CellBlock posted:I was the Chaosmos goon. I really can't wait for my copy to show up, because it's such a neat game. Tragedy Looper is really cool, too. My copy came today. Now to find people to play it with.
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# ? May 16, 2015 15:02 |
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# ? May 30, 2024 13:09 |
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RocknRollaAyatollah posted:A friend mentioned that room blocks often open up around July. How true is this? ... I wonder what the last year I wrote about highlights for was? Oh 2002! O.K.! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-= GEN-CON 2003: INDIANAPOLIS IS THE WORST CITY EVER, GEN-CON IS DEAD, SEE YOU BACK IN MILWAUKEE IN 2004 WHEN THEY REALIZE THEIR MISTAKE HEH I do not have much to say about this year, which is probably good because I also have no idea why I am posting random year recaps anyway. Internationally famous as "the year Quarex joined the Something Awful Forums," 2003 was a pretty strange year at the convention for obvious reasons. The only year I was so ridiculous as to not take time off for Gen-Con (probably because I was working a temp job and I would have had to quit to go [which to be fair I considered]), we rolled into the Indianapolis suburbs late Friday night, got to the Convention Center fairly early on Saturday morning, and then ... we hit the line. It was out the door and down the street, and that was scary, but we figured obviously it would be popular, and we had never stood in line before, so we figured it could not be that bad. So we started waiting....and, as they say, waiting... and... ........and... ... ......... if each dot.......................... ........................................represents.............. ...........................................................a minute waiting ......................in line, it would take........ .....over............ ............THREE POINT SIX BILLION DOTS............. to exaggerate our wait time............ by seven orders of magnitude. So I reckon 'round 'bout 3 P.M., we had finally finished snaking our way in through the doors, around and around various parts of the hallways full of ordered lines, and finally in perhaps the last half hour we have finally reached the area once intended to hold the entire line. You see, as the story later went, they had managed to get hit with a virus that took down all their terminals but one (what, did somebody forget to turn the network on on that one?). Not the most auspicious debut for Gen-Con's first weekend in Indianapolis. But it was still a good time, and we were pretty impressed that the convention felt virtually the same despite the big move. Well, from the like 10 hours of it we managed to get in. Plus that was when Claddagh was still actually an Irish restaurant/bar instead of a Crappy Sports Bar With Some Cabbage, so those were truly the salad days. The main thing we noticed about Gen-Con that year was that the nearby restaurants and other establishments were clearly confused by our presence, as expected, but we got so many more questions like "oh, what's this? Looks hilarious!" or "do you need a ticket for this?" than in Milwaukee, where the questions came in the form of the unending scowl on the face of the mall food court employees who for some reason hated nothing more than people in town to have fun doing nerdy things. Then again, it was a different time. I suppose it really is possible that the transfer was a perfect combination of "novel group of people coming to town = interesting (initially at least)" plus "nerd stuff is actually becoming mainstream cool" to give us a warm welcome that has only gotten warmer over the years. I think this was the first year the 6' Pikachu was wandering around the convention, though; that was pretty fantastic. Dr. Quarex fucked around with this message at 18:09 on May 16, 2015 |
# ? May 16, 2015 18:06 |
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I think my Gencon bucket list this year is meeting more goons. I've been posting in Gencon threads for three years and I've barely interacted with you guys in person.
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# ? May 16, 2015 18:19 |
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Where's the details on the auction/consignment? Also, as a heads up for people this is a great time to sell or trade stuff - Gencon also runs a massive math trade every year where you have the best chance of trading stuff.
