Gen Con 2014 - Who is going?

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RMC
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Gen Con 2014 - Who is going?

Post by RMC »

Hello All,

I am going to Gen Con this year. I am getting in on Wed afternoon, and leaving on Sunday.

Anyone else going to be there, and want to try and meet up?

PM me if you want, and I will send my cell number, and maybe we can work out a day/time to meet.
Difficulties mastered are opportunities won. - Winston Churchill
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Re: Gen Con 2014 - Who is going?

Post by IceBear »

One day I will get to Gen Con, but it won't be this year I'm afraid :-(.

Is it sad that attending Gen Con is now on my bucket list
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Re: Gen Con 2014 - Who is going?

Post by hentzau »

I'm only going to be there on Friday, I'm afraid.
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Re: Gen Con 2014 - Who is going?

Post by Zarathud »

I have to miss GenCon this year, but my sister is going to the dealer hall and socialize. She'll probably play X-Wing.
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Re: Gen Con 2014 - Who is going?

Post by Holman »

I've gone the past two years, but this year I can't.

Have fun! Post updates!
Much prefer my Nazis Nuremberged.
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Re: Gen Con 2014 - Who is going?

Post by Chrisoc13 »

I'll be missing it this year, too bad because I loved it last year.
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Re: Gen Con 2014 - Who is going?

Post by Smoove_B »

I am not, but my buddy wants to see what's involved to get us there in 2015. I'll probably need to start planning that the day after GenCon 2014 ends, right? :)
Maybe next year, maybe no go
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Re: Gen Con 2014 - Who is going?

Post by LordMortis »

Smoove_B wrote:I am not, but my buddy wants to see what's involved to get us there in 2015. I'll probably need to start planning that the day after GenCon 2014 ends, right? :)
To attend not so much. To get the hotel you think you might want at a rate you might be willing to pay? Maybe now's not a bad time to start looking.
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Re: Gen Con 2014 - Who is going?

Post by RMC »

LordMortis wrote:
Smoove_B wrote:I am not, but my buddy wants to see what's involved to get us there in 2015. I'll probably need to start planning that the day after GenCon 2014 ends, right? :)
To attend not so much. To get the hotel you think you might want at a rate you might be willing to pay? Maybe now's not a bad time to start looking.
Yeah, my friend handled the booking of the hotel, but we ended up with one of the attached ones that is super expensive. I think it is costing us about 400 each just for the hotel.

This is only my second time to Gen Con, but the last time was a lot of fun. The cost is a little high for me, and I might not go back after this year, unless I suddenly start making a zillion dollars. :)
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Re: Gen Con 2014 - Who is going?

Post by Holman »

It's steep, but having one of the hotels right there at the Convention Center really makes a difference in the experience.

BTW, is Indianapolis the convention capital of the Midwest or something? There's an awfully large number of rooms in those high-rise hotels.

I imagine the Indy locals re-calibrating for different convention visitors every week, from nerds to bikers to insurance salesmen.
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Re: Gen Con 2014 - Who is going?

Post by Harkonis »

Yes, we are the convention capital. For awhile we had the largest convention center in the US. Also home of the NCAA so that also brings a lot of people in sometimes.

I'll be there along with some friends from here and GamingTrend. Hope to see some of you. Sorry so many aren't coming this year overall. :(

Though having a hotel connected to the CC is amazing, if your choice is to either not come or stay somewhere cheaper there are plenty of much, much cheaper housing alternatives further away from the CC and travel isn't too bad to and from them if you're going to be staying all day at the 'con.
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Re: Gen Con 2014 - Who is going?

Post by RMC »

Harkonis wrote:Yes, we are the convention capital. For awhile we had the largest convention center in the US. Also home of the NCAA so that also brings a lot of people in sometimes.

I'll be there along with some friends from here and GamingTrend. Hope to see some of you. Sorry so many aren't coming this year overall. :(

Though having a hotel connected to the CC is amazing, if your choice is to either not come or stay somewhere cheaper there are plenty of much, much cheaper housing alternatives further away from the CC and travel isn't too bad to and from them if you're going to be staying all day at the 'con.
Yeah, my one friend refuses to even consider staying offsite. He apparently has a lot more money than I do. :)

I like the convention, but in the coming years I will need my group to cut costs, or find new people to go with. :)

Next week I'll PM everyone that says that they are going and get numbers to text one another to see if we can meet up. :)
Difficulties mastered are opportunities won. - Winston Churchill
Sheesh, this is one small box. Thankfully, everything's packed in nicely this time. Not too tight nor too loose (someone's sig in 3, 2, ...). - Hepcat
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Re: Gen Con 2014 - Who is going?

