Hi Folks, I have no issue with the way the system is set up, wherein there are multiple levels of badges and featured events. As I'm an Older Gamer, however, I do suggest you completely flatten it. Philosophically, my opinion is that there should be no levels of admission. Financially I'm pretty sure most of us could afford it, but that's not what gaming is about. We don't preclude people based on their financial status. And the limit of one Featured Event per Silver badge is also not what we're about. If you get in, you get in. If you don't, that's okay too. GaryCon has grown to the point where there are enough great events for everyone. If it's a financial issue for the Con, I recommend solving that through some other way instead of badge levels and limitations--charge a flat fee per ticket for everyone. In this, my socialist dream, all of us are equal and all of us can have a good time. The way GenCon used to be. Get off my lawn, Scot P.S. Luke, I'm creating an adventure next year based on a druid using Wall of Fire incorrectly as the primary plot point. I hope you will play in it.
hmmm. one ticket price. the current bonuses provided by badge level could be add-on packages an individual could purchase until sold out and all events treated the same (none labeled as featured). perhaps a limit of one per customer to prevent one individual buying up everything. a draw-back would be everyone hammering on the event registration at the same time. interesting.
As a Silver badge holder for the last 5 years, I’m very satisfied with the current system. Premium badges add extra income to the con (and a healthy con is better for all of us) and us in the Silver tier see minimal impact. Yes, some of the hot ticket games get filled early, but if I was that desperate to play in one of those games I’d spring for Gold. There are so many great non-premium events that one game over the course of 4 days isn’t going to make or break the con for me.
Wait, don't you have to turn in your fanboi card for being reasonable about not getting what you want and rolling with life throws at you? ;-) Yeah, there is too much good stuff to get hung up on not getting that one event you just had to be in.
That's a good idea, Poindexter. You can still purchase the limited edition stuff, but events are all sold the same. Definitely agree about a healthy con being better for all of us. I don't know the finances of the whole thing, so I don't know if charging for tickets a la GenCon back in the day would work or not. If the badges maxed out, the convention (just from badges) would have 1,905 attendees and make a total of up to $157,000. If you flattened it to $75 for everyone, you'd go from $157,000 to $120,375, a difference of $36,625, assuming Spectator remains $20, so you'd have to make up for that. If you made the price of registration an even $100 instead of $75, you'd bring in up to $190,500. Given the relative cost of everything, I'd gladly pay the extra $25. Everything else being equal, I don't view the con as a huge money maker. It's a labor of love more than anything else, and I'm willing to pay the extra $25 to support the people who run it while at the same time bringing about a socialist revolution in Lake Geneva. All I ask in return is that there are a steady supply of those donuts.
As someone who runs lots of games and Pays for the Gold Badge (playing in only one non featured game) I prefer the levels, for GC8, there were no levels so us Gold were competing with the silver for spots in games My Reasoning for the Gold is is to get the swag bag, and not having to pay for a shirt or stadium cups... and the 2 featured events I only play in 3 events, maybe 4, but I run 30+ hours of games But all thing being equal, some of us volunteer more time and have less time to choose games... Now if GM's are given first shot at games, I would not have to get a gold, but would still get it for the swag I was happy to get everything I wanted, I just have to find a way into one more featured event
Wait...there's a free dinner? Nobody said anything about a free dinner. Is that a featured event? Because if so, I demand we redo registration with the Free Dinner Featured Event available for everyone....of Gold badge or higher.
Au contraire, mon frere. I got everything I wanted as usual. If you're running 30+ hours of games for the con you should be rewarded. You're essential to the Con. I would suggest providing GMs who are running 8 or more hours of games get free registration. In terms of levels related to collectibles such as the swag bag, shirt, and stadium cups, I don't take any issue with those--keep it tiered for only that purpose and flatten registration to one date for all, up the Featured Event limit or take it away entirely, and everyone pays $100 for their 4-day gaming pass except GMs like Barry.
