DrunkonDuty
he/him
Gencon Oz 2008
Apologies for taking so long to get this review up, but after the con I took a few day to visit family and friends in the area. So only just back in the world. But enough, here’s the review.
The Basics
This is the first time Gencon has been run here in Australia. It took place over 4 days, July 3rd to July 6th, in Brisbane, Queensland. It was held at the Brisbane Convention Centre on Southbank in the middle of the city.
The Bad
I’m starting with the bad because this way I can finish on a high note later.
The Con experience started badly with the web site. Quite frankly it was extremely user unfriendly. There was no simple facility to just browse a schedule. With some the size of Gencon (and it was big) many people, myself included, like to be able to glance over the entire schedule before getting down to the hard decisions about what to do and what to miss out on. Everyone I talked to at the con had much the same complaint.
The marketing was also something of a mystery to me. It seems to have been limited to Brisbane only. There were no posters in games stores anywhere else, no web ads on sites like ENWorld (I don’t hang out on Gleemax, did anyone see any ads for it there or maybe on the official GenCon site?) If I didn’t have friends who knew the organiser I doubt that I, or they, would have known about it until too late. There was some coverage on the local news (although if that was organised by the Con I don’t know. This is Brisbane and local news of any sort is played up.) There were ads on local radio stations. It also got mention on Radio JJJ, the national Australian Youth* Network on their weekly gaming segment. For ‘gaming’ read ‘computer gaming.’ Again I don’t know if this was marketing from Gencon or journalism from JJJ. In any case the stories would have gone out far too late for anyone from outside of Brisbane to do anything about it. I think they could have a much better turn out with some better marketing.
I have one other whinge. It isn’t a big one. One of the games I registered for, a Jane Austen style freeform, was cancelled at the last minute because the game writer couldn’t attend for personal reasons. Now my second thought (my first was ‘But… I have a cravat.’) was why wasn’t a copy of the game lodged with the con before the thing was even listed on the schedule? I’d certainly like to suggest to the organisers that they do this in future. Given the huge nature of the undertaking and the fact that this is the first time its been run I can understand that things like this were unexpected and provision was not made. So, like I say, I think it’s actually a minor issue. It’s just that to me its magnified by my chagrin at not getting to flounce around all dressed up and saying things like ‘The Misses Dashwood are both very well regarded in Society.’
The Good
The first thing I would like to do here is heap praise upon all the game masters and volunteers who helped run the con. Everyone I dealt with was friendly, helpful and enthusiastic. During the con I changed some of my pre-registered games and bought tickets for extra events. All of this went smoothly and quickly. I played one game, Legend of the Five Rings, that I liked so much I wound up playing 5 sessions of it across the con. Something made possible by the fact that the GM’s (there were 3) were just happy to run it and the easy, no fuss way in which I could get more tickets. There was a lot of this sort of thing from what I heard. So again a big thanks to all the hard working volunteers!
The location was good. In the middle of the city and at the heart of major public transport. Technically this praise should go to the town planners who put all the infrastructure in place but hey, the con could have been put in any one of many hotels etc. all across the city. Getting a hall in the convention centre shows that they were thinking big even from the start. This is no small thing, a great deal of investment was obviously required and I’m sure you appreciate that this is risky stuff. So kudos for having the guts to take risks. The space itself was also good; one very big hall with a few rooms off to the side for those games (like free forms) that require a bit of privacy.
The atmosphere was great. All sub-types of gaming were represented. There were RPGs, CCGs, table-top minis (Warhammer and Heroclix) and a big LAN section. There were also a bunch of Cosplayers, including the Australian Legion 501 and a whole bunch of Anime kids. This may not sound surprising to you folks overseas but here in little Australia it was good to see such a diverse range of folks and in such numbers. So just walking around (and one my friends made that her mission for the weekend) was fun.
The range of RPG games was excellent. From system-less politburo politics, through bug infested Savage Worlds Vietnam to creepy westerns and RPGA dungeon crawls. A full range. There were in fact 2 Living Campaigns present. Greyhawk (through the RPGA) and Living L5R. I now have myself a L5R Crane samurai.
The quality of the games was also very high. The smaller games were run by the folks who wrote them. This, I feel, always leads to a better game.
The trade hall was not very big but it was full of bargains. Lots of people selling off 3.5 stuff of all stripes. A mate picked himself up the Gargantuan Black and Blue dragons for $65 AUS. A bargain in any currency. Alas for me, the offer for the job I’d applied for didn’t come through until the day after the con. So my budget did not stretch to shopping. Probably for the best.
