Re: Questions from a GenCon newbie
jaults said:
I've looked at the various resources mentioned in the first post of this thread, but some basic questions have been left unanswered for me, a first-time GenCon-er [snip]Thanks!
Jason
Events at GenCon:
Oh, where to begin……….
Your $55 gets you into the ICC and any area/event that does not have an additional price.
The majority of events are games, divided up into
Board games
Card game
Trading card games
Computer games
Roleplaying games
Live-Action games
Historical Miniatures
Non-Historical Miniatures
These are run by companies, organizations and private individuals, with the majority (I think) being private individuals. Company-run demonstrations may be free, or they may not. A nice recent development is the inclusion of codes next to each game event that describe the complexity of the rules system, allowable age ranges for players, and expected experience level with that game. That played a role in my making the jump from watcher to player at GC, because it at least gave me a glimmer of confidence in what to expect.
With the new registration system you should be able to tell if an event is full or not at the time you try to sign up. Even if an even is listed as full it can be worth your while to show up. People change their minds at 'Cons all the time and if a slot is open because of a no-show you can often use a generic ticket to get in. I'm not in the RPGA so I have no idea how those games are organized.
As I understand it right now everyone has to do all their own registering, though that might change. We have a couple of months before it becomes an issue.
Another group of events is seminars, which cover a wide variety of topics, again put on by companies, organizations and private individuals. (I have noticed a trend lately of fewer seminars put on by individuals and more put on by large organizations - not sure what that portends, if anything.) Topics can range from "How to become a writer" by Kij Johnson to "Game Design" with Monte Cook to "Gaming in Education" with David Millians to "Girrrl Geeks and Gamer Widows" with my friend Vicki. I have attended seminars on the history of polearms and the intricacies of designing you own cosmology and a host of other things. There are people on these boards that could (and should IMHO) host seminars. Some of these are free (usually the ones put on by companies to talk about their products) and some charge the same sort of prices as the games.
Another group is the "big" events, like the KODT live reading, the Enies, the costume contest, the block party, etc. Most of those are free and first-come first served, but some will ask you to register for a free ticket to hold a seat (though it never seems to work….)
Other things to do….. people watch (always fun), get celebrity autographs (not my cup of tea), shop shop shop, watch anime in the 24hour free anime room (there might be 2 this year!!!), watch Hong Kong Action theater (I hope they have that again), help build part of Cardhalla, play a free demo of some game you never heard of before in the Exhibit hall (where I discovered the joy that is Fairy Meat), check out the Art Show, the list goes on.
The exact schedule changes every year. I will say that games start as early as 8am and can run well into the wee hours. Seminars start early as well, but tend not to go very late. The Art show and Exhibit hall tend to be open from 10am-6pm, closing earlier on Sunday. Frustratingly a lot of "big" events tend to happen at the same time, (usually Friday and Saturday ~7 or 8 PM) and so hard choices have to be made…. On the other hand I'm that most rare of creatures - a gamer who is a morning person (gasp) so I tend to get my pick of the 8am games.
One last tip - don't over book yourself. There will be tons of cool stuff to do that you either will not see during event reg or that just came up on short notice.
