Gen Con - Good bad and ugly
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WhimsyTheFae
Explorer
Teflon Billy said:
We gave them three tries (three different days - two breakfasts and a lunch) and they never improved - the only real black-eye on the experience (even the hotel elevators were tolerable). Do they even realize how much business they get (and may risk losing) over the 4-5 days of Gencon?
It appears as though I am not the only one who felt this way...
The Good:
- Finishing part one of Goodman Games "Dungeon Crawl Classics", with four single players and using only two potions and a scroll.
- Chicks in chainmail
- Meeting a few EnWorlders, noteworthies were Queen D, Buttercup and Hellhound.
- Getting a copy of Lost Colony for $1, and having Shane Helmsley sign it for me.
- Geting drunk at True Tavern
The Bad:
- Not meeting Teflon Billy. I hear I just missed him on Thursday night at the Canadiana.
- True Dungeon. Terrible group, who refused outsiders to have a say in anything. It was fitting that they chose the wrong door and died.
- The cost of five nights in the Raddisson.
- Not getting the chance to meet and interact with more of you fine folks.
- The Blisters
- My Midnight game. Saying the DM was poor would be a compliment.
- Having only one other player show up for the second round of the Dungeon Crawl Classic, and getting DQ'd because of it.
- Finishing part one of Goodman Games "Dungeon Crawl Classics", with four single players and using only two potions and a scroll.
- Chicks in chainmail
- Meeting a few EnWorlders, noteworthies were Queen D, Buttercup and Hellhound.
- Getting a copy of Lost Colony for $1, and having Shane Helmsley sign it for me.
- Geting drunk at True Tavern
The Bad:
- Not meeting Teflon Billy. I hear I just missed him on Thursday night at the Canadiana.
- True Dungeon. Terrible group, who refused outsiders to have a say in anything. It was fitting that they chose the wrong door and died.
- The cost of five nights in the Raddisson.
- Not getting the chance to meet and interact with more of you fine folks.
- The Blisters
- My Midnight game. Saying the DM was poor would be a compliment.
- Having only one other player show up for the second round of the Dungeon Crawl Classic, and getting DQ'd because of it.
Shemeska
Adventurer
Psion said:
*chuckle* I want to say that I was sitting one table away from you at the Ennies IIRC, and Rip was there about one or two tables behind where I, Clueless, and the rest of the Planewalker posse were sitting with the Priv Press folks. Look me up next year, and generally speaking I'll make room for at least one person in any games I run if I know you and you want in.
wingsandsword
Legend
Good:
Meeting some ENWorlders, Queen_Dopplepopolis, Truth Seeker, John Crichton, RangerWickett, Psion, The Universe, FickleGM, and loads of others. I hope to see you all again next year, and meet a lot more of you.
The Canadiana suite in general, great hospitality and the surreal feeling of walking into a room full of people you've never seen before but instantly are old friends you've known for years.
The Ram (most of the time), great food, good atmosphere, really rolling out the red carpet for gamers. Easily my favorite place to go for food. When you go in and all the TV's are on Sci Fi Network and Cartoon Network, or the TNT showing of Lord of the Rings, they know who their audience is.
Hard Times Cafe had some really great chili and good service, and was a good secondary place to eat when the waiting list at the RAM was too long.
Buca Di Beppo, really nice Italian food, good for a change of pace from the two above places.
Getting the AT-ST mini in my first pack of the new Huge minis, eliminating any need to buy further packs of the set (being the only Huge mini I really want).
One misguided dealer who thought that all the normal-sized Star Wars minis in the new set were commons, so they were all $2 each/$10 for 6, letting me get some Rares and Very Rares and other neat ones for dirt cheap (the Guri mini is already being used as a PC in my new campaign).
The incredible deals in the dealer's room, where I got loads of books for $5 each, including a lot of stuff I'd been wanting anyway.
Getting a copy of new Mage, looks pretty neato from what I've read so far.
The consignment sale at the auction, lots of neat stuff for dirt cheap.
The Jedi Counseling seminar with Gary Sarli and JD Wiker, including going out to eat afterwards with Mr. Sarli and finding out that he really likes one of my house rules and wants me to send the full write-up to him.
