Anyone else from this list going to Stabcon in Manchester this coming weekend?
On Wed, 28 Jun 2006, Tim Hall wrote: TH>Anyone else from this list going to Stabcon in Manchester this coming TH>weekend? Not I, said the middle American. I don't think I'm going to go to Gencon, either, after hearing about what it's like these days. Porn actresses with booths in the dealer's room? Good grief. I know gamers have a bit of a "loser" reputation, but let's not rub it in, mmkay? One does wonder how many "escort services" are in there as well... I mean, by reputation at least that ought to be a target audience. And hang out the "NO GIRLZ ALOUD" sign while you're at it, Peter. (This did give rise to a discussion between Carl and me about solving Gencon's online registration issues: talk to the porn guys, they *know* Internet stuff.) Unfortunately, there aren't too many conventions of any size in the aforementioned middle America (before anybody pipes up: no, Indy is not "middle America," it's "back East," so there). -- Karen J. Cravens silver@phoenyx.net
On Wed, Jun 28, 2006 at 05:33:10PM -0500, Karen J. Cravens wrote: >On Wed, 28 Jun 2006, Tim Hall wrote: >TH>Anyone else from this list going to Stabcon in Manchester this coming >TH>weekend? >Not I, said the middle American. If at some point you find yourself travelling to the UK, there would be worse things to come over for. GenCon UK is rather bigger, but it's run by people who are still in the "tournament" mindset >I don't think I'm going to go to Gencon, either, after hearing about what >it's like these days. Porn actresses with booths in the dealer's room? >Good grief. I know gamers have a bit of a "loser" reputation, but let's >not rub it in, mmkay? One does wonder how many "escort services" are in >there as well... I mean, by reputation at least that ought to be a target >audience. And hang out the "NO GIRLZ ALOUD" sign while you're at it, >Peter. Personally I thought the rot set in when they hired Jimmy Doohan. 1995, I think. GenCon had always got along very nicely without non-gaming celebrities (I'd been going since 1988) - the authors they got in to do signings were at least people who'd written books related to gaming. That was the first explicitly non-game-related content that I came across, and at that point the doors were open for "anything we think the GenCon audience might enjoy". (Hmm. Not strictly fair - I think the showing of _Akira_ was before then. But there was a panel afterwards on "how could we convert this into a game".) It was about then that I wrote the GenCon extension to the Munchkin Manual (see http://firedrake.org/roger/rpg/munchkin.html#AtGenCon) I haven't been to a GenCon since before it left Milwaukee. In fact I think 1995's may have been the last one I got to. >(This did give rise to a discussion between Carl and me about solving >Gencon's online registration issues: talk to the porn guys, they *know* >Internet stuff.) And technology in general. They drove the adoption of the video recorder, and they're still the only people using most of the advanced features of DVDs. -- Roger, gaming grognard Lots of role-playing stuff: http://tekeli.li/
On Thu, 29 Jun 2006, Roger Burton West wrote: RBW>If at some point you find yourself travelling to the UK, there would be RBW>worse things to come over for. GenCon UK is rather bigger, but it's run RBW>by people who are still in the "tournament" mindset Here, I gather it's all "Living Greyhawk" mindset. RBW>Personally I thought the rot set in when they hired Jimmy Doohan. 1995, Maybe. Star Trek at least has a strong presence in roleplaying, though, so I'm not sure that was quite jumping the shark. 1994 was the only GenCon we ever went to, which was the (first) big year for MtG. You couldn't walk down a hallway without stepping on Magic games (literally; I gave up and walked on cards, which evidently the players were used to). RBW>I think. GenCon had always got along very nicely without non-gaming RBW>celebrities (I'd been going since 1988) - the authors they got in to do RBW>signings were at least people who'd written books related to gaming. RBW>That was the first explicitly non-game-related content that I came RBW>across, and at that point the doors were open for "anything we think the RBW>GenCon audience might enjoy". A certain amount of that is okay, I think, provided the "we think" is accurately guessed, and some modicum of taste is enforced. (There's certainly latitude; we *are* talking about a convention that involves actual chainmail bikinis.) RBW>I haven't been to a GenCon since before it left Milwaukee. In fact I RBW>think 1995's may have been the last one I got to. I suppose this means we were in a game together in 1994 and didn't know it (a la you and Tim last year)... -- Karen J. Cravens silver@phoenyx.net
