Is Gen Con worth the money?

[buzz]

Not at the moment, no. I'm not really considering going at this point, when I'm still a sophomore in college. Thing is, my friends are way too busy to even consider doing this. And my parents...less than enthusiastic about blowing what should be for college on something as trivial as this.

Well, this changes things. In college, no disposable income, equidistantly too far from either Indy or SoCal... yup, you have more important stuff to be doing with your life (and money) at the moment.

But you just wait. I didn't start going until recently (at the ripe old age of 34). Not saying you'll need to wait that long, but once you're done with school and have a job, you'll be set.

 

[GeorgeFields]

Please help me out; I'm a little skeptical by now. Are four days of pure, unadulterated gaming worth $1000+ dollars to come down, find a hotel, find food, pay to get in, pay for certain events, pay for some merchandise, etc.?

Is Gen Con even accessible to people who don't exactly have money to burn?

I went in 2001. I spent under $500 total, including admission.

For me, it wasn't about getting anything. It was meeting people I knew from the net and meeting people in the industry.

It's worth over $1000 for me.

 

[Lanefan]

It's a 4-to-5 day drive for me to get to Indy, and SoCal always happens at a time of year I can't take time off work. That said, I'd go every year if I could afford it; but it's about a $2000 hit when all is said and done based on my one GenCon venture in 2003.

Was it worth it, to have done it once? Absolutely!

Lanefan

 

[Mistwell]

I find the concept that you pay to get in, and then you pay again to play a game, to be absurd.

I know GenCon has always done this. However, they are almost entirely alone as far as conventions go on this concept. Other geek-oriented conventions do not charge per event. The Comic-Con International charges you to get in the door, and then every event is free (including scheduled gaming events). Science Fiction conventions are similarly pay-at-the-door, as are book conventions. Even other gaming conventions, like Strategeicon here in Los Angeles (Gateway, OrcCon, Gamex) do not charge on a per-game basis. And they offer RPGA tourny play and regular pre-reg and scheduled sign-up games just like GenCon.

Some professional conventions are pay-per-event for seminars, but in those cases they are not pay at the door as well.

As far as I am aware, GenCon is alone in double charging for the theme of the convention itself (pay to get in, and then pay to play the games the convention is about).

In that sense, I find GenCon to be not worth it. I'd rather go to the various other gaming conventions where you pay one time to get in the door and pre-reg or sign-up for the scheduled games without paying again.

But then, I've only been to GenCon SoCal, and not Indy. Perhaps I would find Indy so much better than I would feel it was worth it. Some day, I hope to find out.

 

[billd91]

I find the concept that you pay to get in, and then you pay again to play a game, to be absurd.

I know GenCon has always done this. However, they are almost entirely alone as far as conventions go on this concept. Other geek-oriented conventions do not charge per event. The Comic-Con International charges you to get in the door, and then every event is free (including scheduled gaming events). Science Fiction conventions are similarly pay-at-the-door, as are book conventions. Even other gaming conventions, like Strategeicon here in Los Angeles (Gateway, OrcCon, Gamex) do not charge on a per-game basis. And they offer RPGA tourny play and regular pre-reg and scheduled sign-up games just like GenCon.

Gen Con used to offer a kickback to the GM running the game. You got $1 for each ticket you turned in (the tickets then were $2 for players) and, if you had at least 24 players over at least 3 sessions, you got your admission fee refunded. You were considered part of the attraction of getting people in the door in those days.

I don't have much of a problem charging for games even if it makes Gen Con the odd-man out. The cost isn't very high, really. There are plenty of free things to do at Gen Con even if I don't pony up a lot of money for events.

 

[der_kluge]

I don't pay for events at Gen Con. I either run my own, or I play in pick-up games. The ENWorld pick up games tend to be of a high caliber, and they're free.

The price of the badge is what $60 or something like that. If you drive, the cost of gas from Nebraska (don't know which part, but I'm guessing Omaha) would be about $100. The significant cost is then the hotel itself, and food, which others have given good suggestions about how to eat on the cheap there. Some of the hotels have contintental breakfast available, so then you just have to deal with lunch and dinner. The convention doesn't technically allow food in the convention, but they don't enforce it, and almost everyone violates it.

If you really wanted to do Gen Con on the cheap, you could hitch-hike to Indianapolis, sleep on the convention floor, and eat out of garbage cans.

