GenCon vs. DragonCon

[WayneLigon]

I've been to many DragonCons though I did take a break for a few years; I was able to go to this last one, though. This year hopefully will see me going to GenCon for the first time.

I was pretty disappointed in the gaming offered at DragonCon this past year. It was certainly downplayed from previous years, and while the board gaming room was pretty good, the pick-up roleplaying was almost non-existant. Part of that might have been due to the construction in one hotel, though.

All in all, I'll probably skip DragonCon unless I'm invited to go with a group of friends so we can go out and eat, or play games in the room. I'm not a big 'panel' or 'hear us talk about our time on Show/Movie X' guy, though; if either of those interest you, you'll be hard-pressed to find a better venue than DragonCon.

 

[Castellan]

Dragon*Con is great, but its gaming aspects have really diminished over the last few years. 2007 was almost a complete bust for me for any gaming stuff, which was really too bad, because in the past I've gotten some good deals on supplies and played some cool games.

Truth be told, there are often some good panels, some decent sci-fi/fantasy actors (my wife got photos with nearly everyone from the Firefly show which really made her happy), and a gigantic flesh-fest. Depending on when you go, you may see some things that'll haunt you for life, or make you have trouble talking to your parents for a few weeks afterward.

Even with my wife around, there have been some times I couldn't help staring. There was an Alice in Wonderland a few years ago............

Go and have fun, but don't expect a substitute for GenCon.