The Good, the Bad, and THE UGLY!
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Posted by lehane nikas zekeval
#26

nikas zekeval wrote:
They were very nice to set the (normal sized) backpack on to be able to put the stuff I just bought into it rather than trying to hold the backpack and do the rest one handed. 

My complaint was having them right in the middle of traffic.  Right where people behind would be backed up and stuck.  Especially when people would meet friends and stop to chat over them.  Further choking down the room for someone trying to pass through.Especially since Conspiracyofgamers was complaining about people stopping in the middle of traffic to check their phones.  At least you could tap them on the shoulder and ask them to move, the cans were there the whole time.  And someone say checking the con app's map for the next booth they are looking for?  Is less likely to accrete others to them.
Well, they do need to be visible to attendees, so people don't try leaving trash sitting on vendor tables. I am not sure how many Vendors want a trash can in their space. 

That said the Exhibit Hall does need to get bigger without necessarily simply adding more booths with the new space. I know Aceorton mentioned getting the Artists and Authors their own space and from being a frequent visitor to that area more than other areas of the Exhibit Hall you need to be able to look at the goods there as you walk through and that is hard with the usual crowds. 

I did notice some of the artists ended up on the corridor leading to Lucas Oil Stadium. 

Posted by cpspalding
#27

The Good: My games all went as well as I could hope for. I didn't realize that I was running four comedy games until I was at the convention and the players kept me cracking up.

The Auditioners - I think 24 superheroes died or were incapacitated in this one.  I thoroughly enjoyed it from The Block dying of cholesterol to the end when we played Sarah McLachlan's I Will Remember You and remembered our fallen comrades, the players kept me very amused.

A Sweet Mountain of Madness Christmas - Considering it's a Cthulhu game based on Hallmark Christmas movies, it's usually pretty amusing, but this table had their GM laughing like a maniac for 6 hours.  

The Darling Little Meatballs of Camp Forest Green - 3 GMs and 13 players is a lot to take on and we had never done anything like this before, but the players did great.

JLA Action Hour 1980 - It was a really weird concept where the Just League were in a really cheesy television show in 1980 where they travel the country in a van fighting crime. I was really worried they wouldn't get the concept, but they did.  

Can of Whupass - It was a little smaller this year with only 15 players and that's always a bit worrying, but the players were great and a new player won, which was always fun.  He had so many prizes two of our crew had to drive him to the La Quinta.  I love seeing these people every year.

It was my first year with a stability scooter and it was terrific. It was ready at my hotel and although it had a learning curve, the service was top fight. I have spinal stenosis so walking over two blocks gives me issues with my legs falling asleep. This made me more mobile than I've been at Gen Con at years and some really great people went out of their way to help me by holding doors and such.

Got to talk a little more with one member of our group that I don't know as well as the others and realized I really enjoy talking with her.  Her attitude is great and she's kind of the glue that holds are biggest event together.

I had the greatest desert of my life at the Capitol Grille of all places--The crème brule cheesecake was ridiculously good.  Had a great meal at Harry and Izzy's and ate pretty well for the whole convention.

A swimming pool and hot tub!!  First time in years I've had access.

The Bad: People who lack awareness are even worse when you're in a scooter.  I nearly hit two guys who came out of a room on the second floor of the JW having a conversation and not looking around them.  

A lot of stress for members of our group on Friday and Saturday and when they get stressed and I can't help, I get stressed too. We have to work on communication next year so this doesn't happen again.

The Ugly: Not too much. I guess having to wait a year and being stuck at the JW for 17 hours on Saturday.  It's always a good year when you can't think of much ugly and you have too much good.

Posted by gcbrowni aceorton
#28

Look, I LOVE the art. I buy a piece of artwork every year. There is some truly gorgeous stuff. But I'm not sure the dealer hall is the place for it anymore. Artists and authors eat up a huge chunk of real estate that could mean more room for new and unique game and game supply vendors (or expanded room for existing ones). Giving the artists and writers their own dedicated vendor area in one or more of the big rooms across the hall seems like something worth looking into.



I hear you. But they gotta have foot traffic to survive. Putting it anywhere else, except maybe lining a main hallway that people are forced to walk past, is just gonna be bad for them. And, while I'd love to see a few more vendors, it will be some megacorp that takes the space and we will see more shovelware boardgames from a publicly traded company. Stick the major publishers in their own rooms, which they get anyway, and let people try out the new Catan variant over there so more single booth vendors can get in.