As a GM and Gold badge, I do get perks, and have no complaints about my choices but because I want the 2 FE, I get the Gold. I highly recommend it This registration was not the nightmare it was 2 years ago if it isn't broke, not need to fix it... I would just tack on a 5-10 dollar fee if people want additional FE BTW, I would have paid for an addition FE, but my 3rd choice is filled, and I have will not booked anything during that time
FYI: GMs running 1+ event get a lanyard and tableside service with free drinks/snacks for each game. GMs running 8+ hours also get a free stadium cup. GMs running 12+ hours also get a free, exclusive, t-shirt. GMs running 16+ hours also get a $75 credit (i.e. the cost of a silver badge) towards a badge next year. I guess additional rewards could be offered for folks running even more games, but I'd guess the list of GMs running 20+ hours of games is probably fairly short. That would up the cost by 33% for 85%+ of attendees and if Featured Events were taken away, Diamond, Platinum and Gold badge holders would scoop up the majority of the coveted seats. I think GaryCon has it pretty much right. The idea was floated to include one extra Featured Event for all badges which would improve things for all badge levels, but leave virtually no Featured Event seats for walkups. That's not a deal-breaker to me, but I think it is for the convention, as it has been mentioned that they expect to get 400 walk-ups this year, which is probably around 30% of all attendees. Releasing all Featured Events from their Featured status after Silver event registration could help, but as mentioned previously, that could screw non-Featured events. I believe GaryCon releases the Featured status from games with low ticket sales at some point after Silver registration, which after considering all of the other factors, seems like the correct decision to me.
although a free set of Con dice for those running 20 or more hours would be appreciated (wink, wink) oh, and can they add Bottled water to the free drinks please... (If it has not been added)
I don't know what service you were getting, but water has ALWAYS been available during the years of DM Concierge. It's my first choice every time.
After registration this year and last, I think registration is pretty close to perfect, but there is always room for improvement. My personal 2cp on everything. - I think Diamond and Platinum badge holders should register the same day/weekend, which would shorten the time Gold and Silver get to register by a week. There are so few of the top tier registrants it really would make little difference. - With the increase in the number of attendees, it might be good to increase the number of Gold badges, maybe 200 or 250. - I think opening up all Featured Events the weekend after Silvers register will allow some wiggle room for those that want to shoot for games that didn't fill up previously, this would probably make a lot of folks happier. - Since Silver badge holders make up the majority of attendees, I it would be more balanced to have at least one-third or one-fourth of seats for all events kept in reserve for Silver badge holders. Since most events generally have 4-10 seats, this would mean at least 1-3 seats would always be open when silver badge holders get the chance to register, equaling the playing field for all attendees rather than watching select events sell out completely before getting a chance at them.
The GM rewards are great. The lure of a comped badge is the only reason I decided to GM four events this year while I'm in the middle of building a house & moving (I really wanted to take a year off and just play, but the siren call of a comped badge is STRONG).
Both good ideas. That would give them another week of prep time and maybe they could even give Diamond an hour head start on registration over Platinum. And I think 250 Gold badges would sell out easily and take away less than 100 FE seats from the pool. If they were all opened up, I think many non-Featured events and walkup choices would suffer. That's nice for the Silver badge holders, but not so great for the folks that paid at least twice as much for their badge. Part of the attraction of a higher level badge is the earlier access, which would be mitigated quite a bit by reserving seats for lower badge levels.
I was going to suggest something along those lines, but not quite as drastic. Maybe have one seat at each table held until gold registration and another until silver registration. It will allow everyone to have a shot (albeit small) for any game. There were some games I knew would never make it to silver registration, probably not even making it to gold. The higher badges would still get the majority of spots in coveted games, and could still try getting into something when gold or silver registration opened if they really wanted to play a specific game.
Overall I think that the badge levels & staggered registration work fine. Full disclosure, I buy a Gold badge to get two featured events & early access to most events. There is no question though that there are two different tracks/experiences at Gary Con. First, the Diamond & Platinum badges, who snag all the "celebrity" events & get access to the "VIP Cocktail Reception". They pay handsomely for their privileges & anyone can buy one of these badges. Second, the Gold & Silver badge holders who basically have access to the same events, none of the "Celebrity" ones, but still some awesome events. As far as gaming with the Old Guard goes. They are all very approachable, but it will never be like it was at the first few Gary Cons. The attendance has grown 10 fold, but the number of Old Guard is still the same. At my first Gary Con, #2, I played the equivalent of six events with them. That isn't possible now with any badge. & it will only get more limited as the Con grows.