goblyn13 Posted January 19, 2009 Report Share Posted January 19, 2009 Its still early in the year, but with airfare and such prices, the earlier the better. So who's got plans to go to Gencon come august this year? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan Caroland Posted January 19, 2009 Report Share Posted January 19, 2009 Lord, I don't even want to think about it ... though I've already set plans in motion for a new game table, hotels, and other whatnots (whine)... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hinton Posted January 19, 2009 Report Share Posted January 19, 2009 I'm hoping to attend this year, especially if Malifaux is ready to be released by then. Although, my plans are to drive out instead of flying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nerdelemental Posted January 19, 2009 Report Share Posted January 19, 2009 I'm so there, baby! Entering painting comps for Privateer and the main Gencon competition. I'll play some, too, but didn't get my skirt blown up much over last year's gaming. I had a ton more fun going around the exhibition booth. That's where I met Nathan and kept him talking for nearly a half an hour beyond the hall's closing on Saturday night! Got me in the game, though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBugKing Posted January 19, 2009 Report Share Posted January 19, 2009 I'll be there. I'm driving though. 18 hours isn't a terrible length to drive. I wanted to make it last year but none of the other 'Thralls were going to make it. I think we may have a bit of a presence this year. Heh. We even have shirts with our online handles on them so you lot can recognize us! I'm extremely excited about the entire venture! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wren Posted January 19, 2009 Report Share Posted January 19, 2009 Hubby and I have been driving up every year since we got married and it's a big tradition with us. Unfortunately, we still haven't figured out if we can go this year. It's my parents 60th Birthdays at exactly the same time as GC. I'm trying to work out some alternatives and figure out if it's financially feasible this year. Hope so, I know we'd be gutted to miss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redstripe Posted January 19, 2009 Report Share Posted January 19, 2009 I'll be going. It's only a three hour drive for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jubilee Posted January 19, 2009 Report Share Posted January 19, 2009 I think I'll be missing this year. /ali Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thetang22 Posted January 19, 2009 Report Share Posted January 19, 2009 I'm gonna try attending this year. I'm in Red's boat - its only a few hours drive for me. I'm a Gencon virgin though...what exactly is the process for getting in? Do you buy general convention tickets just to get in? If so, are they the sort of thing that sells out (and do they sell out quickly if so?) If you do have to buy admission tickets, do you get anything for your money other than getting in to spend more money? If you do have to buy admission tickets, around what time of year do they go on sale? Will bringing a few Malifaux crews with me be any big hassle while I'm AT the convention? A follow up to the previous question: Do they allow transportation devices for your miniatures to be brought around the convention hall, such as a bookbag or carrying case, or is that not allowed due to possible theft. For instance, my old college bookstore didn't allow you to bring your bookbag in because it made it easier for you to swipe stuff from the merchant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hinton Posted January 19, 2009 Report Share Posted January 19, 2009 (edited) GenCon 2007 was my first (and so far, only) convention. There is a "general" admission price and that buys you your GenCon pass. This gets you into the Con and allows you to roam pretty freely throughout the facility, including the Exhibitors Hall. Passes this year looks like they will be $68 for a Four-Day Pass (there are other alternatives, such as Saturday-only). Bit of advice: buy the pass in advance. I stood in line for a long time to buy mine the first day. Registration opens February 2nd. Everyone that has a pass can pick up a "swag bag" - usually filled with all sorts of things from some of companies. Can't remember what all I got in mine, but there was quite a bit. If you want to attend a painting class, enter into the painting competition, etc, then you'll need to buy Event Tickets. I carried my shoulder briefcase everywhere I went the whole four days I was there, so I don't think they worry about things like that. Can't remember if my bag was searched upon entering, though. Link to the GenCon home page: http://www.gencon.com/ Edited January 20, 2009 by Hinton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redstripe Posted January 19, 2009 Report Share Posted January 19, 2009 I'm gonna try attending this year. I'm in Red's boat - its only a few hours drive for me. I'm a Gencon virgin though...what exactly is the process for getting in? Do you buy general convention tickets just to get in? If so, are they the sort of thing that sells out (and do they sell out quickly if so?) If you do have to buy admission tickets, do you get anything for your money other than getting in to spend more money? If you do have to buy admission tickets, around what time of year do they go on