DMZ2112
Chaotic Looseleaf
For what it's worth, I was there, and I'm glad I went, but I have to agree with the sentiment that it was not the big year I was expecting.
[MENTION=70]Nellisir[/MENTION] is right -- Wizards released the D&D5 PHB two weeks ago, regardless of what the ad copy states. They stole a lot of their own thunder. What I remember MOST from Gen Con 2000 was picking up my PHB and spending all night making characters.
This year, every fan I spoke to already had a copy and were weirded out by Wizards giving them out as prizes. My fellow judges who ran enough slots to earn a copy were kind of annoyed that they had to /not buy/ the PHB for a week because they knew they were getting a copy at the con. Even more odd was giving the Starter Set as a prize, because if you're already a player in the Adventurers League what the heck do you need a newbie DM product for? And again, if you're anything like me, /you probably already owned it anyway/.
The Tyranny of Dragons launch party was /bizarre/; a bit like trying to LARP at a high school dance. The 40th anniversary "celebration" basically amounted to three inaudible speeches from Wizards staffers I didn't recognize.
Now, I had a truly enormous amount of fun. I chose to run four slots of Adventurers' League content, met four great tables of players, and am coming away with stories I will never forget. I got an awesome D&D branded judge's dashiki that goes perfectly with my brand new critical-miss fez. I also played my first game of Legend of the Five Rings and participated in my first L5R court LARP. I played a game of Carcassone with coaster-tiles and shot glass-meeples filled with Dragon's Milk. I scored a copy of the highly sought after Dead of Winter as a gift for my sister. I shook Mike Mearls' hand and asked him to please fix the halfling (he laughed, pantomimed having a huge head, and said, 'We'll see').
But in terms of wow factor? Yeah, I was expecting more from Gen Con 2014. I bought my badge in January because of D&D5 and the 40th anniversary, and "nothing to write home about" pretty much covers that.
Oh, and if you're ever tempted in future I would not bother with trying to get a VIG badge. It's nice, but it's nowhere near $500 nice.
[MENTION=70]Nellisir[/MENTION] is right -- Wizards released the D&D5 PHB two weeks ago, regardless of what the ad copy states. They stole a lot of their own thunder. What I remember MOST from Gen Con 2000 was picking up my PHB and spending all night making characters.
This year, every fan I spoke to already had a copy and were weirded out by Wizards giving them out as prizes. My fellow judges who ran enough slots to earn a copy were kind of annoyed that they had to /not buy/ the PHB for a week because they knew they were getting a copy at the con. Even more odd was giving the Starter Set as a prize, because if you're already a player in the Adventurers League what the heck do you need a newbie DM product for? And again, if you're anything like me, /you probably already owned it anyway/.
The Tyranny of Dragons launch party was /bizarre/; a bit like trying to LARP at a high school dance. The 40th anniversary "celebration" basically amounted to three inaudible speeches from Wizards staffers I didn't recognize.
Now, I had a truly enormous amount of fun. I chose to run four slots of Adventurers' League content, met four great tables of players, and am coming away with stories I will never forget. I got an awesome D&D branded judge's dashiki that goes perfectly with my brand new critical-miss fez. I also played my first game of Legend of the Five Rings and participated in my first L5R court LARP. I played a game of Carcassone with coaster-tiles and shot glass-meeples filled with Dragon's Milk. I scored a copy of the highly sought after Dead of Winter as a gift for my sister. I shook Mike Mearls' hand and asked him to please fix the halfling (he laughed, pantomimed having a huge head, and said, 'We'll see').
But in terms of wow factor? Yeah, I was expecting more from Gen Con 2014. I bought my badge in January because of D&D5 and the 40th anniversary, and "nothing to write home about" pretty much covers that.
Oh, and if you're ever tempted in future I would not bother with trying to get a VIG badge. It's nice, but it's nowhere near $500 nice.