Gen Con: Day 0

Wednesday was really the beginning of GenCon 2011 for me. I woke up early because I couldn't sleep (thanks to a somewhat rough Tuesday) loaded my van, and headed downtown. One of the great things about my job is that I get to use the Indiana State parking garages, so I pulled up within 20' of the door to the overpass (hereafter referred to as the gerbil tube) between the J. W. Marriott and the convention center. On a whim I walked over to the Westin and asked if they had a room, and they did. I was able to check in at 10 am and move all my stuff right away, which made the day a little more relaxing. The room key was a Neverwinter special, which I thought was pretty darn cool.

My roommate (David Flor, @BrainClouds) was scheduled to arrive at 11:20, so I had some time to explore the convention center and get some breakfast.  Seeing the banners and WotC's statues really increased the excitement level, as it was clear GenCon was finally here for me.

Trolls!

Love him or hate him, he was there

I dropped in to Scotty's for some brunch and to pick up my Wednesday die. I figured I wasn't going to get back there on Wednesday, so it was a good way to have a nice meal and check Daily Die Quest off my list. By that time it was time to head back to my car and drive to the airport. The airport featured more WotC advertising in the form of a huge 3D dragon display and Neverwinter ads on the monitors at the baggage claim. Yep, Wizards really spent some money to get their message out, and since the ads were cool I was really happy to see such a imposing presence. After picking up David, we headed back to the hotel and then out for some lunch at the food court. I also stopped by Will Call, since it was open at this point, and got my badge, tickets, and swag bag.

Scotty's Wednesday die

At this point there wasn't all that much to do in the remaining time for me, so I headed home for a bit to take care of the dogs and get some food. I had a significant amount of pizza left over from the previous night so that was a free meal I couldn't pass up. After that it was back down town and time for the fun to really start. Wednesday night is Critical-Hits Drinking Dungeons and Dragons (DD&D) night!

Airport GenCon Welcome from WotC

DD&D really set the tone for my GenCon experience. An amazing night all around. I met so many of my friends from twitter, I don't even feel like it would be right to attempt to name them all here. The night was like a who's who of the D&D world. In addition to many of the best bloggers and podcasters out there, a goodly number of the Wizards of the Coast employees responsible for the game and big name freelancers were there. Everyone was super nice, and it was great to just hang out and talk gaming. When the game itself got rolling, it was great to get to watch the masters in action (@Davethegame, @chattyDM, @Slyfourish and @SarahDarkMagic were the DMs). Without spoiling anything, the game consisted of 4 encounters/rounds. The first was relatively normal, and there didn't seem to be all that much drinking going on. The second round really took off when the roles of DM and player were effectively reversed and people really seem to enjoy this. By the time the third round rolled in, everyone was clearly having a great time. The final round was a sudden death round, but seemed to go well despite it being pretty late.

It was all I could do to roll back to the room and crash at that point. Technically the con hadn't even started yet, and I already had a great night. I hadn't even played a single game yet.

Construction in the hotels

Eight days...

I stopped by the Westin today to add my roommate to my room reservation so that he can get a key even if he arrives when I'm not there. Imagine my surprise when I found out that the lobby was mostly blocked off.  The business center too. They decided to start renovations this week. Not sure why, except that maybe they need to start now to make sure it's done before the Superbowl.  In any case, pick another hotel if you want to do some lobby gaming.

For those coming into town very early, expect some traffic and crowd at the airport.  The Brickyard 400 is this weekend, so there will be a lot of NASCAR fans in town. Downtown probably won't be too crowded, but be prepared for some possible minor delays.

Looks like they mean to finish the carpeting in the convention center. The new carpet line moved again last night, and there's only a day or two more of work left to complete the whole center.

Eight more days...

The Beer is here

Nine days folks.

Today Thr3e Wise Men brewery held the tapping party for Long Fang Abbey Ale, the Gen Con beer that will be served at Scotty's Brewhouse (Thr3e Wise Men and Scotty's are sister pubs). It was right after work for me, and on the way home so I had the opportunity to swing by and try it. The beer is an abbey style ale, which I have to admit is not a style I'm familiar with. For this reason, I can't tell you if it's typical of the style, but I can tell you it was tasty. The beer definitely has a bitter bite to it, but it's not an IPA. More like a slightly stronger bitter or ESB. It's got a very rich flavor, and goes down very pleasantly.  Technically, for those who are better zymurgists than I, it's ABV is 7%, and it measures in at 34 IBUs. To me, it seemed more bitter than I would expect from 34 IBUs, but its a pleasant bitter not a biting bitter. I will be drinking more of this next week.

