|
Well, GenCon was a fair bit of fun, for sure. Scored a couple insane deals at the auction house (original L5R art for $75 and a complete gen 1 Maze Master Dwarven Forge set in an aluminum case for $160), spent a lot at the charity auction (but still not as much as Mike... again), sold some art, bought a bunch of very expensive cardboard, sold some of said cardboard, ate a lot of food. All in all, a good year. TOVA was a loving blast as always, and I look forward to hopefully helping the auction next year better handle art and also using my connections with artists to drum up even more donations. Excellent work as always, Quarex.
|
#
?
Aug 9, 2022 08:43
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 27, 2024 17:58 |
|
|
Maigius posted:I found the hallway of my dreams! I even walked through it getting my vaccine check. that's where one of the good restrooms is since it has low traffic
|
|
#
?
Aug 9, 2022 11:36
|
|
|
Gen Con 2022 is over and it was a great time as always, though also the most difficult Gen Con I have ever done. I don’t recommend doing Gen Con in a walking boot if you can help it, especially if you are spending hours a day doing demos in a booth, but its better than not attending Gen Con I guess. Our booth did fine. Sales wern’t as good as I was hoping they would be but we should have at least broke even which is fine. What I get for bringing a really niche game to the convention to sell. The crowds were definitely better this year than last year as a vendor’s perspective. Felt much more like a normal year. The masking and stuff was all fine by me, and it seemed like most people did ok with it. I was a little annoyed with the wrestling booth across the way from us as some of their staff just didn’t even have masks for several hours of the day. Most people I saw walking by were fine, though on Sunday in particular I saw a few people that just seemed to not even have masks or were wearing the very not approved plastic face shield type coverings. I was able to do 1 painting class, which was good though probably not totally worth the $32 I paid for it. Got to play a couple of Star Gate games with nephews, and I was even able to attend a goon function for about an hour on Saturday! I did not get a chance to get to the auction or the consignment store even once which made me sad. I hope I didn’t miss out anything good in the crème de la crème auction section on Friday. Here’s to hoping Gen Con 2023 will be even better! I will not have a booth next year so it should be a much more normal Gen Con for me and I’ll hopefully be able to make more goon activities again like I used to do pre-2018.
|
|
#
?
Aug 9, 2022 15:07
|
|
|
After two years away from Gen Con, it was extremely comforting to wander by and see ol' Quarex at the ol' podium
|
|
#
?
Aug 9, 2022 15:28
|
|
|
Pvt. Public posted:Well, GenCon was a fair bit of fun, for sure. Scored a couple insane deals at the auction house (original L5R art for $75 and a complete gen 1 Maze Master Dwarven Forge set in an aluminum case for $160), spent a lot at the charity auction (but still not as much as Mike... again), sold some art, bought a bunch of very expensive cardboard, sold some of said cardboard, ate a lot of food. All in all, a good year. Thank you for loving Pupkin/T.O.V.A.! I am sure we could use more help with whatever you could offer, particularly as more art in the Charity Auction would be a cool thing, especially if it meant slightly less art in T.O.V.A.! Speaking of T.O.V.A., thanks to you and everyone else who said nice things about it to me; it was at least as good as it has been in some previous years, so fortunately my concern over them rejecting things was just a sign that we should make sure our funny things have better connections to gaming going forward. Also for all I know they might accept things per usual again next year anyway, meaning my 1999 Denny's menu still might make an appearance someday. But yeah, I will definitely keep auctioneering, especially since this year due to not as many volunteers as usual I apparently became one of two default "slightly zany to offset the Gravitas Guys" auctioneers (Nathaniel being the other). nesbit37 posted:Most people I saw walking by were fine, though on Sunday in particular I saw a few people that just seemed to not even have masks or were wearing the very not approved plastic face shield type coverings. Definitely stoked for you to return to the Goonfold more fully next year; we can reenact, what was it, 2014, when we met up at Colts Grille trivia thinking we were the only Goons who showed and then 15 minutes before it ends realize the big table across the room of loud nerds was the rest of the Goons after all Trustworthy posted:After two years away from Gen Con, it was extremely comforting to wander by and see ol' Quarex at the ol' podium Also yes if anyone was wondering, I am not going to sign up to be on stage from 3 P.M. to 1 A.M. next year. That was uh, yeah. Pretty cool that I apparently never lose my voice no matter how long I talk, but the people who stuck around deep into Charity Auction can certainly vouch that I was on a downward swing by like hour 7 of auctioneering. "From Asmadi, we have thecgkh, fne...... it is a game. $10"
|
|
#
?
