GenCon is over, but there are other cons left for the year.
So, why do you go to gaming conventions?
Is it to...
play games?
shop the vendor room?
attend seminars?
meet various gaming friends?
meet publishers?
pick up con exclusive releases?
all of the above? some? none? other stuff?
Let us know...
GURPS Swashbucklers (First Edition) (1988)
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From the back cover:
Adventure in a World of Gallantry & Grace
Come to the age of the Swashbuckler, when the world was wide and fortunes
could be made i...
2 hours ago
For me it was to meet people. Gaming was purely a secondary motive.
ReplyDeleteI met a lot of great folks from the community and it was great to put a face together with an internet handle and/or personality.
I wish I had gamed more, but the gaming that I did do was quality across the board.
I go to:
ReplyDeletePlay, see what others are playing, try new games, see what's different in the way how people play/run games, pay for overpriced alcohol and food, and to see old friends.
I'd like to go to the seminars, but I'm usually too busy playing.
We have a small one here in Pennsylvania -- MEPACON. I got there once. I enjoyed attending the Seminars and meeting people; friends, new people and publishers. I didn't really go for the gaming.
ReplyDeleteI would like to get to Gen Con someday. It's pretty much RPG "Mecca" and therefore all gamers should make the pilgrimage at least once, right? As for cons in general, I have only been to one, and that was the relatively small TrollCon East in early 2011, when the Troll Lord Games folks came out to South Jersey from Arkansas. That was a great time. I know that there's DexCon out here every year in Jersey, but I haven't made it yet. You know, the usual: family time trumps gaming (and therefore con) time.
ReplyDeleteI would like to get to a big con someday in order to see what the fuss is about. I would like to peruse the new products, get the inside scoop on what may be in the works, and maybe get into some games to test out the waters of systems I might be interested in.
But, sometimes I have a negative thing with crowds and I get annoyed after a while. That's probably why I've avoided cons. Also, for years I was sort of a curmudgeon and a loner, and really didn't see the value in attending such things. My conception of my gaming world was very insular, and it's only recently-as I've been forced to find a new gaming group among (former) strangers-that I've seen the value of getting to know other gamers.
I go to 2-4 cons a year, typically. I go for a number of reasons.
ReplyDelete1) Many of my good friends live far away from me. Conventions give us an excuse to travel far and get together for a few days.
2) I like gaming. I like playing games with people I've never played with before, and I like playing with people I've never played with before. It doesn't always turn out well, but it's always a new experience.
3) Promoting my own products. I'm part of Hex Games, and we're usually trying to promote and sell our games at any convention we attend.
4) Shopping. I like strolling through the dealer's room looking for new and interesting things or scoping out a new game that I'm excited about.
I went to my first (and only) Gen Con a few years ago as a vendor, working for ACD Distributions. I would like to go again as a patron. Cons are nothing new to me, as I went to San Diego Comic Con for 11 years straight. However, in November I will be going to my first gaming con as a gamer, Gamehole Con, here in Madison, WI. I'm mainly going for the gaming, but also for the whole game con experience.
ReplyDeleteI go for the gaming. The chance to play something new or that I haven't gotten to play in a long time, with folks who might approach it differently than I or my regular group does, appeals greatly to me. I really enjoy *variety* in my gaming, and the con gives me that.
ReplyDeleteI might do a little shopping (more the flea market, than the dealers room). Plus, there are some folks I only see there at the con, and it's cool to see them again, especially if we get in a game together.
I love it as a way to playtest my own games.
ReplyDelete