Monitor at the Indiana Convention Center

Look what else happened today. The last event prior to Gen Con dropped off the calendar at the convention center. Technically it should still be there since it's on July 30th, but we're now the next event on the list.

They've been gradually going around and replacing all the carpeting in the old side of the convention center to match the new addition. They have one small spot left, and since they're moving forward again there's a decent chance that come Gen Con there will be completely new carpeting. If they don't make it, the area that the registration desks will be is that last area with the old carpeting. I wouldn't say the new stuff is attractive, but it is better than the old I suppose.

Today was also the day that reservations for Gen Con were released to the hotels. If you feel the need to confirm your reservation with the hotel, now is the time. If you need to make changes, you now need to contact your hotel, rather than the housing bureau.

Nine more days folks.

More Gen Con Attendance News

My prospects are continuing look better for actually making it to Gen Con this year. One thing that will work in my favor is making it as inexpensive as possible. To that end when I booked my room at the Westin, I paused before hitting the "single king size bed" option, and got a two double bed room instead. It occurred to me that a roommate would significantly cut down on cost, and someone who found out they could attend at the last second could have a place to stay. Since I booked the room, I could decide if I was comfortable with the person, our not. That's an all-win situation. As you can probably guess, that scenario seems to have played out, and I have a probable roommate for my room. Nothing is concrete yet, but I'm really happy to be in a situation where I'm probably going to save some cash, and a person who really should be going to Gen Con is going to have a good room to lodge in. Things are really looking up, and it's all coming together for me not only being able to attend, but also stacking the odds in my favor for having a great, stress-free time.

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It's January, time to think about Gen Con again.

The winter feels longer than it really is; the weather is bad and it's not a lot of fun to be outside. I've neglected this blog for a while, because reporting no news does not make for a very exciting read.  Now, however, we've reached January and that's Gen Con badge pre-order and housing time.

Yes...I have a 4 day badge for Gen Con 2011 and I have a room at the Westin downtown.  I really wanted to book the new J. W. Marriott, but it was a little more expensive and I can use the extra $40 or so to have more fun.  Ideally I'll just be in my room when it's time to sleep and clean up.  Overall cost for Gen Con should be about $1100.  I think I can swing that.  It'll be even cheaper for me if I can find a roommate, but I'm picky there.

D&D Encounters is almost at the end of the season.  I've been playing fairly regularly, and with one week to go in this season, I think I've had enough of the format for now.  It's served its purpose of getting me used to 4E while having a good time, but now I'm ready for full games with more than one encounter per session and more roleplaying opportunities between combat encounters.  Last week though, encounters did something for me that I didn't really expect...it gave my anti-D&D roommate a chance to see what the game was all about.

I've tried to describe how D&D plays to her in the past, but she just didn't really get the picture.  She kept wanting to pigeon hole the game in a boardgame shaped hole.  Out of nowhere last week, she announced that she would like to come watch me play.  After picking my jaw up off the floor, I gave her the address of the game store, and met her there.  Remember, this is the girl who is opposed to D&D for religious reasons.  I'd actually turned her to being open to at least checking the game out.

Naturally, it was the lamest session of the whole season.  The poor DM tried to make it fun, but the players were me, a 10 year old, his 13 year old sister and their mother.  None of them really wanted to be there that night, and play just suffered.  We had a TPK, which I felt was actually a merciful end to a bad session.  I thought that would probably end it for my roommate.  Fortunately, she picked up on the fact that the particular session sucked.  She got to see how the game plays from a mechanics point of view, and left with a much better understanding of the game.  Turns out it was still a positive thing for her to watch.  I think she accepts it a lot more now that she understands the game a little better, and this will make selling me spending money on Gen Con a lot easier.

Anyway, that's the news.  Now that we are moving back into con season and people are thinking about Gen Con again, I'll be posting a lot more I hope.  I've got a couple of  local eatery reviews lined up, and hope that will be valuable for those attending.