Gen-Con Indy Information?, Better Early than Late... Options

[Vegas]

Oh good lord, be careful. There are few things sadder and scarier than watching the lonely guy-nerds fight over girl-nerds, especially when alcohol is involved. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Bull

Hahaha, thanks for the warning/heads up. Most of the us that I'll be hanging out with are married and or in relationships, so I'm likely safe. Can't speak for the general con population however. Plus I'm hardly worth fighting over when there are hot chicks running around in COSTUME! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rotfl.gif)

Ticket sales went live a week or two ago. Cowboy up and drop your $65, girl. *grins* Me and Flea will see you there (and we'll be bringing Jay with us, to boot!).

IT is done. I have a 4-day badge coming my way. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) It'll be awesome to see the old gang again (at least in part) I think my plans involve spending most of the con with the LITS/DITG kids like I was supposed to last year, but we'll definitely have to cross paths!

[Konsaki]

4-day tickets are sold out now. Glad I got mine when they had them! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)
I hope to see anyone from the boards there, maybe via a game session or two!

[Bull]

4-day tickets are sold out now. Glad I got mine when they had them! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)
I hope to see anyone from the boards there, maybe via a game session or two!

Wait... what? Sold Out?

*blink*

That's... new. Wonder if they're limiting registration somehow, because of the loss of space this year or something.

Hrmmm...

BUll

[Bull]

Hahaha, thanks for the warning/heads up. Most of the us that I'll be hanging out with are married and or in relationships, so I'm likely safe. Can't speak for the general con population however.

Ahh, yeah, that always helps (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) Nerds are afraid to approach a female when she's in a pack. <grin>

Plus I'm hardly worth fighting over when there are hot chicks running around in COSTUME! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rotfl.gif)

Bah. My experience is that usually the ones worth fighting over are the ones that don't do the whole "Look at my boobs!" costume thing (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ork.gif)

Unless it's a really good Baroness costume (from GI Joe). Then I'm doomed (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

Bull

[Caine Hazen]

I think there was a quick bit today when they thought the VIG regs were already sold out. They were not however, so I believe there's more than enough passes still floating about.

[D-Franco83]

Are those VIG Packages worth it?

[Bull]

Are those VIG Packages worth it?

They're not a bad package really. YOu get abadge, access to a few exclusive events (I'm not sure exactly what), priority housing in the close, good hotels, and a pile of the Gen Con swag (T-shirt, backpack, etc).

But, it's $500. So it's a big investment, especially if you're not particularly interested in the swag or the exclusive events.

I would like that priority housing though. That's probably where a lot of the suites downtown went.

Bull

[D-Franco83]

The only problem I have with it is that it just guarantees a hotel reservation to my understanding. I was wondering if anyone has ever bought it or know someone who has bought it before and how they liked it or didn't.

[D-Franco83]

I hate to have stopped the momentum. So what does everyone look forward to when they go to Gen Con? I have never been, so I'm geninuely curious.

[john_doe]

Here's what i look forward to...

Gaming with people outside of my "usual" group. Getting a different perspective of how other people play is always refreshing.

The general atmosphere...having all of those gamers together in one place.

Always love talkin shadowrun with the folks at the Catalyst booth...and they must have much better Social skills then i do as well, because they always seem to Con me out of money.

4 days of uninterrupted gaming heaven. No wife, no dog, no nothing. Just me and a few thousand of my fellow gamers.

oh yeah, and looking at all the half-naked chicks in their costumes sure does help. Good job on the Conan booth last year, and that pirate chick wasn't bad either.

[Critias]

Crit's secrets to a fun-ass GenCon.

1 - Being amongst "my kind" for four full days. As gamers go, mind you, I'm remarkably socially well adjusted. So don't misunderstand, and think I'm some sort of fugitive from reality who only feels comfortable while at 'cons...that said? There's just something fun about meandering through the crowds and listening to the snippets of conversation. Sometimes you'll hear things you won't hear anywhere else. Sometimes you'll feel like your amongst thousands and thousands of your social circle from college (no matter how long ago that was). Sometimes you'll hear lines from all your favorite movies, rules arguments from all your favorite games, and everything in between. You'll see your favorite t-shirt on someone else, play games with people that like all the things you like, you name it.

2 - Playing games I like with new people. There's something that's a lot of fun about sitting down at a table full of complete strangers, and in the space of several hours turning it into a one-shot gaming group. Maybe it's your chance to play an archetype one of your regular buddies always claims for his own, and finally see what it's like to be the Fighter instead of the Mage. Maybe it's a chance to show off your well painted wargaming army to a slew of new folks, instead of your friends back home who take it for granted. Maybe it's a chance to see how someone else GMs. Whatever it is, have fun. Share your knowledge of the game system with new folks, and pick up their secrets in the meantime. Every year, I sign up for one game I know and love, and ditch my friends to go play it.

