Thoughts after my first convention

Kilarney

I attended my first gaming convention this weekend. It was a small convention held in Vermont. The short story is that I had a fantastic time, and I'm looking forward to next year already!

Some thoughts:
1) I was impressed that people were not hyper-competitive. Most games I played had 75% of the players as first-time players. Experienced players helped the newbies. It was more about learning and having fun than winning. That was really nice to see.
2) While nerdy, the boardgamers weren't as bad as I was expecting. I met some real nice folks.
3) This convention had you pre-register for the games you were going to play. I liked this a lot. I was guaranteed to play the games I wanted without having to find an open game. (Although there was plenty of open gaming.)
4) I'm really intrigued by historical miniatures. There are two problems, though. A) The average player age was much older than the boardgamers or RPGers. That in and of itself is not a problem, but it does suggest that the genre has stagnated. b) There seems to be a "my layout is better than your layout" mentality with people spending absurd amounts of money.
5) LARPERs are totally creepy. Sorry, but that's just how it is. And to the 40 year old guy swinging swords all weekend with teenagers... get a life.
6) CCGs do nothing for me.
7) You don't get any sleep at a convention.

I spoke with people who had been to gaming conventions all over the northeast (and beyond). They all agreed that this convention was run the best. It isn't about money, and is very well organized. So if anyone is interested in coming to Vermont for gaming, check out the website here.

Apreche

Yeah, be it miniatures or CCGS, any game so heavily tied to money is not a game you want to be into.

HMTKSteve

That 40 yeard old guy has a life, just not one you approve of.

Kilarney

That 40 yeard old guy has a life, just not one you approve of.

I wanted to keep the post short. There's more to the story. Things such as staying in character and swatting his sword at non-LARPers in the vendor area. Trust me. It was much more than just a disagreement on how to spend one's recreational time.

HMTKSteve

That 40 yeard old guy has a life, just not one you approve of.

I wanted to keep the post short. There's more to the story. Things such as staying in character in the lunch line swatting his sword at non-LARPers. Trust me. It was much more than just a disagreement on how to spend one's recreational time.

I know people like this, that *is* their life.

My friend Paul once invited a friend of his to our gaming group for a while. On her first appearance she was wearing a shirt that was too small for her bosom, leather mini-skirt and fishnet stockings. I did not know if she was just dressed for her secondary job as a prostitute or what. It turned out that she just "likes" to dress that way. It would not have been so bad if her skin was not so messed up.

Jain7th

Yeah but older people hanging out with younger ones can be quite strange especially when the person could be or even is ones mother/father.

I don't know it's just not really how I imagine my future.

cosmicenema

@HMTKSteve: Are you a LARPer?

xenomouse

Yeah but older people hanging out with younger ones can be quite strange especially when the person could be or even is ones mother/father.I was visiting an anime club a couple weeks ago, and I was having a fun time there talking with the more frequent attendees. Then a thirteen year old showed up, and it was very obvious she was thirteen. I'm not quite old enough to be her dad, but it was still creepy to me.

Kilarney

One other note about kids at the convention. The 10-12 year olds were just obnoxious. They were old enough to run around on their own, but they caused a lot of chaos. (Touching miniature setups, moving things without asking, etc.) Fortunately, there were only a couple of them.

rhinocero

Yeah, be it miniatures or CCGS, any game so heavily tied to money is not a game you want to be into.


You know, I've been defensive about CCGs in the past, but thinking about it, I realized this is a good point.   CCGs DO cost way too much money to really get into, and it really kind of sucks to be into them.

xenomouse

Yeah, be it miniatures or CCGS, any game so heavily tied to money is not a game you want to be into.
You know, I've been defensive about CCGs in the past, but thinking about it, I realized this is a good point.   CCGs DO cost way too much money to really get into, and it really kind of sucks to be into them.
I agree. I wish I had spent the time and money that I had put into CCGs on RPGs instead. Ah, well. Live and learn.

HMTKSteve

No, I am not a LARPer. I have hung out with such and they can be a lot of fun in the sack but... In the end you just have to get away.

bodtchboy

My first convention was Kubla Con in San Francisco a couple of years ago. It was great! Though I had the most fun at night when all the organized games were over and you just get some friends or strangers together to play a board game you like.

I also saw typical stereo types you'd associate some gamers with. Like the war gamer setups were cool to look at, but it smelled terrible over there (BO). People were generally pretty nice.

I went again this year, and it seems to be changing more towards RP. Not as many nice people, either.

I've been to some small local game cons in SLC, UT and Idaho Falls, ID and they were great!! All about board games and the people are great!

cosmicenema

I have hung out with such and they can be a lot of fun in the sack but...

I don't think we call that LARPing.

HMTKSteve

I have hung out with such and they can be a lot of fun in the sack but...

I don't think we call that LARPing.

I was talking specifically about LARPers not LARPing.

If you have ever watched the TV show "My Name is Earl" you may remember an episode where Earl hooked up with a hot girl at a biker bar only to find out later that she thought it was a costume party and all of her tats were stick-on. She was a lot of fun in costume but not so much fun out of costume.

cosmicenema

I have hung out with such and they can be a lot of fun in the sack but...

I don't think we call that LARPing.

I was talking specifically about LARPers not LARPing.

I knew what you meant. Sheesh. I was only joking. I just meant that normal people do that in costume on occasion. ^_~

kage_rod

LARP - the funnest thing ever! I always go to the LARP panels. Mind you, the LARP panels I see generally are.. well, a little informal. The teams sign up before going, and generally the teams end up being people in cosplay.. or regular clothes... who try and stay 'IC' or at least be funny.

One other note about kids at the convention. The 10-12 year olds were just obnoxious. They were old enough to run around on their own, but they caused a lot of chaos. (Touching miniature setups, moving things without asking, etc.) Fortunately, there were only a couple of them.

I hate loud kids but I can usually tolerate them. I understand that for most it's their first con, and they're excited and they probably ate -far- too much pocky... And I've been loud and obnoxious too, so I'm glad I've toned it down. I find the teens are a little more annoying because they parade around in skimpy, horribly-made costumes, are loud, they are destructive, a good portion of them make out with their barely-significant other/friends/strangers and they try and get other cosplayers to act as their favorite couple, regardless of the cosplayer's comfort level. ... >

Yeah but older people hanging out with younger ones can be quite strange especially when the person could be or even is ones mother/father.

I was visiting an anime club a couple weeks ago, and I was having a fun time there talking with the more frequent attendees. Then a thirteen year old showed up, and it was very obvious she was thirteen. I'm not quite old enough to be her dad, but it was still creepy to me.

Ah, serious? Ever since my mom let me use the bus (At 13, I think...) I started going to the college anime club and basically around town. Even though it's been 4 years, there's still some people there who can easily be my parent. I never thought it bothered any of them.. I've just accepted anime as a thing where all ages can enjoy - just, the older ones tend to prefer different things.

xenomouse

Ah, serious? Ever since my mom let me use the bus (At 13, I think...) I started going to the college anime club and basically around town. Even though it's been 4 years, there's still some people there who can easily be my parent. I never thought it bothered any of them.. I've just accepted anime as a thing where all ages can enjoy - just, the older ones tend to prefer different things.I think it did have more to do with the way she was acting than her age. When she showed up, the club started paying attention to the ratings when picking the next viewing, and she assured us that she regularly watches 17+ stuff and is already messed up; it was difficult to tell if she was joking or if she was trying to impress us or whatever. There were a couple other odd behaviors that I just sort of chalked up to her being socially awkward; though, looking back, I don't know how much of it was her age.