|
From the time our beloved dead forums first took shape, gaming conventions have gone from a sizeable niche weirdo thing to a colossal niche weirdo thing. 15 years ago we were still struggling to get a dozen posts in a thread for attending Gen-Con, but now we have a virtual Goon Army attending every year and spending the rest of the year making fun of each other in Discord. For historical consideration, the last iteration of this thread I remember was in 2013, though so many things have changed since then in terms of gaming convention proliferation and annihilation that I imagine the current crop of hot tickets looks totally different. The point is, for as much attention as Gen-Con or Dragon Con or even the various PAX conventions have garnered over the years, it is still fairly unusual for subnational gaming conventions to get any discussion outside of occasional mentions in the Traditional Games chat thread, and that is JUST SILLY! Especially since I know people are going to, and in some cases even helping organize, these cool-rear end events. I was on the fence for whether Origins counted for this thread until WerrWaaa mentioned looking forward to me making this thread for the very reason that he wanted to talk about it, so Origins is clearly the "biggest convention we are talking about here" cutoff point (I think they average 15,000 on a good year). Also incidentally my source for suddenly believing this thread was possible, FanCons, has a lot of dates at least a little wrong, so it is worth double-checking anything you discover there. Conventions I hear are cool and am attending myself to start us off: June 3-5: PopCon Indy June 8-12: Origins Game Fair (Columbus, Ohio) June 24-26: Planet Funk Con (Quad Cities, Iowa/Illinois) July 7-10: Fan Expo Chicago October 20-23: GameHoleCon (Madison, Wisconsin, record holder for worst convention name) March 23-26: Gary Con (Lake Geneva, Wisconsin) May 18-21: Geekway to the West (St. Louis, Missouri) Summer is also a great time for conventions, so this thread is seeking to strike when the iron is hot and build up some throbbing, heaving passion for discussing either your favorite smaller gaming convention or for getting recommendations on conventions actually worth attending despite their small stature. What are people's preferred conventions that are not Gen-Con or Dragon Con? If they are in the Midwestish, I might even go to them! Any convention with enough tabletop gaming to warrant mention in a show description counts for inclusion here, even if from the name you might not guess it belonged.
|
#
¿
May 23, 2022 21:57
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 10, 2024 15:12 |
|
|
I am going to respond to my own drat thread immediately for an example of posting about a convention you want to hype, since I want to do that very thing: I have only tried out about 15 conventions in my life so far, but for my part I must say Gary Con stands out for its perpetually astonishing juxtaposition of manageable size and BIG STAR POWER (if you are at all into 1970s/1980s gaming, anyway). You cannot walk 10 feet in the Grand Lodge at Lake Geneva without running into an ex-TSR (the real one) employee or Gygax family member, and there are things happening there every year that boggle the mind. For example, this year I played in a game of Braunstein run by the original author, the game that infamously in the late 1960s led to Dave Arneson wanting to run his own iteration of it, called Blackmoor, and eventually becoming Dungeons & Dragons. David Wesely wrapped up our session by telling a good 30 minutes of stories about the Minneapolis gaming crew that half-kickstarted the entire RPG world as we know it, and since a big part of why I love gaming conventions is collecting memorable experiences, Gary Con is always good for that.
