Gen Con - Good bad and ugly

[JediSoth]

Yikes, it's getting hard keeping up with all of these threads on GenCon now. I've probably missed a few things I didn't want to...

PS- in case I haven't said so a gazillion times, thank you so very much for letting us store our display cases chez vous, and especially thank you for the champagne delivery Friday night! I felt ever so swank being able to invite Peter and Erik "back to my suite for champagne and chocolate"!

You're totally welcome. It's no trouble at all and they're not even in the way. I'm happy I can help out. I plan to help out more next year.

Hopefully, next year's weather will be better. This has been the hottest summer we've had in several years. It's really unusual for us to have so many 90° days.

It seems that y'all had too much fun on the pickup games. I might have to get me some of that action next year.

JediSoth

 

[Keeper of Secrets]

der kluge,

Actually I think the system is fair for running games. They clearly ask you up front to run 4 games of 4 hours each that can accomadate 6 players each. It really is not a lot to ask to get a free badge.

I have been doing it for a few years now and it seems kind of fair. I guess what you might be saying is that it is not worth it or it is broken if you want to run less than 4 games.

 

[Mark CMG]

Actually I think the system is fair for running games. They clearly ask you up front to run 4 games of 4 hours each that can accomadate 6 players each. It really is not a lot to ask to get a free badge.

I have been doing it for a few years now and it seems kind of fair. I guess what you might be saying is that it is not worth it or it is broken if you want to run less than 4 games.

If you're like me and would plan to run games for that many and that long anyway (collectively), it's not an issue at all.

 

[Rel]

der kluge,

Actually I think the system is fair for running games. They clearly ask you up front to run 4 games of 4 hours each that can accomadate 6 players each. It really is not a lot to ask to get a free badge.

I think his point is that there is a very limited incentive to run less than that number of games and little to run more than that. They don't pro-rate the badge coverage so if you're not going to run 4 then there is little point in running 3, 2 or 1 games. The only exception (that I can see) is if you just want to GM games at GenCon and need a means of gathering players. As an ENWorlder, this incentive goes away almost completely because there are almost always people looking to get into pickup games.

My personal position is that I have no interest in playing any of the official games and thus I'm incurring no additional cost by having to purchase those tickets. I don't feel that the cost of the 4-day badge is onerous by itself so I'm happy to eat that cost, not run or play any official games and play pickup games to my heart's content.

 

[der_kluge]

I think his point is that there is a very limited incentive to run less than that number of games and little to run more than that. They don't pro-rate the badge coverage so if you're not going to run 4 then there is little point in running 3, 2 or 1 games. The only exception (that I can see) is if you just want to GM games at GenCon and need a means of gathering players. As an ENWorlder, this incentive goes away almost completely because there are almost always people looking to get into pickup games.

My personal position is that I have no interest in playing any of the official games and thus I'm incurring no additional cost by having to purchase those tickets. I don't feel that the cost of the 4-day badge is onerous by itself so I'm happy to eat that cost, not run or play any official games and play pickup games to my heart's content.

Exactly. I hadn't real the policy, but I knew that I wasn't going to get the cost completely covered, but I had assumed (obviously incorrectly) that there was some compensation for running a few games. Apparently there is not, so now I feel bad about making those guys get tickets for my game, when there was no point other than to make them spend money on tickets they didn't really need, and I couldn't use.

Yes, I think they need to reconsider the policy. Next time, I just won't run any official games.

 

[Rel]

Yes, I think they need to reconsider the policy. Next time, I just won't run any official games.

I think it is worth noting that, although the benefit might be marginal, GM's who run less than 4 games derive the benefit of the support structure of GenCon as a means of getting players for their games. They need players or they can't run their games. GenCon provides the "sign up sheet" as a free service to the GM. But not for the players.

We here at ENWorld have the advantage of a huge support structure of almost universally fantastic players. So we don't really need this service as much as Joe GM off the street. I think that in that context this marginal benefit vanishes almost entirely.

 

[IronWolf]

I certainly think as EN World community members we probably see things a little differently. We have at our disposal when we go to big cons (especially Gen Con) numerous pick-up games to play in and numerous players to play in games we may run. So from the perspective of finding people to play with, that isn't really an issue.

I have no idea as to the Gen Con financials, but renting the convention center isn't free. So some money needs to be generated by charging to play in a game. I would think those funds help pay for the space being used by a gaming table and the staff that helps keep the convention running. So even if only running two games, there are still reasons to collect money at the table, even if a badge isn't being reimbursed. Without the paying convention goers and games there wouldn't even be a large (and great) convention to go to to draw all the EN Worlders together in the same city at the same time.

I think pick-up games are great fun and certainly easier to schedule than having to worry about getting tickets and knowing your schedule months in advance. But also I also think EN Worlders running a sanctionioned game has its merits. I think the group of people here tend to run and play in quality games for the most part. These are the people you *want* playing in the convention games acting as "ambassadors" of the hobby *and* the community we have here. A lot of good things can come from that, even if it means collecting generic tickets from people that show up to play.

 

[Swiftbrook]

Good

• Living Greyhawk games. I played 3. Each with a great DM and great group. Each DM had a different style. It was a blast.
• The dealer room. Loving seeing all the new stuff.
• True Dungeon. For a frist time experience, it was good. But we died in the last room.

Bad

• The dealer room. I expected to find some good deals for the stuff I was looking for. Few and far between.
• The Auction Store. Seemed like it was a publishers dumping ground this year. Lots of duplicate items with only a small markdown.
• Party in the Plaza. Big let down after my first one last year.

Ugly

• The WotC prize line. Every time I went to get in line it was closed. Even at noon on Saturday!
• Packing too many rule books in my backpack on Saturday. Ouch!

-Swiftbrook

 

[Xath]

BTW, speaking of GenCon good: is that our Xath in costume over in the Gaming Report photo album? Go to the costume section and dig a ways back ...

That's not a terrible photo, and I've seen some of my Friday costume on other sites. But here's the thing. Most of the sites I've seen have accredited the costume as being an "elf girl," and someone stopped me at GenCon that day to complement me on my ears....

....only I hadn't done anything to my ears. What's up with that? I am apparently easily mistaken for a fantasy creature.

 

[Buttercup]

But here's the thing. Most of the sites I've seen have accredited the costume as being an "elf girl," and someone stopped me at GenCon that day to complement me on my ears....

....only I hadn't done anything to my ears. What's up with that?

I don't know whether to laugh, or to comfort you. :\