Search results matching tag 'Gen Con'

RPGA Events

Crap Shoot — Thu, 09 May 2013 14:05:47 GMT

Years ago (circa late 1980's), I attended a few Gen Cons. Every year I'd participate in the AD&D Open, the NASCRAG event, and a few 'living' events (i.e. Living Red Death, Living Greyhawk, and a similar Earthdawn event). I've searched through the spreadsheet for these types of events. All I can find associated with RPGA are D&D Next playtest events. I'm somewhat interested in trying this, but I've heard horrible stories about past D&D Next playtest events. My questions are: Are there or will there be any other RPGA events? Will there be an D&D Open? Will there be any 'living' events? I apologize if my questions seem noobish. Thanks for any guidance! -Eric

Re: Gen Con Dance

Hispanicfreak08 — Wed, 08 May 2013 07:44:51 GMT

Just one night normally Saturday from 9pm till midnight, bring friends and dress up

Nascrag Questions

Yog-Sothoth in Jersey — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 23:25:34 GMT

We are a group of 4 experienced gamers, but we have never been to Gen Con before and have never participated in Nascrag. Our group is pretty excited about Nascrag though. We are a little confused about how it all works. Any guidance you all can give about the registration and organization process would be appreciated. Do we register as a team as part of the event registration? Or do we all register for Nascrag generally and organize sometime thereafter? Are the teams usually 6 people? How easy is it to find 1-2 people to fill out a team? Do you get materials and/or character sheets in advance? If so how much in advance? Thanks - we are really excited and looking forward to some good experiences.

Werewolf 101 clinics are returning!

emdub — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 19:11:28 GMT

Yes it's early but with Origins planning well underway I figured I'd also put a post up here. My fairly popular and undeniably successful Are You A Werewolf? clinics from last year are returning with a VENGEANCE at Gen Con 2013. We're building on our success and lessons learned to offer even more useful information, anecdotes and all the tips, tactics and strategy from Gen Con 2012 and expanding to two hours to include some practice gameplay as well! We'll break down tactics in real time and talk about what we're all observing and thinking to really get inside the heads of our fellow players and share our experiences in playing.

About me and the game:

I'm Matt Wolff and I run Werewolf101.com. It's a (still) evolving site full of Are You A Werewolf? strategy, tactics and tips collected by yours truly and the groups I play in. For the uninitiated, Are You A Werewolf? is a very popular game played at just about every gaming convention you can name. Played with 7 players (and MORE) it's a wild ride of whodunnit as the treacherous werewolves prey on the innocent villagers while hiding in plain sight, as the villager tries to figure out who these unknown attackers are. It's addicting and fun and the best $random hours you'll spend at Gen Con hands down, taking you from the night to the dawn and happily robbing you of sleep and sanity.

What I'll be doing at Gencon is running a series of Are You A Werewolf? clinics, with the blessing of Looney Labs, the company behind Are You A Werewolf?. The point of these clinics is through instruction, examples and demonstration show you how to up your game and play at the next level. From basic introductions of the roles to more advanced tactics there is a lot that players of any experience level can take away from these clinics. They're aimed at the beginner/novice Werewolf player but veterans are of course welcome to attend and pass along their expertise for all to share!

I'll report more once event registration begins and I have the exact dates and times but they're tentatively scheduled for every night, 7PM - 9PM. If last year is anything to go by you should make sure to register early as they sell out quickly. You definitely want to play Are You A Werewolf? at Gen Con and my clinics will prepare you for all the things that go bump in the night. Stay vigilant, my friends!

GENCON 2017 : The best FIVE days in gaming for the 50th anniversary

wienhusen — Sun, 26 Aug 2012 01:33:28 GMT

I suspect that the next few years of GENCON are already scheduled with the iCC, so I want to start the campaign early. GENCON's 50th anniversary is the perfect time for expanding GENCON from four days to five days. Wed - Sun of gaming glory....... If you agree, share your opinion

Re: Five Year Mission at GenCon

andyfark — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 02:51:49 GMT

Unfortunately, this IS our only appearance at Gen Con this year. We'e playing from 8 PM until 9:30 so everyone should at least be able to catch a little of our set. I know there's tons going on but it would mean a lot to us if people showed up. It would also show Gen Con that the hometown boys have a draw here and it might also encourage bigger acts like MC Chris and the like to pay a visit. Hope to see some of you there...