The celebs. Now we all know no con is complete without some celebs. These poor, mystified folks come in and spend a weekend getting covered in nerdly adoration. OK, I know they get paid well for it and the concept of going to cons and charging stupid money to sign autographs is not a new one. But it mystifies me. There was a last minute change to the line up. Two actors from Battlestar Galactica had to cancel due to the shooting schedule going over. But they were replaced almost immediately by Alan Tuddyk (sp?), better know as Wash from Firefly. At least one of my mates had a nerdgasm when he heard. Tracy and Laura Hickman were also present. They were very friendly and approachable. My nerdgasming friend got their autographs (for nothing) just by walking up and saying ‘hi’ at the Dragonlance movie premiere.
Oh yes. The theatrical world premiere of the first Dragonlance movie… Erm, the name escapes me but the one with red dragons in it. It was held on the night before the con began at what would have to Brisbane’s most ornate and glamorous cinema, the Regent.** Now I have heard that the movie has in fact been available on DVD for some time so a certain amount of hyperbole has been used here. Also, I have to say that it was not a good movie. Not even close. But the event itself was good. Price of admission included canapés and drink. Price of admission was free! Tracy Hickman also gave a short speech on the early history of Dragonlance that was very interesting.
Final Word
All up I had a great time. So did most folks I spoke to. Everyone was impressed by the scale of the thing and the atmosphere. There were some issues with people missing out on games they had registered for, but not many.
I have heard that the con made the magic number of attendees. 10000 discreet entries across the weekend. So it looks like it will go ahead next year too. Hooray for GenCon Oz, may this be the first of many, many more!
And a final big thanks to Ian Houlihan for organising it all. It's been 2 1/2 hard years in the making. I hope you have enjoyed your experience of the con as much as I did mine.
Glen.
*I say ‘youth’ because that is its official remit. In reality JJJ has a very wide range of ages in its demographic and is one of the most popular radio networks in the country. But I digress…
**It’s still got all that red and gold décor that used to typify movie houses back in the day when they were frequently called Cinema Palaces or similar. It’s where I saw Raiders of the Lost Ark and Star Wars, so many fine memories. I’d recommend checking it out if you’re ever in town and feel like a movie.
Apologies for taking so long to get this review up, but after the con I took a few day to visit family and friends in the area. So only just back in the world. But enough, here’s the review.
The Basics
This is the first time Gencon has been run here in Australia. It took place over 4 days, July 3rd to July 6th, in Brisbane, Queensland. It was held at the Brisbane Convention Centre on Southbank in the middle of the city.
The Bad
I’m starting with the bad because this way I can finish on a high note later.
The Con experience started badly with the web site. Quite frankly it was extremely user unfriendly. There was no simple facility to just browse a schedule. With some the size of Gencon (and it was big) many people, myself included, like to be able to glance over the entire schedule before getting down to the hard decisions about what to do and what to miss out on. Everyone I talked to at the con had much the same complaint.
The marketing was also something of a mystery to me. It seems to have been limited to Brisbane only. There were no posters in games stores anywhere else, no web ads on sites like ENWorld (I don’t hang out on Gleemax, did anyone see any ads for it there or maybe on the official GenCon site?) If I didn’t have friends who knew the organiser I doubt that I, or they, would have known about it until too late. There was some coverage on the local news (although if that was organised by the Con I don’t know. This is Brisbane and local news of any sort is played up.) There were ads on local radio stations. It also got mention on Radio JJJ, the national Australian Youth* Network on their weekly gaming segment. For ‘gaming’ read ‘computer gaming.’ Again I don’t know if this was marketing from Gencon or journalism from JJJ. In any case the stories would have gone out far too late for anyone from outside of Brisbane to do anything about it. I think they could have a much better turn out with some better marketing.
I have one other whinge. It isn’t a big one. One of the games I registered for, a Jane Austen style freeform, was cancelled at the last minute because the game writer couldn’t attend for personal reasons. Now my second thought (my first was ‘But… I have a cravat.’) was why wasn’t a copy of the game lodged with the con before the thing was even listed on the schedule? I’d certainly like to suggest to the organisers that they do this in future. Given the huge nature of the undertaking and the fact that this is the first time its been run I can understand that things like this were unexpected and provision was not made. So, like I say, I think it’s actually a minor issue. It’s just that to me its magnified by my chagrin at not getting to flounce around all dressed up and saying things like ‘The Misses Dashwood are both very well regarded in Society.’