3 - Playing new games with people I like. My buddies and I make a point of trying out a new game every year. It might be a brand new system, a new edition of a game we haven't played in years, a game we've all got books for but haven't ever tried out, or someone's home-brewed monstrosity, but we give it a shot. It's a blast. Two years, now, we've all ended up starting up a new campaign because of something we tried at GenCon and had fun with. Every year, I sign up for one game I don't really recognize, and do so with my friends.

4 - Play something really fucking out there. I already brought up our "one random LARP a year" tradition, but it's really a lot of fun. We don't LARP. I mean, ever. We're tabletoppers, wargamers, video gamers. But for six hours, once a year, we hang out with the melodramatic kids, fake accents, get into character, play rock paper scissors, and generally just have a good time. Some years it works out great (if someone in one of our games falls over, dead or dying, my friends can count on me to shout "It's okay, I'm a doctor! Make way!" in a horrible Irish brogue and then scurry over to them and pick their pocket. Why? Because my Irishman con artist did so in a Shadowrun LARP, about five times in the space of one game). Some years it works out not so great (we caused some drama about two years ago, as half the players in a particular Firefly LARP went home and bitched about the runners of that LARP and their "give us money and we'll give you more points" scam). Some years we just have a solid good time, taking a break from our normal playing style and our normal GenCon routine. Hell, last year I did a speed painting contest (and I'm NOT that good a painter, as wargamers/hobbyists measure things). For you and your buddies it might be a LARP, but maybe a wargame is really weird to you, or a board game, or a new card game. Whatever. Just broaden your horizons, once, while you're there. Play something you'd never look at twice from your local shop.

5 - Leaving time to do nothing. Especially if you've never been before, leave time to just wander. Explore the Hall Of Cool Stuff For Sale (don't even buy anything, necessarily, just roam through it!). Try out the free sample games people give. Chill and hang out with game designers in their booths (especially for Spinespur, we don't bite, plug plug plug), have conversations with booth babes who secretly hate you and all your kind, look through old comics and ancient Dragon magazines. Budget time for getting lost (especially this year since they're down 30,000 feet or whatever, so games will be scattered), and don't be scared to ask anyone else you see with a badge for directions -- odds are they've been there more than you have, and will try to help out. As fun as it is to leap in with both feet and sign up for a zillion games, don't do it! Leave yourself several hours a day to just relax, eat, hang out with your buddies, wander the mini's hall and look at paintjobs, whatever. GenCon is a vacation, treat it as such!

[D-Franco83]

I think I will just take the 4 day pass and do the hotel.com/expedia hunt for some good deals. I'm just going with my best friend from College, so little need to really go all out since he likes to be frugal and he is a graduate college student. I can pick up the VIG pass when there is more people going or just my girl. It also occured to me that if I got the VIG pass and got a really sweet room, since I would want to go all out. The only person to enjoy the expensive company is my best friend. I'm not any kind of phobic, but it would feel awkward and my friend didn't help.

His line was, "I'll bring the strawberries and champagne!"
My reply, "You Son of a Bitch!"

I'm not a LARP person and I've had plenty of bad experiences with LARP in Iowa and I seem to suck at Paper, Rock, Scissors. Does anyone have a range of how much hey spend. I want to give my frugal friend an idea of how much he would need to bring.

[Critias]

My earmark for a room is ~$500 total (hotel tax in Indianapolis is retarded), split that however many ways are needed. I know some places are more, some places are less, but when doing my rough budgeting for any given year I start with 500 as a good round number. Or, in your case, two-fifty (since from the sounds of things there's two of you).

Games are $2 an hour this year, I think. A four-hour brick is the default game length, so tell yourself ten bucks a game (see how you budget in extra money, cleverly? I R GENIUSCAT). Figure out how many games you want to play, and call it ten bucks a pop, there's your gaming cost.

Do you have any planned shopping? Lots of games drop big products at GenCon, so if you know of something that's hitting shelves there, make sure to budget it in. I can safely say, for instance, I'll drop a $50 on whatever Privateer Press launches at GenCon (even if this year it's their $50 that I'm just giving back to them, suckers!), so I just go ahead and budget that puppy right in there.

Then, you've got to budget in casual purchases, meals, taxis (depending on how far your hotel is), and a billion (or maybe fifteen-twenty) bucks a day for parking. Depending on where you eat -- I do suggest trying SOMEplace cool in downtown, like The Ram or something at least once -- meals can vary insanely. Ditto, casual purchases. Most places (in my experience) run a "to the convention center, $5" special as far as cabs go, but sometimes it varies by hotel and stuff like that. So, really, this "everything else" category is the wildcard that's all up to your friend.

Just be prepared when you hit that dealer hall, you can find some VERY cool deals there, but even while you're "saving" money by getting stuff for so cheap, your wallet can empty out pretty fast.