But I don't recommend or condone any of that!

 

[WhimsyTheFae]

I find the concept that you pay to get in, and then you pay again to play a game, to be absurd.

I know GenCon has always done this. However, they are almost entirely alone as far as conventions go on this concept. Other geek-oriented conventions do not charge per event. The Comic-Con International charges you to get in the door, and then every event is free (including scheduled gaming events). Science Fiction conventions are similarly pay-at-the-door, as are book conventions. Even other gaming conventions, like Strategeicon here in Los Angeles (Gateway, OrcCon, Gamex) do not charge on a per-game basis. And they offer RPGA tourny play and regular pre-reg and scheduled sign-up games just like GenCon.

Some professional conventions are pay-per-event for seminars, but in those cases they are not pay at the door as well.

As far as I am aware, GenCon is alone in double charging for the theme of the convention itself (pay to get in, and then pay to play the games the convention is about).

In that sense, I find GenCon to be not worth it. I'd rather go to the various other gaming conventions where you pay one time to get in the door and pre-reg or sign-up for the scheduled games without paying again.

But then, I've only been to GenCon SoCal, and not Indy. Perhaps I would find Indy so much better than I would feel it was worth it. Some day, I hope to find out.

Apart from True Dungeon (twice for my wife, once for me - not counting this year), I haven't paid for anything other than the badge and merchandise in 7 GenCons.

I only participate in or attend free games and seminars. Last year, with Crothian's Paranoia game, I added non-official games to my list of activities. This is something that I am expanding this year.

So, apart from True Dungeon, I am not paying double...

 

[ColonelHardisson]

Not at the moment, no. I'm not really considering going at this point, when I'm still a sophomore in college. Thing is, my friends are way too busy to even consider doing this. And my parents...less than enthusiastic about blowing what should be for college on something as trivial as this.

I haven't been to GenCon, and I'm not sure if I can make it this year due to money constraints. But I've been to cons. It's always better to be there with somebody, and with the way GenCon is, with so many EN Worlders comprising a ready-made group of friends to hang out with, I can't think of a con being more conducive to having a good time. I used to live in Ohio, and I kick myself now for never having gone to GenCon when it was within driving distance, both when it was in Milwaukee and now that it's in Indy.

But money is a big stumbling block. If you simply can't afford to allot at the least a few hundred dollars for going, then you just can't go. It's frustrating, I know, believe me. Cons are fun, and with the possibility of running into literally hundreds of people I "know" from EN World, it would be beyond any con experience I've had. That's the real draw for GenCon as opposed to just about any con, in my opinion. I'm sure there are online (and offline) communities that arrange to meet at specific cons; that's how cons game about in the first place, more or less. But I can't imagine any that have such a (relatively) tightly-knit group in such numbers.

I just wish more people from EN World were going to GenCon SoCal in Anaheim. I can get there pretty easily now.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

I know GenCon has always done this. However, they are almost entirely alone as far as conventions go on this concept. Other geek-oriented conventions do not charge per event. The Comic-Con International charges you to get in the door, and then every event is free (including scheduled gaming events). Science Fiction conventions are similarly pay-at-the-door, as are book conventions. Even other gaming conventions, like Strategeicon here in Los Angeles (Gateway, OrcCon, Gamex) do not charge on a per-game basis.

I've seen gaming cons where one had to pay to get in and pay to enter events. Matter of fact, the very first one I ever went to, almost 20 years ago, was like that.

But you're right, really. Most other types of cons only charge at the door. Perhaps if GenCon included a certain number of tournament entries with the price of admission, that would help. The main problem seems to be GenCon's sheer size. It dwarfs pretty much any other game convention. Slots in events are filled so quickly, from what I gather, that if you made it so people could just enter for free at all of them you'd have a stampede and fistfights in lines.

 

[Just_Hal]

Plan right, meet up with ENWorlders and have fun!
Only reason I can't go this year is 1) Don't have a booth so hard to get time off, moving 2 weeks from then and 2) Kids school starts that week so hard to take 'em away...one set of my parents live in Indy so full time babysitters . Flight for 3( me and 2 kids) to Indy $1000, meet ENWorlders and buy cool stuff $300, have parents keep kids so dad can "play" priceless!