sale? Will bringing a few Malifaux crews with me be any big hassle while I'm AT the convention? A follow up to the previous question: Do they allow transportation devices for your miniatures to be brought around the convention hall, such as a bookbag or carrying case, or is that not allowed due to possible theft. For instance, my old college bookstore didn't allow you to bring your bookbag in because it made it easier for you to swipe stuff from the merchant. I believe the tickets may already be available at the website. The Man is blocking my access to the website from work so I would have to check later. You need to buy a day pass or weekend pass to get in the front door. This gives you access to the dealer floor where a lot of people spend most of their time. This is where each company has their booth and peddles all the new games and new toys. Trolling the showroom floor isn't the only thing to do there, however. There are tons of seminars, tournaments, and demo games going on all the time. Almost all of these require the purchase of additional tickets and this is where you might run into an issue with events selling out. I usually purchase a fist full of general use tickets that let you squeeze into events at the last minute if they have room to accommodate you. Last year I used my general use tickets to play games of Infinity, attend several seminars (including a seminar for beginning professional writers) and participated in the Pulp City/AE WWII cross over events, among others. You can bring whatever you can carry, push, or can generally be bothered to deal with. I always bring a backpack with me and I have a plastic case I put my Malifaux crews in, as well as any other games I might want to play. The pull style luggage is very popular though I wouldn't recommend it. The showroom floor can get crowded and I'm always tripping on someone's luggage all the time! Hotel space is the real limiting factor. Space near the convention center fills up fast and if you want a room, I'd make reservations soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaintMinion Posted January 19, 2009 Report Share Posted January 19, 2009 Gen Con is complicated, so knowing more about what you like to do would help. There are areas for demo games, pick up games and you can register for scheduled games, most of which charge the $2.00/ticket or generic ticket. There are films, costume contests, auctions ( bring stuff to SELL!), all free. Free seminars for everything from game design, writing fiction, to Medieval Cooking...and hopefully some NASA seminars if I have any power on that matter! (which, suprisingly, I do!). There is the Exhibit Hall where you can play demo games galore and enter raffles and get some swag and spend money. There's dances and anime, larps, rpg's, cards, boardgames, tournaments, contests, prizes, guests of honor, artists, writers, vid games, oh my! For Miniatures, Paint & Take is free, looking at the Painting Competition display is free, demonstration area is free. Hobby Classes do cost and do sell out rather quickly. Come watch or participate in Speed Painting fun. Whaqt you need to do is go to the Gen Con site. Get yourself and account now. Checka nd mark on your calendar the dates for badge reg, and the dates for event reg. Feel like offering a game? Submit an event starting this week! Can't afford it all? There are ways...volunteer. Submit and run events. Free badges and hotel help, as well as a cool volunteer shirt for working a few hours a day. Miniatuers Hobby Events is now looking for volunteers and people who would like to give hobby classes. Anything hobby related is doable! I think Noel already posted in this forum about it. Check that out too! There is so much going on at Gen Con it's impossible to describe or tell you about everything! (warning--Sue is well-known for her enthusiastic support and knowledge of Gen Con. Um, that may not always be a good thing,,,she finds it hard to just stop...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan Caroland Posted January 20, 2009 Report Share Posted January 20, 2009 The folks above sorted it pretty thoroughly. One thing I think that we'll probably do this year (and probably setup in the next month and a half) is have a Wyrd Night Out where everyone that wants to get together and chat up and just have a good time can do so. Likely find a spot off to the side in a restaurant and camp there for a good bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wren Posted January 20, 2009 Report Share Posted January 20, 2009 If you go to the Gen Con home page you can hop on to their forums where there are probably already some threads for new attendees that'll answer a lot of questions. The show admission passes do not sell out. You can even come and buy them at the door, but this is a bad idea as lines can be very long, and they cost less if you pre-register. Though it's an option if you aren't sure you can make it and don't want to commit to prescheduling. There is some freely available stuff. The Exhibit Hall is the big one. There is so much to look at, free demos, all kinds of stuff in there, that if you have more than a very specialized game interest you could spend the whole Con in there. There are some free play game areas, they have bands come in, there's a costume parade and contest. There's almost always a Con-wide contest with posters of different puzzles to solve scattered all over the Con. Paint and