Brave New World
I'm going to get the Bad and the Ugly out of the way first, because overall Gen Con is about 99% pure gamer awesomeness. But if you haven't gone, here is the other 1%.
The Bad: Disappointment and Anger
Gen Con is amazing. If you have a laid back personality you will likely not be frustrated at Gen Con and can skip down to the Funk.Still here? If you have read some or all of my columns over the years (God bless you if you have) you may have noticed two things: 1. I am not mellow. 2. I am working on being mellower.
Gen Con has some disappointments. You will have GMs that totally, irredeemably suck. You won't get that game you stood in line for or a big nameless corporation will jack you around. You'll be tired, the funk will get to you, and if you drink you will feel the effects (which build on each other).
You may also suffer fatigue and find your temper slipping. You may be good for the first seventeen or eighteen hours but sometime after 1 AM you may start to feel your anger starting to build over nothing.
My advice (which I am going to use next year) is know your limits and set limits when you aren't fatigued, drunk, sick, or tired (i.e. before Gen Con). I'm sending myself to bed no later than 1 AM next year for example. Okay, 1:30.
Areas that could cause Gen Con to be less than awesome could include: too much alcohol, spending too much money, getting sick from eating junk food for every meal, too little sleep, and too high of expectations (wanting a new game or really wanting an event to be awesome). I simply suggest that you respect your personal limits if you want to avoid any bad memories.
The Ugly: Funk
Gen Con stinks. Not as in it is bad but literally it smells bad. The first hour on Thursday isn't too bad but after that you get some real funk going on. Homeless people may wander in to use the bathroom as a shower, some gamers may not get a hotel room and spend four glorious nights cultivating sweat and grime as they nap in the convention hall, and some gamers can't hit the blindside of a urinal. Watch your step in the bathrooms.Wash your hands. Bring your own water and stay hydrated. Consider bringing hand sanitizer. Be choosy about what you eat (I suggest at least some fruit/veggies each day if you're old and decrepit like me). Get some sleep. Don't let random orcs kiss you (right Phil?) or you may spend a few hours on the toilet instead of at the Con. I try to limit touching people at the Con (not shaking hands or getting hugs while having your picture taken with the Princess Leia slave girl for example).
Con crud is the bowel twisting or hacking cough and chills illness you get for not being careful while mingling with 41,000 of your favorite friends. Some years you can't avoid it but most years you can with a few precautions.
Okay enough on Funk and Circumstance. On to the good stuff.
Planning for the Con
I always buy a badge and tickets ahead of time. Next year, I am going to take the chance and have them mailed to me (you lose your money if they get lost in the mail) because the Will Call booth sucks on Thursday and Wednesday night is a crap shoot ... you may not wait long or you may be there a while.If you need a hotel room, bring some friends and split the cost. And get the room as soon as the Gen Con housing opens.
I go to Gen Con primarily to see my brother and our friends. Gaming is just the excuse we use to get together. So my advice stems from that point of view.
This year was the first year I managed to get nearly everyone to Friend me on Gen Con's website. That meant I could try to get tickets for everyone all at once so we could game together. If you want tickets as a group with all your friends, then Friending each other and having one person buy tickets works great.
However, all those events could add up to well over a $100 if you have a group of five friends. So budget accordingly.
The way I plan is to hear what everyone wants to do and then make a wishlist ahead of time when the events calendar comes out. Then I attempt to get us into the games we want and fail miserably.
After that, I start looking for anything that sounds remotely interesting. It is frustrating, but it is a reality of going to Gen Con. You don't get into every game you want. Unless ...
Unless you run them yourself.
Gaming Slots at Home or Hotel
My brother and his wife are generous and let all of us gamers stay at their house during the Con. This year, I anticipated not getting into all the games we wanted. While we are okay gaming with strangers we really want to game together.So, we create our own time slots. On Thursday, we get to the Con when the dealer hall opens at 10 AM. But on Friday and Saturday we game at my brother's house from around 9 AM to noon. I ran DCC RPG this year (which I couldn't get us into at the Con) and it was a lot of fun.
