MGibster
Legend
Even when I was younger, I never attended cons on a regular basis, and before this last weekend, the last con I had attended was the final Roc*Kon here in Little Rock way back in 2004. Last year I made it part of my New Year's resolution to go to a con this year and I settled on Gamehole Con in Madison, Wisconsin largely because Chaosium was the main sponsor. The long and the short of it is that my experience was overwhelmingly positive, but I'm just going to jot down a few of my observations.
Let's start with getting my con pass, tickets for events, and booking my room. As someone who hadn't been to a con in forever, it was a little confusing having to purchase a con pass and tickets for the events I wanted to end. It was somewhat difficult for me to navigate their interface, figure out what was being offered, and on top of that hoping there was space for me to play. Some of the event descriptions said they were located offsite, and not being familiar with the Madison I avoided those, so that was a bit frustrating. I get that space is limited, so I don't hold it against them.
There were some problems getting my room booked. The organizers gave us a date and time for the block of rooms to become available, for but some reason, they were available about an hour before they were supposed to be. So all the rooms at con rates were taken by the time I tried to book my room. I ended up getting a hotel right by the con anyway, but I didn't get the good price. Ah well, such is life.
I arrived in Madison on Wednesday and spent Thursday, Friday, and Saturday gaming starting early in the morning and going late into the evening where I spent most of my time playing various Mork Borg variants, Vaesen, and Call of Cthulu. The game masters did a pretty good job and I liked all the players I was grouped with. One of the games I played was Arkham Horror, which, as I suspected, didn't have a lot to offer me I couldn't get from other games. But the young woman who ran the game was probably the most animated GM I've ever seen and I had a lot of fun.
Let's talk demographics. The first thing I noticed was how old a lot of the people attending were. I'm pushing 50, so I thought I'd always be one of the oldest people at the table, but it turns out a lot of gray heads were at almost every game I played. All of them except for Arkham Horror where I was the oldest person by maybe a good 10-15 years. I didn't check out the Pathfinder tables, but the Wardens of March tables also had a lot of older people as well. Cons are expensive, so it isn't surprising that you'll see a lot of older people because we can usually afford such things easier than many younger people can.
I saw a lot more openly LGBTQ individuals and allies then I could shake a stick at. (Security specifically asked me to stop shaking sticks at people.) There were gay people, trans people, non-binary people, and a Gaymer organization even had a little booth there. I kept meaning to stop by to say hi but never got around to it. I saw a lot of people wearing buttons with slogans like "Protect Trans Youth" or simply declaring their identity. I thought it was great LGBTQ people were able to enjoy themselves so openly here in 2025. I don't remember that being the norm in the late 1990s or early 2000s, though part of that might be because I was in Texas and Arkansas.
There were more women as well. I only had three games where there weren't any women participating and there were three games run by women. It's the first time I've ever seen a woman GMing at a con. The con was overwhelmingly white. Part of this might be the nature of Wisconsin itself, 6.8% Black, but there are probably other factors as well.
One thing I happily missed was Cat Piss Man, that guy at gaming events who stinks to high heaven, looks dirty and disheveled, and is often oblivious to how obnoxious his malodorous presence is. CPM was a staple of gaming events I attended in the 80s and 90s, so naturally I expected to see him at a large con. Maybe he exists, but after three days of gaming and circling the vendors like a vulture I never ran into him. Hygiene for gamers has come a long way since I was young. Maybe that's part of why I saw more women this time?
The food was a big disappointment. There were some food trucks, which was nice, but I was disappointed in just about everything I purchased. For a snack, I got the most disappointing spring rolls of my life. They tasted just fine, but there were just three of them the size of my pinky finger for $6.50. The chicken sandwich and fries I bought for $20 (including tip) was terrible and I could only eat half of it. The best food I bought there was an ice cream and a bag of donuts. You know, health food.
All in all, a good time was had. The face of gaming has changed a lot over the years and it's overwhelmingly positive.
Let's start with getting my con pass, tickets for events, and booking my room. As someone who hadn't been to a con in forever, it was a little confusing having to purchase a con pass and tickets for the events I wanted to end. It was somewhat difficult for me to navigate their interface, figure out what was being offered, and on top of that hoping there was space for me to play. Some of the event descriptions said they were located offsite, and not being familiar with the Madison I avoided those, so that was a bit frustrating. I get that space is limited, so I don't hold it against them.
There were some problems getting my room booked. The organizers gave us a date and time for the block of rooms to become available, for but some reason, they were available about an hour before they were supposed to be. So all the rooms at con rates were taken by the time I tried to book my room. I ended up getting a hotel right by the con anyway, but I didn't get the good price. Ah well, such is life.
I arrived in Madison on Wednesday and spent Thursday, Friday, and Saturday gaming starting early in the morning and going late into the evening where I spent most of my time playing various Mork Borg variants, Vaesen, and Call of Cthulu. The game masters did a pretty good job and I liked all the players I was grouped with. One of the games I played was Arkham Horror, which, as I suspected, didn't have a lot to offer me I couldn't get from other games. But the young woman who ran the game was probably the most animated GM I've ever seen and I had a lot of fun.
Let's talk demographics. The first thing I noticed was how old a lot of the people attending were. I'm pushing 50, so I thought I'd always be one of the oldest people at the table, but it turns out a lot of gray heads were at almost every game I played. All of them except for Arkham Horror where I was the oldest person by maybe a good 10-15 years. I didn't check out the Pathfinder tables, but the Wardens of March tables also had a lot of older people as well. Cons are expensive, so it isn't surprising that you'll see a lot of older people because we can usually afford such things easier than many younger people can.
I saw a lot more openly LGBTQ individuals and allies then I could shake a stick at. (Security specifically asked me to stop shaking sticks at people.) There were gay people, trans people, non-binary people, and a Gaymer organization even had a little booth there. I kept meaning to stop by to say hi but never got around to it. I saw a lot of people wearing buttons with slogans like "Protect Trans Youth" or simply declaring their identity. I thought it was great LGBTQ people were able to enjoy themselves so openly here in 2025. I don't remember that being the norm in the late 1990s or early 2000s, though part of that might be because I was in Texas and Arkansas.
There were more women as well. I only had three games where there weren't any women participating and there were three games run by women. It's the first time I've ever seen a woman GMing at a con. The con was overwhelmingly white. Part of this might be the nature of Wisconsin itself, 6.8% Black, but there are probably other factors as well.
One thing I happily missed was Cat Piss Man, that guy at gaming events who stinks to high heaven, looks dirty and disheveled, and is often oblivious to how obnoxious his malodorous presence is. CPM was a staple of gaming events I attended in the 80s and 90s, so naturally I expected to see him at a large con. Maybe he exists, but after three days of gaming and circling the vendors like a vulture I never ran into him. Hygiene for gamers has come a long way since I was young. Maybe that's part of why I saw more women this time?
The food was a big disappointment. There were some food trucks, which was nice, but I was disappointed in just about everything I purchased. For a snack, I got the most disappointing spring rolls of my life. They tasted just fine, but there were just three of them the size of my pinky finger for $6.50. The chicken sandwich and fries I bought for $20 (including tip) was terrible and I could only eat half of it. The best food I bought there was an ice cream and a bag of donuts. You know, health food.
All in all, a good time was had. The face of gaming has changed a lot over the years and it's overwhelmingly positive.