Posted by cspressler
#29

Good: I really liked the change of the block party from Georgia Street to the area between Lucas Oil and the Convention Center. Getting there down that long Hallway was a struggle. Perhaps they can find some other way to access that area in the future?

Bad: For me, this year, it was getting a bad group of people in my 2nd True Dungeon run. Seriously, I had to ask someone to calm down they were being so bossy and yelling. I also had a person who sat down saying "I don't like this. I don't want to do this. I hate this." That really didn't set a good mood for that run, though this person did start to enjoy themselves better. Also, for my Axis and Allies game that started at 9 am, we had to set up the game board which took an hour. The game masters should at least work this in to the game time and/or send out messages beforehand to arrive early to set up the game. 

Ugly: The exhibit hall is way to crowded. It always has been, but this year was ridiculous. It may be time to figure out how to extend the dealer hall or move some of the dealers (or artists) to another area. Everyone I talked to said the exhibit hall was too crowded. I think wagons/carts should be banned. Also, the flow of people needs to be considered. Intersections were just the worse. Trust me, I'm a highway engineer for a living and I know a lot about intersections. Time to start considering making them into people roundabouts (I'm not joking). The intersections in their don't work because one direction always dominates. Also, the art dealers had people lining up outside them which narrowed the hall. Can they be moved to a prominent location but not in there?
 

Posted by mscaveney
#30

The Good:

- Outstanding experiences across the board from the Goodman Games team, I spent a lot of time with DCC/MCC this past weekend and had a blast!
- LOS staff was very friendly and professional!
- I had a lot of fun at the Friday night auction and got a lot of stuff I wanted at a very reasonable price!
- The consignment store is great!
- Pinball Alley!
- Seeing all of the posts after the con about the interactions that meant the most to people: Social media can obvi be a mixed bag, but that is one of the nicest perks.
- The Tasty Plate food truck on Friday.
- First year in a connected hotel!

The Bad: 

- Increased food truck presence isn't anywhere near enough to get the wait down to something reasonable during peak hours, and it's easier said that done to schedule in a way that allows for off-peak hours meals. Having said that, it's not that difficult to plan for meals that don't rely on the food trucks.

The Ugly:

- We are well past the time where some changes to the exhibit hall need to happen to fight congestion. I don't know if the solution is roundabouts, or moving artists or writers, or moving marquee vendors, but SOMETHING has to be done since there seem to have been no major changes to the hall since I last attended, and attendance has skyrocketed since that time. 
 

Posted by grognard262
#31

The Good:


  • It was nice to see Gen Con thriving again.
  • Updated C-19 policy.
  • The Westin was great and very convenient.

The Bad:

  • Had a 6-hour D&D event where only 3 out 8 people showed up, so it was canceled.  C'mon people, at least return your ticket so the generics can use them.
  • Getting food in a timely manner remains challenging.  It would be great if the hotels offered table service.

The Ugly:

  • With this level of attendance, Gen Con needs to get the crowds more evenly dispersed throughout the convention.  The vendor hall is packed, and many hotel conference rooms are half empty.  Extend the vendor hall into C, D and E, and push some of the gaming into the hotels.

Posted by v715
#32

This was my second Gen Con, the first being last year.

Good: I thoroughly enjoyed getting some dedicated game time.  All the games I had as events were fantastic, and I had some really great demos as well.

Bad: I was not a fan of the new block party location.  The lines were always extremely long and in full sun.  And if you came after it got dark, likely everything was already packed up around 9, even though the hours were listed as going until 10.
And full agreement on backpacks/wagons/carts.  I own a boardgame bag.  I use it to pack the games into my car for game night at home (and to help organize getting everything home from cons) -- I've never taken it into the convention.

Ugly: the Covid policy.  I'm currently sitting at home with a positive test result, full fledged symptoms, and misery.  PLEASE people, if you're sick stay home.

Posted by gib_rebeg conspiracyofgamers
#33

conspiracyofgamers wrote:

The Ugly:


  • I had a GM setting up for an 8 AM event on Thursday morning.  Random guy comes up to him at 7:30 to tell him how he's a bad person for charging extra for an event.  Rather aggressive on "why should I pay you an extra $6 when I could just go play the same game somewhere else."  Of course, the other event of this game (not associated with my GM) is sold out, and so is this one.  Dude makes it personal, and after several minutes finally wanders off in a huff.  This must have really been cooking up in the random guy, to make it a point to show up early to a game he's not even playing in to berate someone he doesn't know.  My regret is not being there to take the heat for my GM (he is new, it's his first time as a GM) and to be able to get the Hall HQ involved.

