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THE AWARD-WINNING BIG-BUDGET SPECTACULAR RETURNS FOR THE 2023 THEATER SEASON, FOR F O U R ( I S H ) - ~ - N I G H T S - ~ - O N L Y!!! code:Making this thread is one of my favorite uses for the Internet every year, even as it becomes increasingly clear that really we do lots of our talking on the year-round EDITED AGAIN TO UPDATE LINK Gen-Con Goons Discord group (just post to annoy me if this link stops working) that you should totally join if you have not yet. Especially if you basically do not use Discord, given that I logged onto it like once every few weeks until this group really got rolling. Assuming that everyone reading this is familiar with Gen-Con is A MISTAKE, as I learn every year when someone surprisingly pops into the thread as a first-time attendee to say thanks for the information and the nonsense and, presumably, the warm welcome! Last year's Shots Wednesday felt like the biggest gathering of Goons I have been seen anywhere but a literal GoonCon, and if we did not make it so clear here that we really are overwhelmingly polite and welcoming that might not have been possible! Hooray! But I am out of energy already, just gonna let ChatGPT handle it from here  Hmm that was entirely too generic, I bet we can do better  Oh no. Yeah, I am definitely no longer needed =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= WHAT IS GEN CON, DR. QUAREX??? =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Formally known as the BEST FOUR DAYS OF GAMING, but really the BEST FIVE DAYS OF RELIABLE JOY IN THIS INSANE WORLD. Indianapolis becomes the closest thing there is to a Gaming City from about Tuesday night to Monday morning that one week every year, and you absolutely owe it to yourself to attend if you can. You really will find nearly any game you are into playing here, if you look hard enough. I am not going to pretend every system you have ever heard of is being run, but there is a good chance if you ran a game nobody had played in 30 years that you would still get a full table of players willing to give Homebrew Rambo 1991 or whatever a shot. poo poo I just learned about crokinole a few years back when someone was randomly running a world championship tournament for it! Gen Con is the purest and grandest celebration of gaming, gaming ephemera, and the GAMING LIFESTYLE that you are ever going to find. Then comes the turn: and I basically never even have time for gaming because there is so much else going on. The Auction and its amazing plethora of great deals on nerd goods old and new(ish) has slowly occupied more of my time at the convention since 2003, when I went from making fun of people who spent all their time bidding on horse racing boardgames, to now when I would be downright delighted if a horse racing boardgame popped up (it helps that I realized in the interim that horse racing boardgames represent 0.01% of the total stock and I just happened to walk in at a very bad time in 2003).  BUT FIRST A BREAK FOR THE SPOILERS! Here are some of the many things our experts can confirm, despite their occurrence at Gen-Con 2009, will not be occurring for you at Gen-Con 2023                Conversely, you are guaranteed to experience the following recurrent events from Gen-Con 2009:             * Bij  OH but yeah like, there are so many side quests happening outside the ticketed gaming events that are ostensibly the biggest draw alongside the Exhibit Hall. Oh, the Exhibit Hall; yeah, after a brief downturn in size in 2021 it is already back to its 2019 juggernaut enormity, where you virtually cannot see one end of the hall from the other, and it would probably take you an entire day or more if you genuinely wanted to look at the stuff every booth was selling. And there are many more attention-grabbing events to discuss, as there are absolutely people who vouch for attending in large part for watching the Cosplay Parade or competitions, participatory ridiculousness like Dub That Hentai, professional advice in Author's Avenue, the inspired trash-to-temple building aesthetic of Cardhalla, the absurdity of hearing everyone near you at a restaurant talking about their character, the sheer terror of being chased down the street by a mob yelling at you about their character, or even just the pure party vibe* exemplified by the perpetual Georgia Street food-trucks-and-alcohol corridor right next to the convention center. *That said, I have been to Dragon Con now, and I appreciate Gen-Con is basically a church lock-in compared to Dragon Con's authentic recreation of Saturnalia. Dr. Quarex fucked around with this message at 17:08 on May 23, 2023 |
