I'm curious if I'm the only one who actually loved that the construction forced the Con to extend out to the neighboring hotels.  While it would have been nice to eliminate the Union Station games, I loved that there was gaming in the Hyatt and Marriott.  If anyone didn't game over there, the reason is simple...there was so much space especially in the Hyatt.  The Regency ballroom was never more than 50% full (at least when I was in there).  It reminded me of the old days where you didn't feel like you were cramped up with everyone in one big room.  Because of everything being spread out, there were far more bathrooms available and the ones at the hotels were very clean.  When my friends and I wanted to play a casual game or two, we didn't say in the convention center, we headed to the hotels.

 Now if they could only get more places to offer breakfast.

At the same time, Nascrag was shoehorned into the Omni. The hotel folks were gracious enough to lend extra space to allow for easier marshalling on Friday, but I heard Thursday was a bear to get everyone in and ready. If they hadn't posted the round 1 results on the web, it would have meant an extra trip out. Not that I don't personally need the exercise, but still...

Back in 2004 and 2005 when we were there last we saw lots of gaming in the hotels. So we didn't really notice a difference per se. It was great tho. Everyone looked like they were having fun and we enjoyed ourselves too.

 I agree with most of the silver lining in having events unfold in the different hotels.

 However, NASCRAG in a basement....eeesh.  I was sad to see them missing from the convention.   Hopefully next year they will return!

Eternus IV:

However, NASCRAG in a basement....eeesh.  I was sad to see them missing from the convention.  

I didn't realize it until now that they weren't there.  Now I miss their marshalling...I always stopped and had a good laugh.

On a different note, basements aren't so bad...it's kinda like when the AD&D Open used to be in the "Arena" across the street from the MECCA.  It was so raw, we loved it.

Knuteski:

Now if they could only get more places to offer breakfast.

Arrgh, this is the biggest downside of downtown Indy. Breakfast choices SUCK. If there was one greasy spoon within a two-block radius of the ICC, I'd be happy (no, Steak N Shake doesn't count....).  

Nah, the biggest downside is the sewer smell and exponential increase of panhandlers.

Did The Ram do breakfast?  I know they tried a couple years ago and my friend and I were the ONLY ones in there...

ConspiracyOfOne:

Nah, the biggest downside is the sewer smell and exponential increase of panhandlers.

Did The Ram do breakfast?  I know they tried a couple years ago and my friend and I were the ONLY ones in there...

That's why they stopped; not enough customers to keep it going.

I didn't notice as many panhandlers this year but I'm pretty sure it was because I didn't spend as much time walking around.  Sewer smell?  Check.

The RAM did not do breakfast but was open with its regular menu starting at 9am.

marimacc:

The RAM did not do breakfast but was open with its regular menu starting at 9am.

Wish I had known that, I ate at Steak n' Shake the one morning and got Horrible service.

I loved things being spread out to other places, I liked seeing gamers everywhere.

I ran a game in Union Station last year, and liked it a lot.  I like old buildings with lots of actual woodwork.  That, and it was much quieter than the convention center had been the years before.  It helps in running roleplaying games if you can actually hear what your players are saying.

Games in hotels rather than the convention center has been a recurring part of my GenCon experience ever since I started playing in Cthulhu Live games back when GenCon was still in Milwaukee, so that's nothing new to me.

I do like the Hyatt and Marriott, but the Crowne Plaza, where all of my Cthulhu Live games were at, was less than optimal.  The room my games were in was just too small.  We had an enormous room, also in the Crowne Plaza, last year, but the room this year was just not big enough.

I ran my tabletop Call of Cthulhu in the basement of the Omni, the Jennings Ballroom to be exact.  Fortunately, I was not there at the same time as NASCRAG, which is one of those games that, due to its nature, really needs its own dedicated room.

I really don't mind not being in the convention center itself.  The first several years of GenCon Indy, up to and including 2006, my tabletop game was in the convention center, in a room with several different kinds of games being run, and the noise was overwhelming.  Nope, I just don't miss that.  Not one bit.  Even when the construction is done, I might just request to be out in the hotels, if that is an option.  The convention center is just too noisy for roleplaying.

Do I mind?  I suppose not, but I'd like it better if everything (but perhaps TD and seminar's) were back in the ICC.  Traveling from 1 event to another with limited time between can be a bear.

Additionally, having all the various Miniatures games spread all over the place is just a shame.  More so than any other game type, having a big room for miniatures events is a good thing.  That room becomes an attraction for folks to see all that fabulous 3d gaming.

I never got to see "all" the miniautres games, because I didn't have time to hunt down there individual locations.  I was glad at least to see Tim Peaslee's new Dungeon made from Hirtst Arts that he uses with Reapers Warlord system (?).

Ah well...

Pat E 

We've had stuff in the Marriott and Hyatt for years and years - I don't see that ever changing, honestly. Even after the construction I don't think the convention center will fit everything - or have rooms really suitable for RPGs.

The construction did push certain events (like some of those TCGs in the Hyatt) into the hotels but there will always be something in the hotels - and I've been trying more and more to give people as much space as we can possibly give them, though LARPs and some really huge RPG events like NASCRAG were bursting at the seems.

Hopefully I can alleviate some of that next year by swapping around some space, though finding 20+ RPG tables together in a single room available all weekend is going to be next to impossible - and I remember all the noise complaints we got last year when we put RPGs into the big ballrooms in the Hyatt where the TCGs were this year.

Oi. Yes, RPG's and big ballrooms do not bode well for noise. Derek, for events like Nascrag, instead of one big all room, is there any area where there are a couple few smaller rooms with a larger area outside for mustering? Half the time, Nascrag groups wander off themselves to hotel rooms or whatnot to conserve noise. Seems to me an area like this would suit perfectly. Even though it's terribly far away, I can't help thinking mustering in Union Station would rock--think of the echoes of the chants!--and I believe that has some smaller rooms. Then again, it would be horrible for the pressgangs to snag people. Blah! No really good solution.

I also like Union Station but depending on the games being run, they can get a little loud.  I've learned that that's just the way things are going to be at cons and try to plan accordingly.

I think one of the issues with the Mini's Events are the amount of room the terrain takes up.  As I'm not a mini's player, I honestly don't know how loud the games would be so if one big ballroom would be best for that genre.

We only have a couple of more years of bad construction to go through but using this time to better organize event locations is the way to go.  Necessity, Invention and all that.

braewe:

Oi. Yes, RPG's and big ballrooms do not bode well for noise. Derek, for events like Nascrag, instead of one big all room, is there any area where there are a couple few smaller rooms with a larger area outside for mustering? Half the time, Nascrag groups wander off themselves to hotel rooms or whatnot to conserve noise. Seems to me an area like this would suit perfectly. Even though it's terribly far away, I can't help thinking mustering in Union Station would rock--think of the echoes of the chants!--and I believe that has some smaller rooms. Then again, it would be horrible for the pressgangs to snag people. Blah! No really good solution.

I actually suggest a "several smaller rooms near each other" solution to any group that asks for 15+ RPG tables at one time, but almost none of them go for it because they want to be able to make broad announcements to all their players at once.

It's something I suggest and encourage, despite that, but I'm not going to force any large groups to break up into smaller bunches unless I just don't have the space.

I liked the guest of honor seminars being in the ICC.  I wouldn't be against all the seminars being in the ICC after the contruction is done.  Also, I can see how a bunch of role-players in a large room could be a nightmare.  Some of us ROLE-players can be quite loud and disrtacting for other games that are more ROLL-players.  Just my two cents.