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Message: <blockquote data-quote="wingsandsword" data-source="post: 2510191" data-attributes="member: 14159">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.</blockquote>

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