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Jan 24, 2023 07:41
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         In this vaguely reservedish post in case somehow there is anything relevant to put here later, here are all the previous iterations of this, or similar, threads: Archives needed: Gen Con Indy 2003 Forgotten Goon Meets Thread: Whydirt Kicks Us Off! Also mentions a deleted? previous thread from that year; can moderators see those threads?: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=278795452 Gen Con Indy 2003 Thread Attempt~ #1: Please Sir, Please Help Me Obtain A Hotel Room Gen Con Indy 2003 Thread Attempt #2: Hero Lab Seriously Existed In 2003? Gen Con Indy 2004 Thread Attempt #1: Rhandhali Tries Gen Con Indy 2004 Thread Attempt #2: A Second Rhandhali Post Has Hit The Forums Gen Con Indy 2004: Actually Just A Thread About An NPR Story On Gen Con Gen Con SO CAL(!) 2004: This Does Not Mean It Was Real! Gen Con Indy 2005 Thread Attempt #1: Space Pope, Over And Out Gen Con Indy 2005 Computer Game Interview Request Thread In Games Proper: Ends With A Milwaukeean's Lament Gen Con Indy 2005 Thread Attempt #2: Three. Posts. Gen Con Indy 2005: ANOTHER Goon Meets thread I missed before! Gen Con Indy 2006: Vaguely Resembling A Successful Thread Gen Con Indy 2007, Kind Of: Quarex Seeks to Understand the Differences Between Gen Con, Origins, and DragonCon Like Some Pathetic Churl Gen Con Indy 2007, Kind Of, Redux: Seorin Wants Spoilers Gen Con Indy 2008: Truly The Saddest Official Thread Ever Gen Con Paris 2009: Did Not Actually Happen Gen Con Indy 2009: Perhaps The Third-Saddest Official Thread Gen Con Indy 2010 Thread Attempt #1: Title Mocking Indiana, Thread Bad Gen Con Indy 2010 Thread Attempt #2: Title Also Mocking Indiana, Thread Also Bad; Coincidence? Gen Con Indy 2011 Just Posts About A D&D Tournament There, Really Gen Con Indy 2012: Indianapolis Utterly Destroyed By Great Chicago Fire of 1871 Gen Con Indy 2013: Gen Con Relocates To Villedor For Better Downtown Hotel Coverage     Archives no longer needed: Gen Con Indy 2014: The Final Chapter Gen Con Indy 2015 and Gen Con 2015 Part Two: 2016: The Final Chapter Gen Con Indy 2017: Celebrating 50 Glorious Years Of Final Chapters Gen Con Indy 2018: Gen Con Indy Final: The Chapter Gen Con Indy 2019: Includes a brief history of Gen Con in the first post, if you are into that kind of thing Gen Con Indy 2020: The Less Said The Better Gen Con Indy 2021: No Auction Means No Memories Gen Con Indy 2022: Yes Auction Means Yes Memories!          So topical!Every convention advice section seems of dubious use these days; I mean, they are still fun to think about, but if anything you want to bring as little as possible to a convention in my opinion. If you have whatever chargers and medicine you need for whatever devices and maladies plague you, you are basically set already. I do still want to throw out the general advice list for things not everybody necessarily thinks through:
THAT WILL DO IT FOR ME THIS YEAR EVERYBODY! If you have any questions about how things are likely to go, obviously ask them here or in the Discord and probably I will leap over myself to answer them as quickly as humanly possible. And thanks as always to Torrent for the thread title collaboration; I think we might already be hot on the trail of 2024's at this point Badges go on sale at this link THIS SATURDAY, JANUARY 29, at NOON EASTERN, 11 A.M. CENTRAL! PRESUMABLY 10 MOUNTAIN AND 9 PACIFIC! I HAVE A FRIEND IN ALASKA NAMED FRANCESCA, I THINK IT WILL BE LIKE 4 A.M. THERE FOR HER, I SHOULD CHECK! ACTUALLY YOU KNOW I HAVE ONLY TALKED TO HER A FEW TIMES THIS YEAR, I REALLY SHOULD TRY HARDER TO STAY IN TOUCH WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT JUST ON THE GEN-CON DISCORD. THE IMPORTANT THING FOR FRIENDSHIP IS TO MAKE A REAL AND HONEST EFFORT, YOU KNOW? WHAT ELSE CAN WE TRULY DO IN LIFE BESIDES BE KIND TO THOSE WHO WE LOVE AND ENCOURAGE EVERYONE TO BE THE BEST THEY CAN BE? SERIOUSLY.
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Jan 24, 2023 07:41
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I'm going to try my damnedest to not miss this year's convention season. GENCONNNNNNN
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Jan 24, 2023 07:56
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Shotz. Wednesday.