Aug 9, 2022 18:08
|
|
|
Mr.Trifecta posted:Hoping next year will be mask free. Skipped this year just because it didn't sound like fun rocking a mask for 4 days straight. Probably helped with the gen crud though. Hoping masks and vaxx requirements are in place while COVID is around. And honestly, every year until the end of time. That said, there were a few people with weak voices I played with in noisy atmospheres and I felt bad for them not being able to communicate well.
|
|
#
?
Aug 9, 2022 20:18
|
|
|
Can confirm that run from just before TOVA started to the end was quite heroic, but you were definitely starting to lose steam around 10:30 or 11, which is about the time the crowd started thinning (though most of that is due to Cardhalla's closing ceremony). Also, it was good to see Jim run a long stretch but there were a couple times where he got slightly annoyed with various things (especially that one really insistent guy who snap bid on some item and seemed kinda mad about it), which is definitely understandable. The daughter presence during TOVA was once again an amazing addition and just made the whole time slot that much more enjoyable. That kid has future sassy auctioneer written all over her. As for Mike, I've got an idea on some shenanigans to see just how far he'll go on a couple items I have that I think he'll be very reluctant to be outbid on, and then bid against him just for a laugh. But yes, it was quite heartening to see Determined Lady and he square off and get those banners up to a price they deserved. Had I room for them I was considering going in on them, but I'm already out of space as it is and have about 100 art pieces that I can't hang. I just need to open a loving gallery or something at this point. And I'm glad there weren't too many charity items I felt forced to bid on because they were too low. That AoS Dominion box was pretty disappointing, as I figured $100 would get to one other person and me and I could let it ride a bit, but when no one stayed in I just couldn't in good conscience let it go below retail (hell, $100 is below wholesale cost). I do wish the henna gift card would have at least brought the card value of $15, but at that late point in the night people were dragging and the bids reflected that. I'm still not sure why those lifetime VTT memberships weren't auctioned separately from each other, but again, late in the night you just gotta get to a finish.
|
|
#
?
Aug 9, 2022 20:19
|
|
|
Pvt. Public posted:Can confirm that run from just before TOVA started to the end was quite heroic, but you were definitely starting to lose steam around 10:30 or 11, which is about the time the crowd started thinning (though most of that is due to Cardhalla's closing ceremony). Also, it was good to see Jim run a long stretch but there were a couple times where he got slightly annoyed with various things (especially that one really insistent guy who snap bid on some item and seemed kinda mad about it), which is definitely understandable. The daughter presence during TOVA was once again an amazing addition and just made the whole time slot that much more enjoyable. That kid has future sassy auctioneer written all over her. Jim's occasional random grumpiness is definitely an integral part of his auctioneering at this point. And yeah, I told Josh they are clearly a tandem act until such time as she strikes him down and takes over Pvt. Public posted:As for Mike, I've got an idea on some shenanigans to see just how far he'll go on a couple items I have that I think he'll be very reluctant to be outbid on, and then bid against him just for a laugh. But yes, it was quite heartening to see Determined Lady and he square off and get those banners up to a price they deserved. Had I room for them I was considering going in on them, but I'm already out of space as it is and have about 100 art pieces that I can't hang. I just need to open a loving gallery or something at this point. The lifetime memberships definitely blindsided me, as what I saw when looking at the item was a weird random code written down and a few other things with lines through them. I thought the things with lines through them were, like, used codes that had been purchased before, but I guess it was just to keep them from being easily read from afar? Certainly a victim of the huge amount of charity stuff we were given this year. I forgot the exact number, but it was something like $31,500 we pulled in this year from the Charity Auction, and I do not remember previous totals very well but that certainly is not, like, tiny!
|
|
#
?
