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Eastmabl
Jan 29, 2019

Dr. Quarex posted:

Also I want "Berlyn's Old Friend" to be a code phrase for this thread somehow

Password for Shots Wednesday

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Maigius
Jun 29, 2013


Note that the writing was probably on the wall for WCW to be dead before Gencon 2001. They also lost more than 15 million dollars the year before. WCW: great with money.

WerrWaaa
Nov 5, 2008

I can make all your dreams come true.
Hey. new thread. Hey new thread! I'm going. I always get sucked into walking around aimlessly for hours. 2020 life goal is to play games at GC2020. Here's to hoping.

OgreNoah
Nov 18, 2003

GENCON! Bought my ticket a few weeks ago, hopefully housing portal goes well.

Agrias120
Jun 27, 2002

I will burn my dread.

GEN CONNNNNNNNNN!

My best wishes go out to everyone entering into the housing fray this weekend.

Last year's Gen Con was kind of all over the place for me, and my group was probably a little too large to make things easily doable, but that also made it really fun. We're going to have a smaller group this year because of conflicting schedules for some people, so that will be both sad and also welcomed. Not like it matters, we're going to spend 90% of our time at Randy's Pathfinder Adventure Card Game table like always. :shobon:

I hope they bring back the PACG mega-event tie in this year. It was a ton of fun two years ago, and it really sucked that there wasn't one last year.

Dr. Quarex
Apr 18, 2003

I'M A BIG DORK WHO POSTS TOO MUCH ABOUT CONVENTIONS LOOK AT THIS

TOVA TOVA TOVA
Anyone who fails with the housing portal should really just stuff 8 people into a room at the Conrad or something. I do not normally suggest this kind of reckless behavior but there is a reason the Conrad is always still available

Maigius
Jun 29, 2013


Dr. Quarex posted:

Anyone who fails with the housing portal should really just stuff 8 people into a room at the Conrad or something. I do not normally suggest this kind of reckless behavior but there is a reason the Conrad is always still available

Dare I ask the reason the Conrad is still available?

Klungar
Feb 12, 2008

Klungo make bessst ever video game, 'Hero Klungo Sssavesss Teh World.'

Bad form to close the old thread and not link to the new one! Lose two healing surges!

Agrias120
Jun 27, 2002

I will burn my dread.

Anyone have any purchases at Gen Con that really surprised them (in a good or a bad way)?

Last year I went back and forth the entire week about buying one of the Aeon's End M-M-M-MEGA BUNDLES some booth was selling. I'd never heard of the game and I already had too many deckbuilders, so ultimately decided to pass on it. I brought another friend of mine over to show him the game and tell him I'd decided to pass on it, when he countered by offering to pay for half the bundle. We settled on Aeon's End Legacy, and have absolutely fallen in love with it. It's just the change of pace we needed after Gloomhaven. I hope that booth is doing more bundles this year so I can pick up a bunch of the non-Legacy sets.

nesbit37
Dec 12, 2003
Emperor of Rome
(500 BC - 500 AD)

Agrias120 posted:

Anyone have any purchases at Gen Con that really surprised them (in a good or a bad way)?


5 or 6 years ago I found an copy of the orange B3 AD&D module The Silver Princess for $800. Not cheap, but this thing usually sells for $2,000 plus and there are less than 100 of them in existance, so I was surprised to find one in the dealer hall at all let alone have it be that cost effecting.

The auction is also an amazing magical place for deals or things that maybe aren't exactly deals but you just will never find elsewhere. I wish I could just sit in the auction all of Gen Con but unfortunately I can't run a booth and do that at the same time. Was a blast when I used to be able to do that for hours at a time in Gen Con Milwaukee days.

Ego Trip
Aug 28, 2012

A tenacious little mouse!


Last year's space juice was worth every penny.

Dr. Quarex
Apr 18, 2003

I'M A BIG DORK WHO POSTS TOO MUCH ABOUT CONVENTIONS LOOK AT THIS

TOVA TOVA TOVA

Maigius posted:

Dare I ask the reason the Conrad is still available?
Because the rooms never drop below $500/night, presumably as its position as "the nicest Hilton property" mean it needs to stay available for Important People Travelling no matter what else is going on?

(I actually booked the Conrad this year when I noticed the Embassy Suites was charging $999/night, which it turned out was not accurate, but it is still sitting at like $550/night right now... then I realized I was being weird ignoring the significantly cheaper Homewood Suites and picked that up instead)

Klungar posted:

Bad form to close the old thread and not link to the new one! Lose two healing surges!
Wow, no wonder he posted there; I am a big ol' dummy. The carnage wrought in the wreckage of me actually finishing the thread early. LINK A-COMIN'

Agrias120 posted:

Anyone have any purchases at Gen Con that really surprised them (in a good or a bad way)?
I got into a fierce bidding war at the Auction over a Dungeons & Dragons tablecloth, which I was surprised to learn existed in the first place. I ended up winning it for like $40, only to learn it was literally a cheap vinyl piece of garbage for a child's birthday party. It definitely taught me to actually go look at what is being sold if I am going to seriously go all-in

The other end of the surprising spectrum was when a run of about 50 late 1970s/early 1980s issues of Heavy Metal went up for bid, in bundles of 5, starting at a flat $5 bid for the lot. I won every lot at the minimum price, leading Frank Mentzer to add "something tells me you're the only one who knows these are valuable," yet that still did not bring about any competition. I got the H.P. Lovecraft issue for $1 for Rymrgand's sake

Plus, now that I finally decided I hate owning things, I might even start selling them to recoup my investment! Wow! Everyone is a winner!

