DunDraCon- my experience, need feed back

[Harmon]

(Sorry about the length of this)

Not sure how Cons are suppose to go, so I would like some feedback on my experience at DunDraCon this last weekend- is this typical?

Managed to get into three games (signed up for all but yesterday’s schedule)-

A D&D3.5e- the GM obviously needed to schedule more then just four hours for this game, as we spent the first hour making characters. The GM lacked knowledge of the system, was lacking on keeping things moving at a proper speed, though I have a feeling the guy would have done better to have run the campaign for six friends over the course of a year or two and not one session.

The real problem was the young player that had no experience with D&D and wanted to try it out. The greed in his eyes for anything the enemy had (including nails from the burnt out wagon) was comical for the first actual hour of play, after that it just plain got old (the other Players talked openly about killing his character). The GM seemed to lack the understanding on how to handle someone of the kids experience and I think that put undo pressure on the game and in essence ruined it for everyone.

The next day I got into an M&M game. That rocked! The Players were pretty good, the GM knew the game and plot was out of this dimension (those involved know what I am talking about). Two players bailed- one lacking in sleep over the previous day and the other grew sick after eating something.

Timing on the game was perfect, ending just as the session was suppose to end though I wished it had continued.

Right after that game ended Coyote6 joined me in the same room for one of the two Exalt-ed games. Coyote6 has been trying to get me into this system for a while and as I looked over the character I was given I was kinda concerned, but I trust him blindly and followed.

Problem- this game, was connected to another game, the bad guys were in the room next door, there was a Player from last years game that had a grudge against one of the characters (Player vs character, a year old grudge- okay <whistle nervously near that Player, and back away slowly >).

Now because they had stolen the body we were suppose to take back to a proper burial we chased after them. Because our Players were faster then the other Players we caught up to the other game, but not the other characters. Wait for near an hour. Then the chick with the grudge- blindly chasing the Abyssals with her sword and whiskey bottle catches them (well ahead of us) and fights the group by herself in the other room while we wait for yet another hour. Mind you I am working on four hours of sleep and just completed an eight-hour session, this is a total buzz kill.

We catch the villains at their church after grudge girl is dead, and then spend an hour waiting for them to catch up to us again (six hours of being at the table, about three hours of gaming and two hours to go).

So the other group knows we are coming, we move into the other room. I listened and heard things about their defenses they supposably set up before starting the ceremony, while another Player tries to intimidate Coyote and I with info in game speak- he could be speaking Russian, I have no clue what he's saying.

So the big fight begins- intuitive starts at 18 and counts backwards. Thirty minutes and two Players have done something by 16. Rules are consulted, lots of talking (90% of it is the other group) and nothing being said, 15 rolls in and more of the same- its after midnight and I know we’ll be reaching my turn on 12 at about six in the AM so I bail without a word because I have nothing positive to say or contribute. I was as patient as I could be, I got to talk game with Coyote6 (as Players and not GM and Player) and learned a little about the system, but the whole of the campaign was lacking.

All that being said I had some fun. Got to hang out with a good friend, and didn't feel out of place talking gaming while I was in public- that in and of itself was worth the trip.

Is this typical, a bad experience or just average?

 

[Crothian]

Typical...con games are hit and miss. You had one hits and two misses, you had bad luck.

Con games though are tough to run. People don't seem to understand that and they try to run them like their average game. Con games have people who don't know each other, people who might not know the system, and a time limit.

Be happy though, I've signed up for MnM games at Origins for two years and Gen Con for one, and every instance for one reason or another the games never happened. THat can also be a proble.

 

[BlackSilver]

Sounds as though your trip was a little rough.

Why was it that you got into only three games? Didn't you sign up for more games then that?

 

[Harmon]

Hay Silver

Ahh there was some kinda of drawing thing that happened so that everyone had an equal chance to get into games. It seemed fair, though I would have liked to have been able to trade games or something so that I could have been in more games with Coyote- he would have had a blast in the M&M game.

The trip wasn't so rough, we had a room so we got sleep and food was good, so all was fairly well, but the games I had a problem with them, but thats about me and not them.

This thread seems pretty dead. Dam- I was hoping for some input, well its cool.

Take care, Silver, talk to you later.

 

[IronWolf]

Like Crothian said, the con games are hit and miss. Sometimes you will get a good one and others the players at the table just don't mesh. I am relatively new to the convetion scene, hit Origins and GenCon last year and will be doing the same this year, but here is what I have noticed/heard.

Last year a buddy and I played an RPGA game, Legacy of the Green Regent at GenCon. We both had a great time, had a great table of players who all got along and worked well as a team. No one knew everybody at the table, but I of course knew my buddy and there was another pair there that knew each other, maybe that helped with the teamwork a bit. In any event it was a great time.

However, from Green-Regent mailing lists I know that particular module was not so fun for everyone. In some cases it was that the players just didn't mesh and in others it was that the DM didn't run the game as well as they would have liked.

Just an example of how hit and miss it can be at a convention. We plan on hitting many games this year at the Cons, but we know to head into it open minded knowing the game could either be great or more like some of your misses. I guess you just have to roll with the punches at the Cons....

 

[Wycen]

I would bet other Dundracon veterans will back me up on this, but your experience was ok or better than average, (not counting your enjoyment of 2 games). That you got into 3 games is what I'm talking about. Sometimes getting into 1 is a problem. Getting into a game with ANYBODY you know is nigh impossible at Dundracon, unless you both show up and they have spare room. In the decade plus of going to Dundracon I think I can count on one hand how many times I've signed up with a friend for a particular game and we've both gotten in, but I couldn't because it is so rare I simply haven't tried in years. Of course we've solved that problem by simply leeching into any session run by somebody in our gaming circle, which itself is a problem for some people.

I avoid any of those games that have a link to another game. The only time I've seen that work was at Gencon SoCal last year for the Drow Proving Grounds which had all 4 tables set up next to each other, running at the same time.

It is hit or miss with the quality of games for all the reasons pointed out above, not to mention the GM could also be sleep deprived, or drunk.

 

[Valen]

I too was at Dundracon (and in the M&M game, which was a GREAT game--by the way, I played Evo). I signed up for games for each session, but only got into two total. Fortunately the other game - a Buffy game - was also run very well and had good players. I've only ever been to one other Con (where I only showed up one day to play in friend's game), so I can't say how it compares to most other cons, but I definitely planning on attending next year and, if the wife allows, attending a day or two at Kublacon.

 

[Valen]

I should perhaps add that I had signed up for the SG-1 game and hadn't gotten in. Then a friend of mine rounded up some other attendees he had met at prior cons and we had an impromptu SG-1 game at my house which was also a lot of fun. So I got to play in 3 great games (although I only got into 2). The seminars I attended on Monday, though not all that well attended, were also interesting. So, even when I didn't get into a game I wanted (and I signed up for three just about every session), I still managed to get in another rpg game, some Munchkin, trade some minis, or do otherwise have fun.

 

[Piratecat]

I've played or run about 300-400 con games. Out of a typical con schedule of six games, my experience usually is something like:

1 bad, 2 okay, 2 good, 1 incredible.

If I get 3 good or 2 incredible games, it's an especially good con. I usually forget the bad games pretty quickly. I remember the great games for years.

 

[Harmon]

Okay, that gives me a little better insight. Thanks.

I guess I faired fairly well.

Hay, Valen- I read some of Evo's stuff, pretty interesting, and pretty dammed powerful

Catch you later