report

[diaglo]

Careful guys, or your gonna give Staffan a heart attack if you keep putting an "n" in his last name.

Peter Adkiso.

 

[herald]

Well, I was there for all four days and here is my gripe.

GenCon needs more GMs/DMs.

The programs created to get people to run games at GenCon need to be better advertized or inproved.

It seemed like there was more Star Wars Games than D&D games. If there are more Star Wars players out there than D&D, well, more power to you guys! But I hardly think that's the case.

The few D&D games I played were fantastic.

So when registration starts up for this winter, I hope that there is something that will encourage more people to run games and I hope that carries through to the Next GenCon Indy.

BTW, LOVED Indy!

 

[Bagpuss]

If someone pays for my flights and the pro-plus tablets I'll DM during the whole convention.

 

[Barak]

I wasn't at Gen Con but as a frequent traveller I'd like to point out that ATMs running out of money can have far more frustrating effects for visitors/gamers than not being able to buy games. People who travel a long distance (especially international travellers) are cut off from other money sources and may be dependant on ATMs to get money for living expenses.

Well I seriously doubt that was the case in this situation. If I can't get money out of the ATMs at the Con, it'll probably keep me from buying books. But, at least in America, there's ATMs at every darn street corner, so if I need money for food, or similar things, I'll just get money from -another- ATM. So it's most probably only the sales of stuff in the convention that was affected.

 

[kingpaul]

GenCon needs more GMs/DMs.

In there defense, most of these folks are volunteers, and usually do it to get the badge $ back. I know that's what I do @ Origins (volunteer, I haven't run any games there yet).

 

[Coreyartus]

In there defense, most of these folks are volunteers, and usually do it to get the badge $ back. I know that's what I do @ Origins (volunteer, I haven't run any games there yet).

So bill 'em! Hey, if you're gonna commit to volunteering or Dm'ing, where are the checks and balances to ensure that you follow through on your responsiblity? How many YEARS has this been happening? Fix it already!

Is there any kind of "Customer Survey" at each event? Events that could include the GM's barcode number to ensure he was actually there? A barcode that one could use later to charge the absentee judge his true admission price since he didn't follow through on what he said he was going to?

It doesn't sound like there are many consequences for shirking responsibility. It doesn't say much for us as gamers that we will just rollover and accept this as "just somethin' that happens..." The definition of volunteering does not include copping out.

Oy, that's the nail in the coffin as far as I'm concerned: to travel and put out money for no guarantee my pre-arranged judges will show up so I can play the games I'm there to play in the first place? Not reassuring, folks. Not reassuring at all...

Coreyartus

 

[freebfrost]

GenCon should have also distributed free bottled water to the line (they are lucky that no one passed out or had medical problems).

The thing about this that was obviously overlooked is that the con had coolers of water throughout the building, but apparently no one thought to take a few outside for the unfortunates stuck in line.

That would have been worth a few brownie points at least.

 

[kingpaul]

The thing about this that was obviously overlooked is that the con had coolers of water throughout the building, but apparently no one thought to take a few outside for the unfortunates stuck in line.

That would have been worth a few brownie points at least.

I was only there Friday afternoon, but I did see coolers outside by the door where the gargantuan line was.

 

[diaglo]

I was only there Friday afternoon, but I did see coolers outside by the door where the gargantuan line was.

wednesday when the lines first appeared. no coolers.

thursday. bigger lines. coolers, but only inside the building and in high traffic areas. (people blocked the traffic when they got water)

friday afternoon. someone finally put coolers outside.

on wednesday though, the soda/pop/coke guy was there from the start hawking his wares. $2.50 per bottle.

 

[Steverooo]

Better Plans for Next Time

1a. Our computers got hit with viruses. We had three places where we had computers open to the internet (Virtual Gen Con, the press room, and the email stations). Obviously we should not have allowed this. We think the viruses hit us at the email stations. We found suspicious files (including downloaded porn, which shouldn't have happened) on one of them in particular that looked like the point of infestation. From the email station people were able to access the entire internet and download whatever they wanted, which is not an acceptable setup situation. Even though all of our computers were clean when we arrived, by Wed evening we had 216 virus-infested computers, of the WORM variety.

1) First of all, hire a network administrator (preferably one with experience in more than one NOS (Network Operating System) who can explain to you the difference between a virus and a worm.

A virus is not a worm. A worm is not a virus. Not in the real world, and not on computers. Antibiotics generally won't kill worms. Vermicides generally won't kill viruses. McAfees and Symantec will not help you against worms. Your SysAdmin should be able to configure your (unnamed) NOS to prevent worms. Hire someone who knows how.

2) Use Anti-Virus software, anyway. The NOS Config won't protect you from viruses, either. A Virus Shield program would prevent the download of virus-infected attachments (if that was the problem, which I doubt).

3) As someone else previously suggested, the public terminals and the Registration ones should have been on separate networks.

4) BOTH should have been protected.

5) As previously mentioned by others, Firewall!

6) Once a SysAdmin has been hired and set up your next system, it needs to be TESTED, BEFORE the next con. You've got 216 copies of worms/viruses, put them on the network, and see if it survives. If not, it still needs some work!

7) Since computers WILL go down, you MUST have a non-computer back-up plan. Boxes of pens, pre-printed badges and tickets, etc., should be under the tables, and everyone should be TRAINED to "go for them" when the system crashes. This should be part of the training!

8) Redundancy, redundancy, and redundancy! Have a plan. Have a back-up plan. Have a back-up-back-up plan.

If you pre-print badges and tickets, what happens when attendance is 50% more than expected, and you run out?

Answer: You use the current computerized method as a back-up plan!

What happens when you run out of pre-printed badges/tickets, AND the power goes out (or the 'puters crash, or Godzilla attacks, or...)? You use the back-up-back-up plan! (Get the boxes of pens and sticky notes out from under the tables, and keep going).

9) Anytime there's a line, there must be porta-potties!

10) Always under-promise and over-deliver. This year, you expected "flat" attendance, and got 10-15% more. Even if you had supplied 10% over, you would still have fallen short...

Next time, be ready with 150% of the supplies you EXPECT to need. Pens and sticky notes are reusable, next con. Badges and tickets may or may not be, depending upon how they're designed... It is always better to have too many, than too few.

11) Back-up computers should be laptops. They are easier to transport and store, and quicker to set up.

12) Never trust your livlihood to a PC (or even a Mac)! Do not trust HAL-9000, Dave! There must ALWAYS be a way to open the airlock BY HAND! If not, you will die!... (at least in a business sense!)

PS: You MIGHT want to consider an "Express Lane" for the handicapped, people with medical problems, etc. It's impossible to tell who has what, of course, but some disabilities are OBVIOUS, and if a few people "sneak in" with a wheelchair, well... they spent $150+ on their "disguise"...

Better luck next time!