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Jan 24, 2023 07:59
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So how good is Gencon for Warhammer 40k and kill team? I might end up going to england for warhammer fest but america is a very rare trip for me so if I end up going I want to make it include one gaming convention for fun.
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Jan 24, 2023 07:59
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Frozen Peach posted:I'm going to try my damnedest to not miss this year's convention season. GEN-CONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN Eastmabl posted:Shotz. Wednesday. (Goons gather at the Rathskeller, a delightful German restaurant, the Wednesday night of the convention at like 5-6. The Rathskeller is the cool place to hang out. You can find most of the cool people there. At Shots Wednesday you can just chill and do whatever and totally relax. "Take it easy" is the Shots Wednesday motto, for example, that's how laid back it is there. Show up if you want to have a good time. Another good reason to show up is if you want to hang out with friends.) Al-Saqr posted:So how good is Gencon for Warhammer 40k and kill team? I might end up going to england for warhammer fest but america is a very rare trip for me so if I end up going I want to make it include one gaming convention for fun.
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Jan 24, 2023 08:16
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Al-Saqr posted:So how good is Gencon for Warhammer 40k and kill team? I might end up going to england for warhammer fest but america is a very rare trip for me so if I end up going I want to make it include one gaming convention for fun. Here are all the official events from GW last year and it looks like there were a few non-official Apocalypse and skirmish games. https://gencon.eventdb.us/groupCompany.php?Group=Games+Workshop
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Jan 24, 2023 08:36
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Dr. Quarex posted:We would certainly be honored to host the great Barnae Al-Sandars amongst our group. THE IMPERIAL PEOPLE. ARE TIRED. OF SLAANESHI WOMEN. lol thanks dude, most likely not this year but I'll see if I can make it the next year. 
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Jan 24, 2023 08:40
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A couple of pics!  Lincoln!  The last time you'll likely see the hall this empty.  Ticket to ride but big.  Cultural artifacts on display at the 50th anniversary recreation of Gen Con 1.
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Jan 24, 2023 09:19
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How much are tickets to the old people buffet featured in the OP?
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Jan 24, 2023 13:35
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So excited for Gen Con! I will also use this post to pump up the project I did for Gen Con's 50th anniversary. If you are interested in Gen Con history at all check it out. It has a bunch of interviews I did with Gen Con attendees, all of the program covers for the first 50 years, and most importantly a database you can search with every Gen Con event that has ever happened in it! http://best50yearsingaming.com/ I hope Lou Zocchi makes it out this year to the Gamescience booth. It was a sad booth in 2022 without him being there, and they had a lot less old product and in particular a lot fewer pointy dice. Very excited for this year. I have been an exhibitor since 2018, but am not doing that this year so I will be attending more like a normal person again this year. I should even have time for some more goon functions for once!
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Jan 24, 2023 16:02
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Last year started me on a path to a Magic habit. Now, my friends and I are doing a draft in preparation for the All Will Be One pre-release. The five of us who game at my house are all going.
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Jan 24, 2023 16:27
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I'll be there with Magic cards and a Kill Team. Looking forward to games and drinks and spending too much money. I cannot say for certain how much time I will have to ditch my Hoosier friends for Goon friends but it'll happen more than once.
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Jan 24, 2023 17:41
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WerrWaaa posted:I'll be there with Magic cards and a Kill Team. Looking forward to games and drinks and spending too much money. I cannot say for certain how much time I will have to ditch my Hoosier friends for Goon friends but it'll happen more than once.  drat you ain't playing around.
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Jan 24, 2023 17:49
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Scrolling down your OP, when I got to the part about "these are things from old Gen Con that will be back" I was expecting pictures of people passed out on floors. To anyone new, that's another fun game of the con, finding people who just couldn't go forward anymore. (It doesn't really count if they're in a chair or something; they gotta be just like face down on the floor.)
