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 Gen Con Indy*. August 14 - 17, 2014. Once, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin's finest wargaming event, filling the Horticultural Hall to near-capacity with nearly 100 attendees. Now, Indianapolis, Indiana's finest (and arguably-largest in the world**) gaming-writ-large convention, filling the Indianapolis Convention Center to near-capacity with nearly 50,000 attendees, and growing ~15% yearly.  BADGES ARE AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE NOW! UNLIKE INFERIOR CONVENTIONS, THESE CANNOT SELL OUT! BUT GET YOUR BADGE SOON SO YOU CAN LOCK IN THAT SWEET MILD DISCOUNT!!! BEHOLD GEN CON:   HANZO STEEL!  CHESTBURSTERS!  NON-EUCLIDIAN DICE!  MY TWO PRIMARY INTERESTS COLLIDING!  HE KNOWS!  HUMANOID LIONS!  UNANSWERED CALLS FOR HELP!  PICTURES OF GEN CON!  GEN CON GEN CON GEN CON  AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH actually celebrating Gary Gygax formally opening the exhibit hall the last year he attended before his death, rest in peace Gary UNASKED QUESTIONS Q. WHAT A. In miniature: GEN CON! In its own words, it "is a consumer and trade experience dedicated to gaming culture and community. Gen Con Indy is the largest annual consumer fantasy, electronic, sci-fi, adventure and hobby game convention in North America. Each year gaming enthusiasts converge to share their love for all things gaming, from tournaments to guest appearances, exhibit hall booths to electronic games, workshops, seminars, anime, art shows, auctions and countless other activities." In my words: Whether you are into role-playing, boardgames, collectible card games, collectible figurine games, collectible game games, or probably even anime and fursuits or whatever, YOU WILL FIND WHAT YOU SEEK. Whether you are terrified of other human beings or cannot live without constantly telling everyone around you about your character/army/custom table, YOU WILL HAVE AN AMAZING EXPERIENCE. Whether you thought I should cut my hair or thought I looked just fine as-is, I WILL FIND YOU AND PUNISH YOU FOR YOUR INSOLENCE. You may have heard of other major nerd conventions like Comic Con, Penny Arcade Expo (PAX), or Dragon Con. Gen Con is a little bit like all of those: there are comics (and celebrities, sometimes) at Gen Con, there are often a half-dozen or more electronic game retailers set up with obnoxious booths at Gen Con, and there is COSPLAY GALORE at Gen Con. If any of those things are your exclusive nerd interest, then Gen Con may not be for you. BUT IF YOU LIKE ALL OF THOSE THINGS AND/OR MORE, THEN GEN CON IS PERFECT FOR YOU, BECAUSE IT IS EVERYTHING AT ONCE ALL THE TIME I LOVE IT SO MUCH AHHHHHHHHHHHH AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH  This is unrelated to Gen Con, which is clearly part of why Indianapolis is a good host city Q: HOW? A: SIMPLE It is $70 to buy a 4-day badge, better known as your guaranteed front-row ticket to HELL YES. I believe it is $40 for a 1-day badge but c'mon, clearly you can go for more than 1 day, so the 4-day badge is a must! There is also a Very Important Gamer (VIG!) package that I think is like $600 and sells out immediately every year.  The Will Call booths are actually open 24/7 (24/4?) on-site so if you have any concerns whatsoever about mail not reaching you then you should probably roll like that. I would link to hotel information, but the entire hotel block sold out in less than a day after registration began, and the other downtown hotels were nearly sold out in September when I booked my usual yearly emergency room, so, yeah. I will say that I hear there is a pretty good shuttle from the airport, so your second-best bet to managing to nail a last-minute downtown hotel may be staying at an airport hotel. There is usually a decent amount of parking available in the area surrounding the convention center as well, but of course it is fairly expensive and I have heard more than one story of someone forgetting where the car was parked since all the parking garages look the same. Q. SO WHAT SORTS OF EVENTS HAPPEN AT GEN CON BESIDES WHAT YOU ALREADY MENTIONED? A. Well, you know: Tournaments for dozens or maybe even hundreds of various board, card, miniature, and role-playing games. An exhibitor/dealer's hall larger than a football field. The world's greatest Auction***. True Dungeon, which is basically a Children's Discovery Museum for adult gaming nerds. A pretty substantial Art Show and Author Alley where their pleading eyes only occasionally guilt you into buying something. The Costume Contest Parade, where for about ten minutes straight hundreds of people in legitimately-amazing costumes stroll through the convention center and block traffic to make you mad. Plus, there are indeed often celebrities of one caliber or another (one caliber: John Rhys-Davies, Sean Astin, Traci Lords, Peter Davison, Hayden Panettiere, Sid Meier; another: people from minor cable reality shows, The Great Luke Ski, Someone Who Wore A Full-Body Costume In Star Wars). And if you are the sort of person who thinks of game designers as celebrities, and you probably are if you are reading this, then this is a chance to meet all kinds of them--and they are not getting any younger, so strike while the iron is hot! As for this year specifically, event submission is ongoing, but you can look at Alan DeSmet's amazing GenCon.HighProgrammer page to look through last year's events to get an idea of what else you might find. The main point is this: if it is nerdy and you like it, IT IS PROBABLY HAPPENING AT GEN CON.  Even the Doctor is concerned about Utilikilts Q. WHAT SHOULD I BRING???????? A. QUAREX'S ARBITRARY GEN CON RECOMMENDED ADVENTURE KIT:
 Q. WHAT IS FOOD A. PLACES EVERYONE SEEMS TO SUGGEST YOU EAT IN THE AREA: Firstly, a map showing all the places to eat close to the Convention center: http://www.icclos.com/pdf/DTRestaurantsMap.pdf The closest food to the convention itself is likely in the form of food trucks on Georgia Street (right outside the uhh East entrance I think). I have heard basically only good things about all of those trucks though I have not tried them myself yet.