The Good
The first thing I would like to do here is heap praise upon all the game masters and volunteers who helped run the con. Everyone I dealt with was friendly, helpful and enthusiastic. During the con I changed some of my pre-registered games and bought tickets for extra events. All of this went smoothly and quickly. I played one game, Legend of the Five Rings, that I liked so much I wound up playing 5 sessions of it across the con. Something made possible by the fact that the GM’s (there were 3) were just happy to run it and the easy, no fuss way in which I could get more tickets. There was a lot of this sort of thing from what I heard. So again a big thanks to all the hard working volunteers!
The location was good. In the middle of the city and at the heart of major public transport. Technically this praise should go to the town planners who put all the infrastructure in place but hey, the con could have been put in any one of many hotels etc. all across the city. Getting a hall in the convention centre shows that they were thinking big even from the start. This is no small thing, a great deal of investment was obviously required and I’m sure you appreciate that this is risky stuff. So kudos for having the guts to take risks. The space itself was also good; one very big hall with a few rooms off to the side for those games (like free forms) that require a bit of privacy.
The atmosphere was great. All sub-types of gaming were represented. There were RPGs, CCGs, table-top minis (Warhammer and Heroclix) and a big LAN section. There were also a bunch of Cosplayers, including the Australian Legion 501 and a whole bunch of Anime kids. This may not sound surprising to you folks overseas but here in little Australia it was good to see such a diverse range of folks and in such numbers. So just walking around (and one my friends made that her mission for the weekend) was fun.
The range of RPG games was excellent. From system-less politburo politics, through bug infested Savage Worlds Vietnam to creepy westerns and RPGA dungeon crawls. A full range. There were in fact 2 Living Campaigns present. Greyhawk (through the RPGA) and Living L5R. I now have myself a L5R Crane samurai.
The quality of the games was also very high. The smaller games were run by the folks who wrote them. This, I feel, always leads to a better game.The trade hall was not very big but it was full of bargains. Lots of people selling off 3.5 stuff of all stripes. A mate picked himself up the Gargantuan Black and Blue dragons for $65 AUS. A bargain in any currency. Alas for me, the offer for the job I’d applied for didn’t come through until the day after the con. So my budget did not stretch to shopping. Probably for the best.
The celebs. Now we all know no con is complete without some celebs. These poor, mystified folks come in and spend a weekend getting covered in nerdly adoration. OK, I know they get paid well for it and the concept of going to cons and charging stupid money to sign autographs is not a new one. But it mystifies me. There was a last minute change to the line up. Two actors from Battlestar Galactica had to cancel due to the shooting schedule going over. But they were replaced almost immediately by Alan Tuddyk (sp?), better know as Wash from Firefly. At least one of my mates had a nerdgasm when he heard. Tracy and Laura Hickman were also present. They were very friendly and approachable. My nerdgasming friend got their autographs (for nothing) just by walking up and saying ‘hi’ at the Dragonlance movie premiere.
Oh yes. The theatrical world premiere of the first Dragonlance movie… Erm, the name escapes me but the one with red dragons in it. It was held on the night before the con began at what would have to Brisbane’s most ornate and glamorous cinema, the Regent.** Now I have heard that the movie has in fact been available on DVD for some time so a certain amount of hyperbole has been used here. Also, I have to say that it was not a good movie. Not even close. But the event itself was good. Price of admission included canapés and drink. Price of admission was free! Tracy Hickman also gave a short speech on the early history of Dragonlance that was very interesting.
Final Word
All up I had a great time. So did most folks I spoke to. Everyone was impressed by the scale of the thing and the atmosphere. There were some issues with people missing out on games they had registered for, but not many.
I have heard that the con made the magic number of attendees. 10000 discreet entries across the weekend. So it looks like it will go ahead next year too. Hooray for GenCon Oz, may this be the first of many, many more!
And a final big thanks to Ian Houlihan for organising it all. It's been 2 1/2 hard years in the making. I hope you have enjoyed your experience of the con as much as I did mine.
Glen.
*I say ‘youth’ because that is its official remit. In reality JJJ has a very wide range of ages in its demographic and is one of the most popular radio networks in the country. But I digress…
**It’s still got all that red and gold décor that used to typify movie houses back in the day when they were frequently called Cinema Palaces or similar. It’s where I saw Raiders of the Lost Ark and Star Wars, so many fine memories. I’d recommend checking it out if you’re ever in town and feel like a movie.