Fark

Five Year Mission

Volunteer Schedule?

jlawry — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 15:43:20 GMT

Hey, guys! I appreciate how quickly you answered my question about using pictures on the forums. I've got another one for you that I need help with: the volunteer schedule. I posted a question about it on the "General Info" forum but I'm afraid that it's gone unanswered. I was just wondering when the volunteer schedule would go out. Also, would a forum mod be kind enough to close the thread that I started on the "General Info" forum? I think the title of the thread is just "Volunteer Schedule".

Thanks again for your help!

Volunteer Schedule

jlawry — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 06:07:49 GMT

Hey, guys! I've been going to Gen Con for years but as of 2012 I'm a volunteer noob. Do you know when the volunteer schedule is slated to be released? I got an e-mail from Customer Service saying that it would go out in a mass e-mail, but I was curious as to when it would be sent. I also didn't want to pester them with constant replies about it so you'll understand if I leave this question here with you instead.

From Ireland to GenCon! Help :)

Nelly — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 11:30:35 GMT

Hi All :)

I'm sure posts like this have been posted up lots before, but I'm new to the forum and would like to introduce myself. I'm Nelly and myself and a friend are going to be travelling from Dublin, Ireland to GenCon 2012 AND WE ARE SUPER EXCITED!! We are two 25 year old females and cannot wait, however planning the whole thing is a little bit scary and neither of us have been to a convention before. Since Ireland is a little pathetic in this country. The only other similar thing I have attended was Tokyo Game Show in Japan. Which was cool, but frantic.

We just registered for our 4 days passes and would like to got accommodation sorted ASAP, however after emailing GenCon housing it seems that all the closest places are all booked up. :( They did say that they could put us on the waiting list.

Can anyone tell us how likely we are to get a room close to the convention if we are on the waiting list, as we really don't want to end up with nowhere to stay?

How much will it be to get a room close to the convention?

What hotels should we be looking at?

Also we are trying to make travel arrangements and when we booked our tickets it said that we need to collect them on the 15th of August. We really have no idea of what to expect, so any info would be awesome :D

Is there any other way to get the badges other than collecting them on the 15th? We dont want to arrive late and end up having to wait for hours.

Will there be long queues at the collection? How long should this take?

What's if one of us isn't able to collect the badge until the 18th? Or does a person who has the 4 day pass have to be there from Day 1?

On the 16th when should be arrive at the convention? How long will it take to get in?

Since we know very little about GenCon we have no idea of what to expect, any other hints and tips people can recommend to us? We might even go for a bit of Cosplay, as I can see from the videos this is a big thing. We both love DnD, my frind is into Magic the Gathering, but Im more interested in the RPG end of things.

Also if people could let us know things 'Not To Miss at Gen Con', such as events or booths please let me know. Even the little irrelevant things will be helpful!

Thanks you so much for reading all this, I know there are alot of questions but please help, comment and make me feel more at ease. I look forward to seeing ya'll at GenCon :)

Nelly :D

i know lots of questions please help

Re: OK Let's See Those GEN CON REPORT CARDS!

Ravaga — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 21:42:28 GMT

Here are my not-so-humble thoughts on this year's Con. To sum it up: can I go back next week? 12.00 Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}

Buffalo Wings & Rings: Food = A, Service = C. We went here twice, once at 5:00 pm and once at midnight. Both times the service was pretty slow. They could also be a little more generous with the wing sauce. But it's still good, and almost as good as having a real BW-3s nearby.

Exhibitor Hall: A-. I really enjoyed this in 2011, much more than 2010. The wider aisles were great, the expanded space was awesome, and I really liked having the artists in the middle rather than all the way in the back like last year. Like others have said, it's hard to justify paying full price for something at the Con that you can get at a discount online. But I always like to have something new "that I bought at GenCon," and this year it was Fantasy Flight's Civilization. I also keep my eyes peeled for "con specials," and a $10 "Martian Dice" Game at Tasty Minstrel fit the bill this year. I made time to see everything at the Exhibitor Hall (three hours Thursday before lunch went by FAST), but would have liked to have another three hours just to stroll through and pay closer attention to a few key things. I'd buy a lot more with vendor specials or pricing that matches amazon.com.

Mage Wars: B. The game itself is awesome, and the t-shirts are too! These guys needed a LOT more room for what they were doing, though! It was frustrating to get our name on a demo waiting list and come back every two hours only to be told "try again tomorrow." Don't take names if you can't get us in when we come back. It might have been due to the free t-shirt, but it looks like a great game, and it's an immediate BUY when it comes out!