Ilor
Feb 2, 2008

That's a crit.
gently caress yeah, GenCon!

Also, can confirm: Shots Wednesday is absolutely worth the walk/uber it takes to get there.

Drowning Rabbit
Oct 28, 2003

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!
So finally a link to the new thread is posted.

Maybe this year I won't have my flight delayed by 6+ hours and I can make Shots Wednesday!

Dr. Quarex
Apr 18, 2003

I'M A BIG DORK WHO POSTS TOO MUCH ABOUT CONVENTIONS LOOK AT THIS

TOVA TOVA TOVA

Drowning Rabbit posted:

So finally a link to the new thread is posted.

Maybe this year I won't have my flight delayed by 6+ hours and I can make Shots Wednesday!
Yes this whole debacle has reminded me that I probably just sent a link to this new thread to the GroupMe and was like WELP OBVIOUSLY THAT COVERS EVERYONE

So shameful.

Gen-Con deserves better. I will jump into the Sphere of Annihilation now.

*rolls a 1, jumps into Sphere of Inflation Fetishists* noooooooo this is wooooorrrse

Losem
Jun 17, 2003
Slightly Angry Sheep
A 4:59 pm slot. Good thing I'm local.

Lucca Blight
Jun 2, 2009
Bought my ticket for my very first GenCon. Kinda bummed all my friends dropped out but it is what it is.

Is shuttling to the con that big of a deal?

Edit: Oh god I didn't actually read the email about housing. 5:30 PM slot. I guess I'm boned?

Lucca Blight fucked around with this message at 15:55 on Feb 8, 2020

Gumball Gumption
Jan 7, 2012

I got a 7:49 pm slot and my friends got an 8:12. We're excited to see what pile of used board game boxes we will stay in.

nesbit37
Dec 12, 2003
Emperor of Rome
(500 BC - 500 AD)
Years past downtown rooms were gone by either 2pm or 4pm, depending on the year and how they did the spacing.

Shuttling to the con can be ok, I've done it before. It mostly depends on how much you buy and if you are the type of person that go for 12+ hours without needing to lie in your hotel bed or not because usually once you get there you don't want to shuttle back till you're done.

Dr. Quarex
Apr 18, 2003

I'M A BIG DORK WHO POSTS TOO MUCH ABOUT CONVENTIONS LOOK AT THIS

TOVA TOVA TOVA
Worth the reminder that, admittedly this was yesterday before roompocalypse, the Conrad and Embassy Suites still had rooms available out of block! Again, for $500/night, but the more years I go to Gen-Con the more I realize just being there can be as rewarding as actually buying anything there, so... if you shift your budget to be 80% hotel, so be it!

Yiggy
Sep 12, 2004

"Imagination is not enough. You have to have knowledge too, and an experience of the oddity of life."
6:55 pm :/

Last year my brother got a sweet placement we just had to walk sky bridge. Not sure we’ll be as lucky this year

Toshimo
Aug 23, 2012

He's outta line...

But he's right!

Dr. Quarex posted:

Worth the reminder that, admittedly this was yesterday before roompocalypse, the Conrad and Embassy Suites still had rooms available out of block! Again, for $500/night, but the more years I go to Gen-Con the more I realize just being there can be as rewarding as actually buying anything there, so... if you shift your budget to be 80% hotel, so be it!

I just checked for Wednesday through Monday and they had literally nothing

Dr. Quarex
Apr 18, 2003

I'M A BIG DORK WHO POSTS TOO MUCH ABOUT CONVENTIONS LOOK AT THIS

TOVA TOVA TOVA

Toshimo posted:

I just checked for Wednesday through Monday and they had literally nothing
Noooooooooooo the prophecyyyyyyyyy

Oh. Just checked with my account and those two are still listed...probably means it is at this point a Hilton HHonors membership perk and that means you would be paying up-front. Let me check. Oops now I have sixteen rooms

Yeah, now they are only open for pre-payment for Diamond members, looks like I tipped my hand

Amcoti
Apr 7, 2004

Sing for the flames that will rip through here

Dr. Quarex posted:

a Hilton HHonors membership

This seems like the appropriate place to ask this: What the hell does the extra H stand for? Is it Hilton HiltonHonors like I hope?

