Indeed, and the fees worked for them I think. Last year, with no fee, there were more than a few tables I had where my friends just walked up to a table that I was playing at because two or more players didn't show up. This year, I saw very few empty seats both times I was in the room.
Origins Experiences
- Thread starter Celebrim
- Start date
Celebrim
Legend
The organizers had a QR code you could scan to give feedback, but despite the fact I write software I find smart phones a pain to use and didn't want to mess with it. I regretted it talking to my daughter after the session about how angry she was from the experience, but I didn't want to make the long walk back just to pointedly scan the QR code on the table.
I played in a con Call of Cthulhu at Origins pre-pandemic (when Rogue Cthulhu was still a thing). It was a railroad where your character got killed at the end. I figured that was the point. I don’t think I’ve ever played a con game that wasn’t to some degree.
(I thought the Call of Cthulhu game was lame but not as bad as the 5e AL game I did one year. My favorites are playing Konosuba TRPG a few years ago and a 5e killer dungeon where someone got a hand of Vecna, and the GM used traps from Grimtooth’s traps.)
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I had fun at this year’s convention, but if I weren’t local, I wouldn’t bother to go. Origins is mostly an excuse to take off work and play games with friends. I spent most of my time in the board room. A friend had been given a copy Cat in the Box for his birthday, so we tried that, which was an interesting trick-taking game. I played a couple of games of Iron Dragon, which is always fun.
The dealer room was better than last year, but it was still pretty lame. There were several booths selling artisanal, handcrafted dice but few there just to sell games. I’m not talking about producers selling their wares but shops coming to the convention to sell games. Cool Stuff Inc was my go-to in past years, but they pivoted a few years ago to focus on CCGs and weren’t even at Origins this year.
Barley’s was just okay this year. I got my glass and had lunch there a few times. Food was fine if a bit pricey. It’s nice being able to have a beer or two with lunch. I didn’t care much for this year’s con brew.
I was also looking forward to trying the donuts at the North Market, but I was disappointed. The yeast ones (like the bismarks) weren’t bad, but the cake donuts were too dry. I thought Stauf’s coffee was so-so. If I hadn’t wanted to get breakfast at North Market, I would have been better off going to the Crimson Cup in the convention center.
Celebrim
Legend
I have always considered CoC a great one-shot game because a TPK is a great ending to a one-shot game. It's just, normally when I play CoC a failed SAN check causes SAN loss leading to perhaps temporary insanity. A failed SAN check from watching your friend die doesn't normally conjure a spider creature that attacks with 100% accuracy by surprise without a dodge roll just because the GM thinks that would be fun.
You can still run a linear game where players have agency. It's fun when your choices lead to a gruesome death. What I think is maybe going too far is when the GMs choices lead to your gruesome death because the GM lacks the creativity to craft a scenario that leads to the intended result and so just uses lots and lots of handwaving, GM PCs, people running up and saying "No, no, no you are going the wrong way." and so forth to take away player choices. It's not hard to give investigators motivation to get themselves trapped. I'm happy to go along with the innocent non-genre savvy academic investigating things man was not meant to know until they are in over their head. I just would like to make that choice instead of having the party guide make all those choices for me, make all the spot hidden checks for me, make all the idea rolls for me, and then not even at the end of this railroad have one meaningful thing to do in the cloud cuckoo land.
I've been in worse written games where the writer was just trying to do way too much in four hours, but at least had some fun in them. This was just bad. This would have been a decent CoC short story that I might have enjoyed to have the author read to me and just let them play all the characters out to the conclusion they wanted, but it wasn't an RPG session.
Based on this and some of the other follow-up posts, I’d agree something was off about that game. The CoC game I played didn’t feature a lot of agency: there were a couple of scenes of creepy stuff for us to poke, an obstacle course, and the final scene where monsters attacked; but players still got to engage¹ with the CoC mechanics.
[1]: As far as I know. This was a 7e game, but my home group was playing 6e at the time. I did recognize some new mechanics (like levels of difficulty and spending luck), but I wouldn’t have known if something were missing.
MGibster
Legend
I've been financially solvent for a number of years now and I'm finally starting to get comfortable with spending money as if I'm lot one paycheck away from poverty. It's been years since I've gone to a convention, and I'm contemplating going to one next year. But which one?
Gen Con has always been a dream of mine, but I find the whole process of planning to go to be overwhelming. I've got to buy the tickets, arrange for travel, arrange for a hotel, and then I've got to purchase additional tickets for any event I want to participate in. I've never been, so I'm not sure what I want to do. For what's going to be a once-in-a-life time trip, I don't want to mess it up. Maybe I'd be better off using the money I'd spend on Gen-Con to go to Scotland or Northumberland to bother some distant relatives. Maybe go to a soccer game.
Gen Con has always been a dream of mine, but I find the whole process of planning to go to be overwhelming. I've got to buy the tickets, arrange for travel, arrange for a hotel, and then I've got to purchase additional tickets for any event I want to participate in. I've never been, so I'm not sure what I want to do. For what's going to be a once-in-a-life time trip, I don't want to mess it up. Maybe I'd be better off using the money I'd spend on Gen-Con to go to Scotland or Northumberland to bother some distant relatives. Maybe go to a soccer game.
Lanefan
Victoria Rules
GenCon is worth it, or used to be (haven't been since 2016).
BUT: you need to commit to it over a year in advance, and snag a hotel room outside the GenCon block as soon as the hotel will let you (usually a year out). Trying to get a room within the GenCon block is like trying to get Taylor Swift tickets - good luck with that.
Once you've got your hotel nailed down, arranging travel etc. is straightforward. If you're in the US or Canada it's a great excuse for a road trip, and Indy is easy to drive to from any direction. If you're coming from overseas it's a bit more of a production as Indy's airport, though nice, is a feeder rather than a hub thus there's no direct flights from anywhere distant.
As for events, my only suggestion is don't sign up for too much. There's enough pick-up events, off-grid events, and other attractions to keep you as busy as you want to be at almost any time of day or night; and the dealer hall alone can chew up the whole weekend if you let it.
MichaelSomething
Legend
Depending on where you live, you can attend other gaming cons that are as cool or cooler than Gencon, without fighting for hotel space.
PAX Unplugged is plenty big enough for me, and a lot closer too.
PAX Unplugged is plenty big enough for me, and a lot closer too.
MGibster
Legend
I'll search for a smaller con, probably somewhere not too far from Arkansas.
Lanefan
Victoria Rules
For me, anything big enough to be worth going to requires travel and hotel; which makes it a wash.
