GENCON, PART I

A rundown of the gaming orgy that is Gencon. Last year I was a little lukewarm on it being in my hometown instead of in Milwaukee.... But now, I'm a convert. Indy has better parking, better hotelage (not that I need it anymore, which is also good), and--with the exception of Karl Ratzches, a fabulous German restaurant in downtown Milwaukee where I couldn't have afforded to eat this year anyway--better food. And a mall that's open after 5. And a convention center whose geography is not that of an underground alien city from another dimension. I'm sorry, but I could never find my way around in MECCA. So yeah. Gencon Indy Good.

If you've never been to Gencon, you may think to yourself, what's it like to be at the world's biggest gaming event? The answer: kinda horrifying. If you think, "geez, I hate all those gamer stereotypes of the fat unwashed nerd in his mom's basement rolling dice and eating ho-hos while babbling on about his 103rd level paladin....Gencon will be a gathering of people like ME, intelligent and well-educated gamers who eat right, exercise, and spend time outdoors in the fresh air on a regular basis!" then you are in for a rude shock. Sure, thousands of those folks are there--but so are thousands upon thousands of men and women who live the stereotype. I'm not saying they're bad people, or that they shouldn't live their lives and do their hobbies in whatever way floats their boat.... I'm just sayin' that any convention where they include a note in the registration packet reminding attendees that showering and deodorant are both good ideas is a convention I'm always going to have slightly mixed feelings about going to.

Thursday played Cthulhu in Alex's hotel room with Alex, Gareth, Philip, Keely, and Sally. Friday solved puzzles and played TrueDungeon, more at length on that later. Saturday did the dealer room and solved puzzles. Saturday night was the Cthulhu for President rally and human sacrifice, followed by the Crocodile Games Gencon party at a local goth dance club. Sunday was a final lap around the dealer room, and the reveal for True Dungeon, which made me like it better. I bought way too many minis and spent way too much cash. And that's all for now. More on TD later.