Octopus Overlords

So, I'm going to this. I mentioned it elsewhere, but I have a friend who lives in Indy who invited me along, paying all expenses except food. I'll be there for the whole shebang.

I'm looking at events now. Any tips? Every 'tips' article I find is about how to stay safe, where to eat, what to pack, how to not get dehydrated in Indiana, etc. None of them discuss what to do and what to avoid. Since someone else is paying my way, I'm trying to minimize the super high-cost activities (not that he'd complain, but I'm extra-frugal when it isn't my money.)

I'll be there with hepcat.

There are three approaches:
1. Make a schedule of events to plan out your time at registration.
2. Don't schedule many events and explore/do demos instead.
3. Get tickets for the open gaming areas, then find people there.

Any way works. You can't see the whole show, but you can decide what will feel better. After not knowing to register my first GenCon, I schedule to avoid that feeling of being lost and to make sure I hit a "must do" every day.

There are food trucks for lunch across the street that serve decent food, but I prefer a great breakfast before arriving in the morning and carry snacks to last until dinner.

A water bottle is critical, the water runs out every year. Dehydration is your enemy.

Ear plugs for the louder RPG rooms.

Deodorant, please. Gamer funk is real, so be kind to others.

The bathrooms get very nasty, especially around the CCGs. It is worth using the ones in less trafficked areas.

Good fitting shoes and aspirin. With all the things to do in the convention, you will get tired. Do your best to avoid pain.

Texts work better than cell service.

Things to do:
1/2 day+ browsing the Dealer Hall
Sunday discount shopping
Costume march
Food trucks
Giant sized games
1 hour browsing the miniatures area

Things to avoid:
Tournaments (way too serious)
Being on the wrong side of the convention during the costume march
Real Dungeon unless you know what you're getting into
Waiting in line for the Fantasy Flight booth

Zarathud wrote: Things to avoid:
Tournaments (way too serious)
Being on the wrong side of the convention during the costume march
Real Dungeon unless you know what you're getting into
Waiting in line for the Fantasy Flight booth

I'm not competitive, can't afford Real Dungeon, and am not the type to wait in line for something I can do at home a month later.

Zarathud wrote: 1 hour browsing the miniatures area

Oh, that's hilarious.

Before the con starts, I'll shoot you my number in a pm. We'll be hooking up with harkonis and his better half, I'm sure. Seppe will be there too, probably. Just text us during the con and you can join us for food, boozing, gaming, or whatever.

I'm not sure you can do the dealer hall justice in just half a day. I'm not sure you can do it justice in a whole day.

1/2 day dedicated exploration of the Dealer Hall, then downtime coming back to fill the gaps for the "plus."

Heh, not surprised if you spend more time there, Blackhawk. I like to take some time at the end of the night looking at the setups. If you're there in the day it will be longer, and you risk getting sucked in.

hepcat wrote:Before the con starts, I'll shoot you my number in a pm. We'll be hooking up with harkonis and his better half, I'm sure. Seppe will be there too, probably. Just text us during the con and you can join us for food, boozing, gaming, or whatever.

Fantastic, that works well. If there are particular days/times, let me know. I'm also coordinating my schedule with the two guys I'm going with.

My wife and I have this on our maybe list. too many variables right now to commit.

hentzau wrote:I'm not sure you can do the dealer hall justice in just half a day. I'm not sure you can do it justice in a whole day.

If you like to look at stuff, there is no way. I am not a shopper. I hate shopping but the dealer hall at GenCon and Origins are my candy store. So much to actually pay attention to rather than browse as you walk past. That said, it's also not something that would hold my attention for 4 days straight.

I miss gaming cons. I really need to make it back to Origins, which is much more practical for me.

Say the word, Mortis. You know you want to wake up to hepcat and me.

Zarathud wrote:Say the word, Mortis. You know you want to wake up to hepcat and me.

Why do I suspect that he doesn't need to go to GenCon for that? ")

Also, can anyone recommend any decently priced decent hotels? Don't need 5 star, but does need to be clean.
Just trying to get the plans started.

Problem is you really don't want to wake near me. I'm a finicky bitch who is violent and loud when I do whatever it is I do that resembles sleeping.

