WBC 2014

I heard someone say that the owner of the resort is also the owner of the Pirates. Don't know if that's true, but it would seem to provide an opportunity for a value-added benefit to holding the convention there.

S.

Yeah, Nutting owns both, and was widely despised until the Pirates broke the 20 year losing streak. Now he's merely tolerated. Commercials for Seven Springs are a staple of every Pirates radio broadcast.

I do think Sag is right, this all highlights the utility of having small cons with people you know pretty well and renting a space for the group. Unless you're really super competitive and want to win the "world" title at some minor niche boardgame, which requires a huge con.

I hear people's description of these cons and the people who have a great time are really at sort of a minor mini con within the con anyway.

To completely derail this and piggyback on Sag's comments.

The May Beach Trip was awesome. Other than the local beach areas, are there any other convenient locations that have houses set up to sleep 20+ around the area? (i.e. rooms with 8 bunk beds in them, etc.). Another "local-con" like that off-season but when the weather is still usually good - May, October, etc. may be viable.

black inferno wrote:

daveroswell wrote: Does anyone know how far a drive it is from the Seven Springs Resort to Pittsburgh, or more specifically PNC Park? I wouldn't mind catching a Pirates game, or going to the stadium at least once.

An hour or so; the big variable is whether there's bullshit going down on the Parkway East, an accident, construction around the Squirrel Hill Tunnel, etc.

As a lifelong Pirates fan, I'm biased, but it's hard to imagine a better ballpark experience than PNC. It's even better now that the Pirates are actually good.

Another thread hijack: Going to Wrigley Field is always awesome, and the Cubs have pretty much always sucked.

The only thing you get at the con that you don't at the Beach House is the vendor room. In a pinch we could huddle over a laptop and order from Cool Stuff, calling them if we want to haggle the price down.

S.

Yeah, I can see why the vendor room was so fucking key in the pre-internet age. Now, though?

daveroswell wrote:

black inferno wrote:

daveroswell wrote: Does anyone know how far a drive it is from the Seven Springs Resort to Pittsburgh, or more specifically PNC Park? I wouldn't mind catching a Pirates game, or going to the stadium at least once.

An hour or so; the big variable is whether there's bullshit going down on the Parkway East, an accident, construction around the Squirrel Hill Tunnel, etc.

As a lifelong Pirates fan, I'm biased, but it's hard to imagine a better ballpark experience than PNC. It's even better now that the Pirates are actually good.

Another thread hijack: Going to Wrigley Field is always awesome, and the Cubs have pretty much always sucked.

That'll definitely change; the Cubs have the best-stocked farm in baseball right now, even moreso after the Samardzija trade. The NL Central is going to be really interesting 2-3 years from now, and it's already the most competitive division in the bigs.

As much as like the chalet idea, my fear is that it'd turn into a isolated group anyhow. If we have 15-20 guys and all our games in the chalet already, then why would we trek to the main building?

I rarely play the tourneys at WBC anymore and prefer the open gaming. The only exception I've found is that it's easier to get a big multiplayer game like Here I Stand in with a pre-scheduled game rather than trying to organize around the schedule of five or six of my friends. That takes whiskey and willpower....but it's more fun.

Sag - We still have our Whiskey-Powered Struggle of Empires to get in.

Uba---that reasoning makes sense.

Well keep an eye out, I may be doing another one in October. I have a time share week burning a hole in my pocket and my wife is talking about splitting it.

S.

Gary Sax wrote: Yeah, I can see why the vendor room was so fucking key in the pre-internet age. Now, though?

While it is not as key as it used to be, a vendor with some decent prices, no shipping, and the lure of instant gratification can do some decent volume. GMT sold a ton of copies of Thunder Alley for instance ( and would have sold a ton of Fire in the Lake had it come out a bit earlier; they only handed out prepubs ) .

I am with Shelly in that I still like traditional cons. I am a bit of a gaming omnivore, and WBC offers a little of everything. While I am not necessarily a competitive player, tourneys offer me hassle free scheduling versus the cat herding of trying to get said group of 20 people to agree to play the same game.

The collective kvetching on the WBC Facebook page and BGG are pretty entertaining to read. On WBC its people concerned with rising costs; on BGG its a couple whiners complaining how seemingly isolated the new venue is ( and one of whom it eventually comes out basically commuted to the Host since he lived nearby ) and increased travel time. Basically, I think most of the attrition will be from the day trippers and weekenders, not many of which are people I gamed with on a regular basis. I look forward to a venue that is not one step away from being condemned.

I've been reading it too. I just hate it when people treat something that was obviously a process people (elected people, too!) agonized over and talk about how it was some snap decision that they didn't get enough information for.

Just finished the 12-page saga on BGG discussing the move. It's absolutely hysterical. I'd have a hard time whittling it down to a Top 5 highlights reel, but the guy who said a 6 hour drive is something that requires a whole day of recovery could take top honors.