 Q. DO YOU HAVE ANY OTHER GENERIC TIPS FOR ME A. YES AND YES I DID STEAL THE IDEA FOR THIS SECTION FROM THE EXCELLENT COMIC CON THREAD
 I seriously still laugh every time I see this picture *(neé Lake Geneva Wargames Convention) **Last year I thought that Essenspiele in Germany had 3x as many attendees--then I found out that they only list their TURNSTILE attendance, which is each day's unique visitors added together, not their total number of unique visitors. Ergo, the 150,000 they claim is very likely smaller than Gen Con given that Gen Con's turnstile attendance is closer to 175,000 if I recall correctly. ***Full disclosure: I am an RPG/T.O.V.A. auctioneer, though I loved it and talked it up constantly every year even before joining up in 2012. ****There is no **** but thanks to Torrent for naming the thread. Plus here is where I will randomly link this delightful random-generation "gaming convention bingo" board: http://stpatricksbingo.com/conBingo.html
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Feb 5, 2014 08:15
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Reserved SO HARD for information on Goon-run events, of both the formal and informal variety, to make it easier to find and access a concise listing of them than last year when nobody could tell what the hell was going on at all ever. Also because I have always wanted to reserve a post. Edit: OK I AM GOING TO PUT THIS IN HERE!!!!!! WE HAVE AN OFFICIAL IRC CHANNEL AHAHA WOOOOOOO Hawaii_Lame-O posted:Server is irc.synirc.net AND WE HAVE AN OFFICIAL OTHER-THING CHAT THING GROUP.ME!!! Lawen posted:I made a new GroupMe group to use again this year. I will probably have both of these on my phone at The Con. I use AndChat for IRC, personally. No clue what cool people use. ADD YOURSELF TO NESBIT'S GOOGLE DOC!!! nesbit37 posted:The main part of Gen Con starts a week from today! Go add your name and contact info to this spreadsheet if you have not done so already and want goons to check in with you on things. Between this and group me we should be able to organize things spur of the moment pretty well while there(they both worked well last year): AND COME TO THE COLTS GRILLE FOR NERD TRIVIA BY WEDNESDAY NIGHT AT 7:00, WHICH DOUBLES AS THE OFFICIALISH GOON MEET! @ColtsGrille posted:Yes we are [having nerdy trivia on Wednesday, August 13]! There are 3 sessions, starting at 7:30; 8:15; and 9:00. Hope to see you out! Colts Grille (next door to the Embassy Suites Indianapolis Downtown, if you know where that is!) 110 West Washington Street Indianapolis, IN 46227 AS FOR THOSE WHO LIKE "THE ALCOHOL" THERE IS THIS: camoseven posted:
Dr. Quarex fucked around with this message at 15:00 on Aug 11, 2014 |
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Feb 5, 2014 08:16
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THE GOON BEER TOUR AND GENERAL INDY BEER INFO 
. I also killed two birds with one stone and threw some things in there for my family, so just ignore any references to my mom's place or whatever.