Bad:
Didn't get to play in any of the ENWorld games, except one game of Munchkin that went on way long into the night (but it was fun).
Every time I tried to register for an event, I was told it was sold out. From what I've heard of no-shows and the event registration system, I'm pretty suspicious of it all.
Not much swag, I got less in 4 days than I did in 1 day previously. I don't know if it was places that weren't giving it away or what, but I spent a lot of time in the exhibit hall and ended up with not much swag.
I'm not normally acrophobic, but the low railings on a walkway about 17 floors up over a the cavernous expanse of the Embassy Suites, surrounded by lots of people out on the walkway after the Canadiana suite closed on Saturday night, having flashbacks to the time in High School when I was thrown over a similar railing (2 stories up, fortunately I took minimum damage from that 20 foot fall, but still an unpleasant memory), lead to me having a slight bit of anxiety out there.
The pool and hot-tub at the Marriott were a joke, the "hot" tub was only vaguely warm, and the pool was only 4 feet deep, and it was all so chlorinated that it almost burned to be in. What lawyer thought this up?
Finding out from Mr. Sarli and Mr. Wiker just how hard it is to deal with Lucas Licensing on Star Wars stuff, including attitudes on some things that made just about everyone present groan (WotC had to cut an extensive section on Tusken Raider culture from Secrets of Tatooine, because in Ep II, Anakin calls them "animals" in a fit of rage, so as far as Licensing is concerned, they are mindless animals without langauge or culture, despite using weapons (including guns), domesticating and riding animals, wearing clothes, living in huts in a villiage ect, they only care about his enraged line of dialog treating that as the important thing, so they just sidestepped the issue and didn't talk about them at all, refusing to describe them as unintelligent animals). With headaches like that for creating sourcebooks, I can see why WotC likes the minis, much easier money with easier licensing clearances.
Really bad service at the Steak & Shake, I got the distinct impression from the one time I ate there (Wedsnday night when nothing else around was open) that they didn't like having us all there. Never going back there, next year I'll pack a cooler with some snacks for Wed. night before the Ram is open 24 hours for the Con, or drive out to the White Castle.
Ugly:
Being hit up for money by "homeless" people who approached me, and were wearing clean and what looked to be ironed clothes: clean black trousers, clean and neat black button-up shirt, white suspenders with shining brass buckles, clean shaven and well bathed, who comes up to me at the intersection with the Steak & Shake and says he's homeless and could I spare any money. I'm all for helping people in need, but he honestly didn't look needy one bit, and was better dressed and bathed than some congoers.
The Ram at 9 PM on Saturday night, after the Colts game got out and they flooded in, with gamers and sports fans intermixing. It wasn't quite as ugly as last year got, but it certainly wasn't pretty when some guy with a Colts shirt comes up to me at the bar (I'm wearing my con badge) and asks me what the heck Gen Con is. I explain to him in simple, friendly terms what it is, and he looks at me like it's the weirdest thing in the world and told me he thought D&D was banned as satanic years ago. I told him it's not satanic, it's a game made by Hasbro, the same people who make Monopoly and Battleship. He calls me a liar (I can smell the beer on his breath) and that he knew D&D was satanic and illegal because it makes people kill themselves. I told him to leave me alone so I could just finish my drink in peace, at that point his friends come and take him back to his table and they left soon after.
Parking at the Marriott. Charging $20 a day for parking on top of $300 a day for the room, as a pretty hidden fee when the sign saying they are charging extra for parking is pretty well hidden. Arguing about how the sign is so obscure and it's practically a hidden charge on an already 4-figure hotel bill got them to knock it off though.
The Valet at the Marriott who tried to scalp tickets to the Colts game to me. I was walking in on Friday night, con badge on and visible and one of the valet's in front of the hotel comes up to me and asks if I like sports. I tentatively say yes, since I don't dislike them, and I've been known to go to a game occasionally. He then pulls out a stack of tickets to the Colts game and tells me he's got plenty of tickets and I can have one for not too much above their face value. Somewhat shocked that a hotel employee is scalping tickets on the clock, I decline and walk inside.
Meeting some ENWorlders, Queen_Dopplepopolis, Truth Seeker, John Crichton, RangerWickett, Psion, The Universe, FickleGM, and loads of others. I hope to see you all again next year, and meet a lot more of you.