Without knowing more about the event, two main reasons can cause this.

1. The event is scheduled to run longer. 

2. The event was offering a prize.

Beyond that, GM's typically don't charge for events unless they feel they need to comp'ed for material used.

Posted by cspressler v715
#34

v715 wrote:
This was my second Gen Con, the first being last year.
Good: I thoroughly enjoyed getting some dedicated game time.  All the games I had as events were fantastic, and I had some really great demos as well.
Bad: I was not a fan of the new block party location.  The lines were always extremely long and in full sun.  And if you came after it got dark, likely everything was already packed up around 9, even though the hours were listed as going until 10.
And full agreement on backpacks/wagons/carts.  I own a boardgame bag.  I use it to pack the games into my car for game night at home (and to help organize getting everything home from cons) -- I've never taken it into the convention.
Ugly: the Covid policy.  I'm currently sitting at home with a positive test result, full fledged symptoms, and misery.  PLEASE people, if you're sick stay home.

I want to comment on Covid as well. I opted to wear a mask most of the time I was sitting across from people gaming, walking in crowded hallways, and during True Dungeon. My husband and friends did not wear a mask, and my husband tested positive for Covid on Tuesday night, which falls right in the timing for getting it at GenCon. I don't want to start a big debate about masks and stuff, nor do I think GenCon should/should not have had a policy, but just visually it looked like mask usage was about 1-3%. Not surprised at all that this was probably a super spreading event. I'm a little irked at my husband for not wearing a mask, because what he is going through now (and me having to tend to him while trying not to get sick) is 100 times more hassle than if he had just wore a mask. 

Posted by cmegus cspressler
#35

cspressler wrote:
v715 wrote:
This was my second Gen Con, the first being last year.
Good: I thoroughly enjoyed getting some dedicated game time.  All the games I had as events were fantastic, and I had some really great demos as well.
Bad: I was not a fan of the new block party location.  The lines were always extremely long and in full sun.  And if you came after it got dark, likely everything was already packed up around 9, even though the hours were listed as going until 10.
And full agreement on backpacks/wagons/carts.  I own a boardgame bag.  I use it to pack the games into my car for game night at home (and to help organize getting everything home from cons) -- I've never taken it into the convention.
Ugly: the Covid policy.  I'm currently sitting at home with a positive test result, full fledged symptoms, and misery.  PLEASE people, if you're sick stay home.

I want to comment on Covid as well. I opted to wear a mask most of the time I was sitting across from people gaming, walking in crowded hallways, and during True Dungeon. My husband and friends did not wear a mask, and my husband tested positive for Covid on Tuesday night, which falls right in the timing for getting it at GenCon. I don't want to start a big debate about masks and stuff, nor do I think GenCon should/should not have had a policy, but just visually it looked like mask usage was about 1-3%. Not surprised at all that this was probably a super spreading event. I'm a little irked at my husband for not wearing a mask, because what he is going through now (and me having to tend to him while trying not to get sick) is 100 times more hassle than if he had just wore a mask. 

I did not realize Gen Con changed its policy on allowing this mask argument to filter back into the forums. I would ask an admin’s judgement on this…

— And I do hope that your husband is recovering well, but if we are allowed, allow me to mention then that unless your wearing an N95 mask and gloves to make sure your not touching anything and then say rubbing your eyes, those paper masks are not exactly going to be very useful.

I would say that is my one - not just good, but GREAT!!! 
Actually being about to see people’s faces this year. So awesome.

Posted by bryanjonker
#36

Good.


  • All the games. We didn't get many of the games in our signup list, but this encouraged us to try new things. The games I played in ranged from "merely good" to "awesome". Special shoutout to The Polyhedrial Knights and Quantum Black Games for fun sessions. And the games I ran were a lot of fun -- players were enthusiastic and did a great job.
  • Conrad Indianapolis -- having a downtown hotel was nice.
  • Played Two Rooms and a Boom for the first time. Had a blast.
  • Met Josh Sparks, the author of Cathulthu. He was demoing a new game, which was a lot of fun.

Bad.

  • The no-shows. I had six people purchase tickets for one of my games, and three showed up.
  • Really wanted to try out Tales of Xadia, but the stars weren't aligned properly. The folks there were super friendly.

Ugly.

  • Despite me pretending Covid did not exist, I ended up testing positive the Thursday after GenCon. I slept about 15 hours, and I am lucky enough to be able to work remotely and have space in the house where I can quarantine comfortably. So, I'm thinking of this as the worst case of Con Crud one could get.