|
|
#
¿
May 23, 2022 21:57
|
|
|
Fellis posted:I’m going to enhance this series of OP posts by compiling a list of smaller cons that goons attend, roughly when, and where. If people want their username listed as a “willing to meet goons” let me know! I am always willing to Meet Goon(tm) and am going so far (I need to check the convention calendar post-Gen-/Dragon Con one of these days) to Origins Game Fair - June 8-12 - Columbus, OH - DOKTA Q-REX Planet Funk Con - June 24-26 - Quad Cities, IL/IA - Hello Fan Expo Chicago - July 8-10 - Chicago, IL - But I will have my 5-year-old with me so my willingness may not be hugely useful nesbit37 posted:Dexcon I am also bummed you are not going to Origins, given last time we both went I think I somehow did not know you were there and otherwise I am only now finally all-in on Origins due to the VIG program and me being dumb WerrWaaa posted:Omg I'm in the OP *freaks out* Bucnasti posted:LA specifically has Strategicon which is a smallish convention that takes place three times a year (it used to be three separate conventions) at a hotel near LAX the next one is this weekend but I'm not attending. It really is weird that gaming conventions on the West Coast in general are not bigger. This must have something to do with wargaming falling into the category of "winter activity" nesbit37 posted:If anyone wants to see what some of these cons are like I suggest you check out TheOneTar on youtube. They do video series on some of these, including:
|
|
#
¿
Jun 6, 2022 22:30
|
|
|
I see all of the recommended conventions trom the last few posts have already passed for the year; tragic. Well except Play On Con, which totally sounds awesome.Funzo posted:Almost forgot, I wanted to second the recommendation for GameHole Con. It's a great local con that has a solid board game presence, and hits way above its weight for D&D Adventure League events. They usually have a long list of industry special guests too WerrWaaa posted:I really want to go to Adepticon some day but my commitment to mini games really waxes and wanes. Hard to justify if I'm not deep in a game. :/ Midjack posted:Washingcon is a small DC area tabletop con that is fairly new. MAGfest is the gorilla in the DC area; though its focus is more on video than tabletop it has a healthy tabletop scene. Siivola posted:Hey Fingoons, who's hype for Ropecon? It doesn't get more regional than this! I definitely have visions of spending my first year of retirement going to gaming conventions on every continent. Every continent, Antarctigoons.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 3, 2022 20:08
|
|
|
Fellis are you going to do the thing you claimed you are doing you monster, I could do it in the first post instead if you like Just found out about a convention that is in a place I never would have guessed could support a convention: La Crosse, Wisconsin! Coulee Con!. It is not like next door but it is definitely close enough that I feel it is in the spirit of this thread for me to check it out and see what the hell its deal is, though I am not sure if I can actually go without bringing a young child with me which would kind of limit my options. Maybe there will be a really good McDonald's next door to the convention center I can bribe him with John Romero posted:they should sell passes that just allow access to the dealer area
|
|
#
¿
Jul 29, 2022 19:38
|
|
|
nesbit37 posted:I've always heard about people lobby conning Gen Con but I've never actually seen it happen. Maybe I've interacted with them in the past and just didn't realize they were badgeless and just hanging out in a hotel lobby or whatever. I don't get the concept personally, even if you are a local. Just go to the convention already. I don't know what they get out of it, but then again I am a big old introvert and don't get joy out of just talking to random people. Then again, if you can pull it off, I guess in some sense it is perfectly logical to hang out for free in the hallways and play games with strangers? I mean, that is at least technically part of what we are paying for, even if that is like 0.04% of why I personally attend
|
|
#
¿
Jul 30, 2022 02:53
|
|
|
I suppose I should update the original post huh, nobody likes those opening posts that stay stuck. Or maybe I should just make a new post like that occasionally? HmmmmmmmmFellis posted:I will be there all weekend! Frozen Peach posted:Geekway Mini is this weekend! If you're one of the few here come say hi. Definitely looking forward to Gary Con as usual, even if my new job may end up meaning I have to skip the liminally regional Origins. But I should have time to go to GameHole Con again this year. Speaking of: Now that I went to  GameHole Con and got to experience what the GameHole actually is, I have to put it up there with Gary Con in terms of conventions that have way more going on than you would expect from the size and relative newness. Not a huge surprise, given Wisconsin is probably as close to roleplaying ground zero as you can get (apologies to Minnesota), but it really is funny that you can go to relatively small conventions here and constantly like recognize people from your old issues of Dragon Magazine. I do not think I said more than "oh hey!" to Ed Greenwood, but I probably bumped into him on three separate days, and it will always be fun to think about how the guy responsible for such a substantial amount of what people think of as the D&D world is not even that old yet and just hanging out being a nerd at conventions. Realistically the Forgotten Realms are a much bigger part of what my mind thinks of as "a fantasy world' than even Middle Earth, as questionable as that may be, so it is always nice to be able to see the creator still doing his thing and remember