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UncleSickey posted:Good thread and excellent advice for any GenCon newbie. You cannot emphasize strongly enough the power of a shower; especially since GenCon will be in high summer and is always hot and humid. I certainly hope if you're attending; you got your reservations already because anything withing 30 miles is GONE. Good thing this is my last GenCon; it's getting a bit pricey and the crowds are getting insane. UncleSickey posted:Thanks much for the pictures in the thread; don't forget to post one of the 2 obese gamers who are a couple and have a stroller taking up the entire aisle as they walk .001mph and block everyone (I love dealing with that). If anyone took any pictures last year--particularly of Goon events (double-particularly of T.O.V.A., you know, just because) do feel free to post them for MORE HYPE UncleSickey posted:I'll be there on Friday for sure this year; thinking about giving the opening day a miss just because of the monster crowds of unwashed obese people. UncleSickey posted:If possible; let's get a informal 'get together' set up here beforehand. Edit: I will occasionally cross-post things from the Gen-Con forums in here because some of the quotes are unbelievably amazing, though often you need insider knowledge to appreciate them. Like the hotel thread where more than one person complained about the Embassy Suites being a little far to walk back and forth from during the convention ... it is a block away.
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Feb 8, 2014 20:34
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UncleSickey posted:a nice deep brown walking cane with exchangeable headpieces can only be found at GenCon, nowhere else. WerrWaaa posted:It's been a few years since I hit up a big con, so I am extra excited. I am in for Goon Meets, Goon Gaming, and Goon Drinking, especially if they all happen at the same time. Dr. Doji Suave posted:A few friends are wanting to run some Attack Wing demos and are trying to get me to go along with them but after running a game last year I think I just need to enjoy the con. Sadly nothing too terribly depressing/hilarious has happened on the Gen-Con forums since my last post here, though I am still kind of hoping that the guy who was legitimately talking about how people had to accept that Gen-Con was going to leave Indianapolis in the very near future because no city without Michelin-star rated restaurants and a good selection of first-class flights could accommodate the gentrification of the board gaming hobby. ... I sort of assume that guy is a troll, but he was so consistent and seemed so confused by people suggesting that the average attendee probably drove ... so I mean, on one hand, it would be so amazing if being a nerd somehow became primarily the vestige of the super-wealthy, but get back to me once Warren Buffett heavily invests in Catan.
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Feb 27, 2014 10:04
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Bucnasti posted:Is this the place to share our Gen Con stories? clockworkjoe posted:I've browsed the auction house in the past and I'll probably check it out this year, but what other games/events would you guys recommend? Nissir posted:Go to Gen Con! Hook up with some crazy chick in full Elf garb who doesn't break character throughout your night of wild monkey sex, then get made fun of you for it by your best friends for 15 years then have to explain it at your wedding!  I mean, I appreciate your enthusiasm. But the only Con that ever led to hooking up with someone for me was GoonCon  because honestly I would be more than a little afraid to try to pick up someone at Gen-Con for precisely the reasons you just discussed. Did this actually happen? Because I would like to know why you had to explain it at your wedding if so. Also, kudos on your 1990s-era Elf HookupLuiCypher posted:It'll be my first time going to this convention - I am really looking forward to it! Double Agent posted:Its not nearly as bad as it use to be. Sure, you'll probably find more than one person who stopped showering well before the con started, but at least in Indy there's a lot more space for the funk to disperse over. I remember the last year in Milwaukee our group raided a housekeeper's cart, took a bunch of soap, printed labels that said things like "Please Use Me" or "Do Everyone A Favor", and handed them out. Is that kind of an rear end in a top hat thing to do? Yeah, but it was necessary.
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Mar 3, 2014 13:22
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Anybody else getting all the Gen-Con correspondence e-mail Spam who would like to know how to sift the wheat from the chaff: I guess if you like the 2014 shirt design you should go hog wild and get the hoodie with it, but what you REALLY should do is buy the Gen-Con Messenger Bag (yes, of course that is my review). Sleek, sturdy, and as sophisticated as any gaming accessory can ever possibly be! Even my wife agrees that it can easily be a "big boy" bag since 99% of onlookers will assume Gen-Con is some sort of important businessperson convocation. SirFozzie posted:So it would be a good thing to say how I nearly ended up in the hospital on Day 1 last year thanks to my own stupidity? ritorix posted:Go to Gencon, get your nerd yearbook signed!
