According to the Web sites I read, another Gen Con has come and gone. As expected, attendance keeps growing which is great. I’m glad the convention is carrying on despite WOTC/Hasbro’s withdrawal, a really odd decision they made a few years ago. Numerous other game companies back Gen Con now (Paizo, Fantasy Flight, Mayfair, etc.) and I think Hasbro has rolled D&D into other conventions which are intertwined with their electronic properties. I still think they should sell it off because they bought WOTC for Magic and Pokemon, they have no clue on what to do with D&D based upon their small ouput and reliance on outsourced products.
However, I remember the first time I went to Gen Con 30 years ago. I had completely forgotten it was going on and yet my new friends Neal and Deb were going. Hell, we talked about it during our semi-weekly RoleMaster game. I was slightly jealous about their attendance. Then I probably got pre-occupied with WMUR stuff or leisurely enjoying my August via unemployment. I do recall wandering downtown and noticing people with event badges. So I walked along the main convention hall, saw GenCon ’88 happening. I foolishly rush to an ATM (spending money I probably should’ve saved for school crap), bought a one-day visitor badge and toured the whole thing.
All the gaming wonders before the Internet and related technologies were injected into this hobby. Don’t get me wrong. 3-D printing is a boon to gaming; I utilize computers to make maps and track NPCs (no more three-ring binders of paper or photocopied rules); finding other players through the Internet! But back in the Eighties to early Nineties, Gen Con was Nerdvana over a four-day weekend. Numerous things to buy in the gigantic showroom: T-Shirts (something the Internet has expanded); CDs of soundtracks to movies you didn’t think had one (e.g. Krull or Battle Beyond the Stars, I could be imagining those); out-of-print games/adventures; comic books; booths of the actual companies behind the lesser-known games beyond D&D (ICE, Hero, Mayfair, SJG, GDW, FASA, GW, Chaosium and Avalon Hill). There was an air of excitement and fun despite the permeation of BO. All the people came from around the world to play, trade, socialize and metaphorically let their hair down. Gamers were still ostracized openly in 1988 though. True story, I overheard the nerdy library staffer at Marquette talk shit about the Gen Con people. Pretty sad to know there’s a pecking order even within Nerd-dom.
The following year, I was prepared and made plans to participate…and experience one horrible reality with conventions. You would think they draw the best and brightest players. Nope, just the same butt-head power gamers and murder hobos from other cities, ready to sour the event like they do back home.
Maybe one day, our local con could get to a fraction of the size Gen Con had been in the Eighties and I would be thrilled. First investment is noise-dampening curtains put around the tables. I could barely hear what our Call of Cthulhu Keeper was trying to tell us and he was a soft-spoken guy. I also owe Somara a trip to either Milwaukee or Gen Con.