On Thu, Jun 29, 2006 at 09:50:40AM -0500, Karen J. Cravens wrote: >Here, I gather it's all "Living Greyhawk" mindset. There's a lot of the RPGA, or whatever the RPGA has now turned into in the UK, at GenConUK - but not really anywhere else in this country that I've been. The once-per-two-years British Roleplaying Society cons are pretty good, Stabcons are twice a year and also pretty good - both are around 100-ish people (BRS might reach 150), which I think is a good size for this sort of thing. >Maybe. Star Trek at least has a strong presence in roleplaying, though, >so I'm not sure that was quite jumping the shark. Hmm. It certainly seemed to be to me - Star Trek guests are famously expensive, after all, and while there certainly are roleplayers who'd be happy to stand for hours in a queue for an autograph it's not as though it were a media con - or as though Doohan himself had ever had anything to do with gaming. The mood in the corridors, at least as I perceived it, was "we have celebrities of our own, we don't need to borrow them from other hobbies". But I might not have heard what was going on at carpet-level, as: >1994 was the only GenCon we ever went to, which was the (first) big year >for MtG. You couldn't walk down a hallway without stepping on Magic games >(literally; I gave up and walked on cards, which evidently the players >were used to). I remember it all too well. Happy fantasies of flamethrowers. >A certain amount of that is okay, I think, provided the "we think" is >accurately guessed, and some modicum of taste is enforced. (There's >certainly latitude; we *are* talking about a convention that involves >actual chainmail bikinis.) Not officially to start with - there was one dealer selling them, and he brought models (and offered a discount to anyone who'd walk around in one for half an hour), but that was it for several years. Not quite the same thing as putting on an official show. But what I flew across the Atlantic for was _role-playing gaming_, not meet-the-actor or computer games or Magic the Refinancing. Which is why I don't any more. >RBW>I haven't been to a GenCon since before it left Milwaukee. In fact I >RBW>think 1995's may have been the last one I got to. >I suppose this means we were in a game together in 1994 and didn't know it >(a la you and Tim last year)... Probably. I'm pretty sure you didn't play in any of the Dual Worlds I ran, because I got a list of everyone's names for that... -- Roger, gaming grognard Lots of role-playing stuff: http://tekeli.li/
On Thu, 29 Jun 2006, Roger Burton West wrote: RBW>Hmm. It certainly seemed to be to me - Star Trek guests are famously RBW>expensive, after all, and while there certainly are roleplayers who'd be RBW>happy to stand for hours in a queue for an autograph it's not as though RBW>it were a media con - or as though Doohan himself had ever had anything RBW>to do with gaming. I seem to recall the Q actor having been there the year we were there. I'm still not sure it was jumping the shark, though it was probably at least visiting the aquarium... RBW>The mood in the corridors, at least as I perceived it, was "we have RBW>celebrities of our own, we don't need to borrow them from other RBW>hobbies". But I might not have heard what was going on at carpet-level, RBW>as: I think the only thing we heard was that the actor (whose name escapes me; I've never been a Trek fan much) either was or wasn't a wonderful guest. And it's been so long that I cant' remember which it was. RBW>I remember it all too well. Happy fantasies of flamethrowers. Quite. I was in a leg brace at the time, having ripped up my knee, so I had a perfectly good excuse to hobble through, dragging my foot through the layouts, but I don't remember exercising the privilege much. I'm just too nice, I guess. RBW>Not officially to start with - there was one dealer selling them, and he RBW>brought models (and offered a discount to anyone who'd walk around in RBW>one for half an hour), but that was it for several years. Not quite the RBW>same thing as putting on an official show. If the porn folks are putting on official shows, I probably don't want to know about it... RBW>Probably. I'm pretty sure you didn't play in any of the Dual Worlds I RBW>ran, because I got a list of everyone's names for that... No, we played in a "GenCon doesn't allow LARP so we're not. We're just acting out our tabletop roleplaying, and yeah, sorry we couldn't mention it in the brochure, and what do you mean 'is this game going to be ADA compliant?'" game, and... uh, that one game with the line "The *meat,* sah," and... uh... probably a couple others. And then we played tourist around 3rd Street, and Carl got to see Lake Michigan, the size of which caused him to become geographically confused because clearly that was the *ocean* which ought not be anywhere nearby, and we went to the Safehouse, and we spent the rest of the time on the city buses because our hotel was somewhere in Iowa. -- Karen J. Cravens silver@phoenyx.net
On Thu, 29 Jun 2006, Karen J. Cravens wrote:
> I think the only thing we heard was that the actor (whose name escapes me;
> I've never been a Trek fan much) either was or wasn't a wonderful guest.
