How do I love GenCon? Let me count the ways!

[Mark CMG]

The DM said that the reason we didn't finish was because we didn't do the actions he had expected us to do.

DMing License: REVOKED!

 

[BOZ]

Boz, were you there for that unusal circumstance?

nope, we came on the scene a few minutes afterwards. of couse, she was still hanging around in various locales, and i'm sure you all did point her out to me.

 

[Ethernaut]

<waves hello>
I wish PC decided to introduce you to the table late on Saturday night when you stopped by and we were playing in Rel's game. Ethernaut & I were actually in your True Dungeon group (he was the wizard, I was the cleric). And I'll have you know, that song you decided to sing as the bard has been stuck in my head ever since

Ahhhh! That song! Now it's in my head.

<also waves hello to Quartermoon>

Anyway, it was a pleasure to do True Dungeon with you.

 

[Ethernaut]

I don't think I'll be signing up for any official games next year. I think I'd have a lot more fun with pick-ups. Especially after this year.

Agreed. All my best games were pickup games this year. Last year I had one quality official game (Gurps Mystery men), but that's it. This year, my one Gurps game blew chunks and the tournment was disappointing (mostly 'cause I prefer roleplaying to problem solving).

The big exception is True Dungeon, which is a total blast.

 

[Majoru Oakheart]

Wow. It's like "Grinding" in a tabletop RPG. This might be the closest thing to actual WrongBad Fun that I've ever heard of.

Well, when you play RPGA events, you have to use some of the MMORPG mindset. It is half role playing game and half worldwide campaign with a standardized set of rules and expectations. Sometimes these rules to ensure balance(to make sure battles are the same difficulty for everyone) get in the way of role playing, but everyone understands it is necessary to allow the campaign to work at all.

Everyone understands that role playing needs to be sacrificed slightly in exchange for getting to the end of the storyline in less than 4 hours. Sometimes that means there is a lot of time to role play in one mod and none in another.

Special Mods are only run once (or twice), generally at Gencon and maybe Gencon SoCal. They have a reputation for being very difficult and requiring your group to use all of their abilities effectively to avoid death. Generally, they do this by having a really big dungeon crawl on a time limit so you run out of spells and resources. It can be a fun challenge to try to survive, but some people aren't looking for that in a game. For them, the special isn't a good idea.

Sorry for the hijack.

 

[Sidereal Knight]

A note for introverts

Hi! I'm occasionally known as Sidereal Knight, and I'm an introvert.

Although I went to GenCon in 2003 and 2004, I didn't have as much fun as I thought I would. Don't get me wrong, I had a good time... but it wasn't a big highlight of the year.

This year was different.

Well before the Con, I decided that I would make a real effort to meet ENWorlders. And let me tell you, it made all the difference.

Outside my comfort zone? You betcha. Embarassing "foot-in-mouth" syndrome acting up? Yup.

Worth it? Heck yes.

To anyone who didn't feel like they could socialize with ENWorlders because you don't post very often, I say: DON'T WORRY! Everyone I met was kind and willing to say "hi". I feel like I met a boatload of fun new acquaintances, and a couple of people who could become real friends (with enough time).

 

[Crothian]

Hi! I'm occasionally known as Sidereal Knight, and I'm an introvert.
...
Worth it? Heck yes.

I agree, you do get out of what you put in. I'm a shy little boy that hides behind a message board most of the time, but I relaly try to act not like me at the cons. I figure the worst I can do is offend a bunch of people I never see anyway.

 

[IronWolf]

7 people. I had to deal with stupid 10 year old and a smelly gamer.

Yeah, that was not so much fun (I was in Crothian's group and I was *not* the smelly gamer or ten year old). I agree with Crothian, the best way to do this is to have someone buy a block of seven and get a group of EN Worlders. I volunteer to pick up seven tickets next year and have people pay me when we get to the con. I think it would be much more fun that way.

 

[WhimsyTheFae]

Hi! I'm occasionally known as Sidereal Knight, and I'm an introvert.

Although I went to GenCon in 2003 and 2004, I didn't have as much fun as I thought I would. Don't get me wrong, I had a good time... but it wasn't a big highlight of the year.

This year was different.

Well before the Con, I decided that I would make a real effort to meet ENWorlders. And let me tell you, it made all the difference.

Outside my comfort zone? You betcha. Embarassing "foot-in-mouth" syndrome acting up? Yup.

Worth it? Heck yes.

To anyone who didn't feel like they could socialize with ENWorlders because you don't post very often, I say: DON'T WORRY! Everyone I met was kind and willing to say "hi". I feel like I met a boatload of fun new acquaintances, and a couple of people who could become real friends (with enough time).

Change "GenCon in 2003 and 2004" to read "GenCon from 1999 through 2004" and you have me. If you read my pre-con posts or talked to me at the con, you would know that I chose the same path as Sidereal Knight and also was very pleased to have done so.

Here's to breaking out of your comfort zone - cheers!

 

[IronWolf]

D&D for cash? How does that work?

You've already heard from others, but I'll throw my 2 coppers in. A friend and I played D&D for Cash. We chose from a set of pre-gens and had a party of five. The characters were level seven and the critter in the encounter was supposed to be a CR10. We beat it in 6 rounds with a pretty equally mixed party. The winning team made it in three rounds.