The Inside Scoop on Gaming

DragonCon 1999

DragonCon, for the uniniated, is one of the largest, if not THE largest, con in the good ole USofA. It is much more of a Fandom - at - large con than solely a gaming con or a Star Trek con. This,to me, is part of the appeal of DragonCon. I am a gamer and fan, while my friend who went with me (His name happens to be Keith as well)is much less a gamer and much more a FAN. Happily, at DragonCon there is something for everyone, and I do mean EVERYONE!

Wednesday, Day 1

We made the trip from Greensboro in good stead with no major outbreaks of violence between children, adults, or between adults and children. After the kids were left with their various grandparents we obtained our groceries and checked in at the hotel. (Alas, the Hyatt was beyond our means.) We set out to brave the dangers of DragonCon registration.

Here was one of the great improvements of DragonCon '99 over DragonCon '98! As Skip Whipkey pointed out in his review, DragonCon is held in 2 buidlings in downtown Atlanta, the Hyatt and the Merchandise Mart. DragonCon '98 registration was held in the Merchandise Mart and was an unholy mess. Registration for '99 was held in the Hyatt and moved so much more smoothly! There was even a line that allowed those of us with TicketMaster tickets to move ahead. Praise be to all the Con gods, and to the hard - working DragonCon staff for these miracles! The id badge machine was even still working, as opposed to DragonCon '98.

After completing the registration process, we retired to the hotel and slept late the next day.

Thursday - Day 2

The con begins to start rolling on Thursday. Not much is planned on Thursday mornings, but by the afternoon things are in full swing.

One of the features of DragonCon are the ever present comedy groups putting on cabaret style shows. We went to one presented by the Guerilla Ontologist Players, "their Hour of Power" show. The skits were of uneven quality but the group gets an A for their enthusiasm and in the case of some of the skits, their courage. The best one was called "Cuthulhu & Me", that describes the tender friendship between a young boy and Great Cthulhu. This one was a riot, if you were in on the joke.

Other Thursday highlights included the production by Atlanta Radio Theatre Company that Keith attended, which he described as a 2 thumbs up, and my usual self embarrassment at Talisman. Oh well, at least I didn't come in DEAD last. I even kept the same character for the whole game!

Day 3

By Friday enough people have arrived that the con is really rocking. The streets of downtown Atlana are suddenly alive with Jedi Knights, wizards, Space Marines, comic book heroes, and even vampires wandering around in broad daylight. Tough cookies, those vampires!

Friday we attended a fun, fun panel on the Buffy the Vampire ..., well ,you know, chaired by some folks from one the big fan clubs. Great, great panel, with lots of input from the gathered fans and lots of humor. We also attended a discussion of developing characters for novels including one of my long - time favorites, Stpehen R. Donaldson. Then as a bonus he conducted an unschduled book signing! Of course, when I finally got the chance to speak with him, something I had dreamed of for years, I was o'ercome with awe! However, he was kind enough not to mention the river of drool coming out of one corner of my mouth.

Later on Friday we met Apollo Smile, the self - described "Anime Girl" who has a cool show that combines her vocal talents with her dancing and martial arts training, but more about that later. She is as gracious in person as she is dynamic on stage, and even autographed our con TShirts.

I participated in a game of Carnage Friday afternoon, cocommanding the demon army. And true to my track record with such things, got my butt kicked again. Still, Carnage is a great game. If I picked up it up so quickly, it can't be that hard! Easy game mechanics and a nice random feature that can change the course of battle quickly.

Friday night we took in Apollo's show, which was absolutely ggggrrrreeeeaaaattttt!But to get to that we had to wait through the Sir Millard Mulch show, which, well, all I have to say is, don't give up the day jobs, guys.

Day 4

By Saturday the Hyatt and the Merchandise Mart are wall - to - wall con attendees. Downtown Atlanta has been overrun at this point.

Early Saturday we finshed getting autographs from Stephen Donaldson. I should say I finished,since what Keith was doing was being kind enough to carry some of the many, many books I brought. We bagged Lynn Abbey's autograph at the same time.

