Post GenCon Post
Aug. 17th, 2006 02:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
orikesI started writing a post-Gencon entry a couple of days ago, pretty much right after we got back. It was turning into a behemoth post, so I stopped. I couldn’t quite get it all out of my head coherently and succinctly, so I set it aside. Now, a few days later, I’m still a bit lost, but better able to be succinct.
All in all, I had a really good time. It was exhausting and there are plenty of things I would have done differently, but when push comes to shove, I’m already starting to plan a pilgrimage for next year.
Here are some of the things I would change:
- Plan events better. While I got to play in some fun games, there was more I wanted to experience that I missed out on. Part of it was from being unable to decipher the schedule at first, and then part of it was indecision. If I go next year, I’m going to jump right on registration and get myself signed up for the events I want to play. I’ll also make sure to get some generic tickets if there’s anything I really want, but looks full. Most of the games I played in had empty seats even though the registration desk said they were full.
- Get in shape. I really regret that was so quick to tire out in the dealers room. There was soooo much to see. I realized on the way home that I never made it into the art gallery, which was one of the main things I wanted to see. Part of this was because the dang place was so overwhelming, but another was that I am just really out of shape and standing around, walking around for any length of time is difficult.
- Bring Pepsi. OH MY GOD. It was nearly impossible to find Pepsi. The convention center seems to be in the clutches of coke, and even then the only options were coke, diet coke, and sprite. No Barqs or Sunkist for those of us who don’t care for the other three. I eventually found Pepsi for sale in a gift shop of one of the nearby hotels, but it was still amazingly difficult to find. Not to mention expensive. The vending machines in the convention center were $2.50. If I go again, the hotel room will have a fridge and I will be bringing a couple of six packs. (Food was expensive too, but not as outrageous as the soda, and it was something I had accounted for.)
- Different transportation. I appreciate the monetary savings of sharing a ride to the con with the Binghamton friend who offered to drive Doug and I, but his car was really waaay too small for four adults and their stuff. It’d be fine for a 30 minute ride, but not a 9 hour journey. Ultimately, I have a different philosophy about road trips than our benefactor does, so the return trip left me feeling a bit stressed. I’d rather take my time and take a little longer than crunch as many miles as possible into the hours.
There are plenty of highlights to talk about from the trip, but this is what had my previous attempt at this entry floundering into behemoth status. This entry is pretty close, but believe it or not, it’s not nearly as bad. I think the thing I would like to talk about, though, are the seminars. There were three on Friday, and each one was enjoyable.
The first was the Order of the Stick Question and Answer session. Rich Burlew is a nicer guy in person than he comes across as on the boards, but then those community boards would bring out the worst in anyone. It was fun getting to hear his answer to both the expected and the unexpected questions. For anyone wondering, yes, you will find out what Varsuvius’ gender is… likely right around the time the strip is getting ready to end. The question I found most fascinating was the original inspiration for the characters. He actually played two of them, but they were not the two I expected. Of the six main characters, he played versions of Elan and Belkar.
After that, I attended the Secrets of Eberron seminar. This was basically just a chance for Wizards and the developers to share what’s coming up next for the setting and answer questions. What was best about this whole thing was that the designers (Keith Baker and crew) seemed to be as excited about the whole thing as the attendees and were just as interested in what we wanted as what they wanted to do with the setting.
The final and possibly most personal seminar was the Mutants and Masterminds setting. Let me first say that Steve Kenson is a lot younger looking than I expected. I found out afterwards his picture is up on the Green Ronin website, but still… he looks so young! (He also looks just like another Steve I know – Rudy’s brother and my brother’s best friend.) This seminar had a smaller group of attendees and the questions seemed to come a little bit slower. At one point, during a discussion on ‘Ultimate Power’, it was stated that not all powers should be available to players. Since questions were slow, I asked “What does a newbie GM do when she ends up with a player who has a set of powers that turns out to be somewhat overpowering?” The next fifteen minutes of the seminar were spent basically discussing *my* game and how best to reign in a good player with a somewhat unbalancing power set. J
The BEST part of that whole seminar, though, was when M&M Superlink was brought up and there was a quick discussion about what it was and the quality of what’s out there. Steve Kenson started naming off some of the better Superlink publishers out there and he mentioned TPK. At that point, I had to pipe up that I had done layout work for the TPK stuff and he complimented me on the look of ‘Escape from Alcatraz’. I think I grinned like an idiot for several hours after that.
All in all, it was a really fun trip that I’d absolutely love to repeat, just .. better. I ended up with plenty of free stuff, spent way too much money, made my feet hate me, and still have a crap load of laundry to do. Ah well. :)
All in all, I had a really good time. It was exhausting and there are plenty of things I would have done differently, but when push comes to shove, I’m already starting to plan a pilgrimage for next year.
Here are some of the things I would change:
- Plan events better. While I got to play in some fun games, there was more I wanted to experience that I missed out on. Part of it was from being unable to decipher the schedule at first, and then part of it was indecision. If I go next year, I’m going to jump right on registration and get myself signed up for the events I want to play. I’ll also make sure to get some generic tickets if there’s anything I really want, but looks full. Most of the games I played in had empty seats even though the registration desk said they were full.
- Get in shape. I really regret that was so quick to tire out in the dealers room. There was soooo much to see. I realized on the way home that I never made it into the art gallery, which was one of the main things I wanted to see. Part of this was because the dang place was so overwhelming, but another was that I am just really out of shape and standing around, walking around for any length of time is difficult.
