Aside from my relationship with my parents and one childhood friend, it's the most stable thing in my life--seriously!
Everything else has come and gone but GenCon has remained the one recurring event. It's second nature for me to go now.
I've been going to GenCon since 1981 or '82 (can't quite remember now...).
Ah, imagine the "exhibit hall" being a gymnasium with no air conditioning in a midwest summer (and we liked it!).
GenCon, for me, is all about trying new games, going to seminars, and visiting the exhibit hall.
I make a point to never play a game of anything that I can play at home. What's the point of going all that way, spending money on a hotel and all that, just to do something you could do at home? Bah! Give me new things!
However, I must say I've been playing in the CIRCVS MAGICVS event (it's CIRCVS MAXIMVS the board game from Avalon Hill but played with miniature chariots and without a board--and with fantasy creatures and crew instead of horses and Romans--and it has magic and other nifty new homebrew rules) every year for the past few years. That's turning out to be a tradition. It's the only miniatures game I play at all.
GenCon is about expanding your gaming horizons, learning new things, meeting industry people you would like to meet, and becoming familiar with the state of gaming today--and more.
I remember the debut of many games. Palladium. Rifts, Indiana Jones, some crazy non-RPG called Magic, Shadowrun, and so many more. I remember one year I went up with a group of friends and we had to pay our own way as dirt poor kids and we had to pool our money to buy a single copy of Palladium to share amongst us.
But, the debut I remember best of all is the James Bond RPG. Those...people...had the theme music playing of 007 playing ALL THE TIME in constant repetition during the convention and, oddly, it seemed to be the loudest thing in the aforementioned non-airconditioned gymnasium (it was also across the aisle from the Palladium booth). I think it was right near the entrance, too. Every time I hear that theme, my mind goes back to that sweltering weekend. I also remember the sweaty face of the guy selling...I think it was battlemats (or was it poster maps?) and how relieved he was when the PA announced that the exhibit hall was closing. Ever since that moment, I've given exhibitors space and respect.
Gads. Tons and tons of great and particularly odd memories.
Yes: Go to GenCon. There's tons to do and if you can't find anything to do, then you're really not trying hard enough.
For the past few years, an importer of European games has set up demos in the board game area. The games are set out with all the pieces and the rules. You can just walk up, sit down, read the rules, and go. After you start, one of them will come by and ask if you understand the game and if you need any help. They're great people and it's a wonderful way to learn new boardgames.
Europeans know boardgames. American boardgames suck by comparison.
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