We then attended another theatre group presentation, this one by the Mighty Rassilon Art Players. This turned out to be Shakespeare's Romeo & Ethel, the Pirate's Daughter. I'm not sure how close to the original this was, but boy, did we laugh. The Art Players' 98 production was Buffy: Warrior Princess, where Buffy and Xena sort of traded places in the time/space continum and ..., well, that was last year. The Might Rassilon Art Players, another reason to support local theatre!

Saturday night we attended the event that is sort of the crowning event of DragonCon, the Costume Contest. We even dressed up, Keith as a Greek trader and I as private detective. No, the costumes were not supposed to match. My favorite entry was the Satanic Teletubby. No kidding, some guy came out dressed as a Teletubby with a pentagram as his little antenna thingy. There was a wonderful musketeer and his lady, and a hilarious skit where the Star Wars' characters suddenly morphed into the crew from the Austin Powers' movies. I'm telling ya folks, some really sick people out there.

Day 5

Alas, all good things come to end, and so it is with DragonCon. Sunday morning we attended a panel that certaily was the most "intellectual" discussion of the ones we attended, a panel on violence and society. Was actually rather sober in tone, with the tragedy at Columbine still fresh in everyone's mind. Good panel and good food for thought.

The folks running the Buffy... panel had somehow gotton hold of an uncut tape of the season finale, so that was how we closed out DragonCon. Great, great episode, which of course has since been aired on the WB. Great way to end the con.

To sum up, we collected the kids from the various grandparents and headed back to North Carolina on the 4th of July, getting home sometime between 12 and 1 AM.

Twas great! I used to think nothing could beat GenCon but after 2 DragonCons have changed my mind. Nothing like 20,000 or so fans gathered in the same place doing what we do best, being fans! If you have never been to DragonCon, MAKE THE TRIP! You will not regret it.

