Another Year

by Kevin Melka

Sept. 10th, 2004

This was my 22^nd Gen Con. So much has changed since the day I first pulled into the parking lot at UW Parkside in Kenosha, WI in my rusted out 1974 Buick Apollo. At the tender age of 17, I had only been playing D&D for about a year, and the thought of going to Gen Con was more than a bit overwhelming. After paying for my one-day badge (a mere $5) and receiving my complementary generic ticket, I quickly paged through the event booklet in hopes of finding a game to play.

I do not specifically remember the event’s name, though I do remember how panic-stricken I was as I neared the designated gaming table. Even though there was an opening to play at the event, in the end I chickened out and ended up watching instead. I had never before played with anyone outside of my small circle of friends, and the intimidation factor of a first-time Gen Con attendee was apparent on my face. I watched the game for nearly two hours, and as I walked away I swore never to be fearful about playing at Gen Con in the future.

Since my time at the show was limited to one day, I did not get a chance to use my generic ticket that year. From the game I went to the exhibit hall, made a few purchases, and went home with the resolve that I would return next year—and return I did. Not only did I play several events the following year, but advanced to the finals of the (mostly forgotten) SnowCrystal Odyssey tournament. I purchased an RPGA membership to play more events, and even called in sick to work so I could return to play the rest of the weekend. Little did I know that 21 years later I would be looking back at that time with such immense nostalgia, and a great sense of longing for those simple and less-complicated times in gaming history.

Unfortunately, there is no tangible comparison to Gen Con 1982 and Gen Con 2004. From the show’s location to the rules of the game to the attendees themselves, the nature of roleplaying and the hobby in general has changed so radically in the past 20 years that it is arduous to convey the Gen Con of the past to someone who was not there. This is not a bad thing—it’s just different.

Gaming Geeks

I’ve been doing the “publisher thing” with Bastion Press for a few years now since the fall of TSR. Like many gaming professionals out there, I’m just a simple gamer who has remained true to the original calling—we’re all gaming geeks. None of us can look at a “Cthulhu for President” t-shirt every four years without a sly smirk, or walk by a table of sparkly dice without holding one in our palm and offering up a test roll. We all wish we could draw like Jeff Easley or Larry Elmore, and the thought of winning the lottery and going nuts in the exhibit hall has crossed the mind of every Gen Con attendee for the past 20 years. In the end, this is one of the fundamental principals that bring us together as a community.

As gaming geeks there are things we admire, things we notice, and things that disappoint us. Some or all of these issues are due to our experiences (gaming or otherwise), peer pressure, and general likes and dislikes. As gamers, we support different aspects of the “geek” industry, which is very much evident with the onslaught of the OGL/d20 market and other changes and innovations in recent years.

We’re also obsessively driven by these likes and dislikes. What is gold-pressed latinum to one gamer is tarnished brass to another. Uncommon is the gaming geek that can separate what they fanatically cherish from what they ignore or abhor, despite the fact that others feel the exact opposite. There are those that exclusively play D&D and never read other RPGs, while the zealous collectable card or Clix player has no craving to ever hold a character sheet in their hand. It is unfortunate that the blood and sweat of one is the refuse of another.

Lastly, we are victims of the genre of our sometimes alien society. We all know Gary Gygax is a founding father of D&D, we each utter “He’s dead Jim” at least once a calendar year, we’ve seen the original Star Wars movies more times that we are years old, and we each own at least five t-shirts specifically dedicated to some aspect of our culture. This is one of the things that bring us together as a community of people with similar interests, but even within our own institution we segregate ourselves based on our likes and dislikes.

That all said, here are my likes and dislikes from Gen Con 2004.

The Town

Let’s face it, Indy is not Milwaukee. Perhaps I’m a bit biased at having Gen Con in my hometown for so long, but it seems to me that despite problems in the last few years Milwaukee was more of a “lair” for gaming geek culture than anywhere else I’ve ever been. This feeling may change the longer Gen Con is in Indianapolis, but until then I remain disappointed. Indy has more hotels; Milwaukee has more restaurants. Indy has a larger convention center; Milwaukee has a larger airport. Indy’s downtown is clean and easy to navigate; Milwaukee has the SafeHouse.

In the end, Indy is a good second choice, but I don’t have to like it. Maybe someday the god of gaming geeks will bless us with the perfect home for Gen Con, but until then we endure.

The Site

As a former Gen Con show manager, there are things I notice every year that sometimes passes beneath the perception of other attendees. The work that goes into getting any site ready for the onslaught of the gaming masses is a grueling series of task that consume weeks before, during, and after the show. For this I thank Peter Adkison and his staff for all their hard work the past few years. If you think it’s easy putting on a convention, I would suggest trying it sometime— I’m sure you opinion will change.

