Something missing at GenCon this year?
- Thread starter Shemeska
- Start date
BiggusGeekus
That's Latin for "cool"
Teflon Billy said:
wingsandsword
Legend
I'll certainly agree that the swag was quite light this year. I got less swag from all 4 days of Gen Con than I got the past two years just visiting for a day, in Swag totals, I got:
1 Hecatomb T-Shirt
Some dice
1 Mini from Magnificent Egos
1 Mini from the Paint & Take
1 Dark Naga D&D Promo Mini (I know WotC had other promo minis, but I couldn't get them, I never found out where they were giving them out, at their booth they only had Dark Nagas, and when I asked about anything else, I was rebuffed).
1 Hecatomb T-Shirt
Some dice
1 Mini from Magnificent Egos
1 Mini from the Paint & Take
1 Dark Naga D&D Promo Mini (I know WotC had other promo minis, but I couldn't get them, I never found out where they were giving them out, at their booth they only had Dark Nagas, and when I asked about anything else, I was rebuffed).
Now, that's the truth, more than once I wandered by, saw somebody and thought "Nice Costume!" and after wandering by another time or two and seeing them back at the same booth I realized it was a booth babe instead of a gamer in a costume wandering around. Getting some model to dress in an outlandish costume to get attention to your booth works less when there are equally attractive congoers in equally outlandish outfits walking around (not a whole lot of them, but certainly enough to make you think twice about who's a congoer and who's a vendor.)Hand of Evil said:Booth babes - the problem with GenCon and booth babes is that you do not always know if it is a gamer in costume or a vendor.
DonTadow
First Post
Outside of the lack of swag, which surprised me as I looked in my bag (notice the bag was smaller this year) was the lack of people and fewer exhibitors. Though it was only slight, the exhibitor hall did not have as many exhibitors as in previous years. There was also fewer "new" games being demonstrated by smaller or independent companies than in previous years. I"m guessing the prices must have goine up on exhibition space.
Also, there seemed to be fewer people this year. Perhaps gencon had superb organization skills this year but i dont remember seeing any "too" crowded lines, even on the busy days of Friday and Saturday. Thursday there was a crowd to buy badges but that deminished quickly.
Also, there seemed to be fewer people this year. Perhaps gencon had superb organization skills this year but i dont remember seeing any "too" crowded lines, even on the busy days of Friday and Saturday. Thursday there was a crowd to buy badges but that deminished quickly.
wingsandsword
Legend
All the attendance figures I have heard quoted said it was 40,000+ this year, making it the largest Gen Con ever and the largest con Indianapolis hosts. Since events are spread out though the convention center and 5 hotels, one area can be really crowded with an event, while others relatively empty, all while having huge overall attendance. They had horrible registration lines in previous years, but those were largely from poor organization (Thursday morning registration line for me went surprisingly fast, I recall the horror of 2003), and I saw plenty of long lines (Serenity RPG, WotC demos, Mage: The Awakening, SR4) ect. I also saw a very long line for the "Evening with Dean Haglund" event in the Embassy Suites while I was searching for the ENnies. So there were plenty of long lines, the con was just large enough that a long line could form somewhere and you not see it.DonTadow said:
As for the D&D promo minis, I know the Elminster one was given out at the Ed Greenwood roast (I think I was at the preview of D&D2 at the time), but when were they giving out the gwenhywvar minis? They just dumped Dark Naga in droves on the WotC retail counter for the taking, but asking about any other promo minis I got a blunt "there is nothing else", and I didn't see any being handed out?
DonTadow
First Post
wingsandsword said:
Perhaps that was it, better organization this year. Also, in hindsight, the events ticket places were in different spots where they could use stantions alot which made the lines seem smaller than what they were. I didn't have events anywhere but the convention center (and the marriott where i stayed) . With events at all the different hotels, is indy running the risk of turning into another Wisconsin.
kigmatzomat
Legend
I think the fact that half the coupon book was blank is a good indicator that even Gen Con LLC was surprised at vendor response. The vendor area was smaller simply by the inclusion of the artist's alley. I'm not against it since it boosts the artists' take at the con (last time I didn't notice the Alley until sunday!) but it was a good chunk of space that would normally go to traditional dealers.
I think the most telling thing about the state of swag was the WotC give away line. It was horrific! I had a demo card that I ended up giving to some kid b/c I couldn't justify waiting a half-hour in line. I did the Yourmove.com "Battleground" demo to get the 10 free d6s. The game was pretty slick and if I was planning some large battles I might consider getting a set or two to handle the tactical front. Other than the CCGs that I don't use that came with the bag, nada. I'm going to drop by a game shop later and see what I can get for the cards; if I get $5 I'll be happy.
I think the most telling thing about the state of swag was the WotC give away line. It was horrific! I had a demo card that I ended up giving to some kid b/c I couldn't justify waiting a half-hour in line. I did the Yourmove.com "Battleground" demo to get the 10 free d6s. The game was pretty slick and if I was planning some large battles I might consider getting a set or two to handle the tactical front. Other than the CCGs that I don't use that came with the bag, nada. I'm going to drop by a game shop later and see what I can get for the cards; if I get $5 I'll be happy.
Cthulhu's Librarian
First Post
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