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Mar 8, 2014 12:05
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Nissir posted:I had to explain it because my Best Man, was one of the people that dragged me to Gen Con, and it was part of his speech. You should always hook up at a con, it is the best part. http://www.theonion.com/articles/plan-to-get-laid-at-dragoncon-2001-fails,260/
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Mar 14, 2014 23:53
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Gen-Con Wikipedia Article Trip Report: About six years after I anonymously questioned why there was a hideous picture of a group of poorly-dressed cosplayers holding a "WILL YURI FOR YAOI" sign as somehow representative of the costume scene at Gen-Con, someone has finally done the right thing and taken the picture down. At this rate, by 2021, the article will also no longer mention NASCRAG. Go away, NASCRAG. You are not noteworthy. Actually I guess any tournament run for more than 30 years at a major game convention probably IS noteworthy in the context of that convention. But that picture is so profoundly purple monkey cheese lol  not like that hilarious dragon-burgerOh, and the events listing is going to go up in a few weeks! Though it is not too late to submit events!!! Every year I am asked if I will give some sort of lecture merging political science and gaming ... and this year I think I just might actually pull the trigger and talk about the real-world and fantasy implementations/conceptualizations of eugenics. Sound like a fun topic for a gaming convention? I thought so!
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Apr 4, 2014 01:22
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the_steve posted:So, speaking as someone whose only con experience is 2 tours of Tekkoshocon over in Pittsburgh, how much money should I realistically expect to need to bring? Excluding travel/hotel/the badge and meals? Is there anything I'd need cash for other than merchandise? I realize this is technically a story about merchandise, but you will see how I consider it something else entirely--in 2012, Jon Peterson was at Gen-Con promoting his new book "Playing At The World," the universally-agreed-upon definitive history (and prehistory) of the early years of the gaming hobby. He mentioned in a little speech that he did not bring any copies to sell, he only had his own copy, but that they would be available online. So I asked if he would sell me his copy and sign it, and of course being a good businessman he did so. HOW WOULD THAT HAVE HAPPENED IF I DID NOT CARRY COPIOUS AMOUNTS OF CASH, I ASK YOU For-real other than merchandise and the things already mentioned, well, technically if you have all the event tickets you want to use, then no, there is nothing but tangible goods to spend your money on. But like, between the Exhibitor's Hall and the Auction and Auction Store, virtually any single nerd-related object from the last century of nerdity COULD be available for purchase, and do you really want to take the chance that something you want would be for sale and you could not afford it?!? Ego Trip posted:My advice is to decide how much money you are willing to spend, bring it, and make getting additional money difficult but not impossible. But I do like the "difficult but not impossible" part. Certainly if you have $2,000 in your pocket there is a much greater chance of spending $2,000 than if you have $1,000 in your pocket and $1,000 in the bank. But even as a crazy Gen-Con Maniac I never spend as much cash as I bring, though perhaps I am more frugal than I realize. Ego Trip posted:I would attend.
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Apr 8, 2014 23:05
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the_steve posted:Ok, sweet. "Generic Tickets" are what you buy to be able to show up at a game last-minute and hope there is still space for you to play, and then each Generic Ticket gets you uhh what, $2 toward the price of admission? So most events would take 2-4 of those, for however expensive the thing was normally. On the other hand, most seminars are free, which is part of why so many people sign up for them and then why so many people skip them for something else in the heat of the moment. What are you into, gaming-wise? Apparently anime. There are certainly anime events, and anime dealers in the exhibit hall, but as long as you look through the event catalog when it comes out and get tickets to things that sound interesting, you cannot really do anything wrong. Unless you go the other direction and over-commit; I let my Older Friend(tm) talk me into signing up for like 2-3 games a day the first year I went, and by the end of the first day I was ready to start skipping every event because the Exhibit Hall was endlessly fascinating (and basically endless). And when you add in how into the Auction/Auction Store I got in later years, I basically feel like Gen-Con is too short to spend your time gaming at it. PERFECT TWO SIMILAR EXPLANATIONS IN A ROW WOOO
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Apr 9, 2014 08:01
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I have been wanting to post another couple of years' random Gen-Con highlights here but I did not want to bump the thread just for that ... SO SAINT GERALD IS NOW THE PATRON SAINT OF EXCITING DELAYS WELCOME TO GEN-CON 2012!!!  WELCOME TO GEN-CON 2013 ALSO!  INSIDE YOU WILL FIND MANY STYLISH NEW THINGS  AND SOME THINGS LITERALLY UNCHANGED IN 30 YEARS!  BUT THE DICE GLOW BRIGHTER ALL THE TIME!   I am not sure why there were so many green balloon outfits/sculptures that year.  Traditional Games nemeses Jon Peterson, author of "Playing at the World" and generally awesome dude, and Jason Elliot, editor of Gygax Magazine. And an Auction dude whose name I always forget but who is apparently one of the wealthiest gaming collectors around.  Working at the Auction also means having Frank Mentzer (of Basic D&D authorship fame) criticizing my auctioneering, which is more than a little harrowing. Though I was pretty excited when he told me he was impressed that I actually listened to his advice, haha. Also featuring the Auction guy people mistake for Tim Kask who is not Tim Kask.  For everyone wondering what it looks like to auctioneer. Oh, just me, then, and I already knew? Right.  This is about how crowded the Auction is on average while the Dealer's Hall is still open. Once the hall closes you slowly get to the "all seats filled and dozens standing at the back" territory. Particularly during the collectible auction and T.O.V.A.  Speaking of packed, I think this is a pretty good illustration of just how crowded the Dealer's Hall can get these days.  Or maybe this one is better.  Wait what  AHHHHHHHHHHH
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May 6, 2014 03:31
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It is usually only about a week before registration opens up, if I recall correctly. Certainly plenty of time for the thread to burst open wide with mockery/excitement over events before you actually have to sign up.