> And it's been so long that I cant' remember which it was.
Terribly rude. Though I'm not sure that being wonderfully pleasant to
the fans wouldn't be the more surprising.
> No, we played in a "GenCon doesn't allow LARP so we're not. We're just
> acting out our tabletop roleplaying,
Don't forget, "Yeah, the brochure said this is a Hero System game, but
it's really not. We just roll these big, fluffy 'dinosaur dice'
(since when is a lobster a dinosaur?) and if you roll dinosaurs
(lobster!), that's good."
> uh, that one game with the line "The *meat,* sah,"
Horror Hero, with the author and Scott Heine. I seem to recall there
was a mummy involved, but I don't remember any clear details except
"the *meat*".
Say "Horror Hero" out-loud, and maybe that explains how "porn stars"
ended up in the dealer's room.
> And then we played tourist around 3rd Street, and Carl got to see
> Lake Michigan, the size of which caused him to become geographically
> confused because clearly that was the *ocean* which ought not be
> anywhere nearby,
Hey, the largest body of water this land lubber had ever seen was
Wilson Reservoir in Kansas. (Keystone in Oklahoma is bigger overall,
but narrower.) It never occured to me that there were _lakes_ so big
you couldn't see the other side.
> we spent the rest of the time on the city buses because our hotel
> was somewhere in Iowa.
And the bus had a stupid 20-minute lay-over on the way to the
convention center. It wouldn't have been so bad if we'd gotten a good
deal on the hotel, but it was one of the more expensive ones. That's
what we get for registering only a few months in advance.
--
Carl D Cravens (raven@phoenyx.net) Gamers List Owner
[ The Fudge List -- http://fudge.phoenyx.net/ ]
Life is complex. You know - part real, part imaginary.
On Thu, 29 Jun 2006, Carl D Cravens wrote: CDC>Don't forget, "Yeah, the brochure said this is a Hero System game, but CDC>it's really not. We just roll these big, fluffy 'dinosaur dice' CDC>(since when is a lobster a dinosaur?) and if you roll dinosaurs CDC>(lobster!), that's good." I can live with that, if the GM is decent. He wasn't. CDC>Hey, the largest body of water this land lubber had ever seen was CDC>Wilson Reservoir in Kansas. (Keystone in Oklahoma is bigger overall, CDC>but narrower.) It never occured to me that there were _lakes_ so big CDC>you couldn't see the other side. For the record, Carl the lifelong Kansas resident was also boggled by hard liquor in the grocery store. Come to that, having lived here for several years by that time, *I* had a moment of "Whoa. Haven't seen THAT in a long time. Dang, that looks weird." CDC>And the bus had a stupid 20-minute lay-over on the way to the CDC>convention center. It wouldn't have been so bad if we'd gotten a good CDC>deal on the hotel, but it was one of the more expensive ones. That's CDC>what we get for registering only a few months in advance. At least it was a nice hotel. Just think what it would have been like if we *hadn't* had a nice solid brick wall between us and the 2am belching contest. (Also for the record, hotel security was *very* prompt in responding, other than it was about a twenty-minute walk from the front of the hotel to where we were. *Big* hotel.) -- Karen J. Cravens silver@phoenyx.net
