::GenCon

GenCon this year was, well… kind of strange. For those that don’t know, it’s a big gaming convention — one of the biggest, in fact. Check Wikipedia.

Ever since they moved the con to Indianapolis, I’ve been going. The first year, my badge was a birthday gift from my best friend. That totally sold me.

I still remember the thrill of my first con. Growing up as a Dungeons and Dragons player, video gamer, and reader of all things scifi and fantasy, I always felt like an outsider. At GenCon, I’m in the same building with 25,000+ people who think the same way I do…. they get all the weird acronyms, goofy in-jokes, and movie references. Just walking around the convention and soaking all that in was a serious trip.

The ensuing years of conventioneering got better and better, as I learned how to better prioritize my time and see more, do more. I got to play in (and even run) all sorts of really neat RPG games, got to buy all kinds of cool stuff, and meet a ton of really awesome people.

This year, according to GenCon, was the highest paid attendance in con history, at 30,000+ people. That’s a lot of gamers!

And for some reason, it just didn’t feel like it. The energy wasn’t there. The luster was off for some reason.

I kind of wonder if it has to do with the recession. There were a lot less costumes, crafts, and Things To Take Pictures Of. Usually you can’t blink without missing something, and this year was notQuiteSoMuch. And some of the big companies didn’t have a booth in the dealer room. Goodman Games didn’t make the trip, and White Wolf only had a token ‘bar’ set up, with no products for sale. It was kind of surreal to see some of the recent giants not in attendance.

I ended up not spending nearly as much money as I’d originally intended, but that has a lot to do with the state of the RPG industry at the moment – not necessarily the con itself. That’s another post I suppose. (does anyone care?)

K is big into the anime side of the con and was upset with the lack of events. In previous years, she could wander into the anime hall 24/7 and find a free movie to watch or event going on. All con. All day and night, without fail. And this year most of that hall was taken over with film-school and live cinema-oriented events. Apparently there was very little anime displayed, and she was unhappy (and kind of bored, when I was busy).

The games I was in this year were kind of lackluster, with one major exception: the same best friend who bought me my first badge coerced me and K into joining him in the Shadowrun tournament! It was a brutal, cutthroat, two night event that was worth every penny! We ended up taking third place (nice!) and probably would have won the grand prize, except for one cold fish on our team of six, who basically didn’t speak unless prompted. But I’m not bitter – seriously – I had a great time, and I’ve now got a special set of tournament dice to show off.

So anyway, to sum up: gencon was kind of surreal and weird, and lacked a lot of energy, but we found ways to have fun. I keep wondering if I’m just jaded and therefore not as excited, or whether there really was something missing.

Still, i couldn’t imagine NOT going.