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May 6, 2014 17:30
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Your best bet of getting a good room is to book outside the housing block entirely (as in, before it opens) or to make friends with a Very Important Gamer(tm) with their sweet early registration privileges. Though to be fair the years Motocross GP was in Indianapolis at the same time, even by the beginning of September things were already mostly sold out for the next year. I say "mostly" because I am still holding an Embassy Suites reservation I likely will not need ... but. It is nearly $300/night.
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May 8, 2014 01:27
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Yeah, not to be too negative about the chances of getting off the waitlist, but even if the waitlist worked out by and large in previous years, the ridiculous growth of the convention over the past few years has probably made everything more ridiculous. Brief history lesson for anyone newish to the convention if you are too lazy to check out The Gen-Con Wikipedia Page(tm): In the NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE THAT MENTIONS GEN-CON WOOO it discussed that the convention attendance once seemed like its absolute ceiling was about 30,000 attendees (as they claimed that many in 1995 and then by 2010 had finally made it back to 30,000 again*) yet it was brushing 50,000 only three years later. And considering every year both VIG badges and hotels sell out much faster than the year before (VIG badges went from a hilariously uninteresting novelty item to an instant-sellout by 2011, the hotel block only finally got to instant-sellout this year after a slower march towards it). *Per the mostly anecdotal suggestions of the "Keeper of Ancient Gen-Con Lore," TSR was openly and significantly padding its attendance numbers in the 1990s before being taken over by Wizards of the Coast, but of course the problem with anecdotes...
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May 8, 2014 05:38
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Mr.Trifecta posted:Is there a mass amount of deals on Sunday? Leaving that day but not sure whether to leave in the morning or evening. So the thing about the Auction (I know this is not specifically relevant to your question but this always comes up): Some people put things in the Auction or the Auction Store at amazing discounts from the get-go, and that means if you get there first thing when it opens you are guaranteed to get an amazing deal. But some people start things at a reasonable price and then have the price drop somewhat on Friday and then to a ridiculous price on Saturday instead (as that is the last day of the Auction), so if you get into the Store early on Saturday you will instead get your amazing deal.
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May 8, 2014 22:40
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I do not know if other people are into puzzles, but I know EVERYONE IS INTO EVENT LISTINGS!!!!!! Or if you want to skip right to the good stuff, you would of course use the HighProgrammer searchable event listings site.
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May 10, 2014 03:04
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The standard advice is also to make sure you do not overcommit yourself, given how often people end up skipping scheduled events for a spontaneous thing going down. This is particularly true for events on Saturday in the afternoon/evening, as no human being in the world should miss T.O.V.A. Personal stake notwithstanding.
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May 13, 2014 17:48
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Yes, it is a beautiful thing that we are not sharing with MotoGP this year, even though other than maybe waking up at 2 A.M. they were mostly a non-factor (beyond a possible impact on the hotel reservations, and given it was just as hard to get them this year if not moreso I am thinking they were a complete non-factor).the_steve posted:TOVA?   It stands for Toys, Oddities, Video(/Games), and Art, and is the "catch-all" section of the Auction. It would be worth attending even if that were the extent of its function, as there is always a LOT of interesting stuff thrown in there (most of the one-of-a-kind stuff ends up here, whether prototypes of nerdy toys or animation cels from famous cartoons or original paintings or handmade statues of Demogorgon or whatever*). But the main reason I became a T.O.V.A. addict by about 2005 is the way the entire thing is run; I believe every year I describe it as a kind of hybrid infomercial-religious revival-stand up comedy set. Josh the auctioneer is basically a one-man highlight reel of entertainment, which makes sense given his unique skill set of "incredibly knowledgeable about nerd culture" and "former speech/theater coach." The problem with me hyping it up is that I joined the regular T.O.V.A. auctioneer crew in 2012, but my overall level of excitement was the same before I started. I promise that my goal is to just to make sure I do not detract from the amazement of the main show (as opposed to a lot of previous people who worked with Josh who were somewhat painfully trying to imitate his style while having no business doing so). Anyone else who has actually been to T.O.V.A. with or without me involved, help me out here. I KNOW YOU LIKED IT, even if maybe not as much as I always have. *It is worth noting that the obviously-super-valuable one-of-a-kinds do end up in the Collector's Auction on Friday night, though--like Gary Gygax's briefcase or the Chrysler convertible PAINTED WITH SPAWN CHARACTERS or other similar things.