Style: 5 (Excellent!)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

DragonCon
Author: Keith Burkhead Category: DragonCon 1999 Company/Publisher: DragonCon Line: na Cost: $60 Page count: na ISBN: na SKU: na Capsule Review by Keith Burkhead on 07/21/99. Genre tags: Fantasy Science_fiction Modern_day Historical Horror Far_Future Space Comedy Anime Espionage Conspiracy Post-apocalypse Old_West Vampire Gothic Asian/Far_East Diceless Generic Live-action	DragonCon 1999 DragonCon, for the uniniated, is one of the largest, if not THE largest, con in the good ole USofA. It is much more of a Fandom - at - large con than solely a gaming con or a Star Trek con. This,to me, is part of the appeal of DragonCon. I am a gamer and fan, while my friend who went with me (His name happens to be Keith as well)is much less a gamer and much more a FAN. Happily, at DragonCon there is something for everyone, and I do mean EVERYONE! Wednesday, Day 1 We made the trip from Greensboro in good stead with no major outbreaks of violence between children, adults, or between adults and children. After the kids were left with their various grandparents we obtained our groceries and checked in at the hotel. (Alas, the Hyatt was beyond our means.) We set out to brave the dangers of DragonCon registration. Here was one of the great improvements of DragonCon '99 over DragonCon '98! As Skip Whipkey pointed out in his review, DragonCon is held in 2 buidlings in downtown Atlanta, the Hyatt and the Merchandise Mart. DragonCon '98 registration was held in the Merchandise Mart and was an unholy mess. Registration for '99 was held in the Hyatt and moved so much more smoothly! There was even a line that allowed those of us with TicketMaster tickets to move ahead. Praise be to all the Con gods, and to the hard - working DragonCon staff for these miracles! The id badge machine was even still working, as opposed to DragonCon '98. After completing the registration process, we retired to the hotel and slept late the next day. Thursday - Day 2 The con begins to start rolling on Thursday. Not much is planned on Thursday mornings, but by the afternoon things are in full swing. One of the features of DragonCon are the ever present comedy groups putting on cabaret style shows. We went to one presented by the Guerilla Ontologist Players, "their Hour of Power" show. The skits were of uneven quality but the group gets an A for their enthusiasm and in the case of some of the skits, their courage. The best one was called "Cuthulhu & Me", that describes the tender friendship between a young boy and Great Cthulhu. This one was a riot, if you were in on the joke. Other Thursday highlights included the production by Atlanta Radio Theatre Company that Keith attended, which he described as a 2 thumbs up, and my usual self embarrassment at Talisman. Oh well, at least I didn't come in DEAD last. I even kept the same character for the whole game! Day 3 By Friday enough people have arrived that the con is really rocking. The streets of downtown Atlana are suddenly alive with Jedi Knights, wizards, Space Marines, comic book heroes, and even vampires wandering around in broad daylight. Tough cookies, those vampires! Friday we attended a fun, fun panel on the Buffy the Vampire ..., well ,you know, chaired by some folks from one the big fan clubs. Great, great panel, with lots of input from the gathered fans and lots of humor. We also attended a discussion of developing characters for novels including one of my long - time favorites, Stpehen R. Donaldson. Then as a bonus he conducted an unschduled book signing! Of course, when I finally got the chance to speak with him, something I had dreamed of for years, I was o'ercome with awe! However, he was kind enough not to mention the river of drool coming out of one corner of my mouth. Later on Friday we met Apollo Smile, the self - described "Anime Girl" who has a cool show that combines her vocal talents with her dancing and martial arts training, but more about that later. She is as gracious in person as she is dynamic on stage, and even autographed our con TShirts. I participated in a game of Carnage Friday afternoon, cocommanding the demon army. And true to my track record with such things, got my butt kicked again. Still, Carnage is a great game. If I picked up it up so quickly, it can't be that hard! Easy game mechanics and a nice random feature that can change the course of battle quickly. Friday night we took in Apollo's show, which was absolutely ggggrrrreeeeaaaattttt!But to get to that we had to wait through the Sir Millard Mulch show, which, well, all I have to say is, don't give up the day jobs, guys. Day 4 By Saturday the Hyatt and the Merchandise Mart are wall - to - wall con attendees. Downtown Atlanta has been overrun at this point. Early Saturday we finshed getting autographs from Stephen Donaldson. I should say I finished,since what Keith was doing was being kind enough to carry some of the many, many books I brought. We bagged Lynn Abbey's autograph at the same time. We then attended another theatre group presentation, this one by the Mighty Rassilon Art Players. This turned out to be Shakespeare's Romeo & Ethel, the Pirate's Daughter. I'm not sure how close to the original this was, but boy, did we laugh. The Art Players' 98 production was Buffy: Warrior Princess, where Buffy and Xena sort of traded places in the time/space continum and ..., well, that was last year. The Might Rassilon Art Players, another reason to support local theatre! Saturday night we attended the event that is sort of the crowning event of DragonCon, the Costume Contest. We even dressed up, Keith as a Greek trader and I as private detective. No, the costumes were not supposed to match. My favorite entry was the Satanic Teletubby. No kidding, some guy came out dressed as a Teletubby with a pentagram as his little antenna thingy. There was a wonderful musketeer and his lady, and a hilarious skit where the Star Wars' characters suddenly morphed into the crew from the Austin Powers' movies. I'm telling ya folks, some really sick people out there. Day 5 Alas, all good things come to end, and so it is with DragonCon. Sunday morning we attended a panel that certaily was the most "intellectual" discussion of the ones we attended, a panel on violence and society. Was actually rather sober in tone, with the tragedy at Columbine still fresh in everyone's mind. Good panel and good food for thought. The folks running the Buffy... panel had somehow gotton hold of an uncut tape of the season finale, so that was how we closed out DragonCon. Great, great episode, which of course has since been aired on the WB. Great way to end the con. To sum up, we collected the kids from the various grandparents and headed back to North Carolina on the 4th of July, getting home sometime between 12 and 1 AM. Twas great! I used to think nothing could beat GenCon but after 2 DragonCons have changed my mind. Nothing like 20,000 or so fans gathered in the same place doing what we do best, being fans! If you have never been to DragonCon, MAKE THE TRIP! You will not regret it. Style: 5 (Excellent!) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)