The Canadiana suite in general, great hospitality and the surreal feeling of walking into a room full of people you've never seen before but instantly are old friends you've known for years.
The Ram (most of the time), great food, good atmosphere, really rolling out the red carpet for gamers. Easily my favorite place to go for food. When you go in and all the TV's are on Sci Fi Network and Cartoon Network, or the TNT showing of Lord of the Rings, they know who their audience is.
Hard Times Cafe had some really great chili and good service, and was a good secondary place to eat when the waiting list at the RAM was too long.
Buca Di Beppo, really nice Italian food, good for a change of pace from the two above places.
Getting the AT-ST mini in my first pack of the new Huge minis, eliminating any need to buy further packs of the set (being the only Huge mini I really want).
One misguided dealer who thought that all the normal-sized Star Wars minis in the new set were commons, so they were all $2 each/$10 for 6, letting me get some Rares and Very Rares and other neat ones for dirt cheap (the Guri mini is already being used as a PC in my new campaign).
The incredible deals in the dealer's room, where I got loads of books for $5 each, including a lot of stuff I'd been wanting anyway.
Getting a copy of new Mage, looks pretty neato from what I've read so far.
The consignment sale at the auction, lots of neat stuff for dirt cheap.
The Jedi Counseling seminar with Gary Sarli and JD Wiker, including going out to eat afterwards with Mr. Sarli and finding out that he really likes one of my house rules and wants me to send the full write-up to him.
Bad:
Didn't get to play in any of the ENWorld games, except one game of Munchkin that went on way long into the night (but it was fun).
Every time I tried to register for an event, I was told it was sold out. From what I've heard of no-shows and the event registration system, I'm pretty suspicious of it all.
Not much swag, I got less in 4 days than I did in 1 day previously. I don't know if it was places that weren't giving it away or what, but I spent a lot of time in the exhibit hall and ended up with not much swag.
I'm not normally acrophobic, but the low railings on a walkway about 17 floors up over a the cavernous expanse of the Embassy Suites, surrounded by lots of people out on the walkway after the Canadiana suite closed on Saturday night, having flashbacks to the time in High School when I was thrown over a similar railing (2 stories up, fortunately I took minimum damage from that 20 foot fall, but still an unpleasant memory), lead to me having a slight bit of anxiety out there.
The pool and hot-tub at the Marriott were a joke, the "hot" tub was only vaguely warm, and the pool was only 4 feet deep, and it was all so chlorinated that it almost burned to be in. What lawyer thought this up?
Finding out from Mr. Sarli and Mr. Wiker just how hard it is to deal with Lucas Licensing on Star Wars stuff, including attitudes on some things that made just about everyone present groan (WotC had to cut an extensive section on Tusken Raider culture from Secrets of Tatooine, because in Ep II, Anakin calls them "animals" in a fit of rage, so as far as Licensing is concerned, they are mindless animals without langauge or culture, despite using weapons (including guns), domesticating and riding animals, wearing clothes, living in huts in a villiage ect, they only care about his enraged line of dialog treating that as the important thing, so they just sidestepped the issue and didn't talk about them at all, refusing to describe them as unintelligent animals). With headaches like that for creating sourcebooks, I can see why WotC likes the minis, much easier money with easier licensing clearances.
Really bad service at the Steak & Shake, I got the distinct impression from the one time I ate there (Wedsnday night when nothing else around was open) that they didn't like having us all there. Never going back there, next year I'll pack a cooler with some snacks for Wed. night before the Ram is open 24 hours for the Con, or drive out to the White Castle.
Ugly:
Being hit up for money by "homeless" people who approached me, and were wearing clean and what looked to be ironed clothes: clean black trousers, clean and neat black button-up shirt, white suspenders with shining brass buckles, clean shaven and well bathed, who comes up to me at the intersection with the Steak & Shake and says he's homeless and could I spare any money. I'm all for helping people in need, but he honestly didn't look needy one bit, and was better dressed and bathed than some congoers.
