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 ...