Gen Con 2014

Thanks, I got a room. Got my ticket, got my ride. And now it sounds like Ignacy will have a new faction for Theseus there!

hotseatgames wrote: It is crazy how fast the gencon room blocks disappeared. I registered about 20 minutes late and ended up stuck out by the airport. I'll definitely be following Pete's above strategy.

I just booked, Mark. Get it fast, rooms are disappearing again. There's premium rooms at the Westin and Hilton Garden Inn downtown. Hilton is 329 a night, Westin is 409 a night. Shit is outrageous.

We're at the Crowne Plaza Indy Airport. It's 229 a night, double room. Nice little bar nearby, and one in the hotel. We should all plan on making an Official F:AT GenCon Hotel so that we can take over a floor and game it up.

I'm at the Wyndham Indianapolis West. Looks like we are about 1 exit apart.

I was just looking at the event list. Looks like the game library now costs $14 per day and $16 per night. That seems excessive to say the least. I'll pass.

hotseatgames wrote: I was just looking at the event list. Looks like the game library now costs $14 per day and $16 per night. That seems excessive to say the least. I'll pass.

If I am driving over from KY (read: Still own a KY home) then I can pick you up. If not, I'll probably end up foregoing a car altogether. We'll see if we can bribe the shuttle guys.

I appreciate the offer, but I've got 2 of my krew (tm) going with me, and one of them demands that he drive.

Allow me to give some sage advice:

Driving downtown is a clusterfuck, eclipsed only by trying to find parking. It's an utter mess.

I was referring to driving between your hotel and ours, but since you have wheels, we're all set for games and debauchery.

Agreed! I look forward to buying you a beer.

hotseatgames wrote: I was just looking at the event list. Looks like the game library now costs $14 per day and $16 per night. That seems excessive to say the least. I'll pass.

I think you're looking at the Mayfair "Open Gaming" slots, which are absurd. If you look in the ZED (Miscellaneous) events for "Gen Con Games Library & Pick-Up Play Room" you'll see it's $10/day ($6 for morning/afternoon, $4 for evening.)

I'll have to re-check; maybe I got a bit cross-eyed, which is easy for me to do with such a large spreadsheet.

Finally letting myself get pretty stoked about this. I don't have a lot of expectations, so we'll see how it goes. I traded some stuff in the math trade, bought a thing or two off auctions, and preordered a thing. Mostly I'm just looking to try out and play some games.

Is there a place we could meet up?

My first time going and I'm looking forward to it. Will be demoing Dinero on Friday afternoon but other than that I'm totally free. Hoping to get in massive amount of game playing, not so much focused on picking up new stuff.

If I don't spring for the game library, will it be very easy to find random people playing games that I can join or are the logistics a bit of a pain?

charlest wrote: If I don't spring for the game library, will it be very easy to find random people playing games that I can join or are the logistics a bit of a pain?

In the evening the board game room (not the library) becomes a large space where free open gaming can happen. During the day it is harder as there are many tournaments/events.

I think they extended the dealer hall into this area so space might be harder to come by but I am confident space can be found in the evenings.

there are also nearby hotels where people play: 2nd floor Hyatt, 2nd floor Marriott has a couple of rooms by the skybridge, I think 2nd floor JW has a couple of tables. I am sure the Westin has similar space.

Ahhh, GenCon...Last time I went to GenCon, I met up with this crazy mathematician trying to find a distribution chain to sell his baseball card like collectable fantasy card game. I thought he was nuts, but apparently he did OK.

I've gone to ten GenCons over the years, including eight trips to Milwaukee.

My first GenCon was in '82, at University of Wisconsin - Kenosha campus. Role-playing games were the big deal back then, and everybody was very accessible. I met and talked with Gary Gygax, Steve Jackson, Steve Perrin, Jeff Herman, Jack Dee, Jerry Ward, and even played in an rpg session run by Bill Willingham. The overall gathering couldn't have been more than a few thousand people. There was already a pre-registration process and tickets for gaming events, but everything was pretty casual and fun. A cafeteria type area was converted into a free movie theater that was showing some great movies, including Alien and Dawn of the Dead. There was plenty of tables everywhere for open gaming, and the dealer room was not a huge part of the convention.

The early Milwaukee years were very free-wheeling and fun. Instead of worrying about getting into specific events, it was easier to buy generic tickets and just show up. Some people were no-shows and you could claim their spot with generic tickets, and some game masters were happy to accommodate an extra player or two. Magic and all the other CCGs became a huge deal that strained the large capacity for open gaming. Many MtG players would just sit down and play on any available floor space, and by day three, it wasn't unusual to see MtG players passed out on the floor from exhaustion, cards spilling from their hands. The dealers room blew up into a vast spectacle, making shopping a big part of the convention. Almost anything you could imagine was for sale there.

The final Milwaukee years, there was a distinct shortage of open gaming space aside from Game Bay 7, where you could check out games from a game library with your driver's license. Aside from big CCG tournaments, it was getting nearly impossible to use generic tickets to get into events. The new convention hall was too vertical, so there were lines of people moving from one escalator to the next. It was still a reasonably fun time. Board games were making a definite comeback during this time, and rpgs were not so big anymore.

My last GenCon was the first year at Indy, the town where I grew up. The dealers room got even bigger. The open gaming area was bigger. There was an insanely long line for people who didn't pre-register for the convention. Generic tickets were useless, and it was hard to get into any decent events without pre-registration. Downtown Indy lacked the personality of the Wisconsin locations, and the convention center seemed particularly barren outside of the dealers rooms. I probably spent half the convention off-site, because I was staying with a close friend who lived less than a mile away. He bought a keg just before the convention, so there was a floating population of local gamers at his house, with sometimes as many as two dozen people hanging out, gaming, and swilling down cheap beer. It was fun, but didn't feel like GenCon anymore. But that's just my experience. Moving GenCon to the city where I grew up changed it into less of a gaming experience and more of a reunion with old friends experience. Some of my old gaming buddies were meeting up with me in Wisconsin for GenCon over the years, but we were all more focused on gaming together those years instead of just hanging out.

I would still like to hit GenCon again one of these years, but it might be a long time. After ten months without a job, I am now working full-time again, but for $20,000 a year less than before. I'm getting by, but I can't afford a vacataion at this time.