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May 13, 2014 22:56
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Crackbone posted:Holy gently caress how do you process all the poo poo that's available on the event calendar? Can you export it to a spreadsheet or something? Quarex posted:I do not know if other people are into puzzles, but I know EVERYONE IS INTO EVENT LISTINGS!!!!!!
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May 15, 2014 00:20
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Razzled posted:so I've been for the last like 3 years and it never occurred to me that other goons might also. do you guys regularly have a meet up on one of the nights? I will be at the Auction, whether working or just chillaxing, like 8-10 hours a day from Thursday to Saturday, and that is usually all I do other than a one-off game. And my perpetual threat of giving that talk on the problem of fantasy eugenics.
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May 15, 2014 00:38
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Did you post in the thread last year, Nesbit37? For some reason I definitely remember talking to you in some thread, but I am not sure which one. And I got everything I wanted from event registration, too--nothing 
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May 19, 2014 00:28
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nesbit37 posted:Yup, also last year we hung out a bit on the Wednesday goon meet and some at after TOVA and other general auction stuff as well. Btw, The guy who's name you can't recall (from your pic of Peterson and Elliot) is Bill Meinhart though I am probably misspelling his last name. I tried to figure out how to spell Bill's name and I ended up finding German politicians. He must be one of those. Anyone here reaching the "Gen-Con sucks now and I am done after this year" point? Apparently this is becoming a thing due to the constantly-increasing size and difficulty in reserving hotels/getting the events you want. And, of course, the flip side of this is that the actual stuff to do there is going to keep getting better, but do not let that dissuade you from deciding you hate it now! (Obviously I just love it more every year, duh)
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May 19, 2014 23:55
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You might be surprised. But then, you might not. I have no idea. I can tell you the official forums have had their fair share of "HELLO ANYONE DRIVING FROM (INCREDIBLY FAR AWAY PLACE)?" threads. One guy wanted to car pool from like Las Vegas and was willing to spend all of, I believe, $50, to get to the convention. I am pretty sure he assumed anyone going would be willing to drive constantly for the two days necessary to get there, and that gas costs do not exist.
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May 27, 2014 03:25
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I will totally bump your thread if I actually find it. Well, and if it needs to be bumped yet, maybe you literally just posted it. I am still only half-way through last year's "GEN-CON IMPROVEMENTS FOR 2014" thread and I am as always incredibly thankful for our forums. Every third post for a few pages would get someone probated or banned here. And all because some like schizophrenic word salad guy cannot get over the idea that Gen-Con NEEDS A CON SUITE whatever the hell that is or MUST SET UP COTS IN THE HALLWAY FOR PEOPLE UNABLE TO AFFORD ACCOMMODATIONS gguhfhghg. (Yes, I Googled it, and I know what it is now, but ... but.)
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May 29, 2014 05:52
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Oh, that is good to hear--one of my buddies and I tried to go to Loughmiller's when over by the J.W. Marriott for a game but it was closed. Why was it closed, I now wonder? Oh! They are only open Sundays for Colts games or other "special events" so yeah do not try to go there on Sunday.Razzled posted:Man some of those sky tunnels connecting the hotels to the convention center start smelling pretty raunchy-- I'm pretty sure there are weird nerd vagrants who sleep in them. Unrelated to anything else, I happen to be in Dallas during a month with both a ComiCon and an anime convention, and attending these events is just reminding me how amazing Gen-Con is. Well, OK, the anime convention has not happened yet and I do not actually like anime so there is no way it would compare. But the point is, Gen-Con is so amazingly overflowing with great stuff to do, and I love it. BUT! Attending Dallas ComiCon really just confused me in terms of """STAR POWER.""" How is it that an event like 1/5th the size of Gen-Con has a dozen celebrities in attendance who are as popular as the most popular celebrity to ever appear at Gen-Con? Who knows? I realize comic conventions are more pop-culture-oriented, but it really does seem like Peter Adkison has actively tried to minimize big names through his tenure owning Tha G-C. There are plenty of gaming celebrities that would make perfect sense to bring in ... where are they? WHERE ARE THEY? I got Gary Gygax's autograph the same day I got Sid Meier's and Traci Lords' in 2002, and I do not think I have actually been excited enough to get an autograph since.
