der_kluge
Adventurer
I was very displeased with the way pick-up games were managed (read: they weren't) this year.
In the past, there were a staff of volunteers that would manage all the pick-up tables, and could help people find games that were looking for them. If you were a DM wanting to run a game, or if you were a playing looking for a game, you could go to them for help, and assistance. Plus, there was plenty of room for people to grab a table, and always tables available.
Not this year. Not only was the room (140) off the beaten path, it was down a dark, dingy corridor, past all the RPGA rooms. Plus, it had a total of about 8 tables in it. On top of that, there was no volunteers, no one there to help, and not even any sign-up sheets indicating people looking to run a game, or people looking for a game. Awful. Just awful.
I went there because I had signed up at the ENPublishing booth to run a game at 5:00 on Friday, I believe. I went there thinking I could get a table, and they were all full. I ended up canceling because of insufficient space. I went back to Canadia, and we ended up playing in the lobby of the Embassy Suites, which was perfectly fine to us, as it was spacious, not too noisy, and had access to a bar and a little restaurant thingy. On top of that, the cleaning crew was very helpful and friendly and didn't mind us playing there till the wee hours of the morning.
In fact, the people of Indianapolis itself were top-notch in every way, and left me with a very positive impression of the people from that city. I wish I could say the same with regards to the volunteers, however, as most of them seemed to be quite clueless, and only marginally helpful in most cases.
Our little sign-up sheet clipboard at the ENPublishing booth was 1,000 times better than what GenCon threw together (which was nothing). So, I would recommend that we proceed with that approach next year as well, since it was most helpful! I just wish it could be expanded to include all others (non-ENWorlders) looking to game.
I say this, because I was scheduled to run a game demo on Friday for 6 people. 10 people were waiting for me when I arrived. All but one of them actually had a ticket to my event. I didn't know how I should resolve it. The guys all showed up because they had read about the event in the catalogue and hoped that, with a generic ticket, they could get in it.
I told them that since I had enough for two whole groups, I would run it twice, and that if anyone wanted to leave, and come back at 5:00, I would run it again. Two guys left, and two other guys realized they were at the wrong table (had a ticket to a different event), so then I had 6, which was perfect.
After it was over, I gave them back their generic tickets, since all I was going to do was just throw them in the trash. I didn't get any kind of policy information on how to run a game, or if I should actually do anything with the tickets themselves. Nothing stopping me from just taking them and using them myself, but that would have been wrong, obviously, so I just let them keep them, which they were most excited about.
The two guys came back at 5:00, and I ran back to my room for some miniatures, and wanted to run a different game, even though it meant that I would basically have to skip dinner, I was going to honor my word. Unfortunately, no one else was around to play, so we had to cancel. Most people don't go actively "looking" for games at off-times, and since the pick-up games area wasn't worth a darn, I couldn't find anyone there either, so those two guys didn't get to play.
Yes, very dissapointed with the the pick-up games area this year. That has to be fixed.
In the past, there were a staff of volunteers that would manage all the pick-up tables, and could help people find games that were looking for them. If you were a DM wanting to run a game, or if you were a playing looking for a game, you could go to them for help, and assistance. Plus, there was plenty of room for people to grab a table, and always tables available.
Not this year. Not only was the room (140) off the beaten path, it was down a dark, dingy corridor, past all the RPGA rooms. Plus, it had a total of about 8 tables in it. On top of that, there was no volunteers, no one there to help, and not even any sign-up sheets indicating people looking to run a game, or people looking for a game. Awful. Just awful.
I went there because I had signed up at the ENPublishing booth to run a game at 5:00 on Friday, I believe. I went there thinking I could get a table, and they were all full. I ended up canceling because of insufficient space. I went back to Canadia, and we ended up playing in the lobby of the Embassy Suites, which was perfectly fine to us, as it was spacious, not too noisy, and had access to a bar and a little restaurant thingy. On top of that, the cleaning crew was very helpful and friendly and didn't mind us playing there till the wee hours of the morning.
In fact, the people of Indianapolis itself were top-notch in every way, and left me with a very positive impression of the people from that city. I wish I could say the same with regards to the volunteers, however, as most of them seemed to be quite clueless, and only marginally helpful in most cases.
Our little sign-up sheet clipboard at the ENPublishing booth was 1,000 times better than what GenCon threw together (which was nothing). So, I would recommend that we proceed with that approach next year as well, since it was most helpful! I just wish it could be expanded to include all others (non-ENWorlders) looking to game.
I say this, because I was scheduled to run a game demo on Friday for 6 people. 10 people were waiting for me when I arrived. All but one of them actually had a ticket to my event. I didn't know how I should resolve it. The guys all showed up because they had read about the event in the catalogue and hoped that, with a generic ticket, they could get in it.
I told them that since I had enough for two whole groups, I would run it twice, and that if anyone wanted to leave, and come back at 5:00, I would run it again. Two guys left, and two other guys realized they were at the wrong table (had a ticket to a different event), so then I had 6, which was perfect.
After it was over, I gave them back their generic tickets, since all I was going to do was just throw them in the trash. I didn't get any kind of policy information on how to run a game, or if I should actually do anything with the tickets themselves. Nothing stopping me from just taking them and using them myself, but that would have been wrong, obviously, so I just let them keep them, which they were most excited about.
The two guys came back at 5:00, and I ran back to my room for some miniatures, and wanted to run a different game, even though it meant that I would basically have to skip dinner, I was going to honor my word. Unfortunately, no one else was around to play, so we had to cancel. Most people don't go actively "looking" for games at off-times, and since the pick-up games area wasn't worth a darn, I couldn't find anyone there either, so those two guys didn't get to play.
Yes, very dissapointed with the the pick-up games area this year. That has to be fixed.
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