[john_doe]

There is usually always 2 or 3 of us going, so that figures out to be almost 200 bucks a person for the hotel after you factor in getting raped on hotel tax and parking fees (we like to stay really close to the convention center)

I try to factor in about 20 bucks a day for grub. Reason being is because i make LOTS AND LOTS of sammiches, and eat them as i do my daily Con activities. However, there is that occasional Pop i must drink, and then the Con is not complete without a trip to The Ram.

Depending on how many games you wanna try to get into, that's 10 bucks a game.

The vendor area can get scary. I dropped 200 bucks in there in like 5 minutes, and didn't even realize what i had done until i went to purchase the item i was actually looking for and had no more cash on hand. If you have a 1 Willpower like i do, leave credit cards with a friend so you can beat him and take it in case of emergency.

Seeing that i'm poor guy myself, i usually budget about 5 to 6 hundred bucks for the whole trip, and i have a pretty good time. The grocery store, and a backpack can be your best friends...

[DireRadiant]

Yes... you must budget time where you aren't scheduled to do anything... and you will not have time to sample everything! You can spend four days at Gencon Indy, and spend 72 hours watching the anime running in 6 different rooms. Oh wait, can't watch 6 anime streams at once. And that's just one activity. You can spend 8 hours a day in the vendor hall trying all the new games in 1 and 2 hours sections, oh wait, there are more games to demo then you have time! You can spend hours roaming the art section, shopping, watching movies, reading game materials, talking to film and tv stars, listening to state of the industry speeches, meet the people that actually write these games, watch the costume contests, get thrown into Klingon Jail, play live chess, watch a band concert, play the prerelease video game, play the current release video game, play play play.

And somewhere in all of that you need to eat, sleep, go to the bathroom, and actually play a game of Shadowrun, or LARP, or explore the True Dungeon, or attend the Castle Falkenstien LARP Fancy Dress Ball.

I think the one thing you don't have to worry about is finding something to occupy your time.

[Critias]

If you are bored at Gencon, it is no one's fault but your own.

[D-Franco83]

If you are bored at Gencon, it is no one's fault but your own.

I think if it is going to be my first time. I really doubt it would happen.

[Dirtz]

Gen Con is posting for chapter 11. Does anyone think it'll impact this year's con? Will it scare anyone away?

[DireRadiant]

Gen Con Press release

Doubt it. Gen Con Indy itself is always profitable and growing. It's some of other things the company tried that didn't work out.

[john_doe]

Gen Con is posting for chapter 11. Does anyone think it'll impact this year's con? Will it scare anyone away?

I think the biggest impact to the Con will be the loss of convention center space due to the remodeling.

Def not scaring me away. Lookin forward to goin this year.

[Bull]

The loss of space for the next year or two (DOn;t remember how long construction is gonna last) sucks, but it'll be worth it in the long run.

I'm not sweating it too much, but I am hoping that Dunner will be able to get a dedicated game room this year. Having everything all scattershot last year really sucked.

[Critias]

In unrelated news, my four Dark Heresy games have been submitted, and are pending approval. I'll post the full data if/when I get 'em all back -- the more players, the merrier. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[apollo124]

How the hell could they need to file bankruptcy when a 12 ounce pop at Gen Con cost $3.50? And there are thousands of people there!
Plus the fact that each person wandering around paid good money to be there.
Still gonna go, myself. Especially since I live only about 55 miles away and don't have to worry about hotel rooms.

[Bull]

How the hell could they need to file bankruptcy when a 12 ounce pop at Gen Con cost $3.50? And there are thousands of people there!
Plus the fact that each person wandering around paid good money to be there.
Still gonna go, myself. Especially since I live only about 55 miles away and don't have to worry about hotel rooms.

The Bankruptcy is really a chapter 11 protection, and is a response to Lucasfilm suing them for something like a million dollars. I suspect there's a lot more going on there than Gen Con "stealing" money from a charity auction, but at the end of the day, it's Lucasfilms. They have a lot more money and a lot more lawyers to throw at this, regardless of who's in the right.

Gen Con doesn't control the pop or food prices at the con. That's all handled by the Convention Center themselves. AFAIK, GC doesn't receive a dime for any of that overpriced pop. And that's fairly "normal" pricing for a stadium or convention center, sadly.

And lastly, GC brings in a lot of money, but they also spend a TON on the con. At the very least renting out that convention center, promotions, and hotel rooms for the staffing (And there is a lot of staffinG), plus paying all the temps they hire to run the registration booths, the maintenance folks, and security (Which I believe is all an extra cost beyond the space rental)... I won;t say that Peter Adkison doesn't make a decent living off Gen Con LLC, but he's not exactly raking in piles of cash off each convention either.

Of all the money that we spend to go to the convention every year, the only thing GC LLC sees very, very little of it.

[Adam]

How the hell could they need to file bankruptcy when a 12 ounce pop at Gen Con cost $3.50?

http://www.adamjury.com/2008/gen-con-sued-by-lucasfilm-llc/