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Jan 24, 2023 22:57
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Admiral Joeslop posted:How much are tickets to the old people buffet featured in the OP? nesbit37 posted:http://best50yearsingaming.com/ Agreed that I hope Lou makes it one more time, even though I cannot stress enough how shocked I am that he is still alive given how much he had seemingly gone downhill by Gen-Con 2019 when I last saw him. Though I did hear I had just missed him at Gary Con 2022, so clearly he recovered at least a bit from his low point in 2021. As name-dropping-Mudcrab-Merchant again mentioned, it is shocking someone in frail health can survive the hot-as-an-oven vendor setup day given even young people sometimes nearly or actually pass out Back to you enjoying the convention, I anticipate you in a monocle and your Auction bidder card taped to an ornate auction paddle at the crème de la crème session. Oh my god I just realized I absolutely have to buy a bunch of auction paddles to hand out to people at Shots Wednesday this year, thanks for the idea me. You are welcome, me! Ugh, me is really overrated, but do not tell me me said that. CellBlock posted:Scrolling down your OP, when I got to the part about "these are things from old Gen Con that will be back" I was expecting pictures of people passed out on floors.  WerrWaaa posted:I'll be there with Magic cards and a Kill Team. Looking forward to games and drinks and spending too much money. I cannot say for certain how much time I will have to ditch my Hoosier friends for Goon friends but it'll happen more than once. Also 8one6 how old is the Abraham Lincoln picture? I know that is RUSTY BAWLS, and I have not seen him for ages there, but that does not mean too much given how often I am sequestered for most of the day at the Auction. Though I just Goog'd his name and one of the first results was someone on the Gen-Con Forums in 2017 asking why he had not been back for years, so yeah probably just died of stilt-related causes Dr. Quarex fucked around with this message at 10:18 on Jan 25, 2023 |
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Jan 24, 2023 23:45
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GEN CON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There's a chance I have to go to EVO again this year, which overlaps with Gen Con but I'm hopeful that won't happen. No Gen Con for me last year was sad for a lot of reasons, and I want to get back to it! My friend group is all still really said Paizo pulled PACG play, but I think this year I might just pack up my own box and we can grab a free area to play every morning for a few hours to start the day.
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Jan 25, 2023 01:49
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Dr. Quarex posted:... 2007 I think.
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Jan 25, 2023 02:02
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Dr. Quarex posted:The champion photo example being the one ... Mudcrab Merchant? took? Wow. Friendship ended buddy.
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Jan 25, 2023 02:03
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Dr. Quarex posted:
I can’t imagine showing up to an auction dressed like Mr. Monopoly would be a good bidding strategy. I mean, on one hand people might look at you and assume you are going to win whatever you want so why bother bid against you. But on the other hand people might just bid you up because they can. I reminded of that guppy guy I saw at Game Hole Con this year. That said I definitely want to spend some good time in the auction this year. We’ll have to see what my collecting goals are around Gen Con time this year. Last year I succeeded in getting a copy of every game Guidon Games put out. I already have everything but some of the rarest of rares for OD&D, basic D&D and AD&D. Maybe I should go threw Appelcine’s books again and focus on some of those smaller companies stuff. I think the things I would be most excited about gathering this year are zines, but I don’t know how often those come up in the auctions. I would also want large runs of the zines and just an issue or two out of the whole series, so who knows.
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Jan 25, 2023 02:31
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2022 was supposed to be my first Gen Con, but I got COVID a couple of days beforehand. Maybe this year...
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Jan 25, 2023 03:20
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Bottom Liner posted:Wow. Friendship ended buddy. (I probably could have checked in a previous thread, too; just shoddy work overall by me) nesbit37 posted:I can’t imagine showing up to an auction dressed like Mr. Monopoly would be a good bidding strategy. I mean, on one hand people might look at you and assume you are going to win whatever you want so why bother bid against you. But on the other hand people might just bid you up because they can. I reminded of that guppy guy I saw at Game Hole Con this year. Zines have been fairly consistent over the years in my recollection, but not necessarily in a terribly exciting way; like, a handful of cool intriguing stuff in the collector's section and a handful of 'zines nobody has ever heard of in the RPG section. But of course every year has weird trends with the less-common items, so you just never know when somebody will show up looking to unload their entire collection. Your having everything Guidon Games put out sounds amazing, so clearly you should yeah as you say work on finding new categories of older rare stuff in the less-absurdly-valuable areas to collect. I wonder if Hasbro trying to tank D&D as a brand will result in any changes to collector prices for the old stuff? Probably not. Cithen posted:2022 was supposed to be my first Gen Con, but I got COVID a couple of days beforehand. Maybe this year...
