GenCon vs. Other Cons, specifically Game Hole Con

[Snoring Rock]

Ok, so GenCon 2016 was a great success, but was it worth it? It starts in January when you get on the flawed housing portal and hope for the 1 hour wait time to get a room and the dreaded 3 hour wait time pops up on your PC screen. You know you are getting a room 16 miles out. All the stress and dread. Then again later you wait at noon on a Tuesday, a few months later, hoping to get the games you have stored in your wish list.

Why? I like the RPG stuff and the games on the trade floor. Oh and the dice dealers and mini dealers. Oh my! Not sure I need the anime outfits or the leather jackets, goggles, chainmail panties, or the utili-kilt, or the hello kitty, or the other stuff that just does not seem to say gaming to me. There is a lot to wade through, including lots of people advertising their sexual preferences. For me personally, I do not mix sex and gaming with my buddies, in the game room in my basement. Starting to look like something that is not about gaming anymore. I need to see some table-top gaming.

Has anyone attended both GenCon and Game Hole Con? I understand that True Dungeon will be at Game Hole this year. Love True Dungeon, lots of fun! I would like to hear from anyone who has been to both. What are the pros and cons besides the fact that there is no housing portal?

[Omote]

I have never been to GameHole con, but will probably consider it in the future if TrueDungeon proves to be a success there.

GenCon has changed over the past 5-6 years. Now it is about the spectacle and a grandeur of the community as a whole, with GenCon being the center for 4-5 days. I think GenCon is a growing bubble that probably will never "pop" but it will shrink back down (a little?) at some point. I liken GenCon to San Diego ComicCon. For 10 years ComicCon was the place for everything in media to attend. GenCon is starting to get that way, but with games. ComicCon is slowly shrinking and perhaps GenCon will as well. Though, I have a feeling that GenCon has a greater potential impact than ComicCon does in the long term of it's specialty. GenCon is a center of inclusivity, and that is why costuming, gender, sex, and all sort of things are mixing together. But let's be fair for a second, modern GenCon (since moving to Indianapolis) was ALWAYS those sorts of things, especially being inclusive, but was without the spectacle and the glamour. Now, it's exploding -- time to make sure your chainmail panties don't rust.

~O

[Snoring Rock]

True that, about rusted panties and all. GenCon is the place where no one is left out or pushed away. Geek culture is "in" at GenCon, whether you be old school, new school, power-gamer, anime or confused by it all. I think there is a little too much "in your face" though. Some of it needs to stay "in" the panties.

That said, I have a rough time tearing myself away from GenCon. It is freaking huge and I know so many people who go every year. I even have a regular gaming group that meets every year. I looked around but there just is no greener pasture that I see anywhere. True Dungeon is a plus.

I do have a work-around for the housing portal head-ache each year. Most of my gaming anymore is off grid. I think my gripe this year is that GenCon had no tables out for open gaming at the Hyatt. They were greatly reduced at other hotels as well and some ballrooms were closed after 6pm. GenCon is slowly pushing the off-grid gaming out. They need that $4.00/person at each table. I get that, since they pay for the convention space in each hotel. Not sure I like it. There are some out-lyer hotels that set up rooms for open gaming like the Alexander.

But there is nothing like standing in line on Thursday morning at 10 am, chanting "I will not run" when the doors open.

GenCon did in fact shrink this year. It was 62,800 last year and only 60.400 this year, but 4 day badges were up 4%. So less overall but more there all four days.

[Lord Dynel]

I know what you mean about tearing oneself away from GenCon. I only go every other year, and I'd go every year if I could. But it's quite a hike for me (from Florida) and, of course, it's a bit on the expensive side.

My next one (next year) will coincide with the 50th Anniversary, and that one might be my last GenCon for a while. I want to hit smaller, more gaming-centric cons, and cons I've never been to: NTRPG, Gary Con, Troll Con (*crosses fingers*), Origins, among others. Then maybe I'll get back to GenCon later down the line.

I've never had a problem using the housing portal. But my workaround is this: start looking for hotels way early. I'll start in October or November. Granted, some hotels will show no availability, but some will. My usually fall back is to reserve a room at the Hilton Downtown (they usually have rooms open). Then I try the housing grid when it opens. If I get a better one, I cancel the Hilton (or wherever I reserved). If I can't find a better one using the portal, then I keep the Hilton.

[serleran]

The only thing GenCon is useful for, at all, is buying stuff. At least in my experience. So, for me, doesn't really matter where the room is as long as I can get there and back.

Any con can be decent in that regard, but the larger ones are more likely to have older, and therefore more interesting for me, stuff. Plus, GenCon has the auction.

Not that I've gone any time soon.

[Jyrdan Fairblade]

There’s certainly no con like Gen Con. But it’s also got its own set of headaches – signing up for events and lodging, and the journey out there. For me, Origins is so much closer and easier to deal with. But the dealers room at Gen Con is so much bigger, and the cultural stuff like the bands and block party are experiences you don’t get at Origins.