Punisher wrote:

Zarathud wrote:Say the word, Mortis. You know you want to wake up to hepcat and me.

Why do I suspect that he doesn't need to go to GenCon for that? ")

Also, can anyone recommend any decently priced decent hotels? Don't need 5 star, but does need to be clean.
Just trying to get the plans started.

I went to GenCon a some odd years back (2005, maybe? 2007?) and stayed within walking distance of the convention from inside a train car (as were all of the rooms at this hotel, I assume) and it was incredibly reasonable but I don't remember the exact price.

LordMortis wrote:Problem is you really don't want to wake near me. I'm a finicky bitch who is violent and loud when I do whatever it is I do that resembles sleeping.

Punisher wrote:

Zarathud wrote:Say the word, Mortis. You know you want to wake up to hepcat and me.

Why do I suspect that he doesn't need to go to GenCon for that? ")

Also, can anyone recommend any decently priced decent hotels? Don't need 5 star, but does need to be clean.
Just trying to get the plans started.

I went to GenCon a some odd years back (2005, maybe? 2007?) and stayed within walking distance of the convention from inside a train car (as were all of the rooms at this hotel, I assume) and it was incredibly reasonable but I don't remember the exact price.

There is nothing reasonable within walking distance of GenCon any longer...

Oh god no. If you get a room for less than 250 a night, you're in the wrong city.

hentzau wrote:There is nothing reasonable within walking distance of GenCon any longer...

That is not helping the case of the idea that I need to return, through honestly, I've always enjoyed Origins more than the few times I've been to GenCon. GenCon's fanfare is way better. It's much more of a spectacle but I've always felt more comfortable doing the marathon of game at Origins. The one time GenCon won out was a long damned time ago when they had some sweet ass video games (an arcade monster football game and Midimaze on 16 networked Amigas) and it was the year GW released Space Hulk next to this amazing Shadow Run area and Space Hulk blew me away and the miniatures they set up. It was a totally new gaming experience to me. Suddenly, I wanted to learn how to paint miniature and build mazes out of strawberry cartons to run them around in, a skill I never did learn.

hepcat wrote:Oh god no. If you get a room for less than 250 a night, you're in the wrong city.

Well that's changed. We stayed in really cool railcars for about $150 a night in ten or twelve years ago money because that was as close as we could get to the convention center.

Thank heaven for OctoCon.

Ok, I've finalized my list. Organizing multiple events, each of which has only a possibility of getting tickets, while working around two other people is making my head spin.

Oh, and my kids found out that Matt Mercer is going to be there. They worship Matt Mercer, so I had to try and work at least one of his appearances in.

I can sleep through anything once I wind down, Mortis. I also have the bitch-proof armor that can withstand opposing counsel.

I take advantage of my "free from family" pass to Origins every year. I have a fun routine there, can get in lots of games as some visiting. I play with as much downtime as Octocon, but don't have to teach rules.

GenCon is the bigger event, and more expensive. It's like attending a carnival or Disney. It's fun and you play some games but you're really there for the experience sightseeing and shopping.

Just saw that Origins is coming up in 2 weeks. No way I can make that.. I have babysitting duty on the 17th and rotator cuff surgery on the 8th..
Oh well, maybe next year..

Out of curiosity, If I had to choose between GenCon and Pax Unplugged, which is better?
My reasons for going:
1) To see new games coming out
2) To play new and old games
3) cool stuff to look at, like diorama's and such..

GenCon. PAX Unplugged is starting this year. It is an unknown quantity.

GenCon will give you maximum spectacle and new releases.

Tickets are finalized. I initially put in for 11 events, and managed to get 6 of them, then my hosts suggested a couple of others that we added.

One giant-sized board game (King of Tokyo), a couple of regular board games, one RPG event (Tracy Hickman's Killer Breakfast), a couple of miniature seminars (one on painting, one on sculpting), a seminar on running mystery RPGs, and a tour of the GenCon 50 museum with an RPG historian who is curator of both Gygax's and Arneson's gaming collections. The sculpting seminar was highest on my list.

It's enough to learn a few things, experience a few things, play a few things, and still have lots of time free to just wander and experience. Oh, and no all-nighters scheduled, so I'll actually be able to remember what I did.