Take is free, and there's a demo table where you can watch skilled painters at work. Sometimes they have little demos or other oddities. One year they had a lady sculpting a big dragon in the hall, and a table in the same hall with some mini sculptors scheduled to work at certain times. There are some events that are free - some seminars with industry people, stuff like that. Some you can/should register for a ticket for to save a spot, but the tickets have no cost. Most of the scheduled games and events have a ticket fee. You can sign up in advance, and if it's something popular like a D&D tournament or True Dungeon or a painting seminar with someone like Jen Haley or Marike Reimer, you'll want to sign up in advance because tickets will sell out. You can also use what are called Generic Tickets. With these you just show up at the right time and if there's a free spot you pay the event price in tickets and you're in. It can be worth trying even at sold out stuff because there's often someone who doesn't show up. Events vary in cost. Something like a board game or RPG session is usually about $1.50 per one to two hours of event length. Something like a mini painting seminar where you get a free mini and they supply paints for you to use and such will range from $12-20. CCG tournaments often have a higher price too because you get sealed packs to play with. The Con passes go on sale pretty soon. The hotel registration opens, you need a pass (and luck and a good computer and free time on the day...) to get registration with the Con rate. Then in a few months they post a big schedule of the events and give people some time to think about what they want to sign up for before opening event ticket sales. There's a book with a schedule of events in your Con packet when you arrive, so it's possible to just wing it and try getting into some stuff after you arrive, but there are more lines and more sold out stuff. (Oops, I didn't see there was a second page with most of this answered until I'd typed it all, so I'll leave it in case it touches on stuff someone else didn't already cover.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isoulle Posted January 20, 2009 Report Share Posted January 20, 2009 I should be going again this year. Back to where this all started. Curse you guys for getting me into another mini's game! Also, I think hanging out some night at a restaurant would be pretty awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xenon_Wulf Posted January 20, 2009 Report Share Posted January 20, 2009 I'll agree that an "afterhours with the Wyrd crew" would be nice. Other than that, I'll be stuck at the Asmodee booth again... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hinton Posted January 22, 2009 Report Share Posted January 22, 2009 Just an FYI: Badge registration for GenCon has been moved to February 15th. Hotel registration opens on Feb. 17th. Also, apparently if you had an account (you need to create an account to order badges online and all that), you'll need to make a new one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redstripe Posted January 22, 2009 Report Share Posted January 22, 2009 (edited) Nathan bought me a dinner and a beer, last year! Edited January 22, 2009 by redstripe I didn't edit a thing, all lies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBugKing Posted January 22, 2009 Report Share Posted January 22, 2009 Who is "be" RS? (Gods know I am guilty of doing that a lot too. However I just could NOT resist!) Will you be making it this year? I forget if you said it was likely or not. I would love to meet you lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redstripe Posted January 22, 2009 Report Share Posted January 22, 2009 Will you be making it this year? Yeah, I'll be there. I've been going for several years, now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBugKing Posted January 22, 2009 Report Share Posted January 22, 2009 Well that's cool news. Of course as abrasive as I have been you will probably just punch me in the mouth as soon as you see me. Hmmm. Perhaps I should under an alias? <grin> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hinton Posted January 22, 2009 Report Share Posted January 22, 2009 Well that's cool news. Of course as abrasive as I have been you will probably just punch me in the mouth as soon as you see me. Hmmm. Perhaps I should under an alias? <grin> I'll hold him down for you, RS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redstripe Posted January 22, 2009 Report Share Posted January 22, 2009 TheBugKing must think I'm some kind of bully. I'm a nerd, I don't know how to fight! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan Caroland Posted January 23, 2009 Report Share Posted January 23, 2009 Don't let him lull you into a false sense of security, I didn't buy him that beer ... he mugged me then made me sit there and watch him while crying like a little girl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isoulle Posted January 23, 2009 Report Share Posted January 23, 2009 Don't let him lull you into a false sense of security, I didn't buy him that beer ... he mugged me then made me sit there and watch him while crying like a little girl. That story is terribly... arousing... Alright there goes everyone's respect for me. Back to my dank dark cavern... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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