I noticed from the GenCon exhibitor's map that GtG will actually have two booths -- a larger one (50x30, booth 1241) and a smaller one right nearby (20x20, booth 1437). They will also have their side room (room 140). I'm curious how the two different booths will be used. I wonder if this is the result of the purchase of Cheapass Games. Maybe Cheapass Games already had paid for their own booth.
I have once again failed to get into a Sleepy Hollow demo, but am pleased to have gotten into a Prime War game.
So my group has 4 tickets to the Thursday at 10AM Prime War demo but we are not going to be able to attend. I’m planning to return them that Wednesday so someone else can get those spots but if one of you guys want the tickets instead just message me and I can just give you the ones I have.
Message sent. :-)
Found a good home for these.
Hey, ya'll! Who's planning to be at GenCon?
I'm looking forward to a Preim War vs Env demo at noon on Saturday, letters Page Live, State of GtG, and various other GtG panels/events.
I'm still not sure about the SC LARP. Would like to do it but I already have a ticket for a different game at that time, and the online system doesn't seem to have a way to sell back my already-received-via-mail paper ticket and buy something else. Perhaps I will make the exchange at GenCon itself.
I'll be there. Last year as an exception due to the baby, Gen Con is an annual get-together for some of my college friends, so I'm often doing stuff with them, but I plan on going to the Letters Page, State of GTG Panel, and the RPG Live session and I tend to try demos of things at the booth/in the side room at various points after making my full pass of the dealer hall (assuming that there's not a thing to rush for). I also didn't get into any official Prime War or RPG events, but I may try to Generic my way in if I have a time slot free.
Edit - and I usually try to check out the costume contest, although I don't cosplay personally.
You guys have fun. I almost lucked into working for the gaming library this year, but had to say no because I'll be near Madison that Friday-Saturday.
This is the first year in almost a decade where I *won't* be at GenCon.
My employer is sending me to a professional development conference in Phoenix over the same weekend as GenCon. Not being one to look a gift horse in the mouth--"Ship me across the country to stay in a 5-star hotel and learn more about prospect research best practices? Twist my arm, why don't you?"--I'll give GenCon the miss this year.
You guys have fun, and be sure to share any news with us!
I will be at Gen Con, and specifcally the 10 AM Thursday PvE session for Prime War.
Getting to the point that I am having trouble concentrating at work :)
~Komori
GenCon Day -2: The show doesn't start until Thursday, and set up doesn't even begin until Tuesday, but apparently sponsors, like GtG, have access to begin setup on Monday.
GtG have two booths this year. Their main booth has bumped to 150% of its previous size, from 50x20 feet to 50x30 feet, plus, because of the merger with Cheapass Games, they have another, smaller booth right nearby which they are using for all things digital: Handelabra, Underbite (Sentinels of Freedom), and another company I failed to catch the name of which is doing digital versions of ... um ... was it Homebrewers, maybe? ... and something else.
Also this year they have spread beyond the side room and have another room over in Lucas oil which is going to have six tables dedicated to SCRPG. There are 80-90 citizens this year. Apparently there was a GenCon staff member who was skeptical that so many badges were needed and required some data to be convinced.
There are bigger tabletop game companies, for sure, but Greater Than Games is certainly playing in the pros these days. It is still, though, all hands on deck for GenCon. Every single employee will be at the show.
And I'm not here to try to make you jealous, but I got to see a picture of Trevor's baby and he is adorable.
As I've noted in the past, GenCon seems to be as much about business to business meetings as it is about customer interactions. Sounds like many of the GtG staff will be in meetings starting tomorrow (if not today, for all I know).
Gen Con Day -1: Presumably there was lots of set up going on today. I'm not involved with that at all so can't offer any details. I did learn that GtG, while increasing their booth size 150% and expanding to the RPG room over at Lucas Oil, have at the same time halved their side room space to just 140, but not also 141.
A few Citizens met up near 140 and we ended up walking over to Punch Burger for some dinner. Zach, Alex, and Sam (?!) went off to collectively nap and/or prep for some LCG Arkham Horror, while Mike and Kacey offered to teach me the Arkham Horror game. Thanks again!
After that I was able to meet up with Paul, watch a baseball game, and chat. I always enjoy learning more about the tabletop industry from him.
My GenCon activities will ramp up a fair bit tomorrow. I want to exchange a ticket so I can hopefully get into the Sat SC LARP session. I'm going to bring my travel Tak set and see if any of the Citizens want to learn it. I've got some local friends who are planning to meet up to play SotM.
Friends, please also share your experiences, and if you're enjoying these, let me know. If I'm just talking to myself, I'm not going to bother.
I enjoy them each year. Helps when I can't be there.
+1
I always like reading your write-ups, brother!
GenCon Day 0: Hmmm ... can I remember what happened yesterday? I meant to write, but missed it.
I got to the convention center in the afternoon. A group of about a dozen Citizens were loitering across the big hall from room 140. I ended up playing some Tak and some Homebrewers. Homebrewers seems to be a great Euro. Euro games aren't my main cup of tea, so there's little reason for me to acquire it, but I think lots of tabletop gamers would like it.
A group of a dozen or so of us went over to the Claddaugh for food, and wandered back around the time of the opening GenCon festivities on Georgia Street. I've never partaken in these. A GenCon beer gets tapped. There's some sort of announcement and welcoming to GenCon. People mill around in the sun drinking, or spend a lot of time in line to get beer and then mill around in the sun drinking. Not my thing, but not unpleasant.