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# ? May 16, 2015 19:15 |
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Len posted:I think my Gencon bucket list this year is meeting more goons. I've been posting in Gencon threads for three years and I've barely interacted with you guys in person. Crackbone posted:Where's the details on the auction/consignment? As for further details, the FAQ section on the main page has some pretty good stuff (though you have to click on five different links under FAQ to get it all). The "General Questions" page is probably the most useful one overall, though the lingo page should be useful...particularly if they ever take my suggestions from like 2009 and add things like "crunchy" and "punched*" to it One problem of course is that most people care primarily about the schedule so they can know when to go...buuuuuut of course, that is the one thing they will not be able to fully explain until they get all the stuff registered and sorted. I can say though that the first couple of hours (10-Noon on Thursday, 9-11/Noon on Friday/Saturday) are almost always "family-style" board games, then the afternoon is usually RPGs/miniatures/wargames/collectible card-miniature games in some order, and then by about 9 P.M. they are generally into the valuable stuff on Thursday/Friday; Saturday (usually) at ~6-8 (usually) is T.O.V.A., "Toys/Oddities/Video[Games]/Art," the catch-all section that is helmed by auctioneer Josh who is like 75% of the reason I got so into the Auction in the first place, because he is endlessly entertaining and charismatic. And of course some of the most fun stuff for sale is during this period, too. Then that segues eventually into the final section (Auction is closed on Sunday other than for payouts, which everyone always forgets**), the charity auction, which is sometimes amazing relics of gaming history and sometimes 50 chainmail dice bags. *"Dinged up/box edges rumpled" and "pieces taken out of their original sheets/packaging," respectively **I finally started remembering around 2008, which was why I knew it was high time to start volunteering for the Auction.
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# ? May 16, 2015 20:36 |
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Quarex posted:Have you gone to the Colts Grille trivia (Wednesday) night yet? I do not remember meeting you, BUT to be fair I only actually remember the handles of about 1/4 of the people I see there every year, haha. Anyway the nerd trivia is fun, the food is actually pretty good, and the most awkward thing that has happened so far is probably us sitting in two separate groups the first year for the first hour because we did not immediately recognize a table of Goons on sight, which if you think about it is actually pretty cool. I have not. I keep meaning to but it never happens and I'm like 90% positive I've not met you yet.
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# ? May 16, 2015 20:44 |
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What time is the Colts Grill trivia thing? I missed it last year due to my group having reservations for dinner at St Elmo's, but would like to make it this year if possible. I don't think I've ever met any goons.
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# ? May 16, 2015 21:30 |
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Pez posted:What time is the Colts Grill trivia thing? I missed it last year due to my group having reservations for dinner at St Elmo's, but would like to make it this year if possible. I don't think I've ever met any goons. I believe it was 7:00 pm last year. I would imagine it would be around the same time this year, but I have not heard anything to confirm that.
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# ? May 17, 2015 02:13 |
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Quarex posted:Have you gone to the Colts Grille trivia (Wednesday) night yet? I do not remember meeting you, BUT to be fair I only actually remember the handles of about 1/4 of the people I see there every year, haha. Anyway the nerd trivia is fun, the food is actually pretty good, and the most awkward thing that has happened so far is probably us sitting in two separate groups the first year for the first hour because we did not immediately recognize a table of Goons on sight, which if you think about it is actually pretty cool. I went to this two years ago and had a blast. One of my fondest Gen Con memories is someone from Mayfair Games buying us a round of drinks due to our team name.
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# ? May 17, 2015 05:04 |
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Len posted:I have not. I keep meaning to but it never happens and I'm like 90% positive I've not met you yet. Pez posted:What time is the Colts Grill trivia thing? I missed it last year due to my group having reservations for dinner at St Elmo's, but would like to make it this year if possible. I don't think I've ever met any goons. Double Agent posted:I believe it was 7:00 pm last year. I would imagine it would be around the same time this year, but I have not heard anything to confirm that. Meeting Goons is often pretty cool; I would say only about 1 in 10 has been insufferable through my years of meeting Goons (though my tolerance for insufferability may be a little high). Certainly the group that has been showing up for Colts Grille Nerd Trivia has been solidly social and pleasant. One of these years I might even be able to stick around after trivia ends instead of having to go give someone who just arrived a room key! sithwitch13 posted:I went to this two years ago and had a blast. One of my fondest Gen Con memories is someone from Mayfair Games buying us a round of drinks due to our team name.