- Bring Pepsi. OH MY GOD. It was nearly impossible to find Pepsi. The convention center seems to be in the clutches of coke, and even then the only options were coke, diet coke, and sprite. No Barqs or Sunkist for those of us who don’t care for the other three. I eventually found Pepsi for sale in a gift shop of one of the nearby hotels, but it was still amazingly difficult to find. Not to mention expensive. The vending machines in the convention center were $2.50. If I go again, the hotel room will have a fridge and I will be bringing a couple of six packs. (Food was expensive too, but not as outrageous as the soda, and it was something I had accounted for.)
- Different transportation. I appreciate the monetary savings of sharing a ride to the con with the Binghamton friend who offered to drive Doug and I, but his car was really waaay too small for four adults and their stuff. It’d be fine for a 30 minute ride, but not a 9 hour journey. Ultimately, I have a different philosophy about road trips than our benefactor does, so the return trip left me feeling a bit stressed. I’d rather take my time and take a little longer than crunch as many miles as possible into the hours.
There are plenty of highlights to talk about from the trip, but this is what had my previous attempt at this entry floundering into behemoth status. This entry is pretty close, but believe it or not, it’s not nearly as bad. I think the thing I would like to talk about, though, are the seminars. There were three on Friday, and each one was enjoyable.
The first was the Order of the Stick Question and Answer session. Rich Burlew is a nicer guy in person than he comes across as on the boards, but then those community boards would bring out the worst in anyone. It was fun getting to hear his answer to both the expected and the unexpected questions. For anyone wondering, yes, you will find out what Varsuvius’ gender is… likely right around the time the strip is getting ready to end. The question I found most fascinating was the original inspiration for the characters. He actually played two of them, but they were not the two I expected. Of the six main characters, he played versions of Elan and Belkar.
After that, I attended the Secrets of Eberron seminar. This was basically just a chance for Wizards and the developers to share what’s coming up next for the setting and answer questions. What was best about this whole thing was that the designers (Keith Baker and crew) seemed to be as excited about the whole thing as the attendees and were just as interested in what we wanted as what they wanted to do with the setting.
The final and possibly most personal seminar was the Mutants and Masterminds setting. Let me first say that Steve Kenson is a lot younger looking than I expected. I found out afterwards his picture is up on the Green Ronin website, but still… he looks so young! (He also looks just like another Steve I know – Rudy’s brother and my brother’s best friend.) This seminar had a smaller group of attendees and the questions seemed to come a little bit slower. At one point, during a discussion on ‘Ultimate Power’, it was stated that not all powers should be available to players. Since questions were slow, I asked “What does a newbie GM do when she ends up with a player who has a set of powers that turns out to be somewhat overpowering?” The next fifteen minutes of the seminar were spent basically discussing *my* game and how best to reign in a good player with a somewhat unbalancing power set. J
The BEST part of that whole seminar, though, was when M&M Superlink was brought up and there was a quick discussion about what it was and the quality of what’s out there. Steve Kenson started naming off some of the better Superlink publishers out there and he mentioned TPK. At that point, I had to pipe up that I had done layout work for the TPK stuff and he complimented me on the look of ‘Escape from Alcatraz’. I think I grinned like an idiot for several hours after that.
All in all, it was a really fun trip that I’d absolutely love to repeat, just .. better. I ended up with plenty of free stuff, spent way too much money, made my feet hate me, and still have a crap load of laundry to do. Ah well. :)
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2006-08-17 06:48 pm (UTC)Some thoughts: For anyone wondering, yes, you will find out what Varsuvius’ gender is… likely right around the time the strip is getting ready to end.
Works for me. If he ended the strip without telling us, I'd be seriously annoyed.
After that, I attended the Secrets of Eberron seminar. This was basically just a chance for Wizards and the developers to share what’s coming up next for the setting and answer questions.
Sounds nifty. Were there any tidbits of info? Like, actual world secrets? :)
(no subject)
Date: 2006-08-17 07:36 pm (UTC)I don't think the Eberron seminar gave us any real secrets about the world, but it was still very cool to get a chance to speak with the guys running the show. There were a ton of questions asked at that seminar and I know I don't remember everything. Quite a bit of time was spent on people asking if they were going to expand on different things, and then the developers asking what we wanted expanded upon. They've pretty much got the sourcebooks planned for the next year-plus, but I wouldn't be surprised to see some of the stuff we discussed. Specifically, a lot of people wanted another Nations book that talks about Zilargo, Qbarra, Talenta Plains, Valenar, etc. In other words, all the places that are not the remnants of Galifar.
One interesting tidbit was when a discussion started about the juxtaposition of Neutral Good Aurala (Queen of Aundair) next to Lawful Evil Kaius III (King of Karrnath), especially when everyone pretty much agrees that Aurala is more likely to restart the Last War than Kaius is. Keith Baker pointed out that while Aurala might be the 'face' that starts the next war, she's just as likely to be a victim of the real force trying to restart it. He said he feels it would probably be the Dreaming Dark that restarts it and then pointed out how Aurala has been having 'dreams of reunited Galifar'... dun dun dun!
YAY for Gen Con!
Date: 2006-08-18 07:49 pm (UTC)Re: YAY for Gen Con!
Date: 2006-08-19 03:49 pm (UTC)