Auction: B. This was my first year as anything more than a consignment store buyer, and I had a blast! My only complaint is Troll & Toad running up the price on everything, but as a capitalist I can't really complain about the free market. :-) I bought 10 cubic feet of games (isn't that how they're supposed to be measured?) and will probably double that in 2012! I was also very happy to have the items I brought to the auction sell for a little more than I had expected. My only complaint (and it's a BIG deal) is that the "items coming up" tables to either side of the auctioneer were frequently ignored by someone who felt that "these items should go in front of those items." If you're not going to auction what's next, take them off the "what's next" display table, please, so I know when I can go to the bathroom or something.

Westin: A-. We hadn't stayed at the Westin before, and it was great! The beds are extremely comfortable, and the dual-head showers are to die for! We didn't have problems with the pressure-plate water bottle (yes, when the forums tell you about the pressure sensor under the $6 water bottle, they're serious) or the mini bar, though we asked them to remove both and they did neither. There is no substitute for staying in a hotel attached to the ICC. I was pleased to see the second-floor pick-up gaming going on at all hours... card games, Serenity RPG, D&D... about 6 groups daily pulled up chairs and a coffee table and played as hotel-goers strolled by. it was a terrific "convention" atmosphere! My only complaint is that there are no outside-looking windows, hallway ends, or social spaces on the guest floors. When I wanted to call home to my wife in the evenings, I had to do it from the ICC hallways unless I wanted to share the conversation with anyone going to or from their guest room or elevators. Out of the dozen or so business & vacation hotels I've stayed at in the last three years, this is the only hotel where I could not have a quiet phone conversation anywhere on my floor.

Scotty's Brewhouse: D. I was very displeased with Scotty's. On Thursday, four of us went there (including two non-gamer wives) specifically for the dice. By 6:00 pm they were out of dice, which of course they didn't tell us until AFTER we had eaten and incurred a sizable tab. We sent our waitress back to the kitchen three times and talked to two different managers, and NOBODY was interested in helping us leave as satisfied customers. I really felt the message was "you're just gamer nerds, and you're probably from out-of-town, so screw you." Well, I also happen to be a business executive, and people of restaurant-manager level work for ME. So don't think just because we're gamers that we're not important. The waitress came back at one point and said "well, everything says "while supplies last."" That's a flat-out lie. I can point to three advertisements that make no such claim. Should I expect that they'll run out at some point? Sure... but not during the FIRST SEATING AT THE FIRST MEAL!!! IndyDave still has my business card, and I'm still awaiting an apologetic phone call. The food was good, which is why Scotty's even gets a "D." We ate there all four nights in 2010, only the one terrible night in 2011, and we're never going back unless someone makes us feel like they give a %^& about our business.

The RAM: B. On the other hand, everyone at the RAM was fantastic! I especially enjoyed the movies and the beer sampler. Food was great and service was excellent. We felt very much at home here. We had to wait about 30 minutes for our table, but we played Zombie Dice on the sidebar in the lobby, and nobody gave us any grief about it. The complaint here is that they were completely sold out of t-shirts. Why are Scotty's dice a bigger deal for me than the RAM shirts? Because Scotty's promised me deice and took my money before they told me they weren't going to make good on the promise. The RAM told me up front that there were no T-shirts, so I could have chosen not to eat there.

Convention Center Restrooms: The ones in the Exhibition hall were no better than latrines (D- only because they weren't clogged). The smell reminded me of the primate house at the zoo. Isn't there a custodial staff at the ICC? GenCon pays they a hefty fee like every other convention... The other restrooms throughout the convention center were fine (B+). I did notice a lack of handicap stalls, but there's nothing GenCon can do about that.

In-Flight Report: A-. This was awesome! How great is it to have a game company CEO lead a powerpoint presentation on his company's projects? It felt like a "shareholder meeting," which makes me feel valued as a gamer. They took questions for 20-30 minutes after the scheduled ending time, which is phenomenal in terms of customer service! My only complaint is that the room was too small for the crowd, and that the media people in the back of the room were rude when true FFG fans squeezed in.