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May 29, 2014 15:00
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Hawaii_Lame-O posted:I did post a thread on the GenCon forum about driving from California. If I can get some people to road trip with, I think I'll end up going, especially if camoseven's offer of lodging at their place still stands. Time to investigate someone's suggestion of Taking The Train(tm)! Well it would only be $158 to get from Vermont to Indianapolis, but it would also take two days. Certainly not useful information for me at all. Hey, it would only be $188 to get from San Francisco to Indianapolis! And only take 2.5 days! The train. So fast. Wow, in the time it took me to finish this post Hawaii_Lame-O actually decided to take that option. Awesome! Particularly since my wife for some reason thinks I should take the train there and fly back so apparently I might be doing that too  Oh, and I meant to comment about the celebrity stuff. I can definitely appreciate the convention not spending its money on big names and rather pumping it into, I dunno, infrastructure I guess. Certainly it is the best-run convention I have ever attended, for what that is worth. I do still wish there were more gaming celebrities there, though ... though this may be an issue of the type of gaming celebrities I am interested in. I realize people like Larry Elmore and the Dragonlance Duo are always there. I just want Lord British or Brian Fargo or some of my other CRPG heroes.
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Jun 2, 2014 04:47
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Backno posted:The only reason you want Brian Fargo there is so you can continue your unhealthy obsession with him and his work. RED CARD Pssh whatever, I get to go hang out with Brian Fargo at his mansion in August anyway, like I want to have to stand in line to see him oh god I hope something does not go wrong with the partyMoving right along, do we have any creaky oldster types in this thread? I got the impression from the passel o'Goons at the Colts Grille and some of the other conversation here that I am probably one of the most veteran attendees here, and my first Gen-Con was only in 1997. Generally any thread on the official forums will have a half-dozen people who started going in the late 1970s or early 1980s, so I am curious whether anyone else should be dishing out advice and is refraining out of Wise Sage Politeness.
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Jun 2, 2014 22:31
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Oh dude it is almost only two months away Everyone get your final preparations for the spaceflight to Terra Prime for Gen-Con!!!!!!!! You know what I was just thinking about earlier? How many things happened at Gen-Con 2008 that are never going to happen again. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSBMkNzCl9I&t=12s It really says a lot about gaming in general that I cannot imagine any other person ever actually having the kind of recognition/fan appreciation/fame that Gary Gygax did to actually engender gamers to take a moment of silence seriously. Why is "Gary Gygax net worth" a default Google search? Particularly since none of the results seem to even approach that question. And then there was this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXX79kTdrJE&t=207s Anyone who makes fun of Josh the Auctioneer because of this clip will get mean glares from me forever just so you know Also I just found this and this seems relevant to Traditional Games' interests https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=espIQxIgtkc&t=194s Wow there are like dozens of videos from every year of Gen-Con that have averaged like 4 views a year. Awesome! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGES-lLSgHw ????????
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Jun 10, 2014 03:48
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Haha. That looks like my calendar when it contains the events for all four of the people I regularly go with. But I am biased because everyone I go with knows to leave Saturday afternoon/evening free for T.O.V.A. purposes. And then if it ends up on Friday instead poo poo GOES CRAZY no it has not been on Friday for four or five years I think, but you are still going to miss it in all likelihood!!!
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Jun 12, 2014 04:34
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Mr.Trifecta posted:So I see the Gen Con messenger bag is out of stock. I like the look at the material. Anyone have any suggestions for a similar bag that can hold purchased games? Are both of them sold out, or just the deluxe one? You would not think it would be hard for them to make more ... I mean, it did not have a year on it. It is obviously going to be a popular item for the foreseeable future.
