Dan's Gen Con Report: Top Ten and Bottom Five

I was having a bit of writer's block trying to organize my thoughts on this year's Gen Con experience. So, I came up with this half-baked "Best and Worst" list idea. (Been watching too much Comedy Central, I think.) Anyway, I'm still going to put them in chronological order. Deal with it, monkey boy.

(Disclaimer: Most of the "Bad Things" are just there to break up the tiresome monotony of, "Oh boy, Gen Con was really great!" You should take them as the senseless ranting they are. GO, and the author, cannot be held liable for any flame- or troll-related embarrassments that may arise from failure to do so. You have been warned.)

Bad Thing #1 - As usual, the drive through Wisconsin was pretty much a nightmare. I have no idea what it is, but the traffic in that state is one of the most frustrating things I have ever experienced. It seems like everyone is either an obsessively conscientious (read: slow) driver, or a raving psychotic who shouldn't be placed in control of a pair of safety scissors, much less a high-velocity chunk of plastic and steel. Maybe it's just me.

Good Thing #1 - I managed to steer entirely clear of most of the 3e-related insanity. In fact, I only stepped foot in the WotC castle once... on Sunday... for about a minute and half. (We were taking a short-cut.) As a dedicated AD&D bigot of about three years, I came to the con determined not to bother with the whole thing. Besides, I knew you kind and loyal GO readers would be getting more than enough 3e reports from the other GOons and assorted members of the press.

Good Thing #2 - I played in a couple of excellent live-actions games set in the Shadowrun universe. Both were written and run by a group called Millennium Interactive Gaming, who had run a great Alternity LARP the year before. As usual, the MIG boys did a great job: the characters and plots were well-written, the rules and props worked beautifully, and the event itself was managed to superb effect. I highly recommend playing in any of their games should you have the chance. (I hear they're talking to WotC about running a few Star Wars LARPs at next year's Gen Con.)

Bad Thing #2 - The line for On-Site Registration was the longest ever, or so I am told. It stretched through 1/2 of the convention center, out the front doors, and down an entire city block outside. If you're thinking about attending next year, either pre-register or get there on Wednesday for the slightly less mind-numbingly long line.

Good Thing #3 - The crew at the Synister booth definitely get the award for best dressed. Both the Synister and UnderWorld t-shirts looked great, and everyone was either sporting punk accessories or sunglasses any avatar of the Executioner would be proud of. (Sorry, Unknown Armies reference.) The booth itself was the prolly the best looking of the lot; that little lightning machine they had set up in the back corner was a nice touch.

Good Thing #4 - When I went to pick up by copy of UnderWorld, I discovered (actually, Gareth showed me) that my name was listed in the credits. Apparently, Gareth was nice enough to dig through the GO and RPGnet forums to find the names of those who contributed regularly to the various UnderWorld discussions. It was a pleasant surprise.

Bad Thing #3 - Maybe it was just the above-mentioned years of AD&D bigotry, but all the 3e mania started to wear on my nerves after a while. I stopped counting the number of times I saw people with backpacks full of Player's Handbooks for their friends back home. They are aware, aren't they, that there are places called bookstores? And that these bookstores often sell books? Anyway, it's a nice-looking production, and I'm sure I'd like the game were I to read it through, but need we all fixate on it and drool like a pack of starving dingos outside a day care center?

Good Thing #5 - On the upside, I think the steadily growing numbers of Gen Con attendees indicate good things about the actual number of gamers who are online. As Gareth noted in the forums recently, conventional wisdom states that the online gaming community is a niche demographic inside a niche hobby market. A fraction of a fraction of a population, if you will. However, the UnderWorld fans who came out of the woodwork to buy the Gen Con release because of the online column indicates that this may not be the truth. In addition, it's my theory that the growing number of gamers on the Internet is the primary cause of the increasing attendance; I know I had never heard of Gen Con until I got online. WotC's Gen Con demographic information indicates that 92% of attendees have Internet access either at home, at work, or both. (On the other hand, it could also be that Gen Con attendees are not a representative sample of all role players. Still, it's encouraging.)

Good Thing #6 - The main reason I go to Gen Con is to play RPGs. Here at home, I'm almost always the GM and only very rarely a player. I love that conventions give me a chance to play someone else's game and experiment with systems and settings from the less-informed side of the GM's screen. This year, I played in a great game of Over the Edge, which featured a plot by a race of hibernating lizard men from 500,000 BC to invade the present by making herds of alternately angry, fearful, and horny monkeys beat out a psychic command on the drum sets of concert bands. Man, I love that game.

Bad Thing #4 - Pizza delivery in Milwaukee. First, we tried ordering from two different Little Caesar's locations; both said they weren't delivering that night because it was their driver's day off. I ask you, what pizza place only employs a single driver? I thought the principles of pizza delivery service were laid down in the 80's! Instead, we called Pizza Hut and, after a nearly 2-hour wait, got our pizza for free. Cold, but free. The following night, we called Little Caesar's back and were told that, yes, their driver was working tonight and our pizza would be there in 45-60 minutes. Nearly three hours (and four phone calls) later, we left for a party having never seen the driver.

Good Thing #7 - The nice folks at Atlas Games let me run an Unknown Armies demo for them. It was a hostage scenario from UA's first supplement, "One Shots," and all nine spots were taken. This was the first time I had run it as a tabletop game, both previous times had been live-action, but everything went swimmingly. We even ended exactly on time. Sure, there was way more carnage than any other time I've run it, but who ever went wrong with a nice, generous bloodbath?

Good Thing #8 - The Pizza Saga: Requiem. At this point, we just figured we had been cursed by the husband of the old gypsy woman we ran over on the way to Milwaukee. Same old, same old. However, when we checked our phone messages, we found out that the store owner had called after we left and offered to do whatever he could to set things right. So, we ordered some crazy bread (my girlfriend had been craving it for months) and then ordered some pizza from a place called Pizza Shuttle. The pizza got there before the crazy bread, though the bread was free. The moral of the story: when in the city of Milwaukee, order your pizza from Pizza Shuttle. They don't suck.

Bad Thing #5 - Unfortunately, I missed out on the GO indie gamin'. I stopped by the booth on Friday, but nothing was going on at the time. On Saturday, when some reportedly choice games were being run, I was booked elsewhere the entire day. What a sad monkey am I.

Good Thing #9 - The second tabletop game I got to play was an Unknown Armies scenario. Believe it or not, I had never actually played UA before, despite being the admin of the UArchive. Though it turned out that the plot line owed far more to the likes of Call of Cthulhu than it did to UA, a good time was had by all. (Plus, it demonstrated quite well that the UA rules system, including the Madness Meters, can be used to great effect in the CoC universe.) I still wanna play a fleshworker, though!

And the Top 10 best thing at Gen Con Y2k...

Good Thing #10 - The "Pimp Slap" shirt I got from Atlas Games. Anyone who has played the fine non-collectible card game known as "Lunch Money" should know what I'm talking about. Finally, I have a garment fine enough to be married in!

Dan Pond is the co-founder of the Immersive Entertainment Group, a writer of numerous live-action games, and an avid game master. He thinks he'll like Gen Con much better after it moves far, far away from the shadowy demiplane that is the state of Wisconsin. (No offense.)