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Jan 25, 2023 10:18
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Dr. Quarex posted:
Your Mr. Monopoly stratagem seems sound. I think you should move forward with that. Good to hear about zines. What I don’t want is to end up with 1 or 2 issues of 30 different zines. I would much rather have large runs of a few of them than scattered issues of a bunch. We’ll see what happens, I don’t know exactly how much time I’ll end up dedicating to the auction this year. I love the auction but I don’t want to sit in it from open to close each day, that’s just too much plus I only have so much luggage space. At least I know there are some must skip categories like the family and commercial games time slot.
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Jan 25, 2023 16:13
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nesbit37 posted:I think ... I ... want ... to sit in it from open to close each day, that’s ... much plus .... At least I ... must ... like ... games.... Anyone have any suggestions for a rectangular (horizontal) image that has Gen Con Vibes(tm) without being covered by intellectual property laws? Indianapolis' skyline is not really distinctive enough to work in my opinion (apologies to the thousands of Indianapolis locals reading this)
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Jan 25, 2023 22:59
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I am partial to this pic of the exhibitors floor from 1987: Someone, whoever took the original photo (a Barbara Young), owns the copyright. It was taken by a fan not someone for TSR or some other company. So I guess it depends what you are concerned about. Is this for a facebook group or something?
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Jan 25, 2023 23:06
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Dr. Quarex posted:Are you in THE DISCORD??? I do not think I remember us pouring out a sympathy beverage for anyone. Definitely hope you can make it this year!!! WE HAVE SUCH SIGHTS TO SHOW YOU I was/am, but I don't remember sharing it at the time.
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Jan 26, 2023 00:41
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nesbit37 posted:I am partial to this pic of the exhibitors floor from 1987: Cithen posted:I was/am, but I don't remember sharing it at the time.
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Jan 26, 2023 01:28
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Hopefully I don't have a business trip Tuesday/Wednesday this year and can make it to SHOTSWEDNESDAY. Missed seeing everyone last year.
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Jan 26, 2023 20:57
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WOO GENCON
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Jan 29, 2023 21:33
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Badge acquired!
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Jan 29, 2023 21:45
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Badge::Get Looking forward to a week of dungeon building and board games!
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Jan 29, 2023 23:38
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Badge purchased. Ready for this.
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Jan 29, 2023 23:54
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Imagine buying your badge before you’re actually traveling to indi
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Jan 29, 2023 23:58
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BlackIronHeart posted:WOO GENCON Bottom Liner posted:Imagine buying your badge before you’re actually traveling to indi Today we discovered just how active the official Gen-Con Forums actually could be when there were like ~75 posts in five minutes from VIGs unable to buy their badges, which is about 50 more posts than there have been in the rest of January. Then they deleted all the overlapping threads  yet they somehow cannot seem to set up even a basic system to catch the constant stream of Spam accounts/postsLET THE RECORD SHOW HOW DUMB IT IS THAT EVEN VIGS HAD A QUEUE FOR HOTELS oh anyway Again make sure to EDIT: UPDATED LINK join the Gen-Con Goons Discord but also post your insane screeds or questions here Like "why do we go on attending in the years since Sugarfire Smokehouse closed in Indianapolis?" Well, there may be one near you, just check the webpage for their store locator and hope for the best Dr. Quarex fucked around with this message at 04:15 on Feb 1, 2023 |
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Jan 30, 2023 02:02
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Dr. Quarex posted:!!! The one year it was an issue I weaseled my way into a vendor badge 
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Jan 30, 2023 02:51
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Bottom Liner posted:Imagine buying your badge before you’re actually traveling to indi I wound up missing Gen Con 2017 because my wife wanted me home to mind the baby. She eventually gave permission in early August, long after badges had sold out. Mind you, this is why I can just plan to go to gen con without a discussion unless a baby is involved.
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Jan 30, 2023 20:43
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Dr. Quarex posted:Like "why do we go on attending in the years since Sugarfire Smokehouse closed in Indianapolis?"
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Jan 30, 2023 20:51
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Ilor posted:I sometimes feel this way about Primanti Bros.
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Jan 30, 2023 20:52
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Ilor posted:I sometimes feel this way about Haveli.
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Jan 30, 2023 22:29
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Primanti's is good, but was only there for one con, I think. I went to Nevermore last year, and between how that went and what reviews are looking like now; I don't see them sticking around very long.
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Jan 30, 2023 23:02
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