How do I love GenCon? Let me count the ways!
- Thread starter Buttercup
- Start date
John Crichton
First Post
Yeah, I know what you mean. It's all part of coming off the high that is GenCon.RangerWickett said:
Pielorinho
Iron Fist of Pelor
Heh--I was coming back to the thread specifically to mention how cool you and Rob were; I regret that we didn't get to hang out more. Sharing space next year is a definite possibility.John Crichton said:I had a blast with you and your brother in the short time we hung out. Let me know if you want to share some space next year.
But next time, we dice for the beds
.Daniel
Teflon Billy
Explorer
Xath said:
Sign up for mine next year (like you'll fall for that again
)I promise, no touching. I'll punch folks if necessary.
AelyaShade
First Post
Warning:long, skip as needed
My family and I decided to sign up for a bunch of scheduled events this year, so I was unable to meet a lot of you wonderful people. The three ENWorlders that I did get to meet were Buttercup (as I picked up my badge with my daughters in tow), Beldar1215 (at the live reading of the Knights of the Dinner Table), and Suzi Yee (at the Expeditious Retreat booth, I believe, as I was trying to convince hubby to buy the Beast Builder book).
As fortune would have it, we stood in line on Wednesday night buying our 4-day badges and hoping for event seats available. The line moved fairly quickly and, by observation, were efficiently moving people though the entire 4 days. Thankfully, the events we wanted (other than a 4 slot in either True Adventures and/or True Heroes) were available.
Most of Thursday was spent in the dealer room, primarily at the WOTC booth and demo'ing games. I particularly enjoyed Hecatomb. Went to the Party in the Plaza for a free hotdog and pop. The party was not as spectacular as last year's party, but then again, it's hard to top the 30th anniversary of D&D. Still, it was decent enough to attend and give the legs a break from walking the aisles of the dealer room. Ended the evening with the special Whose Line Is It Anyway seminar, which was a blast.
The family and I spent Friday morning getting killed at the Killer Breakfast. I can't believe this is the first year we signed up for it in the 4 years we have been going to GenCon. Definitely something we are going to every year from here on out. Friday was also spent playing the COH RPG. It was definitely fun for both the players (4/6 were my own family and the other 2 players shared our COH online addiction as well) and the GM. For those who shared the room with us, I apologize for our loudness, as we all got really into our characters, to include gratuitous power poses and cheesy superhero lines. Friday was also an early night back at the hotel, since it was Sci-Fi Friday, so had to get our Sci-Fi channie fill of Firefly, Stargate (s), and Battlestar Galactica.
Saturday, we ventured into the Kids' Track room out of curiosity and were surprised to note that this year, the room had volunteers who would watch kiddies who were 5 and up, provided that the parent left a cell phone number and whether or not the kids were allowed roaming privileges. We then embarked on our next level of gaming geekdom: attended our first LARP, which was named City of Heroes, but was actually City of Villains by description. Shame on me for not reading the description thoroughly. Still, had a lot of fun and will definitely try another LARP next year. We then spent a little time in the True Tavern for the atmosphere. Ended the night with a yearly GenCon staple for us : the live reading of the Knights of the Dinner Table.
On Sunday, my girls wanted to spend the morning at Kids Track. As they are older and more responsible this year (my girls, I mean), we signed them over and they got to demo a few games, to include A Big Night, which we ended up purchasing from the dealer hall for them. My youngest brought along her "Hackmaster +12" replica she made last year from the foam workshop and had the Kenzer and Co. team sign it. Had a great conversation with one of the bigwigs from the AEG booth on the possible outcome of the L5R tourney, the new Clout game, and the COH CCG. Last minute demos and purchases usually end our wonderful GenCon experience, and this year was no different.
Hopefully next year I am able to meet more of you wonderful people in person and participate in a pickup game or two
My family and I decided to sign up for a bunch of scheduled events this year, so I was unable to meet a lot of you wonderful people. The three ENWorlders that I did get to meet were Buttercup (as I picked up my badge with my daughters in tow), Beldar1215 (at the live reading of the Knights of the Dinner Table), and Suzi Yee (at the Expeditious Retreat booth, I believe, as I was trying to convince hubby to buy the Beast Builder book).
As fortune would have it, we stood in line on Wednesday night buying our 4-day badges and hoping for event seats available. The line moved fairly quickly and, by observation, were efficiently moving people though the entire 4 days. Thankfully, the events we wanted (other than a 4 slot in either True Adventures and/or True Heroes) were available.
Most of Thursday was spent in the dealer room, primarily at the WOTC booth and demo'ing games. I particularly enjoyed Hecatomb. Went to the Party in the Plaza for a free hotdog and pop. The party was not as spectacular as last year's party, but then again, it's hard to top the 30th anniversary of D&D. Still, it was decent enough to attend and give the legs a break from walking the aisles of the dealer room. Ended the evening with the special Whose Line Is It Anyway seminar, which was a blast.
The family and I spent Friday morning getting killed at the Killer Breakfast. I can't believe this is the first year we signed up for it in the 4 years we have been going to GenCon. Definitely something we are going to every year from here on out. Friday was also spent playing the COH RPG. It was definitely fun for both the players (4/6 were my own family and the other 2 players shared our COH online addiction as well) and the GM. For those who shared the room with us, I apologize for our loudness, as we all got really into our characters, to include gratuitous power poses and cheesy superhero lines. Friday was also an early night back at the hotel, since it was Sci-Fi Friday, so had to get our Sci-Fi channie fill of Firefly, Stargate (s), and Battlestar Galactica.
