Gaming Cons Have Changed (I'm Old)

[MGibster]

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.

 

[Retros_x]

I was really afraid reading that title of what I will read, but I was positively surprised! Glad you had such a nice experience! CPM I unfortunately still spot (and smell) from time to time especially on smaller cons or events in hobby shops.

 

[aiouh]

RIP CPM

 

[aco175]

The local convention is about a 45 minute drive so not bad for a couple days. There is another that started a few years ago but I have not been yet and about the same drive. Not sure how far I would want to drive to go to one these days.

I do notice many of the same people year after year, but no big connections other than a hey I remember you from last year, or how you doing this year.

 

[MGibster]

I was really afraid reading that title of what I will read, but I was positively surprised! Glad you had such a nice experience! CPM I unfortunately still spot (and smell) from time to time especially on smaller cons or events in hobby shops.

CPM reared his stinky head at a game day at my FLGS earlier this year. But instead of smelling like body odor he mostly reeked of tobacco and marijuana to an overpowering degree. In my years going to my local game days, it's the first time I ran into that situation. I was pleasantly surprised I simply didn't come across him at the con. Not counting what were clearly silly outfits/costumes worn for the con, there was only one person I saw whom caused me to think to myself, "Damn, did you look in a mirror before heading out of the house?" Clearly standards have changed over the last twenty years.

I've largely taken the position that gaming has improved overall over the last thirty years (not that everything is perfect). Some people take that as a personal insult, as if I'm saying games and gamers back then were horrible, but I don't see it that way. We should want to see improvements. We should want it to be better.

 

[MichaelSomething]

Most of the time, you're better off going off site to get food. Checking out new venues can be an adventure in it's own right!

 

[payn]

CPM

 

[Koloth]

I think the welcome lack of CPM or W at cons is most cons mention in the con docs that lack of personal hygiene can result in revocation of a con badge. I imagine that most CPMs reform or give up on cons after being booted a couple of times. Also, CPM can't hide behind the pall of smoke that used to be a frequent thing at early cons before smoking became unwelcome at most events.

Food depends on the con. The Peachtree food court at Dragoncon is a decent place to get a wide variety of food for OK prices(for a downtown event). For smaller single hotel cons, going off site is often a better deal. But do take the opportunty to try new places. If you have traveled a fair distance to attend a con, why limit yourself to McDonalds, Arbys and such? You can get those at home.

Yes, getting a hotel room can be a challenge due to booking bots slamming the reservation sites seconds after tickets open up. Such bots were not a thing decades ago. Sometimes, calling the hotel directly many months ahead of time can result in a decent rate. If not the full con discount, at least you might score a room in the con hotel. Old school tactics sometimes still work.

 

[The Firebird]

Paying for both the ticket and the games is not that common ime and one of the oddities of gameholecon. Glad to hear you had a good time. I have only attended cons in the past few years but have not yet encountered CPM.

 

[billd91]

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.

Oh, man, if that's the food truck I think it was, you should have tried their teriyaki chicken bowl or Hong Kong barbecue pork bowl. Those were really good.

The organizers of Gamehole run a very inclusive convention. There's a local edgelord who's a bit spicy about it, but convention security knows to watch for him.

They are starting to feel some growing pains, though. They spilled into a new building on site this year that's very echoey due to unpadded concrete and brick construction (it's used more for farm-oriented trade shows like the World Dairy Expo). And two rooms used for You Too Can Cthulhu-sponsored games were tucked way out of sight and hard to find in some back halls. But still my favorite convention.