[Ancalagon]

Ok, so GenCon 2016 was a great success, but was it worth it? It starts in January when you get on the flawed housing portal and hope for the 1 hour wait time to get a room and the dreaded 3 hour wait time pops up on your PC screen. You know you are getting a room 16 miles out. All the stress and dread. Then again later you wait at noon on a Tuesday, a few months later, hoping to get the games you have stored in your wish list.

I attended Gen Con in 2012/13/14. My primary reasons for attending were to try it at least once (2012) and to play games that aren't offered at other cons I attend. Luckily, I was able to snag tickets to most of the games I wanted but that was due more to having 4 other people working with me when the events registration went live. Of the 5 of us, one person was in the que between 200-300, three others were between 2,000 - 3,000, and I was stuck after 3,000. Had we not all combined lists and worked together there is no way in hell most of us would've anything left to sign up for except GURPS Scooby-Doo on Gilligan's Island or other nonsense. Buying memberships, going through the housing portal, then getting stuck with no games of choice is a mighty big risk.

Why? I like the RPG stuff and the games on the trade floor. Oh and the dice dealers and mini dealers. Oh my! Not sure I need the anime outfits or the leather jackets, goggles, chainmail panties, or the utili-kilt, or the hello kitty, or the other stuff that just does not seem to say gaming to me. There is a lot to wade through, including lots of people advertising their sexual preferences. For me personally, I do not mix sex and gaming with my buddies, in the game room in my basement. Starting to look like something that is not about gaming anymore. I need to see some table-top gaming.

Emphasis mine.
During the 2012-14 span I noticed a definite increase in the presence of anime, cosplay, goggles & steampunk, etc., etc. that seemed an indicator that Gen Con might be losing some of its focus. I wonder if its trying to expand its focus into more pop culture oriented areas like Dragon Con in Atlanta did.

Has anyone attended both GenCon and Game Hole Con? I understand that True Dungeon will be at Game Hole this year. Love True Dungeon, lots of fun! I would like to hear from anyone who has been to both. What are the pros and cons besides the fact that there is no housing portal?

Never been to Game Hole Con. Good luck!

[finarvyn]

I'm considering going to GameHole Con. Never been there before, but the game list looked interesting. Ironic is that my gamer friends all wanted to try out all of the 5E Adventurer's League sessions but my attention drifted to everything not-5E.

[koralas]

I know what you mean about tearing oneself away from GenCon. I only go every other year, and I'd go every year if I could. But it's quite a hike for me (from Florida) and, of course, it's a bit on the expensive side.

My next one (next year) will coincide with the 50th Anniversary, and that one might be my last GenCon for a while. I want to hit smaller, more gaming-centric cons, and cons I've never been to: NTRPG, Gary Con, Troll Con (*crosses fingers*), Origins, among others. Then maybe I'll get back to GenCon later down the line.

I've never had a problem using the housing portal. But my workaround is this: start looking for hotels way early. I'll start in October or November. Granted, some hotels will show no availability, but some will. My usually fall back is to reserve a room at the Hilton Downtown (they usually have rooms open). Then I try the housing grid when it opens. If I get a better one, I cancel the Hilton (or wherever I reserved). If I can't find a better one using the portal, then I keep the Hilton.

LD, if you like board games, try Dice Tower Con next year. It is in Orlando, but warning, the tickets sell out very quickly. I went there for the first time this year, the rooms were decent prices, and the con was great. I think for a board game con, I prefer Board Game Geek con, more vendors, and thus more events, but both were great fun. At DTC this year, I was in the lobby working on an adventure when some other guys came in, asked if I was there for the Con and we ended up playing games for about 4 hours till my friends got there.

I am making a point of getting to Gary Con next year (it is about a 2 hour drive from my place), and probably Origins. GenCon has just really outgrown the venue. Spilling into Lucas Oil was great, gained some room for the hall, but that space was mostly taken up with more vendor space and not really increasing the space of the aisles. Don't get me wrong, GenCon is the granddaddy, but I may opt out of the almost week-long trip it has been. We started going on Tuesday before going on Tuesday was cool, this year I bet the GC attendees on Tuesday was up about 300% from the year before, and I expect it to be higher next year. I may end up making it just Friday Night/Saturday, and maybe Sunday, meeting up with my friends that will still be there the whole time.

I am going to look around and head to some other smaller Con's as well for next year.

The only thing GenCon is useful for, at all, is buying stuff. At least in my experience. So, for me, doesn't really matter where the room is as long as I can get there and back.

Any con can be decent in that regard, but the larger ones are more likely to have older, and therefore more interesting for me, stuff. Plus, GenCon has the auction.

Not that I've gone any time soon.

I hear you on the older stuff. I am finishing up my RoleAids collection, only a few items left for it. I keep seeing the original City State there, but I want it to play, not to look at. I forget off the top of my head the vendor that has buy one get three free, but I generally drop about 1/4-1/3 of my budget there. Makes for heavy bags! Good thing I drive there...