bluegargantua

Hey,

So...on balance, I feel like this GenCon has been pretty mediocre. I won't go so far as to say it's been bad because I haven't injured myself or lost everything or stuff like that. But it's not nearly been as much fun as I wanted/expected/hoped for.

Much of this, of course, is my own fault/in my power to change. But I really wanted to get a playtest of my new game in and it just hasn't happened. And because I wanted to do that, I haven't gotten in on any after-hours games. (as an aside, 3:16 is going to get seriously run when I get home, it's the total hotness here at after-hours)

And some of this is that my friends are all publishing stuff so they're swirling in their social clique and while they're not excluding me, they're just together and have more opportunity to make plans and stuff. And another part of that is that I was hoping to have something to show at GenCon this year and didn't, but went anyway despite saying I'd only go if I had something ready, blah-blah-blah.

I did have an awful gaming session which didn't help. For miniature gamers, imagine fighting the battle of Stalingrad. It's a standard 6'x4' table and you've got enough stuff to cover the long edge, but you start on the short edge. So everyone's bunched up and it takes forever to come to grips and there were lots of random side events that didn't seem to make any difference. It took 4 hours to play out not-quite 2 turns. And this is a system that really plays really quick and fast and that I actually like. I should've just walked, but there's a bit of good sportsmanship at play that kept me in to the bitter end.

This morning I had more WWII small-boat action which went well until I accidentally crossed the path of a torpedo launched by my own side which blew my destroyer out of the water (my only consolation being that my explosive death mauled a nearby German boat). So...bittersweet.

Anyway, what I *should* be doing is going back downstairs and jump into a game, but I'm probably going to do some packing instead. I really want to go home and sleep in my own bed tomorrow night.

bleh
Tom

Hey,

So a 14-hour drive from Greenfield MA to Indianapolis IN? Kinda grueling. Then we miss the entrance to the hotel six times. Then I can't find the guy who's got my room key. Then I find him, but get the wrong room number.

I've never enjoyed a shower so much.

But I was registered and ready to go.

Today, was mostly shopping. Everyone who asked for something got their something. Most of the stuff on my list was picked up and there were only a few "ooh!" items that got added. I'll give a final swag listing when I get back.

Tonight I jumped into a game of Back of Beyond, a miniature ruleset about conflicts in Asia minor between WWI and WWII. I was the doughty Turks. The ruleset was a little too...weirdly abstracted for my tastes. But I did stick it to my Bolshevik "allies", I told the White Russians to get out of "my" field, and when my Khanate "allies" turned against me, I geve them a pretty solid drubbing. We called the game on account of time and I was deemed one of the prize players and collected a free dice set.

So not too shabby for a first day.

later
Tom

...and that's why these GenCon photos are so blurry.

later
Tom

Hi,

OK, so aside from visiting my folks (see previous entry), the other thing I did on my vacation was take in GenCon. On the flight into Indianapolis, I had a pleasant surprise -- boxninja was on the plane from Scotland and (just as randomly), his friend John (also from Scotland) was on the plane as well. So the three of us grabbed a cab into the city. I was staying at the Hyatt with a number of indie-game designers from MA. It was a bit cozy, but it wasn't terrible and the Hyatt was a pretty nice place to stay.

( A really long post about all the fun stuff I did at GenCon, you totally shoulda been there. )

It was a fun, breezy game but I turned in early to cram my bags full of loot and prepare for my flight home. As mentioned elsewhere, that flight home took over 16 hours total. But other than that and the speeding ticket, it was a very successful GenCon and I had a great time.

later
Tom

Hi,

So today I received my GenCon registration badge and event tickets in the mail.

On the one hand, this is great because now I don't have to stand in line to get my badge, and since I'm going to be a little later than usual getting into town this year, that's really convenient.

On the other hand. a.) I now have to guard this letter with my life or I don't get to go to GenCon and b.) I didn't realize that it was going to be mailed to me, I thought I was doing "will call" as normal. The badge was sent to my old address so it's doubly-lucky that it got to me.

Oh well...GenCon! It's soon! Yay!

later
Tom

Hey,

So I'm all registered for GenCon. I'm very pleased to note that this year, one of the community members took it upon himself to create a web-accessible event catalog. So you can now easily browse through the events instead of digging through that ridiculous Excel spreadsheet. (Don't have Excel? It's a .csv file for you, bucko!)

The man should get a free VIP pass to GenCon for that kind of work.

So I'm all signed up for some more WWII small boat action and introductory scenarios of the new CAV 2.0 rules and the Hollow Earth game. I was kinda hoping that maybe AT-43 or Infinity would have some intro games, but alas it was not to be. That was very disappointing. I've heard good things about AT-43 but I really need some low-cost playtime before I shell out for the minis (and the same is true for Infinity).

I mean, that's pretty much what I'm looking for when I go to cons -- I want to try out lots of stuff. Some things can get by with a short 5-15 minute demo, but sometimes I want to just run through a game. It worked out well at Havoc where I got to try out AK-47 and ATZ. I went on to pick up the ruleset for ATZ simply because the game I was in was so good (and the same thing happened last year at GenCon with Action Stations).

Ah well, small boat firefights, stompy robot action, and a journey to the center of the Earth. All good stuff and you roll that up with late night Indie demo games and the world's greatest gaming bazaar. It's all good.

As usual, if you want me to pick up something from GenCon, let me know.

later
Tom

Hi,

I'm pretty sure I'm going to GenCon (Aug. 16-19th) again this year.

Is there anyone out there who's also thinking about going and would like to go in on hotel space? Although wicked cheap, I'd like to avoid last year's "slave ship cargo hold" housing option. Throw in with me and I can introduce you to all the brilliant visionaries of the indie gaming scene (or I can introduce you to all of the egotistical jerks of the indie gaming scene depending on your outlook).

It's a lot of fun.

later
Tom

Hey,

Having fun at GenCon.

BUT

I'm starved for news. Particularly, I really need to know what to exect when I go to the airport on Sunday so I can get the hell on the plane and out to Boston...to get the hll on that plane.

So...what are the new restrictions I can look forward to?

later
Tom

We're going down to GenCon and setting up a table.

We're collecting $20 from every attendee.

When the Con is over, we're going to Ken Hite and saying: "Here is a dump truck full of money. Here is a wiki. You have comeplete, total, and sole control over the contents of said wiki. The money will be paid out on a regular, steady schedule until it's all gone. Your job is to distill the contents of your eiliptony bookshelf into the wiki. It'll be sort of an online, occult version of Encyclopedia Victoriana. It'll be free to anyone who wants to poke through it."

Seriously. $20 a head is cheap relative to the value of an on-line, wikified, eliptony shelf.

later
Tom

Hey,

Registration is opening today for GenCon 2006 (Aug 10-13th).

I am still strongly considering going despite the wedding. Is there anyone out there on the F-List who's looking to go and looking to snag a room?

later
Tom