Yesterday I spoke about Origins, today I’ll talk about GenCon. In talking about GenCon, I’ll also mention the WBC since these events happen almost simultaneously.

The number one reason I haven’t been to GenCon is work. For the past several years I have had a gig on the Saturday of GenCon. It pays me well for a one day event, so GenCon remains unattended.

I do want to go one day. I’m hoping that day arrives in the near future. If the event were to shift by one week that would be amazing…but not going to happen. It’s already on my schedule for this year. 

There are other reasons that GenCon doesn’t become the go to event for me. My boss would tell you that I turned down two days with Frankie Valli last year so I could go to Origins. What keeps me from making the decision with GenCon? Size for one.

I have heard that the amount of people is much larger. For some that’s a selling point. I don’t like huge anonymous crowds. I prefer a smaller grouping of people, a much more community based con.

The open gaming area is smaller. Someone who has been to both told me this. Feel free to dispute it. I have heard that it’s smaller and less organized, the game library isn’t as good. My understanding is that they’ve tried to mimic the Origins system.

Too much other stuff. Supposedly it’s not just games and definitely not just board games. Yes, I hear the CCG community is huge there but that’s not what I’m referring to. My understanding is that the convention encompasses much more of the Science Fiction and Fantasy genre than just games. Frankly, I like a little focus.

Despite publishers having more games there to sell (because Origins is just a preview, remember…) the volume of people makes it difficult to get things before they sell out. This also makes the actual publisher harder to communicate with personally, which is important when trying to sell your game to them.

Now, the positives in all this is that it’s bigger, has more people, and more games are actually available.

Please feel free to dispute any of that in the comments. I haven’t gone. I have looked things up and listened to discussions/arguments in the past. I do want to go someday, it looks unlikely for me to go this year, but an unexpected windfall could make it a reality.

…The second con on this list is the WBC, World Boardgaming Championships.

The WBC is full of focus. One hundred games full of focus at some point. It’s just for playing board games. It’s for board game tournaments. You’re going to play several games over the course of the weekend, probably, but you’re hopefully going to play those games over and over in heats as you strive to get Wood (plaques noting that you are a campion.) This, btw, is a serious event and people take it very seriously. 

The hotel is small the event is held in Lancaster, PA, a land known for it’s Amish population. But none of that is really a problem. The hotel fits, for the time being and Lancaster is a nice place. The hotel is easy to find, though the parking is a bit rough. What is problematic is the way that people talk about the event. They really feel that they’re the answer to GenCon and playing on the same level. …At least that’s what I get from talking to some of the people involved.

The dealer room is small (took me all of 10 minutes to walk around and realize I didn’t need anything.

The open gaming area is…rough. The library is good, but mostly multiple copies of the games that have tournaments running. Last year there was a generous amount of proto-typing going on, but that’s thanks to a lot of people I know and myself. It wasn’t bad, and if you could get people to sit down and play they had a good time. Unfortunately most attendees are either trying to get people to play their games/games they want to play or simply waiting out the few minutes before their next tournament. One of the worst things about the open gaming area is that it was in a small dinner theatre room with steps, ramps, levels and railings. If you weren’t on an aisle, good luck.  It’s a very dark room with bad traffic flow.

Still, some people had success. I wouldn’t have had fun if it weren’t for my friends being there, people I knew. Everyone else was kind of in their own world. I bought a badge to be there, but frankly… if I hadn’t no one would have noticed. All the people in charge are busy with their own things and trust the attendees to police things themselves. More power to them. I snuck in for two days the previous year and I might do that again this year. 

One of the reasons I might do that again is the price. I’ve been vocal about this in the past, and I’ll say it again. Their registration process and policies are NOT clear.  They are hard to understand and very expensive for what they are. I tried to go for two days the first year and at the door it would have cost me the same as four days at Origins. A pricing plan was not available for the two days I wanted to go (Thursday and Friday,) I would have needed to buy two single day passes at 20$ or spend 60$ for the remaining 4 days. Whenever I complain about the prices I am simply told, “well, you should have pre-registered in January.” I looked for pre-registration on their website several times in January …I can’t find pre-registration. Sorry.  Make it easier to find and I’ll consider it, but I’ll only consider it. I don’t know my schedule 8 months out and frankly, I’m not giving up work to go to the WBC. It just isn’t worth that kind of trouble or time.

I kind of unloaded there…sorry.

What you need to take from this is: I want to go to GenCon someday, but in principle it doesn’t unseat Origins for me. I’ll probably end up at WBC for at least one or two days again this year because of proximity but not because I think it’s a convention worthy of my attention.

I know very little about PAX East… but I’ll do some research…and give it a few words in the next week. Tomorrow is Friday and I have a furry Friend to talk about.