Post by Smoove_B »

Holman wrote:It's steep, but having one of the hotels right there at the Convention Center really makes a difference in the experience.
Is there a general recommendation for a specific hotel at the convention center that I should be gravitating towards?
Maybe next year, maybe no go
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Re: Gen Con 2014 - Who is going?

Post by Zarathud »

We should set up an OO GenCon lunch for next year. :)
"If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts." - Albert Einstein
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“Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.” - John Stuart Mill, Inaugural Address Delivered to the University of St Andrews, 2/1/1867
“It is the impractical things in this tumultuous hell-scape of a world that matter most. A book, a name, chicken soup. They help us remember that, even in our darkest hour, life is still to be savored.” - Poe, Altered Carbon
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Re: Gen Con 2014 - Who is going?

Post by RMC »

Smoove_B wrote:
Holman wrote:It's steep, but having one of the hotels right there at the Convention Center really makes a difference in the experience.
Is there a general recommendation for a specific hotel at the convention center that I should be gravitating towards?
Depending on the price you are willing to pay it will really determine the hotel you will stay at. If I did not have friends that wanted to stay at a connected hotel, I would even get a hotel slightly out of downtown, and just drive in during the day and drive back at night. It would save a few hundred dollars, and add a little bit of inconvenience.

But I have been twice, and always stayed at a connected hotel. It is nice to be able to go back to the hotel and catch a quick nap and then go back out. Yeah, I am old and naps are very nice. :)
Difficulties mastered are opportunities won. - Winston Churchill
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Re: Gen Con 2014 - Who is going?

Post by hentzau »

The one time I stayed at GenCon, I wasn't able to get into a connected hotel but did get into one that was a few blocks walk away. It was a really long walk there and back every day, after a full day of conning. But it was really nice to be able to go back to your hotel and invite some buddies over from nearby hotels and pull out a game and play as a way of unwinding. I don't think that would work nearly as well with a remote hotel. But yeah, it was stupid expensive, even with 3 folks sharing the room.

I'm back to my usual "drive most of the way to Indy on Thursday night, get a hotel out in the burbs for one night, go to gencon for sightseeing and shopping and visiting with friends, and then drive back to Chicago.
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Re: Gen Con 2014 - Who is going?

Post by SpaceLord »

I highly recommend a downtown hotel, although it wasn't too bad driving in each morning, especially when traffic is lighter on the weekends.

I'm considering going next year, although having my vacation time cut in half after changing jobs has reduced my con-going schedule. :x
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Re: Gen Con 2014 - Who is going?

Post by Zarathud »

Hepcat stays out of town off the highway and parks at the Indy courthouse. It's a hike.

At Origins, I get to make the reservations and book at the onsite Hyatt. It's so nice to be able to drop stuff off at the room.
"If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts." - Albert Einstein
"I don't stand by anything." - Trump
“Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.” - John Stuart Mill, Inaugural Address Delivered to the University of St Andrews, 2/1/1867
“It is the impractical things in this tumultuous hell-scape of a world that matter most. A book, a name, chicken soup. They help us remember that, even in our darkest hour, life is still to be savored.” - Poe, Altered Carbon
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Re: Gen Con 2014 - Who is going?

Post by Boudreaux »

hentzau wrote:The one time I stayed at GenCon, I wasn't able to get into a connected hotel but did get into one that was a few blocks walk away. It was a really long walk there and back every day, after a full day of conning. But it was really nice to be able to go back to your hotel and invite some buddies over from nearby hotels and pull out a game and play as a way of unwinding. I don't think that would work nearly as well with a remote hotel. But yeah, it was stupid expensive, even with 3 folks sharing the room.
This is what I did last year, we lucked into a stupidly cheap promotional rate at the Sheraton City Centre hotel in Indy, it was about 4-5 blocks from the convention center. I actually liked it. It was only a 10 minute walk, and we usually stopped for breakfast on the way in, and dinner on the way back to break it up. Made our choices a lot more varied since we had several restaurants to choose from along the way. There were a bunch of other friends of ours staying at the same hotel, so we broke out several games in the lobby each night.
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Re: Gen Con 2014 - Who is going?

