Who attends GenCon?
- Thread starter tx7321
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Thunderfoot
Hero
YAH!!!!!!Crothian said:This is my fifth year!! I'll be running Paranoia again!!
Save me a seat! I am DEFINITELY going again - (2nd year)
But to answer your questions, as has been stated before - ENWorld con had the best games. As for cost, that depends, where are you coming from and how are getting there, where are you staying, what are your eating habits and what are your spending habits?
1) Travel - if you aren't dsriving long distance, air fare can kick you in the butt - if you know that you are going, buy your tickets now to save $$
2) Lodging - If you stay in the area of the conference (my strong recommendation) rooms are expensive (but much cheaper with the conference rate (about $400 off the norm)). If you stay on the outskirts, you will save a ton of dough, BUT, you'll probably spend just as much on commutting back and forth.
3) Food - If you like steak and ale or wine and cheese, they have it, of course you'll pay a lot, if you survive on bread and butter, cost is negliable. If you eat a lot, but don't care about what, I would suggest bringing your own to cut costs.
4) Buy me - NOW!!! - If you are easily swayed by impulse buys, bring your loan paperwork and the number to your Swiss Bank account, you'll need them. If you are a cautious, planning spender, you may miss out on some bargains early, but won't go broke. I would suggest that you save "regular" purchases, (stuff you can get in "real" life) for home time, there is no reason to buy all of your source books at GenCon unless youo know that it will never make it OUT of Gen Con (there were a couple of limited releases). However, I stumbled upon a great terrain resource that I would not have know about otherwise and got a great deal at convention prices. So if you are a bargain hunter, come hungry and loaded for bear because you just don't know what you'll find in the halls. (I refuse to make the Gump remark).
Hope this helps.
Thunderfoot
Hero
Yeah, wth the exception of True Dungeon, I wasn't impressed with the other games I saw, the three ENworld pick-ups however were awesome...Piratecat said:
PS Piratecat, are you going to try to do Paranoia again? I'm hoping not to play an NPC this year.
Lhorgrim
Explorer
I went for the first time in in 2005. It was my first trip to any con of any kind, even though I've been gaming since the 80's. That first year I was so overwhelmed by the immenseness of the the whole thing that I didn't socialize much. I think I spent the first two days just going from vendor to vendor in the dealer's hall. I quickly realized that I had not brought enough money to both buy all the cool stuff and eat, so I stopped eating on the second day. 
When I went in 2006, I volunteered at the ENnies booth and got to work a shift with Buttercup. She was great to talk to, and I met more EN worlders in the couple hours I was at the booth than I did in all of 2005. I also got to go to Bucca de Beppo with a bunch of great EN worlders including diaglo, fusangite, TruthSeeker, FickleGm, Psion, Buttercup, and SteveJung. That was my highlight of the con. The food was fantastic, the conversation fun, and diaglo rolled up an OD&D character (ended up being a thief character I think) on a napkin 3d6 in order. That man don't even need notebook paper to run a game!
I don't get to go to GenCon this year due to work and finance issues
, but I swear that I'll be at the Embassy Suites for GenCon in 2008 no matter what!
When I went in 2006, I volunteered at the ENnies booth and got to work a shift with Buttercup. She was great to talk to, and I met more EN worlders in the couple hours I was at the booth than I did in all of 2005. I also got to go to Bucca de Beppo with a bunch of great EN worlders including diaglo, fusangite, TruthSeeker, FickleGm, Psion, Buttercup, and SteveJung. That was my highlight of the con. The food was fantastic, the conversation fun, and diaglo rolled up an OD&D character (ended up being a thief character I think) on a napkin 3d6 in order. That man don't even need notebook paper to run a game!
I don't get to go to GenCon this year due to work and finance issues
, but I swear that I'll be at the Embassy Suites for GenCon in 2008 no matter what!PatrickLawinger
First Post
Gencon
I'll be going this year (again). Since the move to Indy I believe I missed one, BUT while it has been in Indy I have actually gone for all of it. I used to live in Milwaukee and when I would go "for GenCon" really, I was going to see family and friends and spent about 1-1 1/2 days at the convention itself. When I was older (ie. Married and with kids) we would visit my folks at their cottage and I would spend a day at the convention. I don't know how many I went to, or missed, and I didn't always play DnD or RPGs when it was in Milwaukee, there used to be a group of guys with incredible civil and rev. war scenes and troups that were a total blast to watch (and take part of, there were so many darn figs they needed help).
Now that I actually write game material, I spend more time at the convention (some of that time is "business" time). In other words, Indy has been more expensive for me, but, I get more gaming in and spend more time having fun.
The funny thing is, this year my wife is almost "sending me." We have a new child on the way (any day now actually, due in less than 3 weeks) and she already arranged her call schedule so she could be with the kids (this'll be #4) so I could go. I wasn't planning on going, but she told me, "Hey, you need this, it is your break, you are going." In case I haven't mentioned it, I love my wife.
Patrick
I'll be going this year (again). Since the move to Indy I believe I missed one, BUT while it has been in Indy I have actually gone for all of it. I used to live in Milwaukee and when I would go "for GenCon" really, I was going to see family and friends and spent about 1-1 1/2 days at the convention itself. When I was older (ie. Married and with kids) we would visit my folks at their cottage and I would spend a day at the convention. I don't know how many I went to, or missed, and I didn't always play DnD or RPGs when it was in Milwaukee, there used to be a group of guys with incredible civil and rev. war scenes and troups that were a total blast to watch (and take part of, there were so many darn figs they needed help).
Now that I actually write game material, I spend more time at the convention (some of that time is "business" time). In other words, Indy has been more expensive for me, but, I get more gaming in and spend more time having fun.
The funny thing is, this year my wife is almost "sending me." We have a new child on the way (any day now actually, due in less than 3 weeks) and she already arranged her call schedule so she could be with the kids (this'll be #4) so I could go. I wasn't planning on going, but she told me, "Hey, you need this, it is your break, you are going." In case I haven't mentioned it, I love my wife
.Patrick
Steve Jung said:
Actually, according to the Gen Con website, there is a Gen Con UK this year, at the end of August. And the first Gen Con Australia is scheduled for NEXT July, 2008, not this July; just go to the main Gen Con webpage, and look under the "Conventions" tab for information about all these Cons.
And if you guys liked the dealer's room last year; wait till you see it this year.
I'm A Banana
Potassium-Rich
Who attends GenCon?
NERDS!
(I'm just jealous 'cuz I can't chew my pen all coyly + can't go to GenCon since it moved out of Wisc)
Steve Jung
Explorer
Whoops. Consider me corrected. What page was I looking at then? 2007 will be my third GenCon. Gaming with ENWorlders is more fun than with the random people.marimacc said:Actually, according to the Gen Con website, there is a Gen Con UK this year, at the end of August. And the first Gen Con Australia is scheduled for NEXT July, 2008, not this July; just go to the main Gen Con webpage, and look under the "Conventions" tab for information about all these Cons.
And if you guys liked the dealer's room last year; wait till you see it this year.
Hypersmurf
Moderatarrrrh...
Kamikaze Midget said:
NERDS!
-Hyp.