Dr. Quarex
Apr 18, 2003

I'M A BIG DORK WHO POSTS TOO MUCH ABOUT CONVENTIONS LOOK AT THIS

TOVA TOVA TOVA
Hilton Hearst Helmsley

I do imagine it is HiltonHonors and someone decided the double H looked good. If only I could investigate

Oh wow apparently they no longer call it that, time to update my journal

Also lol "1987: Program began as 'Instant Win' scratch-off promotion tied to U.S. Olympic Team sponsorship"

Yet this timeline never mentions when it changed and stops in 2015, while the page header just says Hilton Honors.

Dear Hilton, please hire me as your in-house historian

Eastmabl
Jan 29, 2019

Eastmabl posted:

Is it too early to freak out about the housing lottery?

10 people, best time was 4:45.

gently caress

Lawen
Aug 7, 2000

Sooooo...
A friend got a 12:08pm slot that he doesn’t need. Can he just use my credit card to reserve a room for me or is there some trickery necessary?
my slot was 8:35pm gtfo

SirPhoebos
Dec 10, 2007

WELL THAT JUST HAPPENED!

6:51 pm :negative:

Nemesis Of Moles
Jul 25, 2007

Lawen posted:

Sooooo...
A friend got a 12:08pm slot that he doesn’t need. Can he just use my credit card to reserve a room for me or is there some trickery necessary?
my slot was 8:35pm gtfo

Yeah you can do this

Someone in our group got a 12:50ish slot, so fingers crossed there.

I think this year I'm gonna skip running a public game. I'll still do a goon game mind. I sorta kinda had this idea for running a Design A Game In An Hour workshop that might be fun, anyone have any experience running larger events like that? I've done it outside of cons. How does charging for events work? All of my games are always functionally free. Do I get that money somehow, does it go toward comping my badge in some way?

Nemesis Of Moles fucked around with this message at 04:33 on Feb 9, 2020

Lawen
Aug 7, 2000

Nemesis Of Moles posted:

Yeah you can do this

Thanks. We did the same thing 2 years ago, I just couldn’t recall if he was able to use my card or if he had to use his own and call the hotel later to change the card on file.

Ilor
Feb 2, 2008

That's a crit.
I think I might have gotten the best time out of our group at 2:32. :(

Ego Trip
Aug 28, 2012

A tenacious little mouse!


There's always the app and the website. Can always make it work.

Platonicsolid
Nov 17, 2008

Figured out family summer plans, going again this year!

nesbit37
Dec 12, 2003
Emperor of Rome
(500 BC - 500 AD)

Ilor posted:

I think I might have gotten the best time out of our group at 2:32. :(

This is not a terrible time.

Dr. Quarex
Apr 18, 2003

I'M A BIG DORK WHO POSTS TOO MUCH ABOUT CONVENTIONS LOOK AT THIS

TOVA TOVA TOVA

Platonicsolid posted:

Figured out family summer plans, going again this year!
I am overjoyed that you are coming, as Gen-Con without you would look very different. It would be purely Gamescience nonsense dice as far as the eye can see.

Platonicsolid
Nov 17, 2008

Dr. Quarex posted:

I am overjoyed that you are coming, as Gen-Con without you would look very different. It would be purely Gamescience nonsense dice as far as the eye can see.

Just weird glyph tokens as far as the eye can see. Truly the worst timeline.

Haystack
Jan 23, 2005





There were still some downtown hotels as of 2:00, although the skywalk-connected ones appear to be sold out.

CellBlock
Oct 6, 2005

It just don't stop.



Nemesis Of Moles posted:

Yeah you can do this

Someone in our group got a 12:50ish slot, so fingers crossed there.

I think this year I'm gonna skip running a public game. I'll still do a goon game mind. I sorta kinda had this idea for running a Design A Game In An Hour workshop that might be fun, anyone have any experience running larger events like that? I've done it outside of cons. How does charging for events work? All of my games are always functionally free. Do I get that money somehow, does it go toward comping my badge in some way?

I’m not 100% on this, but there’s a Gen Con minimum of $2 per attendee per 2 hour block, but you can add to that and pocket the difference. (Games with take home stuff like MtG sealed/draft events or miniature paint-and-take, and games where there’s a lot of extra stuff going on like Call of Cthulhu games with music and props and whatnot often charge extra.). Once your event gets to be over $20/2 hours, the con starts taking a bigger cut.

You can get a comped badge for 70 player-hours of events.

For example, you could run your seminar for three hours (maybe like an hour of teaching, then an hour to design the games, and an hour to have everyone show off their stuff. Gen Con would charge attendees $4, and you add up to about $30 without them taking more. If it was open to more than 23 people, that would be at least 70 player-hours and you’d get a badge.

Yiggy
Sep 12, 2004

"Imagination is not enough. You have to have knowledge too, and an experience of the oddity of life."
Best we could get was 6 miles away. Last year we got so lucky, we had a skybridge hotel it was awesome.

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Lucca Blight
Jun 2, 2009
All these places 13 miles away kinda seem like public transit deserts and you're screwed getting to the convention center.

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