We also usually wrap up at the Con around 6 PM, get dinner, and go back to my brother's house for another RPG at night. That way, we get four RPGs in that our group actually wants to play.
Avoiding Overdoing the Dealer Hall
I planned what I wanted in the dealer hall this year. I like to wander around, but I always overspend if I spend too much time there.If money is not an issue for you, take several hours to wander the hall. You will find many awesome, rare, and amazing games and toys to buy as well as many demos to try.
If you are money conscious and an impulse buyer, I suggest you limit your time in the dealer hall so you have enough time to wander around and look at some stuff, but not so much time you get tempted to overspend. The years I spend too much time in the hall are the years I spend too much money.
Food
I bring in food to eat for breakfast and for my own snacks at the Con. Granola bars, jerky, and water are staples. Raisins are also good.I eat lunch at the mall and try to get Chinese (veggies). Dinner may either be at my brother's, the mall again (to save money), or at a restaurant if I want to spend the money for a nicer meal.
Alcohol is always cheaper if you buy ahead of time and consume it in your own room, preferably while playing Talisman, Shadows of Esteren, or DCC RPG.
Tickets and Gear
Don't forget to bring your badge and tickets with you to Gen Con. Obvious yes, but it would suck to show up without them and Gen Con won't give you another set. If you have to drive to get to the Con each day, check every day that you have your badge (and tuck that day's tickets into the back of it). Again, it sucks to head out and not have your badge (right Paul?).I bought generic tickets one year but didn't use them. But having some on hand might get you into a game you really want to play if you are willing to show up and wait.
If you don't use a ticket you have to go to Customer Service before the game begins to get part of your cash back. The extra few bucks are worth it as it all adds up.
I bring a watch, a backpack to carry water and snacks and any games I buy, and a cell phone with the numbers of my gaming friends so we can connect after getting separated. I have my license and some cash as well as a credit card. I also bring dice, pencils, and papers and a novel. I bring a couple of RPGs, some boardgames, and my laptop, but I don't lug them through the Con itself unless I really need them. I take the Gen Con book and tear out the maps to bring as well. I also check that I have my badge and tickets every morning.
The Awesome
Saving the best for last.You are going to see brand new things at Gen Con a month or two before everyone else in the world. You may also get some things only at Gen Con and nowhere else. You will see your favorite game designers, your favorite companies, and celebrities. Also costumes.
I met Gary Gygax at Gen Con for example. He was amazing to talk to.
You have to plan. You get one shot to try to get the one brand new thing you want when the dealer hall opens at 10 AM on Thursday. You might get something else unique to the Con, but it isn't likely.
Get in line early on Thursday morning at the doors your map (in your Gen Con book you get at the Con) show leads most easily to the company you want to buy from. Head there and I would bring a book to read while you wait in line.
If you don't need anything that badly, great! You can wander freely and see what the Con has to offer.
I recommend you check the websites of your favorite companies each night. FFG, for example, hinted strongly about attending their future of FFG seminar on their website but I missed it. So I had to pay for my Star Wars RPG instead of getting it for free!
Give yourself time to check out all the games. Nearly every company has books out for you to page through and your favorite game designer/company CEO is likely also there to geek out with you. Look at the costumes. Demo some games. If you like celebrities, the Con always has some writers and actors for you to see. You can also see video games, costumes and weapons for sale, t-shirts, and art. Oh, and a Gen Con beer debuted this year.
Conclusion
I will continue to go to Gen Con every year that I am able. It is a different experience that a satisfying home campaign, but it is amazing.Good times.
Upcoming Columns
Back to Rogue Trader. Another ship. And wrapping up the Brave New World adventure path. And looking forward to the next adventure path. See You at the Con,
Charlie