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Jun 15, 2014 00:33
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Unrelated to anything, this is the best picture I can remember seeing of the crowd waiting the grand opening of the Exhibitor's Hall on Thursday morning: Please, like you do not want to be RIGHT THERE Edit: Whoops, never quoted this message I had open on my other computer Lawen posted:GenCon thread! I can summarize my bullet point responses easily: "WOOOOOOO!!!!!!" I doubt I will be able to bring my kilt this year. Though I also cut my hair like a normal person so I will be cosplaying as "guy with real job." I have never heard of this GroupMe thing before but I actually have an Intelligent Telephone-Machine this year so I am intrigued. Dr. Quarex fucked around with this message at 02:09 on Jun 17, 2014 |
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Jun 17, 2014 01:59
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Getting ridiculously excited for Gen-Con is at least like 10% of the enjoyment I get out of the event proper every year. And that is really awesome, given that I basically spend half the year in a state of Gen-Con Excitement(tm). (The other half is Wasteland 2 Excitement)
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Jun 27, 2014 22:26
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No. We should try anyway. Mainly because I have not regularly hung out on IRC since the 1990s and I am always up for randomly doing so. The official Gen-Con IRC chat the night before registration opened was surprisingly lively and fun. Clearly ours would be just like that.
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Jun 28, 2014 00:17
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/dcc get Hawa11Lam0 Edit: WE ARE ACTUALLY TALKING ABOUT GEN-CON ON IRC ALREADY Dr. Quarex fucked around with this message at 00:39 on Jun 28, 2014 |
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Jun 28, 2014 00:36
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dexefiend posted:are you on irc.ilstu.edu? cuz that is sitting on an RS6000 and has blazing transfer times. I just tried to connect to IlStu.edu's IRC host You tricked me There are THREE OF US NOW EVERYBODY
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Jun 28, 2014 03:53
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Hawaii_Lame-O posted:Quarex, you should totally add this information to the first post. Sorry I disappeared last night, I have discovered that there are, indeed, times when just waiting for your router to fix itself will not work. We had four whole people at one point
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Jun 28, 2014 20:01
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Ego Trip posted:I am becoming slightly excited. AND LET THE EXCITEMENT FLOW OVER YOU LIKE A RIVER LIKE BEING WATERBOARDED WITH JOY
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Jun 30, 2014 00:01
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8one6 posted:It was either last year or the year before that they started opening will-call all Wednesday night, mostly because there are still people in the 2011 will-call line. For real though. The 24-hour plan is probably the most universally beloved Gen-Con administrative decision of the last decade. Also possibly the only beloved one. Not sure.
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Jun 30, 2014 02:51
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Old Man Mozz posted:I wish I could go to gen con so bad it hurts Where are you, Old Man Mozz? I will pick you up on the way. Ignore the fact that I am taking the train. I have a lot of singular Gen-Con stories I should probably tell, but perhaps I will try to think of something delightful from each year and slowly post them when nothing else is happening. 1997: Knowing absolutely nothing about what I am doing or what is going on, having only been gaming for a couple of years and never having been around more gamers than the dozen or so people I knew who gamed, four of us loaded into my shamefully older friend's SWEET 1988? TRANS AM and drove from Normal, Illinois to Milwaukee while blasting GWAR and "Stayin' Alive" on repeat the whole way there. We carefully examined the convention booklet once we arrived to determine what game the four of us would play in, and decided on the four-day "Society in Shadow" live-action game (running 8 P.M. - 2 A.M. Wednesday-Saturday nights). "Society in Shadow" was exactly as much of a duplicate in all but name of Vampire: The Masquerade as you can imagine, other than the almost innovative mechanic of using "drawing from your bag of marbles" for conflict resolution. We had a decent time goofing off as various werecreatures, but by the end of the first session we it was obvious the game did not actually seem to have much of a plot. So we decided to try to destroy the game (in a constructive way), and figured the four of us were so jaded with our monstrous existence that we were going to try to take the entire supernatural world down by revealing it to the public. Cut to half-way through the fourth day of the game, and about 90% of the rest of the players have gathered with veritable torches and pitchforks outside our heavily trapped hideout, and we just have to figure out the most creative way to commit suicide by vampire. We opt to plead for a mediator from the gathered masses so that we can figure out how to let 3 of us surrender to the mob so the 4th can go into exile peacefully. Which meant that we killed and ate the gamemaster PC who came in to do the mediating and then tried to escape through a secret tunnel (though I seem to recall we were discovered and killed; that part seemed so uneventful compared to the rest of the game). Several players came up to us after the game ended to thank us for playing our GM plant roles flawlessly, and were very confused when they found out we had just decided to be the antagonists on our own. Though I also determined in 1997 that I was definitely not the "game all day" type, as 1-2 games every day in addition to the live-action was way too draining.
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Jul 1, 2014 01:49
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| # ¿ May 14, 2024 14:51 |
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I am still anxiously awaiting the return of whoever it was that asked me on IRC if I still lived in Normal, Illinois (answer: not generally, though I am driving from there after taking the train in from Vermont!)
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Jul 2, 2014 22:34
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