I hope you’re having a good time if you’re already there.
Here’s the link if you have any questions. Of course, not all of us get to go. I mean, I’d love to be there in person, but alas, responsibilities and stuff. We can always watch some of the key stuff online.
I have to admit I’m a touch saltier about this particular event because there are any number of people I would love to meet in person. I’d love to try to get into whatever Wizards of the Coast is doing and ask some questions. meet Lin Codega, a whole host of D&D and TTRPG YouTubers will be there, and the massive array of usual stuff. Oh, and gaming. Lots of gaming.
Yeah, I can meet people and buy stuff online, even game online, but it’s not the same.
Theoretically I can watch all kinds of chiropractic and yoga videos online, but it won’t help my back and neck when I go to do that online yoga. (*See also, don’t pop your own neck and pain still hurts.) I’ve met and/or talked to a handful of said YouTubers on Xwitter or whatever it’s called. There are a couple of folx who won’t return my messages and it would be nice to try to, uh, smooth things over or get pepper sprayed, whichever works best. (*Kidding! about the pepper spray, probably. And I prefer being tazed. )
I’ve begged WotC for interviews multiple times now. I’m starting to think they don’t think I’m a big enough of a deal. Codega is probably still sore at me for misgendering them twice in two different posts. Apologizing to G. D. in person would be nice assuming her bodyguards or whomever didn’t beat the unholy living tar out of me. There’s also Paizo, the Battlezoo guys, Luke from DM’s Lair, Prof. DM, Kelsey Dionne, and others who don’t have a reason to hate me. (Nervous grin.)
Hobnobbing and schmoozing aside, there’s a lot of cool stuff at Gen Con.
The last time I went to Gen Con (in the mid 1990s,) I went to a lot of panels and took notes. New product releases, Q&A panels, maybe a live play all appeal to me. As a writer/designer I enjoyed going to the various booths in the Vendors hall and kinda poking around for who might be looking for writers. (It was pre-OGL, so the opportunities were different back then.)
And good lord, the games! Want to pick up something new? Want to try something new? Want to play in something you’ve always wanted to try? You can probably find it at Gen Con. It might not be an official game slot, but I would dare say every game I could think of was represented somewhere along with a dozens that were new. Plus more D&D than you can imagine under one roof.
I don’t know if there’s as much minis gaming as there used to be, or boardgaming. I suspect there are still rooms for that, but I doubt there are still massive O.G.R.E. GEV, Battletech, or Axis & Allies games now. Warhammer 40,000 and Fantasy will undoubtedly be represented, but not nearly to the extent that it is in the UK. I discovered so many new minis games the last time, it was crazy. (My bare metal pile of shame… sigh.)
I also brought home a couple of pounds of dice back then. I still have all of them, too. You can never have too many dice. (*Pay no attention to my wife in the background. She thinks there’s this alien concept of “enough dice.”) Not to mention all of the free swag, autographs, and celebs one can meet randomly wandering around. It’s a good time.
There’s a couple of things I don’t miss about the convention scene.
Despite a lot of other flaws, the cost of living here in Iowa is relatively low compared to other parts of the United States. The last time I went to Gen Con it was in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I hear it’s only gotten bigger since moving to Indianapolis. The sticker shock can be painful between states.
Hotels ain’t cheap. Gas ain’t too cheap. Eating on the road, hotels, etc is pricey to say the least. Nutrition goes out the window for about a week. Depending on accommodations, hygiene might get a little sketchy toward the end. (Some gamer hygiene was sketchy before all that…) Sleep? Maybe when I’m dead.
There’s no mask mandate or proof of vaccination this year. Screw COVID. I just want to avoid what is typically called, “con crud.” AKA that obnoxious case of the flu, cold, sinus infection, or whatever that modern medicine has yet to correctly identify or destroy. It comes with any major gaming event. It’s possibly an outcropping of the poor nutrition, lack of sleep, and zombie apocalypse level hygiene. We may never know.
One of the things I do miss about my convention days-
One thing I love about conventions is meeting other gamers. Sometimes you even find people from your own town who you didn’t know played D&D. I hear there is also a good amount of drinking, frolicking, and debauchery to be had in hotels and con suites, but I don’t do that stuff any more. However, you probably could still lure me to a room to run D6 Star Wars for 6 people until the hotel threatens to throw us out for noise at 3:30 AM.
I did meet a lot of cool people at gaming conventions back in the day. Not just Gen Con, but in general. I’m still acquainted with many of them today, but just as many have disappeared from my life. Enjoy it while you can, ya know? Friends we made along the way and what not, I suppose.
If you’re hanging out at home or online the next few days, I’ll be around. Thanks for being here. I appreciate you. More all weekend. Roll some dice for me if you’re there.
Jeff's Game Box 