No Gen Con site is perfect, and there were a few things I noticed this year that, in my mind, need addressing for next year.

Clocks: Is there an unwritten law at convention sites that says you can’t put clocks on the wall? By Friday in the exhibit hall I had lost track of the number of times people had asked me the time. For a convention with time-sensitive scheduled events I find it annoying there are no clocks in the exhibit hall, as well as many other large public areas.

Trash Bins: The same law that prevents the use of clocks must prohibit the implementation of trash receptacles. Let’s face it, gamers are slobs. As I walked through the exhibit hall at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday morning I counted a mere three orange trash bins—which were overflowing to capacity by the noon hour. In addition, I watched Thursday in horror as half a dozen convention employees pulling full trash bins literally stepped on trash on the floor near our booth without picking it up. My thanks to Mynex from Code Monkey Publishing for bringing this to the attention of their supervisor.

Unfriendly Employees: I have never worked in the service industry, but from a young age my parents (tried, at least) embodied me with politeness and courtesy. Is it so hard to say “Thank You” or “You’re Welcome?” While I did not encounter such loutishness at every turn during my five days at the convention center, I saw it enough to take notice. Say what you want about Milwaukee, but I did not have this problem in my home town.

The Exhibitors

As always, Wizards of the Coast had one of the biggest booths—though overall it was rather boring. I liked the old TSR castle, which was dismantled and sold off years ago. There was always something majestic about having a castle at the center of the exhibit hall that made Gen Con home, something I hope returns someday.

As with every year, there was a wide assortment of vendors and publishers hawking their newest game or innovative products—this is something that will never change. For me, the following stood out more than the rest, influenced of course by my gaming geek history:

NCSoft: Makers of the massively multiplayer game City of Heroes, what gaming geek has not dreamed of becoming a superhero? In addition to having a cool product (I obtained a copy of from a former TSR comrade Zeb Cook), they had a very cool CGI demo/recap of CoH and Paragon City that I must have watched it 20 times. As soon as I can upgrade my video card I plan to give City of Heroes a try.

Magnificent Egos Miniatures: A new mini caster who is doing Oathbound figures for Bastion Press, these guys have some very cool and original miniatures that have never been done before. In addition, they had painters, casters, and sculptors there to demonstrate how a mini is created start to finish.

Crystal Caste: A dice makers that has been a Gen Con staple in recent years, these guys have some very engaging and rare items. Dice made of precious stones, mega-mats, and a few other oddities really caught my eye. I talked to them on Saturday before the exhibit hall opened, and was told their biggest seller at the show was a brushed aluminum, copper, and brass d20s that were nearly 2" in diameter and weighed as much as a D-cell battery. By Saturday noon all of them were gone, even the ones they dropped shipped for sale that day.

Sword & Sorcery & White Wolf: While in the past I had not bought many of their products (except for Arcana Unearthed, by way of Malhavoc), what impressed me most about SS/WW was that they had copies of just about everything they've produced from day one at the show—which is a lot of stuff. By the end of the show most Malhavoc products had or nearly had sold out, and whenever I walked by they seemed to be restocking the new World of Darkness and Vampire game. For my buck, they were one of the best prepared with product vendors at the show.

Titan Games: This retailer made an impact at the show with their buy 1 get 3 free deals. Basically, Titan buys RPGs from publishers at cents on the dollar and turns around and sells them in bulk. While I didn't purchase anything from Titan, the booth was always crowded and stuff was flying off the tables.

Off World Designs: Old friends of mine from my days in the RPGA, Ray and Barb have been a staple in t-shirt sales at Gen Con for as long as I can remember. In addition to Ray’s beautiful custom airbrushing, OWD has recently licensed the printing of a wide variety of Cthulhu apparel, as well as classic gaming geek shirts from John Kovalic’s Dork Tower. I make it a point to buy something from them every year, and for me there is no better place for a gaming geek to buy a t-shirt.

There were definitely other impressive exhibitors to be sure, but these were the ones that stand out in my mind for one reason or another.

The Products

Truth be told, I went to the show pretty much with enough money to eat and drive home. However, being a publisher has its advantages, and thanks to my comrade in arms Mr. Butler allowing Bastion designers to trade product with other companies I was able to come home with a few extremely well done products, in addition to looking over other impressive products presented at the show.

Arms & Armor v3.5: I would be remiss if I did not plug my own company in this listing, though I do so as a gaming geek and not the company’s Creative Director. Truth be told, this is a great product for the 3E/3.5 D&D player. Every weapon and armor type from the PHB/SRD and the DMG is included within, along with a slew of abilities and qualities from 108 OGL sources (the Section 15 is nearly a page long). Couple that with the inclusion of this information in eTools and PCGen data sets and you get a great paper and electronic resource for D&D. We’ve also released A&A already as a PDF (www.rpgnow.com), allowing everyone quick access to a product Bastion is the most proud of to date.