Post by Holman »

Smoove_B wrote:
Holman wrote:It's steep, but having one of the hotels right there at the Convention Center really makes a difference in the experience.
Is there a general recommendation for a specific hotel at the convention center that I should be gravitating towards?
On my recent trips I've stayed at the two Marriotts: the JW Marriott and the Indianapolis Marriott Downtown. The former is on the corner across from the Convention Center and the latter connects to it with a skywalk. (Why competing Marriotts sit next door to each other, I don't know.) Both were enormously convenient and very comfortable. The IMD is full of conference rooms booked for various gaming events, so it feels like the con is actually happening inside the hotel.
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Re: Gen Con 2014 - Who is going?

Post by Blackhawk »

I will make it one year. I've been saying that for a long, long time, and Indy is only a couple of hours away - close enough that I usually take the kids to the zoo or museum a couple of times each summer as a day trip. So, I will make it one year. It will not be this one.
Zarathud wrote:We should set up an OO GenCon lunch for next year. :)
We used to have those from time to time, but it was always Zaxxon who got the ball rolling on them. After he fled from Indiana (traitor,) they stopped happening.

An OO (or OO/GT) get-together for dinner one night is certainly much easier to pull off than the full convention - with enough warning, I'd be there.
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Re: Gen Con 2014 - Who is going?

Post by Jeff V »

I'd stay either near the airport or on the east side for ~$80 - 100. Then again, usually I was there as media and had work to do in the evenings, no late-night gaming (or much gaming at all, for that matter). The last few times I paid...but did not enter any gaming events myself (my nephews did). Hotels farther away are not so difficult to obtain at the last minute.

I probably won't go to Gen Con again until the baby is old enough to appreciate the freak show.
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Re: Gen Con 2014 - Who is going?

Post by RMC »

I sent out PM's with my cell number to anyone who said they would be there.

If you want my info, just post here or PM me, and we can see if we can get together.

I am there Wed - Sunday, so I should have time to meet up with folks.
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Re: Gen Con 2014 - Who is going?

Post by Zarathud »

RMC, make sure you bring along that Kobold meeple from Kobolds Ate My Baby! All hail....

For anyone with kids, the vendor Dragon Pets sells dragon wrap bracelets for $20. My oldest has hers wrapped around a slat in the headboard of her bed.

Image

hepcat and his sherpa have accepted my fetch quest to pick up King's Forge. I enjoyed a demo game with RMC at Origins, and it should be available at GenCon. I doubt he'll be able to snatch one of the 100 available sets of the new Mice & Mystics set Downwood Tales.

I'm hoping for some thoughts on the new X-Wing miniature set and the Dragon Wing miniatures.
"If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts." - Albert Einstein
"I don't stand by anything." - Trump
“Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.” - John Stuart Mill, Inaugural Address Delivered to the University of St Andrews, 2/1/1867
“It is the impractical things in this tumultuous hell-scape of a world that matter most. A book, a name, chicken soup. They help us remember that, even in our darkest hour, life is still to be savored.” - Poe, Altered Carbon
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Re: Gen Con 2014 - Who is going?

Post by RMC »

Zarathud wrote:RMC, make sure you bring along that Kobold meeple from Kobolds Ate My Baby! All hail....

For anyone with kids, the vendor Dragon Pets sells dragon wrap bracelets for $20. My oldest has hers wrapped around a slat in the headboard of her bed.

Image

hepcat and his sherpa have accepted my fetch quest to pick up King's Forge. I enjoyed a demo game with RMC at Origins, and it should be available at GenCon. I doubt he'll be able to snatch one of the 100 available sets of the new Mice & Mystics set Downwood Tales.

I'm hoping for some thoughts on the new X-Wing miniature set and the Dragon Wing miniatures.
Hehe... No more King Torg, although that was a loud but fun evening. :)

I might grab kings forge as well if the price is right. A great dice game, that was quick and very fun.

I might have to get a few of those dragons as well, I think my kids might like them.

Talk to you later! :)
Difficulties mastered are opportunities won. - Winston Churchill
Sheesh, this is one small box. Thankfully, everything's packed in nicely this time. Not too tight nor too loose (someone's sig in 3, 2, ...). - Hepcat
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Re: Gen Con 2014 - Who is going?

Post by Harkonis »

My fiancee has been trying to get a dragon for several years, but she is soooooo picky that each year she goes through the hundred or so designs they have and none are 'good enough'. They can custom make them but that's kinda ridiculously expensive.
I loved DP too! :P - ChesspieceFace
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