Aug 10, 2022 17:52
|
|
|
Fours days out, still testing negative for COVID. Huzzah! \o/
|
|
#
?
Aug 11, 2022 19:17
|
|
|
Yup two negatives here despite some sinus pressure and sniffles Sunday afternoon. I haven't heard of any goons popping positive which is honestly better than I would have ever imagined given increased crowds and the variants out there this year vs last year.
|
|
#
?
Aug 11, 2022 20:11
|
|
|
I saw a few people saying that they saw tons of people not masking in the convention center but I only spotted three the entire con (and all of them on Sunday) and like two vendors with those lovely plastic face shields. Now, outside spaces and restaurants were a different story.
|
|
#
?
Aug 11, 2022 21:14
|
|
|
Yeah, I didn’t see a ton of massless faceless though it happened. Especially with a few people milking the fact they had a coffee in their hand. Sunday was the worst mask day by far.
|
|
#
?
Aug 11, 2022 21:45
|
|
|
Only 1 (out of 6) in my friend group got sick after he got home. The rest of us have been fine and tested negative multiple times. I'd say we did ok.
|
|
#
?
Aug 11, 2022 22:22
|
|
|
The only mask foul I saw was a dude in the consignment store without a mask at all, which is pretty bold since food and drinks aren't allowed in there.
|
|
#
?
Aug 11, 2022 23:28
|
|
|
Within the dozen people I was around most of the time at the convention, none of us have gotten ill. I've taken 3 tests since then, the latest tonight, and all negative. The only times I really saw people definitely not masking, and not just momentarily removing it to eat, drink, or deal with something, were the locals on Sunday who came in with their kids and even then it was only a handful out of tens of thousands and I did not see what happened when they tried to enter the dealer's hall. The staff at the dealer's hall were very attentive and I would even say confrontational about it and etiquette so they could check wristbands, which is a plus in my book. I went and saw Ken and Robin talk about stuff and the speakers at the panel weren't wearing masks but they were at least 12' away from the front row in a well ventilated space. Everyone else was wearing masks and they all put them on after they were done since they were recording a podcast episode.
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2022 00:49
|
|
|
I did a lot of thinking and making mental notes about masking and the vax policy over the weekend. Here's what I saw:
Someone brought up to me that the mask/vax mandate kept out the low-hanging fruit, and that was probably enough to keep risks at an acceptable level, and I can see the point, but again, I was most upset about the infants.
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2022 01:07
|
|
|
Toshimo posted:I did a lot of thinking and making mental notes about masking and the vax policy over the weekend. Out of curiosity, where were you spending your time? I'd say that in ICC spaces I personally saw no more than about 1% not properly wearing their mask at any given time. I was super aware of it when I saw it, so it really stood out to me. I did do a lot of RPGs, so I was pretty sequestered for long periods of time, but I still spent at least about 5-6 hours over the weekend in places like the Exhibit Hall. I did of course see people briefly raise/lower their mask to take a drink or the like. And some of that 1% seemed to be "trying" to wear their mask but it was ill fitted and they were constantly raising their mask back over their nose. Outside of the ICC it was definitely hit or miss. In the JW, I would often walk by the Starbucks area on my way into the ICC and see almost no one masked. And out in the city it was definitely an outlier to see anyone wearing a mask at all. I was with someone wearing long sleeves and they were asked to show their wristband quite often. But everything around that process was flawed, so not super shocked if you somehow escaped unscathed. It does seem to have done a decent job since no more than a few sporadic cases of covid seem to have popped up, it seems to not have spread in any significant way.