The Ram at 9 PM on Saturday night, after the Colts game got out and they flooded in, with gamers and sports fans intermixing. It wasn't quite as ugly as last year got, but it certainly wasn't pretty when some guy with a Colts shirt comes up to me at the bar (I'm wearing my con badge) and asks me what the heck Gen Con is. I explain to him in simple, friendly terms what it is, and he looks at me like it's the weirdest thing in the world and told me he thought D&D was banned as satanic years ago. I told him it's not satanic, it's a game made by Hasbro, the same people who make Monopoly and Battleship. He calls me a liar (I can smell the beer on his breath) and that he knew D&D was satanic and illegal because it makes people kill themselves. I told him to leave me alone so I could just finish my drink in peace, at that point his friends come and take him back to his table and they left soon after.
Parking at the Marriott. Charging $20 a day for parking on top of $300 a day for the room, as a pretty hidden fee when the sign saying they are charging extra for parking is pretty well hidden. Arguing about how the sign is so obscure and it's practically a hidden charge on an already 4-figure hotel bill got them to knock it off though.
The Valet at the Marriott who tried to scalp tickets to the Colts game to me. I was walking in on Friday night, con badge on and visible and one of the valet's in front of the hotel comes up to me and asks if I like sports. I tentatively say yes, since I don't dislike them, and I've been known to go to a game occasionally. He then pulls out a stack of tickets to the Colts game and tells me he's got plenty of tickets and I can have one for not too much above their face value. Somewhat shocked that a hotel employee is scalping tickets on the clock, I decline and walk inside.
Yow! I can't imagine how bad Steak and Shake must have been considering the quality of the above three places. Alcatraz -- where I live, it's illegal to unilaterally impose a tip on a restaurant bill, never mind a 20% one for being served by a waiter who appeared to be receiving treatment for a sequencing disorder. The Ram -- mediocre food for above-average prices, service by the guy who will be played by Steve Buscemi in the movie (no mayo or... mayonaise every five seconds until someone passes out). The Red Garter sullies the good name of degraded desperation. You guys need to learn to walk an extra half-block so we can find some actually good restaurants.Teflon Billy said:
Teflon Billy
Explorer
fusangite said:
Bad
Know what was wierd though? I went back there with Jake, Denise, theo and Fraser and there was no imposed tip! It seemd to be soemthing to do with the private room.
That was hilarious
Otherwise, I've always quite liked The RamWhy you son of a bitch
You take that back now...that's my Indy "Home away from Home" and the Spiritual Center of Teflon Billy's Rapscallions Details please (keeping in mind that a half-block in that goddam weather means roughly the equivalent of soaking about a pint more sweat into your clothing).
Clueless
Webmonkey
Let's see:
Good
Silver ENnie!! Planewalker! Yay!
(Getting to put it on my wall when I got home ranks pretty high too
)
Getting to go to the Canadiana suite and meet people! ... though now that I know it was running for all four nights, I feel like a dufus.
Lunch over sushimi with Shem, Rip, and Orry.
Dippin' Dots. Nuff said.
Convincing Shem to allow an awesome familar idea for my current character.
Giving the Planewalker session QnA almost entirely by myself.
Landing so many 19's and 20's in True Dungeon that the DM's were starting to give me the hairy eyeball even though they knew I wasn't cheating on it. (I'm just that good. )
Bad
No SR4 book for me.
Didn't see nearly as much art that I went 'OH! must have!' this year as I did last year.
True Dungeon group very obviously only wanted to play by themselves.... and they weren't that good at it for that matter.
Ugly
Turning around in time to see Shem mid-siezure.
Good
Silver ENnie!! Planewalker! Yay!
(Getting to put it on my wall when I got home ranks pretty high too
)Getting to go to the Canadiana suite and meet people! ... though now that I know it was running for all four nights, I feel like a dufus.
Lunch over sushimi with Shem, Rip, and Orry.
Dippin' Dots. Nuff said.
Convincing Shem to allow an awesome familar idea for my current character.
Giving the Planewalker session QnA almost entirely by myself.
Landing so many 19's and 20's in True Dungeon that the DM's were starting to give me the hairy eyeball even though they knew I wasn't cheating on it. (I'm just that good.
)Bad
No SR4 book for me.
Didn't see nearly as much art that I went 'OH! must have!' this year as I did last year.
True Dungeon group very obviously only wanted to play by themselves.... and they weren't that good at it for that matter.
Ugly
Turning around in time to see Shem mid-siezure.
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