Blackhawk wrote:Tickets are finalized. I initially put in for 11 events, and managed to get 6 of them, then my hosts suggested a couple of others that we added.

Is this something that needs to be done ahead of time? are the events extra?

Punisher wrote:

Blackhawk wrote:Tickets are finalized. I initially put in for 11 events, and managed to get 6 of them, then my hosts suggested a couple of others that we added.

Is this something that needs to be done ahead of time? are the events extra?

Yes and no, yes and no. Helpful, ain't i?

Events have limited numbers of slots. With many tens of thousands of attendees, they tend to fill up quick. Tickets for events can be reserved in advance with a sort of wishlist/lottery deal, which is still going on, although it is first-come, first-serve, so the most popular things fill up fast.

There are also 'generic' tickets that you can pick up at the event that work like carnival ride tickets. Each one costs two bucks, and if there are open seats due to cancellations, underbooking, or no-shows, you can use the generic tickets to attend that event.

As to cost, it varies. Many cost nothing. A lot have a nominal fee ($2.) Those that involve materials (like painting/sculpting classes) have higher fees (I have one that is $16, one that is $54.) Some that are for charity have fees in the hundreds, as the fee is the donation. And again, generic tickets can be used to attend anything with room, at $2/ticket.

just took a look at Dragon Magazine from another post and there is an ad in their for Gen Con IX.. In August of 1976!!! I had no idea GenCon was going on since 68.. Never would have thought there was enough gaming interest back then..

My wife is gonna put in her request this week and we will take it from there....

Punisher wrote:just took a look at Dragon Magazine from another post and there is an ad in their for Gen Con IX.. In August of 1976!!! I had no idea GenCon was going on since 68.. Never would have thought there was enough gaming interest back then..

It was originally a wargaming convention with some board games. The pre-D&D version was regional (in and around Lake Geneva, WI - hence Gen Con) and around ~100-200 people.

I managed to get into a game of the upcoming Dr. Who: Time of the Daleks from Gale Force Nine, as well as:

Apocrypha (folks may be able to buy this one at Gencon before backers even get their copies )
Maximum Apocalypse
Rayguns and Rocketships (this one looks like cheesey, 1950's sci fi style fun)
Cthulhu Wars
Too Many Bones
Quartermaster General: Victory or Death
Twilight of the Gods (another kickstarter I backed)
and Firefly Adventures: Brigands and Browncoats (I know nothing about this one, so it's my blind try for the convention)

Those going, save some time for after hours gaming with Zarathud, Seppe, (probably) Harkonis and his better half, and myself. It's become somewhat of a tradition as we try out new games we just picked up.

How do you define 'after hours?'

Usually after 9 or 10pm.

Most of my evenings are free in that range. I am just hoping to avoid the 4 AM gaming insanity I hear many GenCon veterans discussing.

I'm old. I'm usually good for, at the most, a 1am game night. After that I start to drift off. However, there's a late night game of Cutthroat Caverns that I'm keeping my eye on. As well as a midnight game of Artemis Bridge Simulator, if I can round up a few folks who want to drop about 16 bucks on an hour of pure chaos.

That sounds reasonable.

Because of my various oddities, if I'm doing something around people, it takes me a couple of hours after it is over before I'm anywhere near able to sleep, so I have to be careful.

I also need to spend a little time winding down and getting clothes/gear set up for the next day. Fortunately, I am used to operating on 5 hours of sleep when needed.

We need to do a game of Artemis here locally, Hep. I could volunteer my church for an afternoon sometime...

Do you have to do it locally? Could we all agree to a time and find each other online? I ask this having only read the description of the game, being intrigued, and having no idea if what I'm asking is possible.

I'm up for it. We only played it a few times at Seppes one night, but I had a blast. Not sure if you can do it over the internet. I'm guessing you can, but the majority of the fun comes from being "on the bridge" together while all the craziness happens around you.

The tales of the navigator that led a silent, nay, unconscious mutiny and became captain live on to this day...

I'm just spitballing, but with a Teamspeak or similar set up, the madness could be entertaining as we all talk over each other.

Looks like a patch from a while back enabled internet play.

Here's a wiki on Artemis.

How do players connect to the game?

As in inherently social game, Artemis was originally designed for in-person LAN play, but as of v1.3 it can be played over the internet.