Gary Con Planning

[Ancalagon]

Well, I was supposed to be running my Gary Con adventure tonight, for a new local group I played with two weeks back, but this morning when I was in the middle of actually getting characters printed and other things ready to go, I got a message that the host wasn't going to be available due to unforeseen schedule changes related to family stuff.

DOH.

I understand that things happen, I was just really hoping to give this a run before taking it up to GC and running it cold. On the upside, the character sheets looks really good and personally, I think my map for Jamestown Fort turned out nice, since I did the entire thing from scratch and by hand in Powerpoint, of all applications. LOL. Based on the maps I could find on the web, it's pretty damn close to historical accuracy.


JamestownFt.png

That is a very kewl map! I look forward to seeing the whole enchilada in a couple of weeks. Aww yeah.

[Ancalagon]

Something else I just noticed. Maybe it's just me, maybe I've not passed my perception checks in previous years, but I was out on the Event Schedule this evening and it seems like there are an awful lot of games either without any seats taken, or less than half taken. This applies to all events whether cards, board games, miniatures or RPGs.

I noticed this situation. My Thursday game is one of those... 3 of 5 seats are still open. My games never have vacancies via registration.

I'm wondering if the con, having gained so many attendees now, is reaching a point of over saturation with hosts offering games. Some of them I can understand not getting players, their descriptions just sound completely ridiculous and, pardon the harshness, but flat out dumb. But some seem to be legit and I guess just have the bad luck of being in a slot when players are interested in other options. If this is the case, though then I'm going to say this is partly at fault because of the non-focused path to old-school games that we've had prior.

Emphasis mine. Your statement is not harsh; it is truth. Some of the events sound ridiculous.

If your con is focused on old-school, 80s era RPGs, BGs, minis, and similar games, then most often the people interested will show up to both run and play those specific types of games, it seems like it should be a pretty equal ratio, occasionally dipping to one side or the other. When you start opening up, allowing anyone in, then it becomes a crap shoot, a roll of the dice as to who will run what, and who will want to play in what. At least, that is how it makes sense in my mind. My guess also is that this could just as easily happen at your larger cons, Origins and GenCon, but that they are so big, there may be enough attendees that you get more players than GMs; I've never looked at their data or events so I can't speak with any certainty. From the look of what's is still open currently in the event schedule, I imagine quite a few GMs are going to be running gimped games or looking for something else to do during those 2-4 hour time slots they originally planned to run in.

Emphasis mine.
Agreed. Especially in the case of GC where on the home page the first sentence reads, "Gary Con is an annual game convention celebrating the life and works of Gary Gygax," The key words for me there are life and works of Gary Gygax. If the con is about celebrating the works of Gygax, don't dilute the message by opening up the con to every game (WotC, MtG, PF, etc.) under the sun, costuming, LARPing, etc. Nearly every other con does this already. GC's initial focus is what made it special for me.

[Necron 99]

Gary Con is definitely on the move to "general gaming con". Yesterday on the FB group, Luke posted the following:

I’m really excited for this event. Cosmo Joe is bringing a mini-adventure this year, but maybe there is a way to expand to something larger for the future!

Exciting news for Gary Con Goers! In cooperation with Studio6d6, we are happy to announce a new feature for Gary Con XI- The Dungeon Experience! Studio6d6 will have a short adventure for you and three friends to enjoy in Building Four of the Grand Geneva. The event has a small fee associated with it and will be available for sign up on site!

When asked in the comments if this was something of an RPG based Escape Room game, the answer was yes but with d20 combat. Not sure exactly what that means, but it sounds similar, though not completely, like a Living Dungeon styled event, maybe just without the actual live action combat. The comment about "maybe there is a way to expand to something larger for the future" is particularly troublesome to me.

[Ancalagon]

If Luke wants to transition from the initial focus to having GC resemble most other cons, why bother with the extra hassles of flying into a zoo like ORD in winter, freezing the arse off outdoors to catch a shuttle just to get to the rental car outlet, then making a one hour drive to reach Lake Geneva? I can fly into the much less crowded Columbus OH airport (CMH) during mid-to-late June, catch a cab to the Origins convention center for a lot less than renting a car, and be within walking distance of everything I need. Without the freezing cold. I looked at the Origins 2018 event schedule (it was still accessible) and saw AD&D1e and 2e, The Dark Eye, Metal Magic & Lore, AS&SH, Call of Cthulhu, C&C, DCC, and RuneQuest plus lots of other options.

Just for S&Gs, I did a quick number crunch for pre-reg attendance at GCXI. I don't recall how many Diamond and Platinum tickets were offered. I know there weren't many so my figures don't include those. Gold & Silver badges for all four days total 1,625. Th/F/Sat/Sun one-day badges total 143. Weekend only badges total 25. Youth and Spectator total 115. Altogether that's 1,908 so should be about like last year.

[rredmond]

Map does rock!!!

If we do ever end up attending the same con, rredmond, we'll definitely have to get in an event together and roll the bones!

I'm hoping to one day roll the bones, tip a few pints, and smoke Longbottom leaf with good friends, who I never met IRL, for sure!

[Captain_Blood]

Honestly, I'm only going to GC to sling dice with y'all. I miss my friends, and OmaCon was my favorite event of the last several years. I really wish we could have gotten MaCon done last year. I don't need dealer halls, guest speakers, and all the other crap. I mean they're nice and all, but I've seen everything in them several times before, and rarely do I see something I can't get otherwise for about the same price. Meeting the other old school gamers at GC the first two time was fantastic, but if it's changing this much then I'm not going to miss visiting Wisconsin. I'd be much more in favor of a gather near Atlanta over a long weekend with a Braves game and lots of dice.

[Ancalagon]

OmaCon was a lot of fun! I certainly wouldn't mind another small gathering of friends to spend several days gaming and hanging out if we could get enough folks to commit to an agreed upon span of days. Someone else can organize the next such gathering! :wink:

[Necron 99]

OmaCon was a lot of fun! I certainly wouldn't mind another small gathering of friends to spend several days gaming and hanging out if we could get enough folks to commit to an agreed upon span of days. Someone else can organize the next such gathering! :wink:

The biggest, and probably the only issue with doing another small meetup is the scheduling. I think at least 2, maybe 3 folks had things change or come up before settling on dates for the Macon meet. The one reason I would prefer to try and attend an actual event con instead, is that at least I know regardless of old friends attending, there will be other folks available to play and/or run games. Plus it's cool to see friends and acquaintances that I know online or from attending previous cons.

Assuming we were able to get a full group of 6-8 to commit to a local gaming weekend somewhere, I'd be all for it.

[rredmond]

A bunch of the KnK guys do that. They find a central(ish) location to meet and game, adding drinks and food to the mix.
I think one or two might get a hotel room right before or after, but most day trip it. Fun times.

[Necron 99]

23 hours and counting. Here's hoping that everyone has a safe and easy travel and STAYS WARM! Lol.