GenCon Postmortem 1

GenCon. What a weekend. I’m going to start this off with a caveat: I still haven’t slept more than a couple hours since I woke up on Sunday morning, and while I’ll probably re-read this before posting it, I do not promise a high-degree of coherence. I will also be using language of a less-than-sensitive nature, though not in an abusive or hostile fashion. You’ve been warned.

I’ll start again. GenCon… What a fucking trip. I had a blast. This was my third time, and easily my best time (sorry Mar, sorry Bets… as fun as it was spending GenCon with ya’ll and the gang, this one was just better) so far. I’ll continue this with a brief description of what GenCon is, for any who might read this who aren’t into gaming already.

GenCon, as I like to describe it, is Gamer Mecca. It’s the pilgrimage that every gamer should make once in their lives. So what is it, more exactly? It’s the ultimate celebration of gaming and gaming-related geekery on the planet. If you play Dungeons and Dragons or any of its many and varied (as well as sometimes only tenuously related) kin, if you play board games, collectible card games, video games or Live Action Roleplay, this is the place to be. If you watch Sci-Fi or Fantasy TV or movies, if you like anime or old school cartoons, if you’re into Comic Books, GenCon has something for you.

It is… crazy, full of stereotypes and stereotype breakers, heavyset stinky geeks with neckbeards, rail-thin beanpoles who could probably build a computer from scrap metal that’s better than the one you’re using, pimply teenagers, scantily-clad geek girls of all shapes and sizes, toddlers in fairy wings and facepaint, and grandmas who could build a minmax Ranger/Paladin in less time than you can say “Attack of Opportunity”.

For ease of reference, I’m going to break this into 5 total posts: This one, one about my general GenCon observations and thoughts, another about the games I played, another about the people I met, and a final one about Games on Demand. So, without further explanation, I’ll start into talking about my GenCon. To finish up this first post, I’ll briefly summarize my weekend.

I arrived on Thursday morning at about 1 am local, and got to the hotel room about 2. I tried to sleep in a little, failed, and got up in time to register before the dealer’s hall opened and went to breakfast with my roommates. Thursday’s first game was Monsterhearts with Joe Beason, followed by Dungeon World with Scott Acker. I also went to the Gilder Guild Burlesque show that night. Friday it was a couple of seminars, followed by Fiasco and another session of Dungeon World, before I ran a game of 3:16 at the Embassy Suites. Saturday, I slept in a bit, made to GoD in time to play Dog Eat Dog with Liam Burke, then Monster of the Week with Joe Beason, and finally Lacuna with Mikael Andersson. Sunday saw me playing a final game of Technoir, making my purchases, and eventually playing a Legend of the 5 Rings AW Hack at the Embassy before trying to get a couple hours of sleep and heading home.