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# ? May 17, 2015 05:34 |
Quarex posted:Have you gone to the Colts Grille trivia (Wednesday) night yet? I do not remember meeting you, BUT to be fair I only actually remember the handles of about 1/4 of the people I see there every year, haha. Anyway the nerd trivia is fun, the food is actually pretty good, and the most awkward thing that has happened so far is probably us sitting in two separate groups the first year for the first hour because we did not immediately recognize a table of Goons on sight, which if you think about it is actually pretty cool. sithwitch13 posted:I went to this two years ago and had a blast. One of my fondest Gen Con memories is someone from Mayfair Games buying us a round of drinks due to our team name. That would be team: "I get why they are dressed like douche bags, but why is it called steampunk?" The best part was the MC trying to read the name without laughing too hard. Backno fucked around with this message at 11:29 on May 17, 2015 |
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# ? May 17, 2015 11:27 |
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Alright, event signup today! Does anyone know how the whole wishlist->cart process handles overlapping timeslots? I recall having issues in the past, but I can't recall if it was when trying to add things to carts, or when checking out.
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# ? May 17, 2015 13:30 |
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Haystack posted:Alright, event signup today! Does anyone know how the whole wishlist->cart process handles overlapping timeslots? I recall having issues in the past, but I can't recall if it was when trying to add things to carts, or when checking out. As far as I can remember you can double-book yourself all you like.
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# ? May 17, 2015 16:09 |
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saint gerald posted:As far as I can remember you can double-book yourself all you like. Yep, can confirm this from last year
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# ? May 17, 2015 16:19 |
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I discovered last year that carefully planning your schedule before event registration opens is an exercise in futility. Grab all the tickets you can for all the events you want, then pare down afterwards after you find out what you got and what you didn't. Sadly, the system is geared toward this kind of activity, which means that you can't carefully plan your schedule because to get anything at all you have to be a supreme dick and spam-buy tickets.
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# ? May 17, 2015 16:47 |
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Number 4,372 in line.
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# ? May 17, 2015 17:02 |
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1240, seems to update regularly? Should I be trying to load My Cart as well to cash out immediately? Or will the Wish List page just take me to the cash out screen when I'm up?
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# ? May 17, 2015 17:03 |
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I got 1980, my wife got 198 Admin Understudy posted:1240, seems to update regularly? Should I be trying to load My Cart as well to cash out immediately? Or will the Wish List page just take me to the cash out screen when I'm up? Once you've got stuff in your cart (after your number counts down), it'll be in there for two hours
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# ? May 17, 2015 17:11 |
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It will automatically update your cart. Just wait it out now. You'll have 2 hours after things hit your cart to purchase.
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# ? May 17, 2015 17:11 |
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5,568
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# ? May 17, 2015 17:14 |
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Sub-3000 now, at least. Just that yearly assumption that everybody is going for lame Pathfinder/D&D stuff and not for the cool stuff that I want All the Escape Rooms are filling out, drat you, GenCon, you're not supposed to know that's cool Deathlove fucked around with this message at 17:29 on May 17, 2015 |
# ? May 17, 2015 17:14 |
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I was around 2900, moved to 2128 as of now. My buddy who usually meticulously plans a schedule and gets screwed every year said "screw it" and just made a random wishlist. This year he is 241 in queue :facepalm: I will never get in a GenCon Paranoia game
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# ? May 17, 2015 17:22 |
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Pez posted:I was around 2900, moved to 2128 as of now. My buddy who usually meticulously plans a schedule and gets screwed every year said "screw it" and just made a random wishlist. This year he is 241 in queue :facepalm: I gave up on getting into games like that years ago I'm hoping I can get into an Atomic Robo but I highly doubt it. The games on demand bit is where I'll probably get most of my RPG stuff done this year.
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# ? May 17, 2015 17:33 |
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I got 26th in line. I found that the timer got hosed like 30s before, I refreshed the page, and even though it took like 1 second, the timer advanced 10-11 seconds.
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# ? May 17, 2015 17:36 |
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Yea, so I didn't quite understand how ridiculous this event registrations was going to be. I'm just going to assume I dont get into any of the events I wanted. Are there a lot of opportunities to get pick up games with random peeps around? Games on demand seems promising, I just show up to that? No registration needed?
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# ? May 17, 2015 17:43 |
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ritorix posted:It will automatically update your cart. Just wait it out now. You'll have 2 hours after things hit your cart to purchase. Which means, by the way, that if you don't get the events you want on the first go, check back in about 3 hours because a BUNCH of tickets get "released."
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# ? May 17, 2015 17:44 |
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Got my AEG Big Gaming Night ticket which was the only thing I was worried about missing.