Posted by conspiracyofgamers gib_rebeg
#37

gib_rebeg wrote:
conspiracyofgamers wrote:The Ugly:

  • I had a GM setting up for an 8 AM event on Thursday morning.  Random guy comes up to him at 7:30 to tell him how he's a bad person for charging extra for an event.  Rather aggressive on "why should I pay you an extra $6 when I could just go play the same game somewhere else."  Of course, the other event of this game (not associated with my GM) is sold out, and so is this one.  Dude makes it personal, and after several minutes finally wanders off in a huff.  This must have really been cooking up in the random guy, to make it a point to show up early to a game he's not even playing in to berate someone he doesn't know.  My regret is not being there to take the heat for my GM (he is new, it's his first time as a GM) and to be able to get the Hall HQ involved.

Without knowing more about the event, two main reasons can cause this.
1. The event is scheduled to run longer. 
2. The event was offering a prize.
Beyond that, GM's typically don't charge for events unless they feel they need to comp'ed for material used.

My issue isn't with the GM charging extra for the game.  It's Random Guy feeling like he needed to get personal with my GM over it.   He didn't even have a ticket for the event, he was just upset for the extra cost being there, and needed to ruin someone else's morning because of it.

Posted by random_axcess
#38

The Good:


  • GenCon is "back" population wise to pre-2020 levels. Which gave increased options of the amount of games (pick up) offered and general socializing with gamer acquaintances.
  • I stayed at the Fairfield this year as a cheaper option and was very surprised with the staff and amenities.
  • I am tentatively positive on the consignment/auction location; I still dislike how far away it is but enjoyed how much room they were allowed. I will be very interested to see the sales data when released.
  • The 1AM Werewolf and Paranoia games along the West Concourse are fun and should be enjoyed at least once.
  • Ran into Stuart Sayger while roaming the halls Wednesday! Ed Greenwood on the sky-walk Friday (though his entourage wouldn't allow a high-five), and Margaret Weis is a gem that should be protected at all costs.

The Bad:

  • Me being an idiot and somehow being on GenCon Online vice GenCon Indy (from my phone) and being unable to add events due to "not having a badge". This was sorted after an email and four hours.
  • Due to how some events were placed I cancelled all events at Lucas Oil Stadium after the first walk and will probably skip anything there going forward as the line was also backed up from having medal detectors which generally went off for everyone.
  • GenCon is "back" population wise to pre-2020 levels. Which means congestion was at an all time high and GenCon et al has done a pretty terrible job preparing for any increase in numbers. The lines for everything this year were massive and terrible (looking at you block party and 6PM the day prior officially licensed overnight camping for Lorcana).

The Ugly:

  • Childless battle strollers filled with lewt were on my list a decade ago, massive armored backpacks swinging into everyone carefree were on my list five years ago, and now we have APC wagons parked in front of vendors or just stopped in the middle of aisles after running over people.

GenCon has refused to address this growing problem and will likely continue to refuse to address it until a large enough incident occurs and even then will likely blame the individual and not take action. It is one thing for me as an adult to be bumped, hit, or ran over but Friday around 3pm in the dealer hall a toddler was forcefully knocked under a table and the women with the monster apartment sized backpack didn't stop and it is debatable whether she even noticed what she did (one of the people at the Ebay booth was very accommodating and gave the little guy a pack of cards). Everyone was fine but eventually someone is going to get hurt and it will be GenCon's fault for allowing this problem to fester by tacitly allowing and silently approving the behavior.

  • Food trucks at the block party were meh at best and the lines were terrible being confined into the square. I hope this is not the permanent location as I have enjoyed the block party in the past but zero shade, massive heat, and sardine packed crowds is something I have seemed to age out of wanting to have any part of.

Posted by dautzen64
#39

I only saw a few folks getting stopped at the metal detectors on Thursday. They always flashed red when I walked through but them I had several dozen True Dungeon tokens on me.

Posted by roderick cmegus
#40

cmegus wrote:
cspressler wrote:
v715 wrote:
This was my second Gen Con, the first being last year.
Good: I thoroughly enjoyed getting some dedicated game time.  All the games I had as events were fantastic, and I had some really great demos as well.
Bad: I was not a fan of the new block party location.  The lines were always extremely long and in full sun.  And if you came after it got dark, likely everything was already packed up around 9, even though the hours were listed as going until 10.
And full agreement on backpacks/wagons/carts.  I own a boardgame bag.  I use it to pack the games into my car for game night at home (and to help organize getting everything home from cons) -- I've never taken it into the convention.
Ugly: the Covid policy.  I'm currently sitting at home with a positive test result, full fledged symptoms, and misery.  PLEASE people, if you're sick stay home.

