WBC 2014

repoman wrote:
Marveling at the Zepplin Hanger sized building known as the expo center that had numerous tables, great lighting, and it's own set of bathrooms that were not covered in piss and was entirely unoccupied (seriously there were never more than 3 tables with people) while up in the horribly lit theater people fought like an over populated colony of rats for table space. I have NO idea why the Expo isn't the default open gaming area. It even has a concession booth where they could sell beer and snacks.

Other stuff but it have to go to work now.

Its too far from "the action" hence the deserted nature. Last time they brought up the idea, people revolted at the mere thought; the hard core open gamers felt like they were being singled out/ostracized.

The new place has more space; there apparently will be dedicated space set aside for longer wargames. As opposed to the usual suspects already bitching up a storm over on FB and BGG about the new place, I look forward to it.

People just set in their ways. Silly. Makes no difference if the open gaming is by the tournament rooms, especially if it's in a dim cave up a flight of steps as it is now. Sigh, no matter.

I'd be surprised if the Host even makes it no next summer if the rumor I heard that they are having a hard time making payroll is true. That's usually the death knell of any business.

In either case, I too look forward to the move. I think it's a total positive.

Watch out Msample..next time I won't settle for a brief hello. I will force you to kick my ass in Combat Commander.

The far end of the 200 wing was shut down. I went down that way looking for ice and found about 25 rooms with no door handles, likely a loss of $15,000 in revenue for the week. The Host is certainly struggling and I won't be surprised if we end up at the new venue in 2015 out of necessity.

I'm a little surprised that people are indicating that part of the decision was that there's no place on the East Coast big enough to hold us. I can't imagine that's even remotely close to true. But the new place looks nicer.

I need to decide if WBC in general is worth the expense when I can rent a place that sleeps 20 for four days for $900 on the Delaware shore. Straight up, this will never be my family's vacation, so I need a bed, a bathroom, and a table for my gaming convention fix. I don't go there for a week and so I don't need skeet shooting or artisan bread or any of that other stuff.

My guess is that the new venue will double my costs since I do WBC on the cheap. I'd do better just throwing my own mini-convention instead, inviting who I want. It was a blast this past May when we did it, much cheaper and overall I enjoyed it more. I'll miss some of my friends at WBC, but with any luck one or two of them will make it out to my thing as well.

S.

Sagrilarus wrote:
I'm a little surprised that people are indicating that part of the decision was that there's no place on the East Coast big enough to hold us. I can't imagine that's even remotely close to true. But the new place looks nicer. S.

Are there places that can hold us? Sure. Cheap enough ? Don't think so or they would have gone there. Historicon, which used to be held at the Host, moved several years ago and the next best option they could find was Fredericksburg VA, which if you're driving from any point north of Lancaster, blows.

Agreed -- it's about cost. I have no problem with that, especially in light of my post above. But there's a lot of venues that can carry the size.

I think WBC has taken a step up the cost ladder with the new venue out of necessity. The rooms aren't all that much more expensive, but I think the add on costs are going to increase as well, and likely by more than a bit.

S.

So out of curiosity, I called 7 Pines Resort today to get some ballpark figures for what it would cost to rent any of the out buildings for a week. These prices are based on current rates as the convention is too far out for specifics yet.

The cabins seem to run about $100 per person per night based on full occupancy of the building. These are the ones that come with kitchen, living room, porch or deck, grill and one or two bathrooms depending on how big they are. Most have several rooms with queen size beds and at least one with bunk beds.

The condos run around $2500 for the week based on a full compliment of 10 people. The bedrooms all seem to have queen size beds though one will have a king and two twins (?) though I may have misheard. They only have one bathroom but even if you cut the occupancy in half that's only about $500 for the week per person give or take rate increases and taxes.

The hotel itself, as we were told at the WBC will be comparable to staying at the Host for the week which was what $800 or so?

Looking around on their website the place does look amazing. Of course they are publicity shots so they ought to.

repoman wrote: The cabins seem to run about $100 per person per night based on full occupancy of the building.

Are you indicating they charge by the person, or are they charging a multiple of that per night and don't want to speak the big number out loud? Presumably it's something like $600 per night and sleeps six? That's significantly more than the hotel price that charges $120 for four bed slots (i.e., $30 a person "full-occupancy").

The condos run around $2500 for the week based on a full compliment of 10 people.

The condos are $2500 for a week off-season, and apparently based on the number of people in them as well? (I cannot imagine they mean $2500 per person for 10 people because that's crazy.) It's a condo, why are they charging by the person? I doubt they stop out to count, but I'm very confused. I've rented a dozen condos and never had to pay by the person.

Love to hear what the prices are during ski time.

I'll be honest, my cost at the Host wasn't making me very happy this year either. This past Spring's trip to Bethany Beach spoiled the hell out of me and I think I'm not going back to WBC anymore regardless of location. I can gather my friends at a dedicated location for 20% of the price, food and beverage included.

May 2015, four days for $900 regardless of occupancy, 20 beds in the place.

S.

Yah I failed to complete my thought. The rates are flat and I'm extrapolating out what the cost would be if you got enough people to fill it up and split it with you.

The cabins have various numbers of beds but all seem to boil down to about $100 a person per night if you had enough people to take every bed and split it with you.

The condos are the same thing. $2500 per week but if you filled all 10 beds it'd be $250 per person for the week.

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.

repoman wrote: The condos are the same thing. $2500 per week but if you filled all 10 beds it'd be $250 per person for the week.

Whew!

Alright, so don't take this the wrong way, I understand being concerned about the price, especially because it is a long con and those prices add up. But reading the thread on BGG about cost and the inadequacies of the facilities got me wondering what they were really talking about, were we talking about moving from 4 to 3 star accommodations? So I went on tripadvisor and looked at the user posted photos of the facility.

OMG. It is a destroyed shithole. How do you guys go there year after year? Jesus christ, I would compromise 10 dollars a day or two additional hours of driving or whatever NOT to go to the Host in a second, we're not talking about downsizing a *bit* to a normal best western type accommodation or holiday inn or whatever. Fuck man, I'd be afraid I'd be bitten by a fucking rat or something. I guess it doesn't surprise me that a gross group (boardgamers) is perfectly satisified with staying at a really gross hotel.

I don't mean to offend, I'm not a prince or something that has to stay at immaculate downtown hotels, but fuck man that place would not have me coming back due to the place! Maybe my tolerance of driving helps since I live in place where I have to drive at least 5 hours to get anywhere.

I have been polite about not explaining the full breadth of my experience this past year. Had my wife been along we would most certainly have changed hotels late Thursday evening.

The condition of the Host has deteriorated significantly since my last visit in 2012. It's my opinion it will not be open for business this time next year, and WBC may end up canceled or held in a tent somewhere. Two years ago the place looked old but tended to, this year the place looked broken down and neglected.

S.

Sagrilarus wrote: I have been polite about not explaining the full breadth of my experience this past year. Had my wife been along we would most certainly have changed hotels late Thursday evening.

S.

No need to be polite. This is the internet.

Well to be fair, it was because most people were bitching about the condition of the Host that caused them to look for a new place. I'm the last person to defend the place. It's terrible. The pictures though may make it seem worse.

I think you would see the same amount of complaints if they stayed or moved to a different place. Like most internet stuff it's the vocal malcontents that you read. The vast majority are quietly indifferent or pleased.

7 Pines seems leaps and bounds better. I look forward to going there.

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.