Saturday, we ventured into the Kids' Track room out of curiosity and were surprised to note that this year, the room had volunteers who would watch kiddies who were 5 and up, provided that the parent left a cell phone number and whether or not the kids were allowed roaming privileges. We then embarked on our next level of gaming geekdom: attended our first LARP, which was named City of Heroes, but was actually City of Villains by description. Shame on me for not reading the description thoroughly. Still, had a lot of fun and will definitely try another LARP next year. We then spent a little time in the True Tavern for the atmosphere. Ended the night with a yearly GenCon staple for us : the live reading of the Knights of the Dinner Table.
On Sunday, my girls wanted to spend the morning at Kids Track. As they are older and more responsible this year (my girls, I mean), we signed them over and they got to demo a few games, to include A Big Night, which we ended up purchasing from the dealer hall for them. My youngest brought along her "Hackmaster +12" replica she made last year from the foam workshop and had the Kenzer and Co. team sign it. Had a great conversation with one of the bigwigs from the AEG booth on the possible outcome of the L5R tourney, the new Clout game, and the COH CCG. Last minute demos and purchases usually end our wonderful GenCon experience, and this year was no different.
Hopefully next year I am able to meet more of you wonderful people in person and participate in a pickup game or two
Jeff Wilder
First Post
God, I hope not. When Bad Axe shut down Shade's incorporeality, I think I left a puddle under my chair.Keeper of Secrets said:
Quickbeam
Explorer
Being that I've been near invisible on the Boards of late, it was incredibly refreshing to be remembered by some old friends...while having the opportunity to make new ones. It was great seeing T-Bill, Crothian, buzz and others, and it was my distinct pleasure to meet PC, Rel, and Fusangite -- although I regret that I did not have the opportunity to game with any of you.
This was easily the most fun I've had attending GenCon and I could share a dozen highlights from my trip. However, I will only pass along one story for the time being to sum up how entertaining my experience was. A friend and I were supposed to play in Sean K. Reynolds Thursday afternoon "When Luna Calls" D&D game to kickoff our Con. Yet there was someone far more determined to to be in that game than I was. Here's the scoop:
When the table our game was to be played at cleared from the previous group, my friend Bob and another fellow sat down. A young man approached the unknown gamer seated at the table and asked if he would be willing to trade his seat in the Thursday game for a seat in Sean's friday game. The unknown gamer politely passed on the session trade offer. The young man then asked my friend Bob if he would be willing to trade session days and times for Sean's game, but Bob indicated that he had a conflicting game scheduled on Friday. So the young man turned to me and asked if I would make the trade he'd just offered two other people at the table. I told him that while I'd love to help, I was scheduled to play in the same Cthulhu Masters Tournament session as the previous person he'd just spoken to.
The young man turns to a few friends hovering near the table with him; quietly stews for perhaps 30-45 seconds; then blurts out to me, "I'll give you a $100 if you'll trade games."
I respond by saying (in my most incredulous voice), "Really?!?"
The young man responds, "I'm completely serious. $100 to swap games right now."
I ask, "What do you know about this game that I don't know?" A fair question IMHO.
The young man says, "I really like Sean's writing and DM style, and I'd like to play with my friends (as he gestures to the three people hovering near the table) who all have tickets for this session."
At which point I say, "OK, done."
I get up from the table, the young man smiles gleefully as he pulls out a wad of cash and peels off five $20 bills. I tell my friend Bob that I'll stay and watch the game, just to see what I passed up. But Bob shakes his head 'no' and says that he'd rather go browse the Exhibitor Hall after fumbling his initiative check to respond to the $100 offer.
FWIW, Most of the money was spent jointly since I didn't feel right keeping it all to myself. In retrospect, I should have taken the cash then offered Sean $50 to run another game for me just to see this guy's expression![:]](http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png "Devious :]")
!!
This was easily the most fun I've had attending GenCon and I could share a dozen highlights from my trip. However, I will only pass along one story for the time being to sum up how entertaining my experience was. A friend and I were supposed to play in Sean K. Reynolds Thursday afternoon "When Luna Calls" D&D game to kickoff our Con. Yet there was someone far more determined to to be in that game than I was. Here's the scoop:
When the table our game was to be played at cleared from the previous group, my friend Bob and another fellow sat down. A young man approached the unknown gamer seated at the table and asked if he would be willing to trade his seat in the Thursday game for a seat in Sean's friday game. The unknown gamer politely passed on the session trade offer. The young man then asked my friend Bob if he would be willing to trade session days and times for Sean's game, but Bob indicated that he had a conflicting game scheduled on Friday. So the young man turned to me and asked if I would make the trade he'd just offered two other people at the table. I told him that while I'd love to help, I was scheduled to play in the same Cthulhu Masters Tournament session as the previous person he'd just spoken to.
The young man turns to a few friends hovering near the table with him; quietly stews for perhaps 30-45 seconds; then blurts out to me, "I'll give you a $100 if you'll trade games."
I respond by saying (in my most incredulous voice), "Really?!?"
The young man responds, "I'm completely serious. $100 to swap games right now."
I ask, "What do you know about this game that I don't know?" A fair question IMHO.
The young man says, "I really like Sean's writing and DM style, and I'd like to play with my friends (as he gestures to the three people hovering near the table) who all have tickets for this session."
At which point I say, "OK, done."
I get up from the table, the young man smiles gleefully as he pulls out a wad of cash and peels off five $20 bills. I tell my friend Bob that I'll stay and watch the game, just to see what I passed up. But Bob shakes his head 'no' and says that he'd rather go browse the Exhibitor Hall after fumbling his initiative check to respond to the $100 offer.
FWIW, Most of the money was spent jointly since I didn't feel right keeping it all to myself. In retrospect, I should have taken the cash then offered Sean $50 to run another game for me just to see this guy's expression
!!
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