What I Learned From Gen Con 2008 - Part 1

August 19, 2008 · Filed Under Conventions · 3 Comments 

Well, Gen Con it’s done for another year. I can truly say I already miss it. Only 361 days to go, I suppose.

I want to share some of my Gen Con thoughts over the next few days. I know the D&D blogosphere has been hopping with Gen Con posts, and that makes me slightly late to the dance. I’m OK with that; I leave the cutting edge to folks like The Game and Bartoneous at Critical Hits, leaving me to sort of hang back and give more of a hindsight view.

So, what did I get out of Gen Con this year?

I really miss playing Magic: The Gathering.

I haven’t played regularly in a couple of years, and so I jumped in to a sealed tournament on Friday. It was a blast. I was eliminated in the second round to a kid half my age, as is usually the story, but it was still fun. I won a booster, which had cards in it that I sold for $16 - enough to pay for the draft. All in all, a good deal.

While I was playing, some friends played a round or two of the World of Warcraft TCG. That’s not a bad game either, and I’m hoping that the bug will really hit the guys back home. A TCG is one of the best group games in that you only need 2 of you to play and they’re extremely portable. We’ll see if it sticks.

You can make a killing at the Gen Con auction.

I sat in line on Thursday morning with a bunch of guys waiting to check in their auction goods. While my auctions made me a mere $200, there were folks there making $10,000 or more, all from games they collected at garage sales over the past year. Very cool.

The Chatty DM is, well, Chatty.

I had the privelege to meet several other RPG bloggers at a seminar on Saturday. I was humbled to be there, honestly. I felt a little bit out of place. I was like the dopey little geek that the cool kids let hang around because they feel sorry for him.

At any rate, I want to take a minute to send you all away from here with some great links from my fellow RPG bloggers from the Gen Con panel:

The Gen Con 2008 Rambling (Semi-Live blog) from Phil at the Chatty DM. It was very cool to meet Chatty, mainly because we’ve talked so much online about not just gaming, but writing, as well. Check out his
post for a play-by-play of his Gen Con 2008 experience.

The aforementioned boys at Critical Hits have all sorts of GenCon 2008 Coverage. Checkout Dave and Bart’s exclusive interviews and astute observations.

It’s not live yet, but Stupid Ranger and crew will have a full  Gen Con round-up on Tuesday or after.

A special congrats to Yax at DungeonMastering.com, as he won an Ennie this past weekend.

Next time, I’ll offer some thoughts on my gaming experience at Gen Con 2008, and how things look going forward from here.

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Monday Morning in Iceland

February 18, 2008 · Filed Under Conventions, Dungeon Mastering, Dungeons and Dragons · Comment 

Hey all!

Dang, it’s cold here.  And icy.

I will admit it.  I was a bit cranky last Wednesday.  Maybe it was the weather.  Maybe it was the vodka.  Either way, I’m over it.  I think I’m ready to take this gamer contract thing seriously.  The Philippine Gamer has done some excellent legwork on the question, looking at the social contract from the player perspective.  While I’m going to take a day or to and work up my version of the DM’s commitments, why don’t you visit Philie G. and give him your thoughts on the social contract.

On another note, I don’t know what it is, but Yax seems to send his best stuff out on Sunday and Monday.  This Sunday’s quiz was on gnomes “rarrr, I’m a monster” and hobbits halflings.  I scored 60% - see if you can do better.

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At any rate, I’ve spent some time thinking this weekend about the whole GenCon situation.  Something occurred to me:  I’ve only been going to GenCon for six years.  Yeah, I’ve been DMing for more than 20, but the Con is a fairly recent thing for me.  So, why am I bothered by the hint that there might be trouble with GenCon?  I feel like the experience has really enhanced my gaming, and my love for the game.  It also broadened my horizons.  For example:

  • Prior to attending GenCon, I barely noticed the release of a new edition of D&D;  I was a full year late to that dance.  This time around, I was aware of the new edition announcement within hours, and have spent months researching it and planning for it.
  • Prior to attending GenCon, I only ever played D&D with friends.  Since then, I’ve found people to play D&D with that are, essentially, acquaintances that share a love of the game.  To be sure, they almost always become friends, but this is a reversal - I used to have to introduce my friends to D&D, not be introduced to friends via D&D.
  • GenCon provided me with the opportunity to explore other games.  The short list of games I tried at GenCon that I never would have otherwise tried includes Magic: The Gathering, Warhammer, Heroscape, Axis & Allies, Vampire (tabletop and LARP), and even Are You a Werewolf.
  • I’ve met people at GenCon who seemed larger than life in the past.  Gary Gygax, for example.  He’s just a regular dude.  I’ve had a cigarette with him.  Ed Greenwood.  He’s a dirty old man.  Not really.  But he is funny as hell.
  • I’ve learned a lot about my fellow gamers.  Not all of it has been good; hygiene, for example.  But overall, its been a positive experience, and I believe today that gamers are, on average, more polite than the common populace.  They are also more annoying, on average.

So, what’s my point here?  GenCon has been a fabulous experience for me.  If you can wing it, you should go at least once.  Your game will never be the same.

OOH!  Before I forget.  I put up an article with some ideas for traps to use in your D&D game.  It’ll get buried soon with the GenCon posts, so check it out before you miss it!

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