Neverwinter QR scavenger hunt: B+. This was great and has the potential to be AWESOME! The Facebook and Twitter optimization were great ideas! Since my attention span is greater than three minutes, and because I'm not 15 years old, I had never used Twitter before. Well, WoTC got me on Twitter because of the Newerwinter Puzzle hunt! I enjoyed finding QR codes hidden throughout the D&D events. My only disappointments were: 1) Scotty's Brewhouse QR was too dark to scan, no matter what we tried (thanks to the lady at the Neverwinter booth for helping us with the "cheat sheet,") and 2) there weren't even MORE QR codes scattered around the Convention. I liked hunting the 15-point ones, especially! It was a ton of fun, and frankly met its purpose-- I sought out D&D-related events & locations that I would not have otherwise explored because of the scavenger hunt. The best part was probably the LCD screens and FB/Twitter updates on the factions' participation. Great idea!

Fantasy Flight Gaming: A-. I learned about a year ago that 8 out of 10 of my favorite games all happen to be Fantasy Flight Games! A buddy of mine and I played Mansions of Madness and Civilization this year, and he also played Twilight Imperium. Civilization was the best run... the GM sat down with us and explained everything we needed to know. He was very patient, up until I had to take an emergency phone call from the parent of a teenager from our game club. Nevertheless, he did a great job of running three games of Civ! It turns out that he is imployed by FFG to travel to cons and demo their games... as his job! Man, talk about a dream job! Mansions of Madness was our next game. It was pretty good, but not great. The RUBI system had two sets of registrations for this game: one experienced seat for the GM (called a "keeper," as in "dungeon keeper," I think) and four "never played before" slots for the players. We didn't have a keeper, apparently, and a polite gentleman was coerced into that role. That didn't work very well in terms of gameplay, but everyone was so friendly that we made it work for the most part. My buddy wanted to try some complicated rules exploits in Twilight Imperium, and see what the uber-experienced GM would say (yea or nay). Well, he ended up being more experienced than the GM, so that idea bombed. Questions still unanswered, house rules still stand. :-)

GenCon Games Library: A-. As always, the Board Game Library is a great resource! It's fantastic to play so many games, especially without having to PURCHASE them all! :-) I worked many hours in the GCGL this year, and will probably do more in an expanded role in 2012. The people this year were fantastically helpful and friendly, a great improvement from 2010. The "pick up play" area seemed to be less organized than I'd expected, but it could be a work in progress. I don't think the "open gaming" tables right outside the library hurt them at all-- if you have a group and a game, play at the tables in the hallway... if you need a group or a game, come on in to the Games Library!

Swag Bag line: A. The line seemed long and rounded one corner by Room 102, so I expected about 20-30 minutes. It took me SEVEN minutes from getting in line to being back to my friends with my and their four swag bags.

Swag: A-. Win! I'm not a RIFT player, but AWESOME to get a game in the bag, even if it's a subscription MMO. Just having a game in the bag raises the perception of value. I also sat down like I do every year, with the coupon book and started to tear out the few coupons that I would actually use... well this year I should have torn out the ones I would NOT use... I was VERY impressed to see that I used 5-6 of the coupons, where normally it's two! Playable deck og Magic the Gathering was sweet. Played M;tG for the first time in 15 years because of it. Anyone wanna buy a pile of Revised Edition cards?

Will Call: A-. I stood in line for about 10 minutes Thursday night to get my event tickets. I know the line is usually long, but I had no problems. Sorry, I don't recall exactly what time I went. And yes, I'm sure that I didn't jump into the middle of the line by mistake. :-) Kudos to GenCon on managing the breaks in the line, BTW.

GenCon T-shirts: A-. Love the year's logo shirt! Only improvement would be taking the two characters out of the opened-brains... that was a little weird for me. But the vendors all had my "gamer-sized" shirts, which I felt great about. I had expected to buy the blue dragon logo shirt, too, but when I held it in my hands the purple highlights were too prominent. It looked a little limp-wristed to me, like last year's vampire chick. So I passed. But in the future I'll keep an eye out for a logo shirt in addition to the annual shirt!

Overall: A. I strongly believe that this year's GenCon was better in many, many ways from 2010's. the only letdown was Scotty's Brewhouse-- everything else was at least as good at last year, and most of it better (exhibitor hall)! The only negative about GenCon is that it goes by so fast! next year, I'll try to come down for Tuesday night and get some early gaming on, and spend more time in the exhibit hall, maybe playing Fantasy Flight or Mayfair demos!