just how recent this history is, even as someone born after D&D was created of course.Oh but even beyond that aside, I would definitely recommend GameHole Con on about the same level as Gary Con honestly, as both have a lot of available space and thus a lot of games running in a variety of genres (and both have respectable vendor areas, albeit still tiny compared to the big leagues; I did pick up some sweet Beadle & Grimm stuff at GameHole Con I do not think they were carrying at Gen-Con). Though you are likely going to run into even more gaming luminary-types at the latter if that is a big draw for you. Do we call everyone "influencers" now? Anyway, I also like how GameHole Con takes place at a proper convention center so parking is effortless, though of course that may change if it grows too much. But it sure beats how Gary Con's parking is permanently full from before the convention begins, though that might be my aversion to shuttles making it a bigger deal than it is. Also I went to Planet Funk Con and it was, in fact, a convention. Not really a gaming convention, though there was plenty of that going on. Other than getting pictures with the Godfather I probably would have forgotten most details of my time there already. Everyone I was going to attend Fan Expo Chicago with backed out because they were not requiring masks or vaccines so I am sure my VIP badge had a great time by itself in the envelope
|
|
#
¿
Jan 27, 2023 21:27
|
|
|
nesbit37 posted:I am mostly in here to say I am on the planning committee for a new regional con just outside of Philadelphia. January 5-7. 2024 we're going to hose the Philadelphia Area Gaming Expo. Its being run by a guy named Ron who did a lot of local cons in the 90s, and I am helping out with it in general but also a lot with the D&D Adventurers League part of the con. It is time to not just be part of the con but to BE the con! Quarex should be excited because the convention is also going to feature an auction that should be pretty good. I don't know if it will rival Gamehole con's as far as collectible stuff it gets but it should be good. Ron, myself, and several others are pretty big into the game collecting world so hopefully we get good stuff. I see MAGFest has not announced its 2024 dates yet, which ... I guess is not weird, but seems weird to me, as I try to decide whether there is any chance I would make it to this. I guess ideally they are back-to-back weekends and I just go crazy and go to both! Fake edit because I took a long time making this post: oh no Fellis has crushed my dreams already  nesbit37 posted:I have all kinds of opinions on Gamehole Con vs Gary Con and such (they're both great cons but are also rather different from each other IMO) if thats a discussion people want to have. I definitely enjoy Gary Con's vibe more; finally attending Dragon Con last year helped me realize that I definitely have room in my heart for more hotel-based conventions. I do like a nice wander around a convention center now and then, but I would really ideally like to alternate between types of venue with every convention I attend. I also realized I am probably more into the act of attending conventions than experiencing what is actually happening at the convention, but that is my own issue to come to terms with and how dare you bring it up Admittedly GameHole Con might have been less amazing to me if I had not been able to actually see The Game Hole itself, as my cartophilia combined with actually being face-to-face with the original map of the Forgotten Realms meant I established a core memory before the convention even started. But I liked that convention's system highlighting games being run by their creators or by special guests as a different category, as I think it lends itself to increasing attendance from said guests. Maybe that happens just as often at Gary Con, but other than playing Braunstein with David Wesely, which admittedly was absolutely a highlight of my gaming life, I do not remember seeing many other games run by luminaries (Luke Gygax notwithstanding).
|
|
#
¿
Jan 28, 2023 01:44
|
|
|
nesbit37 posted:Still, Gary Con feels like a family con to me. It’s the whole Gygax family, plus the old TSR family. The games all take place in one hotel complex which makes it feel nice and tight and a lot more welcoming than a more traditional convention center like where Gamehole is. The con also goes pretty late, and you can have no problem still staying up and chatting or even gaming with people in the hotel bar after your last game gets out at midnight. It’s care to gaming history is also special to me. The wargaming room they keep there complete with sand table is great, and you get to play Wargames you probably would never play anywhere else. There are also a lot of, albeit mostly TSR, games from the 80s and earlier run regularly which I like a lot as well. I don’t know how much of this will persist as the old timers start to die off but for now its a great con, and how old everyone is getting is part why I am super bummed to not be able to make it this year. I did not quote the Hollywood influence stuff but that is really interesting, particularly as clearly Luke just inherited Gary's fame gene and followed a weirdly similar path of growing D&D's asociation with pop culture (though much more indirectly or unofficially, obviously, with this generation not actually being involved directly with the company making the game). I certainly hope we have seen the last of Satine Phoenix until she divorces Chiseled Steve or whatever his name is and claims of course all the abuse and trauma was all him, I swear, and manages to work her way back into slightly more good graces Golden Bee posted:Is there a master list somewhere of all the online cons?
