Gencon and D&D?

[BriarMonkey]

I first learned of GenCon by way of D & D. It was something that I had wanted to attend, if for no other reason than to see what it was all about. Unfortunately, for the longest time, my real world commitments and GenCon never had the same schedules.

My first GenCon was the last year it was held in Milwaukie. The second was the first year it was held in Indianapolis. I have been to what, two (?), since then. And again, the real world and GenCon often seem to be passing in the night, never to meet...

When I was there the first time, I really had no plans. I just wanted to see what it was all about. After that, and hearing stories of what some of my friends who went encountered in their gaming groups, I decided that going was a vacation, not a gaming experience (as such). I am not an overly outgoing person, so gaming with complete strangers is not comfortable for me. When I go, it is for the dealer's hall, the demos, the special events, the seminars, oggling the board game and miniatures rooms, meeting any friends that may be there, and buying outrageous amounts of gaming books and bits (as I hadn't much for a FLGS around me before).

While that may not sound exciting, I actually do have a lot of fun there. D & D doesn't have to be the sole, or even over-riding, motivation for attending.

 

[FATDRAGONGAMES]

This question may depend on age, too. I know for me and some of my friends, who are in our 40s and been going to Gen Con for a while, D&D and Gen Con are linked at the hip.

 

[Mark CMG]

This question may depend on age, too. I know for me and some of my friends, who are in our 40s and been going to Gen Con for a while, D&D and Gen Con are linked at the hip.

Indeed. When I first began going in the mid-Seventies, D&D was just beginning to boom and was the primary focus of the convention. Although I came from a wargaming background, and certainly that was the history of Gencon, D&D swiftly became the anchor game of the convention and I suspect it is the reason Gencon went from being held in one location in Lake Geneva, to also taking over the Playboy Club outside LG (became a Marriott, IIRC, in 1983 and is now the Grand Geneva Resort & Spa), then on to UW Parkside, then to Milwaukee. I believe that by the time it moved from the one Milwaukee location to the other hobby gaming had spread to so many areas that D&D was no longer the lone standard bearer. I personally run or play in at least one or more D&D games of one edition and/or another everytime I go. I've probably been to Gencon 20+ times (maybe a couple dozen times) in the 34 years since I first got to go. I doubt D&D has been the majority game experience since sometime in the early Nineties, and maybe not even the biggest single draw since card games came on the scene, but I always associate Gencon with D&D because of my early experiences.

 

[vonmolkew]

In my youth, I used to go every year. The first year was 1979 when it was still at UW/Parkside. I bought the original Top Secret game by Merle Rassmussen and played in Fez 1 (Zippi Plowfoot!!), with the highlight of actually meeting Gary Gygax for the first time. After missing it a couple times during college, I went for several years to Milwaukee and DM'ed the AD&D Open with Dan Lawrence and Bob Blake (the writer of the Gen Con IX Dungeon for those of you old enough to remember him) among others. I also played some during that time - including getting third place in the Open the year one round took as it's encounters the monsters off the Monster Manual.

To say that D&D and GenCon are synonymous for me would be an understatement......

 

[lrsach01]

Just to counterpoint Irasach: Each year since 2008, D&D has actually been bigger than in any previous year. Living Realms is huge. But GenCon attendance (in general) has also been higher.

Just to clarify, I said... or at least meant to say .... Wizards of the Coast has had a smaller and smaller presence. They've gone from a massive booth people spent half a day or more at to a smaller space no bigger than Paizo's booth and certainly smaller than Mayfair Games. They've also pulled out of the minis game and invited all DnD games (no matter the edition or derivative system) just to fill out areas.

DnD games may take up more space than ever, but WotC's presence is shrinking. I'm not predicting, but I wouldn't be surprised if Wizard's had little more than a token presence in the near future.

 

[Inferno!]

I've been to every GenCon since 2003. Although I've always had an interest in other games, my attendance was very much tied to my interest in D&D and d20 in general. I was curious and excited by the announcement of 4e, followed by utter disinterest when 4e come out.

The year Lucasfilm sued GenCon, there was the potential WotC wouldnt be at GenCon at all. At the time I thought, GenCon without WotC/D&D, how can that be? Of course, WotC was there, but their presence has been shrinking ever since. Given my lack of interest in 4e, and the ending of Star Wars Saga Edition, I don't think I've even set foot in the WotC booth for the past two years. Even when they have something I'm curious about, they bring such a pitifully small supply, it's sold out within 30 minutes of the hall opening. If WotC wasn't there this year, I may not notice, let alone care.

However, I'll be there again to see friends from years past, mostly from the Savage Worlds community. If you haven't tried it, give it a whirl. Pinnacle usually has booth demos as well as scheduled demos. Rumor has it Triple Ace Games will being running demos this year of Hellfrost (Savage Worlds) and All for One (Ubiquity).

 

[UniversalMonster]

invited all DnD games (no matter the edition or derivative system) just to fill out areas.

I don't think that's the reason.

 

[lrsach01]

I don't think that's the reason.

Granted... I have no insight or special knowledge. But when I see a big company doing something so altruistic as inviting competing products and companies to share the space it PAID for... well... I don't think it's out of the goodness of their hearts. Maybe it's a failing of mine.. or maybe I'm still bitter about WotC's handling of 4e. Maybe it's my cynical, liberal attitude towards companies in general. Any way...

 

[Rel]

Mentally I have a moderately strong link between D&D and GenCon. Insofar as I know a lot of people who attend primarily play D&D I guess.

In practice D&D has very little to do with most of my GenCon experiences. I recall, in the 6 or so times I've attended in the last several years, that I've run two games of D&D (those were my "Orcz!" games at my first GenCon, wherein the party was comprised of all Orcs) and played two D&D games (one was Piratecat's game and another was the game with Gary Gygax - link in my .sig if you're curious). And that's pretty much it. I don't recall any other D&D games.

Now I play a TON of games when I go. On average I play at least a couple games a day and that adds up to a lot of games over the course of GenCon considering that I typically get there a day or two early. But those are pretty much all non-D&D games.

I've noticed this pattern at a lot of the Game Days I organize and attend as well: Many attendees play D&D at home so they have little interest in playing another at the Game Day. Instead they play the stuff that they don't get to play at home very often like Paranoia or Dread or (lately) Fiasco or Mutants & Masterminds and stuff like that.

At both GenCon and the Game Days there is a heavy social component as well because I'm mostly gaming with people I don't get to see very often. And most of them share this same philosophy in general.