I want to comment on Covid as well. I opted to wear a mask most of the time I was sitting across from people gaming, walking in crowded hallways, and during True Dungeon. My husband and friends did not wear a mask, and my husband tested positive for Covid on Tuesday night, which falls right in the timing for getting it at GenCon. I don't want to start a big debate about masks and stuff, nor do I think GenCon should/should not have had a policy, but just visually it looked like mask usage was about 1-3%. Not surprised at all that this was probably a super spreading event. I'm a little irked at my husband for not wearing a mask, because what he is going through now (and me having to tend to him while trying not to get sick) is 100 times more hassle than if he had just wore a mask. 

I did not realize Gen Con changed its policy on allowing this mask argument to filter back into the forums. I would ask an admin’s judgement on this…

No, we aren't allowing it. 

Please refrain from arguing masks or vaccines on the forums.  While you may - or may think - you have a valid argument pro or con, it is too volatile a subject. 

This is an official written warning. 

Roderick Robertson
Forum Coordinator 
Gen Con, LLC. 

Posted by quarex
#41

Everything about Gen-Con for me personally this year was a good thing.  I was surprised the Auction location seemed to only be an improvement; I suspect all the people who love it but stopped coming because the store line was too long all returned and bought stuff this year, which helped make it a record year.

I will probably never make it to the Block Party in its current location but I also actively encourage people to skip lunch at Gen-Con so I am not the target audience anyway, so no harm done, haha 

The only bad thing is that people are going to continue to believe that anything is fine for them to bring if it makes their life slightly easier.  I promise you those wagons are not the final form of parent privilege (speaking as a parent who would have been mortified to inconvenience someone with a stroller, let alone something even larger).  I look forward to someone defending bringing, like, a small pop-up tent for their son while they sit and sell their cards to Troll and Toad or something 

Posted by lehane random_axcess
#42

random_axcess wrote:

GenCon has refused to address this growing problem and will likely continue to refuse to address it until a large enough incident occurs and even then will likely blame the individual and not take action. It is one thing for me as an adult to be bumped, hit, or ran over but Friday around 3pm in the dealer hall a toddler was forcefully knocked under a table and the women with the monster apartment sized backpack didn't stop and it is debatable whether she even noticed what she did (one of the people at the Ebay booth was very accommodating and gave the little guy a pack of cards). Everyone was fine but eventually someone is going to get hurt and it will be GenCon's fault for allowing this problem to fester by tacitly allowing and silently approving the behavior.


I am not too sure what Gencon can actually do about this. I am sure they want people to buy a lot of stuff from the Exhibit Hall and have to realize the logistical issues that causes people. A good bit of the Hotels are pretty far from the Exhibit Hall and most people won't want to buy Gloomhaven or Frosthaven (for example) and have to carry that around with them. 

If you make buying things a PITA then people are going to pull back from buying things at Gencon and that is a losing proposition. If you want the large backpacks and pull along wagons to go away, you will need a superior solution to the problem the backpacks and wagons are currently solving. 

Posted by kevinrg
#43

Only thing that will change the carts is, unfortunately, for something bad to happen.  Like a mass evacuation event where the carts cause issues.

Posted by qwaserity
#44

"If you want the large backpacks and pull along wagons to go away, you will need a superior solution to the problem the backpacks and wagons are currently solving."

I know it would be a loss of a room but Gen Con could set up a "backpack storage room" where they charge you a few bucks to store your backpack for the day/weekend. Massive shelves, check in at the door... like the consignment room bag check but using an entire room.

I could see if bringing in enough money to make it a consideration. I had to tote around some materials all of Saturday for a 8 pm event. I'd pay you a couple of bucks to just have stored away until later. Heck! Get some customized GenCon luggage tags and I'd pay a little more for that as well...

Posted by donaldbain
#45

Forbid wagons but allow square carts?

https://www.amazon.com/Lifetime-Home-Upgraded-Waterproof-Groceries/dp/B0CBCW34P4/ref=sr_1_19?crid=2KO4M2P96DFO6&keywords=folding%2Bcart%2Bwith%2Bwheels%2Bcollapsible&qid=1692040970&sprefix=folding%2Bcart%2Caps%2C225&sr=8-19&th=1

Require flags on wagons? 

A bag check room would fill up really fast.  You'd have to require everything be removed at the end of the day, by 7:00 or so.

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