GenCon Call to Action!

[MUKid]

I'm an ENWorld lurker, not an ENWorld poster, but I've had it with GenCon troubles and I'm here to get others to do something about it.

It is obvious to me that over the years, nobody in charge of GenCon has listened to the myriad complaints we gamers have about it. The lines, the registration woes, the lack of decent events, the inability to find thing, general disorganization and chaos. I realize that it's a tough thing to plan and mistakes are bound to happen, but numerous suggestions that I've seen others make have been totally ignored, and the same problems continue to plague us year after year after year.

I'm going to GenCon this year. I have lots of friends that go there, and we always manage to have a good time, but the frustrations continue to mount, and I'm starting to seriously wonder if they deserve my money at all.

So here's my suggestion -- I'm writing to game companies that attend GenCon and telling them my woes. I spend a lot of my annual games budget at GenCon, usually after playing a demo event or taking a look at a product in the dealer room. Being unable to sign up for events (as happened today) makes me less likely to play new games, and less likely to buy new stuff. This means the companies are getting less money from me because of the setup of Gencon.

I'd like to ask you guys to do the same thing. Simply send your favorite game company (or two) a quick note and share your frustration with GenCon. Perhaps if enough of our favorite designers make some noise, things will actually get fixed.

Thanks. Back to lurking for a few more years.

 

[Crothian]

The lines were bad, really bad two years ago. Last year, lines were fine.

I've not heard anything bad about events, welol no more then any other con. Could you go into what you think are the bad events and what would be good events?

What do you mean inability to find things?> I found the map in the Gen Con books to be great for finding everything, so could you please expand on this?

I'm not saying there are not things to complain about. Important people though do at times read these boards so if you explain yourself in a little more deatil we might get lucky and get a response from someone in the know.

 

[Mark]

So here's my suggestion -- I'm writing to game companies that attend GenCon and telling them my woes. I spend a lot of my annual games budget at GenCon, usually after playing a demo event or taking a look at a product in the dealer room. Being unable to sign up for events (as happened today) makes me less likely to play new games, and less likely to buy new stuff. This means the companies are getting less money from me because of the setup of Gencon.

I'd like to ask you guys to do the same thing. Simply send your favorite game company (or two) a quick note and share your frustration with GenCon. Perhaps if enough of our favorite designers make some noise, things will actually get fixed.

Thanks. Back to lurking for a few more years.

I doubt an e-Publisher's voice would mean a whole lot but I understand the frustration. Don't let it get the best of you, MUKid.

 

[Erik Mona]

I empathize with your woes. I've been to around 100 conventions and game days during the course of my time in the RPGA, and then on the staff of the RPGA with Wizards of the Coast and now with Paizo Publishing as Editor-in-Chief of Dragon and Dungeon magazines. I've had more than my share of bad shows, where a problem with an event or a bad GM or a long line can really make it seem like the whole world is going mad.

But I've got to say that Gen Con, LLC. is doing a phenomenal job with the convention, and in my experience (this year will be my 10th consecutive show as an attendee), the convention has never been run better, or by a group of people with as much interest in giving the attendees a great experience and thoughtfully listening to their feedback.

The first year in Indy was a little rough, with very long lines and slow computers. From getting a behind-the-scenes view of how conventions are run during my time with the RPGA, I can say that the raw computing power necessary to manage the scheduling and ticket sales databases is considerable. I once heard that no other trade convention in the world has as many distinct events going on at the same time, with active ticket sales operations in real time. The computer programs used to manage Gen Con over the years have been specifically written to manage Gen Con, because no other computer programs for running conventions can handle the task. Let's remember, the show has something like 30,000 attendees. That's a LOT of people.

So my expectation, frankly, with the show moving to a new city was that there would be long lines. Back when I started going to Gen Con in 1995, at the MECCA in Milwaukee, the lines were enormous. Before that, RPGA members often got to "cut" in line--since the lines were so infamous, this was seen as a major perk of membership by a lot of members at the time. I'm not trying to explain the long line problem the first year in Indy, only to put it into perspective.

At the next Gen Con, I expected to see some improvement, but I was blown away by how fast people seemed to move through the lines. My assumption is that the problem has been solved beyond the expectations of a 10-year convention veteran.

As for not having any good events. . . man, I don't even know where to begin! Gen Con hosts hundreds of gaming seminars attended by professional game designers and artists. It has a top-rate fantasy and science fiction art room with famous artists there to chat and sign autographs. It has celebrity signings, 24-hour anime rooms, fun stuff for kids and adults, a dealer room that is alone worth the price of admission, and a staggering amount of official RPGA tournaments and ongoing campaign events, to say nothing of the hundreds (perhaps thousands) of independent games from D&D to the most obscure never-released house system.

The more I think about how many great activities and fun times Gen Con provides every year the more I feel like the original poster in this thread is a troll, and I am wasting my time.

Gen Con is awesome. I'm sorry you had a bad time, but it is absolutely worth attending each and every year, and it is absolutely worth however much it costs to get there.

--Erik Mona
Editor-in-Chief
Dragon & Dungeon

 

[Mark]

The more I think about how many great activities and fun times Gen Con provides every year the more I feel like the original poster in this thread is a troll, and I am wasting my time.

Naw. Just frustrated by Registration Day One Lag, I'm sure.

 

[Tarondor]

Jeeze! The first guy isn't the troll, here.

I've been going to GenCon for more than 25 years and this is the WORST registration I've ever been through (and that includes 1980, when I camped out on the sidewalk overnight to get those first-come, first-served tickets).

Just because YOU had little trouble doesn't invalidate the original poster's experience. I'm so angry at having done all the work to lay out a schedule, then being rejected from the site for eight straight hours, then being told that every game I wanted was sold out that I'd very much like my money back for registration and that hotel thing. I'm not GOING to GenCon now, and I'll be out that money solely because of the incompetence of those who built the registration system.

Year after year, the pre-registration doesn't get any better.

 

[Mark]

I've been going to GenCon for more than 25 years and this is the WORST registration I've ever been through (and that includes 1980, when I camped out on the sidewalk overnight to get those first-come, first-served tickets).

Was that the year the early morning mists were rising on Parkside campus and a piper came stoof up on the hills and played? (I've been going to Gencon on and off since '78 and don't recall which year spawns that particular memory.)

 

[Keeper of Secrets]

Every year the registration process is rough. I know what the first poster is talking about but I am not so furious that it inspires me to write to anyone. I am usually mad and frustrated for a couple of hours but I almost always get what I want in the end so its hard for me to be furious.

As far as quality of games run, well that is hit or miss as that kind of thing is really impossible to judge before hand.

 

[MrFilthyIke]

My first GC in 2000 was a terrible wait in line, but it was my first big con ever.
Next year, I pre-reg'ed and have NEVER had a problem since, though it still miffs me the Cthulhu games sell out on the first day. Maybe I should run onlt last-minute pick-up Cthulhu, for stragglers only, to spite the other Cthulhu fanatics.

 

[Hand of Evil]

GENCON is a service industry for the most part and like most is a hit and miss for service provided. GENCON has changed locations and changed management, it is also a logistic nightmare: gamers, events, dealers, location, guest...oh, my! Yes, there have been issues but looking at size and scope, I have to say over all GENCON has been handled well and I have been pleased with it.

Remember: there is a survey for GENCON and the GENCON forums.