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2022 21:06
|
|
|
I remember how impressive it was that every time we made the "wear your drat mask" announcements in the Auction it actually seemed to work. Even Keeper of Ancient Gen-Con Lore, who it seemed like was going to be a jerk as the first time we mentioned it he just held up his drink, then put his mask on and I never saw him sitting without it on again. Definitely wondering about whoever that was not wearing a mask in the Consignment Store though. I did not see that, but clearly the minders over there were spacing out to let that one past. I find it hard to imagine why the pandemic would be much better next year, but I suppose that would be nice if masks were a relic of a former age.
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2022 23:27
|
|
|
I was in the Marriott and they were on people like hawks in the free play rooms. The only time I really wanted to ditch the mask was in the play hall when we were demoing games. There’s just so much other noise in there that we were constantly having to repeat stuff to each other.
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2022 02:15
|
|
|
A lady I gamed with brought a lapel mic and a small speaker. If they have the mask policy again next year I'm considering doing the same thing.
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2022 02:19
|
|
|
I have some hearing loss but was never really in a mask situation where I couldn't power through it until gencon. Not being able to see lips to make up the little missing bit really sucked and was frustrating, so I'm ready for a maskless GenCon hopefully soon.
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2022 02:27
|
|
|
8one6 posted:A lady I gamed with brought a lapel mic and a small speaker. If they have the mask policy again next year I'm considering doing the same thing. At least one of the people demoing games at a booth had this too.
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2022 02:49
|
|
|
lol just lol if you thought anyone in Indy outside of the con still cares about or wears masks
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2022 03:21
|
|
|
Carteret posted:I have some hearing loss but was never really in a mask situation where I couldn't power through it until gencon. Not being able to see lips to make up the little missing bit really sucked and was frustrating, so I'm ready for a maskless GenCon hopefully soon. Yeah, I'm in the same boat and a soft spoken GM was a big obstacle for me.
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2022 04:45
|
|
|
This truly would have been the year me putting the voice-changer/amplifier into T.O.V.A. would have resulted in it going for even more than it did before. Well except they would probably not have accepted it in in the live auction section this year
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2022 20:27
|
|
|
8one6 posted:A lady I gamed with brought a lapel mic and a small speaker. If they have the mask policy again next year I'm considering doing the same thing. If you do this make REALLY SURE you have it on a push to talk switch if you mutter under your breath at all. Lotta people get got by the ol' spicy hot mic.
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2022 02:33
|
|
|
Toshimo posted:Someone brought up to me that the mask/vax mandate kept out the low-hanging fruit, and that was probably enough to keep risks at an acceptable level, and I can see the point, but again, I was most upset about the infants. my belief here is definitely that the requirements kept those types most likely to go to gen con w/ covid, and turn into spreaders, out of it. i didn't pay too close attention to who was/wasn't masking around it, it seemed like it was the great majority to me? No sicknesses here on for the folks i went with
|
|
#
?
Aug 15, 2022 12:27
|
|
|
The Gencon forums are newly alive with cries of 'You'll regret this!' w/r/t mask and vax policies so that's fun.
|
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2023 22:53
|
|
|
BlackIronHeart posted:The Gencon forums are newly alive with cries of 'You'll regret this!' w/r/t mask and vax policies so that's fun. "WELL all of the people I KNOW are not coming if they require masks or vaccines!" "O.K. they will not be missed" Also, oh hey, 2023 huh, a new thread sounds like a good weekend project for me since I was unable to get to MAGFest this week despite my best hopes!
|
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2023 23:57
|
|
|
Gen Con already asked the vendors what their thoughts were on masks and vax. I have a feeling whatever Gen Con goes with is going to be close to whatever the vendors answered on that survey they sent out, barring a huge uptick in danger and any legal threat to Gen Con. Yay for a new thread! It is getting to be that time.
|
|
#
?
Jan 7, 2023 01:42
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 27, 2024 17:58 |
|
|
BANG ZOOM!!!!!!!!!!
|
|
#
?
Jan 24, 2023 07:42
|
|