Conan RPG:While pricey at $50 for the core book (plus another $75 for their three other Conan products), in my opinion this line is by far the best thing to date currently out from Mongoose Publishing for the fantasy RPGs lines. Presented in full color and laid out beautifully, this bad boy is already a hit for the English publisher as they’ve already gone to a second printing. Now that they’ve released an official adventure for the product (in PDF at www.rpgnow.com) I will likely give it a whirl soon.

Paranoia XP: Also from Mongoose, this remake FLEW off their table as soon as the doors opened on Thursday, and they were sold out by late Friday. This upset me some, since having played the original game for many years I *really* wanted a copy. In addition to getting the original authors to work on this new release, MP tracked down classic TSR and original Paranoia artist Jim Holloway (not an easy task for those that know him) for the cover and interiors illustrations, making this book a TRUE remake of the original.

Anything Dragonlance: The while the Dragonlance RPG came out last year, Sovereign Press has come out with some extremely well done and beautiful looking follow up products in the 365 days since. In addition, every time I walked by the booth Margaret Weis was there happily greeting attendees and signing books with unbridled enthusiasm. For any gaming geek (and what gaming geek has not read something by Margaret), this is very cool.

CastleMolds: Taking the time to build a castle or diorama from these molds look *so* cool (said the gaming geek), I just wish I had more time in my day to do it. Where were these guys 15 years ago (I think) when Gen Con reconstructed the Battle at Helm’s Deep in 30mm scale?

World of Darkness/VtR: Lastly, for me this was the surprise of the show. I had never been a big fan of Vampire the Masquerade, since for me the game lacked the mechanics needed to balance an RPG with what appeared to be a well done setting--in addition to sometimes attracting rather *off the wall*  players and LARPers. The new version of this game is considerably better, and was the only RPG I bought at the show. There are currently two books now available: the WORLD OF DARKNESS core rule book (used for all of WW's upcoming Storyteller System games), and the first campaign book VAMPIRE, THE REQUIEM. At the show they were $55 together, which was a great deal given the extremely high quality of the book. I just started reading through it, and there is even an online Demo to run to get your players interested in it.

There were many other products of note that I did not get to look at in detail, from Blackmoor to The Complete Dungeon, which I eagerly await reviews of online. Also, for the first time in over 10 years I got a chance to see a copy of an orange cover Palace of the Silver Princess (probably the rarest product in D&D history), which was proudly displayed by Crazy Egor. Very cool, said the gaming geek.

The Events

Doing the publisher thing these last few years has not allowed me to play or even hang around the various event areas much. I did take some time to walk through the RPGA hall, miniatures and Clix halls, and the CCG area as well (had to see the classic Batmobile of course). I will say that each area was very well attended the times I was there, which in the end is good news for the future of the show.

One thing that hit a sour note with me was the disappointment in seeing the RPGA area, as they (either WoTC or GC, I really don’t care who) did not spring for curtained cubes for Network events. I'm sure Network judges were extremely hoarse and stressed by the end of the show as a result of this. It depresses me that someone thinks so little of the RPGA Network now, which in past year was the staple of role-playing at the show.

The Guests

I've said this about 100 times since coming home: Gil Gerard should be on everyone's dead pool list. Talk about letting yourself go! All members of the Bastion Press staff purposely did not wander too close to Mr. Gerard, as we all lived in fear of the off chance of standing near him when the Big One strikes! On the other hand, Virginia Hey, Tanya Roberts, Erin Grey, and Linda Blair looked great. You can tell Walter Koenig is getting older as well, and David Carradine definitely looks like he was recently killed. It was also cool to see Boomer and Apollo together, who apparently had nothing but good things to say about the upcoming new Battlestar Galactia series.

For my money, however, the best guest was Mark Singer, the classic BeastMaster. While he does look aged, I saw Mr. Singer get out from behind his table several times (Bastion’s booth was not far from the guest tables) to greet people who would wave or nod to him while walking by, as well as spending extra time greeting children and people in wheelchairs. While not the best overall big-name guest pool, it could have been worse. Look for Gil Gerard to be typecast as Skipper for any upcoming Gilligan’s Island remake.

The Conclusion

So, another Gen Con is down in the record books, and for the most part I believe was a success. Despite my concerns, I had a great time at the show and eagerly await the 300+ days to go until the next one. However, much can happen in a year, and like Brett Favre’s streak of consecutive starts for my beloved Green Bay Packers I live in fear that something may happen to prevent me from attending my 23^rd Gen Con next year. Though every year I come home with sore feet and an empty wallet, I take home with me a few new goodies and the memories of another year with friends new and old. Let’s face it, only a gaming geek would consider Gen Con his yearly vacation—and I’m sure I’m not alone.

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You can view all of the previous columns by clicking here.