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# ? May 17, 2015 17:48 |
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Peas and Rice posted:Which means, by the way, that if you don't get the events you want on the first go, check back in about 3 hours because a BUNCH of tickets get "released." So how does that work? Do you check out and then a few hours later submit another wish list?
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# ? May 17, 2015 17:56 |
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Crackbone posted:So how does that work? Do you check out and then a few hours later submit another wish list? I *think* you have to buy the events regularly - that is, without a wishlist, just putting them in your cart. I'm not 100% sure though. I believe the wishlist only exists for this mad queue rush bullshit. E: So in other words, be prepared to search for the events you want and refresh a LOT, then snipe them if something opens. Hope you didn't have other plans today! Peas and Rice fucked around with this message at 18:02 on May 17, 2015 |
# ? May 17, 2015 17:59 |
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Down to 589. I've been cleaning while I wait for the numbers to tick down. And checking the various reward programs I'm in to see if there's any gift card sweepstakes I can enter before Gencon. Sadly the only one is Coke Rewards and the drawing ends during the con
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# ? May 17, 2015 18:03 |
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Out of my wishlist of 50+ games, 0 of them were left less than 30 mins after the queue opened
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# ? May 17, 2015 18:04 |
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A LOT of games will open after this mad dash - I think every game I played last year was a later addition. So if you don't get into something you want now, there will still be plenty of games to play. Also buy generic tickets and show up, because a lot of times people don't and GMs will let you into a game with a generic.
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# ? May 17, 2015 18:05 |
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Yeah, thats what I did last year and it worked out mostly ok. Still, I didn't expect it to be quite that bad.
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# ? May 17, 2015 18:05 |
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Admin Understudy posted:Got my AEG Big Gaming Night ticket which was the only thing I was worried about missing. Ah, crap, I totally forgot about that, and I didn't get to go last year. MY SWAG
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# ? May 17, 2015 18:05 |
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Nemesis Of Moles posted:Yeah, thats what I did last year and it worked out mostly ok. Still, I didn't expect it to be quite that bad. I've kind of given up on actually getting anything in the first rush. I just want to play in a Delta Green game for once.. E: Yup, everything was gone. I guess I'll check back in a couple of hours. Peas and Rice fucked around with this message at 18:14 on May 17, 2015 |
# ? May 17, 2015 18:09 |
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Ah poo poo I apparently didn't get the Thursday at 8 NSDM game added to my wishlist for me. But my girlfriend has a ticket! Edit: Got my ticket. Len fucked around with this message at 18:20 on May 17, 2015 |
# ? May 17, 2015 18:09 |
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Peas and Rice posted:I've kind of given up on actually getting anything in the first rush. I just want to play in a Delta Green game for once.. If I were you, I would still stop by with generics. Especially for the ones on Thursday, if people don't have their travel plans together and forget there's an hour time change coming into Indiana from the west, there might be some no shows. You could also ask at the ArcDream booth if they're going to do any unscheduled games at the con; last year I think Dennis Detwiller talked about fitting in some unscheduled games as his time permitted at the Delta Green panel. (Also I'm still surprised there was no Delta Green panel in the catalog.) I didn't get into any games either and the system wouldn't let me sign up for some seminars because of double-booking. I think I'll be able to sign up later but the way the system works is still a bit wonky to me. Good thing I was mostly planning to do Games on Demand, I suppose.
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# ? May 17, 2015 18:22 |
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I was lucky, I managed to get everything I was hoping for. Couple of Glorantha games, a Trail of Cthulhu game GMed by one of the One Shot Podcast people, Bloodbowl 101, and a bunch of panels.
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# ? May 17, 2015 18:24 |
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Good news is you can keep refreshing your wishlist incase something frees up. And yeah, I plan on turning up to some of these with Generics and saying Pretty Please. Anyone who didn't get into my game, feel free to show up. I set the limit pretty low and could squeeze in another one or two folks.
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# ? May 17, 2015 18:28 |
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# ? May 30, 2024 13:09 |
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I didn't get into anything on my wishlist, so I'm up for some sniping later on. On the plus side, my girlfriend got most of the events she wanted and there's only one ticket left for Costume Fairy Adventures.
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# ? May 17, 2015 18:31 |