There was a large crowd of citizens getting their paperwork signed, picking up badges, and learning and playing games. I tried Medium. Didn't really like it. I was terrible at it, and while I dithered the people not actively playing seemed to get distracted and leave the game. I've heard from lots of other people that they really like it, though. Room 140 got really packed. I eventually took off with a few others and ended up going back to a hotel room and playing a game.
GenCon Day 1: Got to the convention center a bit after 9 and with some time to kill before a 10am game went over to Hall B to check out a game I was interested in. Worked my way back through Hall C and Hall D into one of the main concourses and then over to the big hall outside the exhibitor's hall, both so I could drop in and see what was going on in the GtG room 140 and also because the event I was heading to was in room 145. 140 was already full, about ten games of Spirit Island going on. Later a couple of those tables would host Prime War and one of them would have Sleepy Hollow.
I could duck into 140 from the side, but then had to go into the main concourse outside the exhibitors hall to get to 145 and was there RIGHT before opening at 10am. The entire area was packed with people, probably 30-40 deep and maybe 300-400 wide. It was intense, the most packed I've ever seen the place. I had to bellow and use elbows to get to my event. Yes, I've done the arithmetic and realize that I'm describing 9-16,000 people in that concourse. Am I overstating it? Maybe. Maybe not.
My game ran to 3pm and I had an hour to spend in the exhibit hall before my next event. Dropped by the booths: There were 10-12 stand up tables (maybe even more), almost all full, with demos of Medium, Sleepy Hollow, Brewcrafters, SotM, Spirit Island, and SCRPG. GtG are a consolidator for many other companies, and the shelves were filled with not only lots of GtGs products, but plenty of things I didn't recognize. I also went over to check out Handelabra, Underbite, and ... darn it, I've forgotten the name of the other company again! Jeremy from Handelabra was streaming an OblivAeon game when I walked by, which was fun to watch for a few moments. I'd meant to check out Sentinels of Freedom from Underbite, but I guess I got distracted. I did chat with the other company, though, who are creating a digitial version of Fate of the Elder Gods that has some sort of limited massive multiplayer aspect to it. I didn't understand it, frankly, and they didn't have a demo to see, but it somehow involves other players in other games affection what happens to you, if you happen to be in the same area at the same time. Sounded intriguing.
Kat, whom I know primarily as being the person with the fantastic Fanatic costume, did a really excellent job teaching me Sleepy Hollow. Walking Target happened to walk up to an SotM table at the same time as me and he and I decided to take on Baron Blade in a speed run with the eight minutes I had left. We were victoriuos and finished just in time!
From there I walked down the passageway towards Lucas Stadium, but took the stairs up to the pedestrian overpass over to the Crowne Plaza, making my way to a panel that Paul, Alex, Jodie, Maggie, and a woman from Boardgametable.com put on about Kickstarters, manufacturing, and distribution. I really enjoyed it. I like learning about how the industry works. The majority of attendees seemed to be people who had a game design and were thinking about Kickstarting it at some point.
Afterwards I drifted back through the exhibit hall and over to 140 again. Even with less than fifteen minutes left, most of the booth tables were in use, and the sideroom was packed. I had a chance to see the binder Katie was using to organize the 80-90 citizens and was suitably impressed by her organization.
After that I was off to dinner with friends and other hangouts with non GtG people. Then I rode home and did some chores and here I find me spewing out details from my day. Hmm, perhaps I'll go chat with my spouse next ...
The other company is Campfire, they've done a digital version of Viva Java the Dice game, and are working on Fate of the Elder Gods =)
Thanks, John!
GenCon Day 2: This is the point in the con, at the end of day 2, when all of a sudden the end seems to be rushing toward me, rather than in the distant future. Just one full day left tomorrow, and a partial day on Sunday.
I took it easy this morning, sleeping in and getting down to the convention center around 10:45. First goal was to pick up a free GenCon 2019 die at Crystal Caste. From there I went to check on the booth. There was a big crowd around the Trogdor game.The booth was busy. While I was there the last four copies of Medium were sold. They'd brought 200 copies, if I remember correctly, and only 60 had been left after Thursday. I went over to the digital booth and got a short walk through of Sentinels of Freedom. I have very little experience playing a game like this, so was fumbling with how to move versus how to change the camera position. My game had a glitch (a character embeded in a wall) and there was wording for something that I didn't immediately understand, but overall I got the sense of a product that was pretty slick and nearing completion.
On my way over to Letters Page Live I popped in to the GtG side room, 140, and chatted a moment with Russ, who was helping to run a Spiriti Island tournament. I guess some people signed up for the tournament without having every played Spirit Island before?! That's a rough way to learn the game and probably pretty dissappointing for the people who are teamed with them.
Letters Page Live was fun. It was in a huge ballroom, which made the audience feel small compared to the previous two years. And maybe it was a little smaller? Hard to say. There was no musical guest like the first two years, so insteand GtG handed out kazoos and we all played SotM theme music together. It was fun. They decided to forego anything else and just jump into the questions, since time had run out for questions in past years. I ended up singing Happy Birthday ... to myself? Presumably you'll hear what I mean if you listen to the episode. That ballroom was ridiculously cold. I later learned that the temp had been set on 55. I was struggling physically by the end of the session and how to go outside and sit in the sun for ten minutes before I felt well.
The rest of my day was filled with lots of things, but nothing GtGs related: Sarah Donner concert, trying out a coop game called Dragonfire, dinner with friends, and helping with equpment for and attending the Kittens Slay Dragons concert.
Tomorrow will be the first day I'll want to pack both lunch and dinner. Not quite sure how I'll do that.