Conventional Philosophy

[kitsune9]

Hello Gamers,

Well Gencon is going on and a lot of us didn't get our permission slips signed on time to allow us to go to Hogsmeade and drink butterbeer with the rest of the gang, so we have to stay home.

Anyways, talk of the cons made me think about my con-going days and my "Convention Philosophy".

My Convention Philosophy was that I will play just about any game except D&D. Not that I hated D&D, but that's the 800 lb gorilla and that's all I play in the home campaign, so when I go to conventions, I want to play anything else.

Maybe you have a con philosophy too, please share! Or maybe you've run some con games, talk about those. Or maybe you want to talk about you totally sleep-deprived yourself for four days straight of gaming. Go for it!

 

[weem]

I have never been to one

Way back in... 2000-01 or so, I ran a little RPG website and I did an interview with Gary Gygax - during our discussions he mentioned a convention happening in LA in a few weeks (forgot the name) and that there was room at his table for me to play.

I'm sure that there was always room at his table and of course he played with a ton of people and that this invite had nothing to do with me being special or anything, but I was super excited. Of course, being the young buck I was, and working for a company that was exploding in growth at the time (Siebel Systems for those who knew of it) I said thanks, but no I couldn't "maybe next time" (ouch) - In my mind, I was too busy at work, couldn't pass up the crazy OT etc etc.

That was dumb.

So your idea of giving everything a shot is a good one - get in on any games you can and experience what you can while you can - I could definitely get on board with that philosophy (now). So sure, I will borrow your philosophy when I get the chance next (I actually was considering going to this one but as it turns out, we have been working on buying a new house the last few months and are 2 weeks from moving in... money has had to be saved )

 

[kitsune9]

I have never been to one

Way back in... 2000-01 or so, I ran a little RPG website and I did an interview with Gary Gygax - during our discussions he mentioned a convention happening in LA in a few weeks (forgot the name) and that there was room at his table for me to play.

I'm sure that there was always room at his table and of course he played with a ton of people and that this invite had nothing to do with me being special or anything, but I was super excited. Of course, being the young buck I was, and working for a company that was exploding in growth at the time (Siebel Systems for those who knew of it) I said thanks, but no I couldn't "maybe next time" (ouch) - In my mind, I was too busy at work, couldn't pass up the crazy OT etc etc.

That was dumb.

So your idea of giving everything a shot is a good one - get in on any games you can and experience what you can while you can - I could definitely get on board with that philosophy (now). So sure, I will borrow your philosophy when I get the chance next (I actually was considering going to this one but as it turns out, we have been working on buying a new house the last few months and are 2 weeks from moving in... money has had to be saved )

Ah yes, I know Tom Siebel of Siebel Systems, albeit briefly. He was a client of ours when I worked for a hedge fund around 10 years ago.

Sometimes, economics can be a detriment to trying new games or going to cons; however, there are actually some really good free games out there. I will try to find the blog, but some guy did a really good review of many free rpg games. They are professional works, not just some fly-by-night homebrew rules and they are free. The cool thing is that the only investment is your paper to print them out and a couple of friends and you're good to go!

 

[cmrscorpio]

I've only been to Origins, but I've been there several years.

My first choices for games are always systems I've never played. I prefer editions of games systems that are currently in print.

I go to Origins to try new things in order to find a system I should buy and introduce my players to.

 

[Umbran]

I have never been to one

I have never managed to get to GenCon, alas. It always seems to be "maybe next year".

So your idea of giving everything a shot is a good one - get in on any games you can and experience what you can while you can - I could definitely get on board with that philosophy (now).

Before all other goals for a convention, one should follow what is sometimes called the 5-2-1 Rule.

5 hours of sleep a day.
2 *real* meals a day.
1 shower per day.

If you do not follow the 5-2-1 rule, the rest of your convention experience will suffer greatly.

 

[Doug McCrae]

5 hours of sleep a day.
2 *real* meals a day.
1 shower per day.

If you do not follow the 5-2-1 rule, the rest of your convention experience will suffer greatly.

With the last one, it's mostly other peoples' experiences that suffer.

 

[kitsune9]

I have never managed to get to GenCon, alas. It always seems to be "maybe next year".

[quote
So your idea of giving everything a shot is a good one - get in on any games you can and experience what you can while you can - I could definitely get on board with that philosophy (now).

Before all other goals for a convention, one should follow what is sometimes called the 5-2-1 Rule.

5 hours of sleep a day.
2 *real* meals a day.
1 shower per day.

If you do not follow the 5-2-1 rule, the rest of your convention experience will suffer greatly.[/QUOTE]

Yes, I wish more con goers would follow such a rule too. I remember going to one con and it was opening day on Friday and in the main hotel lobby was the registration room. Well, the computers all went down so the room got crowded as everyone waited and woooooo doggy--gamey funk!

 

[karlindel]

I used to be heavily involved in the RPGA, so I would run and play a lot of those games, and try to find time for other game systems. I haven't been to a convention in over a year, but my plan at the last one was to try out as many new games as possible. If I went to a convention now, I would definitely try to play non-4E games, as I am in two 4E games, running one 4E game, and one non-4E game (Wild Talents).

The sleeping and showering are very important. I hate being too tired to really enjoy myself, and not showering makes me feel even worse. I also agree on the meals, definitely need to have at least two real meals, even if they're of the fast food or pizza variety.

 

[amysrevenge]

I haven't been to a non-RPGA con in a while, and my first (and only) trip to GenCon was my first real convention so I didn't know what I was doing. As something of an old hand now, I have many things I'd do differently.

My first new rule would be to spend at least one full timeslot not gaming at all, wandering the vendor area. Don't be afraid to chat up the vendors/presenters either - that's what they are there for. I had a really nice chat with Jonathan Tweet in the WotC booth at GenCon 2000 for instance.

My second new rule would be to NOT sign up for more than 3 gaming slots in a given day. Local (to me) gaming cons have generally moved away from the 4 slot day, and it is a change I heartily approve of. This rule makes it easier to get in a proper meal during business hours, and lets your voice recover a bit (I know that thatt's an issue for me anyway), and makes it easier to accomplish the rule one above.

My third rule would be more of a guideline - try not to schedule anything for the first slot of the day on Sunday. Sometimes you gotta, but it is generally a bitter, cranky, argument-filled way to spend your time.

My fourth rule would be to bring light portable snacks and drinks, to fill the gaps between meals. Healthy/non-healthy would be a personal preference - I prefer healthy for these snacks, partly to balance out the surely horrible "meals" that are likely to be available nearby and partly because I find healthy snacks to be more filling, in general.

 

[kitsune9]

I used to be heavily involved in the RPGA, so I would run and play a lot of those games, and try to find time for other game systems. I haven't been to a convention in over a year, but my plan at the last one was to try out as many new games as possible. If I went to a convention now, I would definitely try to play non-4E games, as I am in two 4E games, running one 4E game, and one non-4E game (Wild Talents).

The sleeping and showering are very important. I hate being too tired to really enjoy myself, and not showering makes me feel even worse. I also agree on the meals, definitely need to have at least two real meals, even if they're of the fast food or pizza variety.

I really enjoyed playing RPGA games, but I even avoided those at cons unless it was a con completely devoted to them. Here in the Bay Area there were mini-cons that were all-weekend events or three-days that were nothing but RPGA stuff that I would try to go to. After a while, I had a group of gamers who were into the RPGA and we would just do game days at someone's house.