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Finding the Right Convention Game

Totally GuyTotally Guy
edited October 2013 in Conventions
I went to an RPG convention at the weekend called Furnace. It was a good convention, I would have liked to have been at Burning Con instead but this one was right there on my doorstep.

At this convention I ended up in the wrong game for me. It was a science fiction game in which the vocabulary of sci-fi words meant different things from my expectations. After a while I asked if the game was based on a specific property, one I'd not read. More accurately it was based on a post-singularity sub-genre which I didn't know much about.

It sucked to be me at that table because as well as me being clueless everybody else had to work around it too to include me. I tried to be proactive and I followed what I thought was a hook but it lead to a dead end (but proved that we were being traced which was a small mercy).

I have chosen to leave a game in the past but I found myself feeling worse for it as I wasn't even trying to make the best of it. And then what can you do? Everyone else is busy in a game!

What do you to make sure you don't end up in the wrong game? And if you do what's your strategy for surviving it with your graces intact?

Comments

  • AprecheApreche
    I won't join a long tabletop RPG session period if I'm not 100% on it. At burning con I played two nice safe Torchbearers.
  • BronzdragonBronzdragon
    Having a little chat with the DM beforehand might not be a bad idea. Spend 5 minutes talking about the game.
  • Totally GuyTotally Guy
    Having a little chat with the DM beforehand might not be a bad idea. Spend 5 minutes talking about the game.
    I could have done that. There was a bit of chaos at the signup sheets with a frenzy of signatures which meant that I had no way of knowing what I was going to play. But I knew what the GMs all looked like for the things I'd had my eye on.
  • MattMatt
    Having a little chat with the DM beforehand might not be a bad idea. Spend 5 minutes talking about the game.
    I could have done that. There was a bit of chaos at the signup sheets with a frenzy of signatures which meant that I had no way of knowing what I was going to play. But I knew what the GMs all looked like for the things I'd had my eye on.
    Let's be honest, I think we all know what they looked like.

  • RymRym
    Convention games must by default be 100% friendly to completely inexperienced players or else they're bullshit.

    The sole exception to this is a game that in the schedule and signups is clearly documented beforehand as requiring experience with it or its rules/property.

    Old grognard gaming cons usually had two "stats" on every game in the schedule: level of preparation required, and level of experience with the rules required.
  • Drunken ButlerDrunken Butler
    Would you guys consider Paranoia to be a good convention game then?
  • AprecheApreche
    Would you guys consider Paranoia to be a good convention game then?
    The BEST convention game. BYOSixpack.

  • HMTKSteveHMTKSteve
    A game like Paranoia should also include a notice that it is a comedic game and player to player chemistry is very important.
  • Totally GuyTotally Guy
    A note on the game would have been handy.

    In fact I had a player tell me that my Torchbearer game description was misleading. The conversation went like this:

    Player: You shouldn't have said that the game had a similar psychology to Mouse Guard.
    Me: I don't think I said that.
    Player: Yes you did.
    Me: When? At the table?
    Player: No, in the description. You said the game shares psychology with Mouse Guard, which it didn't.
    Me: Oh?
    Player: Here it is.
    Me: That says philosophy. "The game has similar mechanics and philosophy to Mouse Guard"
    Player: You knew what I meant. And you still shouldn't have said it. You should have said "system".
    Me: I said mechanics and philosophy. It's a game about imperfect characters that suffer from their hard lives.
    Player: But you said it shared two things and it only shared one.
    Me: I meant what I wrote...

    I couldn't see where he was coming from. Maybe he'd only played someone else's super nice version of Mouse Guard.
  • AprecheApreche
    A note on the game would have been handy.

    In fact I had a player tell me that my Torchbearer game description was misleading. The conversation went like this:

    Player: You shouldn't have said that the game had a similar psychology to Mouse Guard.
    Me: I don't think I said that.
    Player: Yes you did.
    Me: When? At the table?
    Player: No, in the description. You said the game shares psychology with Mouse Guard, which it didn't.
    Me: Oh?
    Player: Here it is.
    Me: That says philosophy. "The game has similar mechanics and philosophy to Mouse Guard"
    Player: You knew what I meant. And you still shouldn't have said it. You should have said "system".
    Me: I said mechanics and philosophy. It's a game about imperfect characters that suffer from their hard lives.
    Player: But you said it shared two things and it only shared one.
    Me: I meant what I wrote...

    I couldn't see where he was coming from. Maybe he'd only played someone else's super nice version of Mouse Guard.
    That guy was THAT GUY. Fuck him.
  • Totally GuyTotally Guy
    Yeah. He wore a That Guy shirt too.
  • Josh BytesJosh Bytes
    Is there a specific code of honor the Mouse guard live by? Maybe that's what he was bitching about.
  • MATATATMATATAT
    edited October 2013
    I would have told that guy to fuck off and how I don't give a shit about his opinion.
    Post edited by MATATAT on
  • RymRym
    His fursona is a Mouse Guard.
  • WyattWyatt
    fursona
    Never seen that word before, but I know exactly what you mean.

    I stick with board games. I love RPGs but not at conventions.

  • RymRym
    Depends entirely on the convention. ;^)
  • pencepence
    edited October 2013
    I've had good luck with convention games, but that's sticking only to Burning Con and Games on Demand. At Burning Con, a game with total strangers can be one of the most surprising and fun games of the weekend.
    Post edited by pence on
  • ProfPanglossProfPangloss
    I just assumed the thread was about a game to find which con is right for you.

    ...carry on...
  • GroverBombGroverBomb
    edited October 2013
    I always have fun at convention games but I'm not sure if that's because I've been lucky or because I just don't give too much of a damn. As a player, no matter what game I choose to sit in on I think keeping the right expectations (low) is a good policy.

    Though I did walk into a Pathfinder room at a con once and walked right back out. Maybe that was a mistake? I'll never know.
    Post edited by GroverBomb on
  • onewildonewild
    I went to an RPG convention at the weekend called Furnace. It was a good convention, I would have liked to have been at Burning Con instead but this one was right there on my doorstep.
    Just looked Furnace up, might have to keep an eye on that for next year, although they should have better game descriptions. A convention hardly seems the place for an obscure sci-fi game.

    The closest thing I have got to going to a convention is a Call of Cthulhu day so kind of knew what I was getting into before I got there. As long as I avoided the drama systems game.

  • okeefeokeefe

    What do you to make sure you don't end up in the wrong game? And if you do what's your strategy for surviving it with your graces intact?
    I just pick something that looks good or, if it's the end of the night, leave early. I try. If it's terrible, I just spend my time trying to imagine why the other players seem into it and then assess whether I ever want to attempt this system or play with this GM again.

    Worst case, I'd quietly gather my things, excuse myself, and not come back. I've never done this, but it's always an option.
    Yeah. He wore a That Guy shirt too.
    Please tell us about the shirt!

    We missed you at Burning Con!

    Burning Con is a perfect mix of self-selected games and gamers.
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