Gen Con 2015

So... I'm a little surprised no one beat me to this. 

Folks, go look at the Gen Con list of Greater Than Games events for 2015.

Yes, even if you aren't attending.

It's worth it.

I'll wait until you come back. 

Sheesh, Rabit. Everyone knows we're running a Sentinel Tactics tournament...

Um ... what the what now?

Interesting ...

Wait, what?

Why am I always the last one to learn these things?!

That post just summoned me here from the far regions of the interwebs. 

Yeah yeah. I've already done my SQUUUUUUUUUUUUUUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!-ing on BGG, I don't have the energy to do it here too!

here

The link doesn't work unless you sign up for an account, and since I probably won't ever get to GenCon I'm not doing that.

Any chance of a nice serving of copy-pasta?

Also, what Matchstickman said. My RPG club will be excited about that as well.

How about image-roni? (The formatting just wasn't going to work…)

Right now, this is all we have. I imagine we'll get more info as we get closer.

EDIT: Just was Craig's official BGG answer of "More news to come probably by early next week!"

I'm certainly intrigued.   I just hope it's more fleshed out than Story Wars.   

Great stuff, thanks!

Right. So who's paying for me to go to GenCon?

I know an RPG designer who sent a pitch for some unnamed project to GtG in January or so. He's (for now?) publicly disavowing anything to do with this entry, though.

On the off-chance it's simply a matter of him not being able to talk about things until whatever announcement Craig was hinting at next week, the game would be in good hands. I can think of several designers about whom I would say that, but he's the only one I know appeared to be pursuing the idea.

Yes, I'm being really conditional and vague in my phrasing just in case.

Well, carp. I now feel silly for running two M&M game slots using the Sentinels.

Hey, no problem. That's a different system, so there's room.

Question : If you are helping out do you need to reserve any tickets, I don't know when you will need us, but would like to see some of the things like the state of the game etc...

If you're wanting to get in on one as a volunteer, be sure to get a ticket now. We'll take care of the volunteer schedule later, and you can let me know of other obligations then.

I assume each of the two qualifier events will be 16 teams.  So if my two friends and I want to field a team in the qualifier we need to get 3 of the 48 tickets.  Is that correct?

Yup! A ticket for each player.

RPG so wait is this something like dungeons and dragons?

We know nothing about it. It could be like D&D or it could be more like Apocalypse World, we have no idea other than this is something they are running at GenCon and there might be more information about it next week, that is literally all we know.

dont know enough about RPGs to know the difference. What I do know is it sounds like the same. Someone is the game master and writes a story and the rest act it out.

D&D is to RPGs what American Idol is to Television, it's the biggest example that people can bring to mind but there's a hell of a lot more to television/RPGs than just that one thing.

But yeah, an RPG where someone comes up with a villaionous story and the others play the heroes and have to foil the plot sounds likely.

K.

hopefully them showing villains at ten con is a good sign on when villains will be in stock

Here is a link to a list of all >G events at Gen Con that you do not need an account to view. I definitely plan on getting some tickets to the demos!

http://gencon.eventdb.us/groupCompany.php?Group=Greater+Than+Games%2C+LLC

The SotM RPG tickets are gone, snapped up in the initial frenzy. Just FYI. 

Yep. I narrowly missed getting one.

Yeah, we had a group of 5 trying to get a session together. That didn't work out so well. But it's okay. I'm sure we'll have plenty of opportunities to play it in the years to come - assuming the mechanics are the kind we enjoy.

It's real, folks.

Oh, the irony. 404 Not found.

And now found.

I think I am confused on something. So if I pay money to go to gen con, then what do I get to do once I get in? The more I am poking around the more I am getting worried that I have to then get tickets to events and such, even if all I want to do is stop by a booth and try out a game that looks interesting or just play a random game with people.

Personally, I've found that wandering around the exhibitor hall can only hold my attention for so long (lots of people and noise contributes to sensory overload). There are so many things to do that decision fatigue can be a problem as well. Doing a little research and signing up for some interesting-looking games in advance helps me a lot by adding some structure to the weekend; sometimes it's nice to have somewhere to go without having to think about it too much.

The dice tower usually does a "What will be at GenCon" Video that breifly goes over many of the publisher who will be there. So you will know which booths you would want to check out first, but wandering the halls is very fun by itself. Also you can hang out with us volunteering at the GTG Booth.

Buying a badge gets you into the convention hall and, when it's open, into the exhibit hall (which is inside the convention hall). There are many things that require you to not only have a badge, but to also have an event ticket (which usually, but not always costs money – GTG's state of the company event, for instance, is a $0 ticket). 

Things that require tickets: A vast array of organized games – board games, RPGs, CCGs, tabletop minis, LARPs, etc, plus a few scattered other things like panels, and various music/theater performances.

Things that don't require tickets: Costume contest, paint and take, demoing games at booths in the exhibit hall, doing the quizzes set up around the convention, finding people to play an informal game on the floor or in a hotel lobby, etc, a room showing movies, and a variety of other small activities.

Getting some generic tickets is a good way to prepare yourself for wandering around looking for something interesting and then being able to sit down and join if the game isn't full.

Researching what's available and getting specific tickets is a good way to make sure you get to do specific things you want to do.

Wandering around with a game you like and inviting strangers to play with you is a good way to make new friends.

sigh looking right now what things have tickets I am interested in not sure what I want to do. Most stuff I would be curious in is sold out

I have gone to Gen Con nearly every year since 2002, and even before going for work I have only occasionally signed up for events. There are so many free things to do in the expo hall or other parts of the convention center and nearby hotels that I rarely felt the need.

well that makes me feel a bit better

For what it is worth, my pre-GTG Gen Con schedule tended to look like:

Thurs: Wander the expo hall during the day. Stay up super late playing games with friends.

Fri: Visit specific expo hall places I noted on Thurs. Stay up super late playing games with friends.

Sat: Do some events that spontaneously look interesting, possibly watch the costume contest. Stay up super late playing games with friends.

Sun: Do the Paint and Take. Buy things.

Two things of note:

One is the board game library. Having not been at Gen Con proper, I can't swear to whether they have an admit fee for it, but it's impressive. You could easily kill a couple days just working your way through things that you want to try and haven't played yet.

Two is Games on Demand. They've got a table set up someplace, and they'll run RPGs for people as soon as they've got enough folks who want to play a specific system. 

if I go I can only afford to be there for a day plus work issues, which is why I would more want to wander around and check out the games I am interested in as I go. Oh well I guess if all else fails and I can see a few 5 minute this is how the game works type things, it wIll still be a good day.

Have to see.