|
|
#
¿
Jan 30, 2023 01:54
|
|
|
drat I want to go. It seems like I have so many more weekends free than usual this year yet somehow never on the actual weekends I can go to gaming conventions  I should really post about the like three conventions I snuck off to in the last month though. If I knew what we were using instead of IMGur I might have posted some photos already
|
|
#
¿
May 9, 2023 03:30
|
|
|
Origins 2023 was definitely less catastrophic than Origins 2022, even with the VIG absurdities. Actually specifically because of them I suppose, on my end; last year the VIG benefits were mostly lost on me, and I just ended up giving most of the swag to Goons at Gen-Con, whereas this year they basically failed to procure swag and thus refunded almost the entire extra cost of VIG beyond a normal badge, but as I had enjoyed the early Exhibit Hall access, got to eat for free at evening mixers both Thursday and Friday, and liked the shirt more than last year, it basically felt like I came out ahead overall, normally a rare feeling at Origins. Plus drat the new Hilton towers are basically double the height of anything else in Ohio and I never got sick of returning to my 27th floor view of basically the entire metropolitan area But yeah overall you could tell they were trying to
|
|
#
¿
Jun 27, 2023 22:29
|
|
|
Holy poo poo three new posts and two of them are about conventions I know nothing about (and I only know about PAGE because I speak with Nesbit37 on the Astral Plane in addition to the Forums) Completely based on nothing at all I wonder if Lorcana is staying so big that they are adding a new show based on its strength alone (I mean in conjunction with the other stuff they ostensibly do at this trading card convention). There are few conventions I would not recommend checking out for shopping, honestly; I cannot say that I have ever been to one and been like "oh, that dealer room sucked" except for some early year Gary Cons and that was really not why anyone was attending anyway Ugh I absolutely want to and even SHOULD go to Midwinter Gaming Con given I am only a few hours away, a shame I am busy Friday night through Sunday night. Hey wait a minute though, what the hell is going on with this convention "Convention Admission ONLY, Waterpark passes are purchased separately" And it starts Thursday morning but the Exhibit Hall does not open until Friday, HMMMMMM I could actually go and maybe game Thursday and then check out the Exhibit Hall on Friday before escaping back to the safety of the other side of the Mississippi And I see when buying your badge you can add a buffet breakfast on Friday morning to it for $15, that is my kind of add-on poo poo thanks for posting about these conventions everybody, I now tentatively have MGC on my list and am trying to send my podcast co-host to the one in Philadelphia
|
|
#
¿
Jan 5, 2024 00:43
|
|
|
I might be in Chicago starting like the exact moment that convention ends, let me know if you are sticking around, haha My current plan is to try to go to at least one convention a month, which has been going great as I have not been to one since October. But I have a handful coming up certainly: * Winter Fantasy, Basically Just D&D in Indiana this weekend * GamiCon in Iowa and/or PlatteCon in Wisconsin, as both are like 90 minutes from me, the weekend of MagicCon * EverCon in scarily rural Wisconsin the first weekend of March, solely to go to a convention in a place that barely looks like civilization on a map * Founders & Legends in mid-March and of course leading directly to * Gary Con! I think after that I will end up not being able to go anywhere in April but hopefully my overabundance the previous two months will help mitigate that
|
|
#
¿
Feb 6, 2024 01:08
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 10, 2024 15:12 |
|
|
Hey I emerged on the other side of babiez with more con-drive than ever, it can happen to you too!
|
|
#
¿
Feb 6, 2024 03:16
|
|