I've seen bicycle flags that come in those colors, are lightweight, but they may not be sturdy enough to hold a sign, but they make up for that in flexibility.
First--my heartfelt thanks to Luke and his siblings for asking me to be part of it all and making me feel so welcome. Second--my good wishes to all the new gamers I met at the con. I hope all of you had as much fun as I did. Now for the rest-- On RPG Events: The number of players in a given game should be solely the province of the DM. I "grew up", so to speak, DMing larger groups consisting of from 8 to up to 14 PCs at a time, and often had as many as half a dozen NPCs thrown into the mix, particularly when we would be adventuring in the wilderness, or at least above ground. I told the organizers to list them as as 9-10 players with the understanding in advance that they could place 12 in each if the demand was there. I also asked for two six hour slots. (this is in no way to construed as complaining by me--I have no complaints) I further gave them carte blanche to work me in. Just tell me when and where; I'll show up... I don't run these events at NorTexCon and GaryCon with an expectation of "finishing". I know of no module ever printed worth anything that could be played out in four hours. I certainly wouldn't spend good money for a canned adventure with that little playability; I would hardly expect anyone else to, either. As to number of players and the speed at which they play; ask anyone that has played in one of my adventures in the past two years and they will tell you that they move right along. One of the few dictatorial powers of a DM that I refuse to relinquish is the ability to make the game move along. I run my games to spin the outline of the yarn; the players are there to fill in the details. I like the idea of a little break between slots; use it for a pit stop, chat up a new friend or reconnect with an old one, grab a bite, whatever. These cons are nothing if not social events. I heartily concur about the Auction. My adventure was slated to end at 5; my stint as an auctioneer was to begin at 5; my Circvs Maximvs race was slated to begin at 5. Hmmm. I begin to sense a pattern here. Sound and hearing is an insurmountable problem in an open area. No weekend you pick will be great for everybody. I know it sucks when you are the somebody that can't make a certain weekend, but somebody will always be in that position. I say this as an organizer of an event for people with disabilities. We have about 70 volunteers we rely one, but every year it works out that a few can't make that weekend. It would be nice if we had the option for more stuff on our badges. How about a giant map of "pins" where everyone is from? Luca and Gianfranco would certainly have stood out even more. I have made a committment to Luke and his sibs to support GC in any way I can so I guess that means I'll be back next year if Melf wants me back. (After his ignominious end in Circvs and what I did to him in my adventure, he may not....)
I too will be surprised if he shows his face in the Circus Maximus again. I didn't hear about your adventure however... do tell.
Heh, Tim - is it true that Luke's driver was run over about 6 times??? That's astounding and hilarious. I imagine the spectators were in an uproar and cheering loudly every time it happened. Dangerous place, that Circus Maximus!!
I believe it was 5, but I may have missed one. He did it to himself; I felt really bad about it, but consoled myself with the knowledge that I had clarified the rule at least three times previously. As for details of the adventures, check out my thread at Dragonsfoot where I'm writing and posting my annual Trek to LG account. http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=23223&start=2265
I did have one thing that Kaskoid's post made me think about.....Handicap accessibility. I know they had a handicap elevator but it would have been nice if the hotel had it marked a bit better. (I've been thinking on this particular issue because I've been having to do some handicap audits of some churches and let's just say the result hasn't been pretty. Even the one's that have access aren't necessarily that friendly. Access, I've found out, doesn't just mean access it also means ease of use.) FWIW GP
I had an amazing time! The lodge was a pretty cool place, and I loved the feel of GaryCon. Its hard to explain, but everything seemed to come back to the love of the game. Yes, breaks between slots! At almost every game that I played, we waited ten minutes for people to drift over from their previous event. It only makes sense to me to space events out. I'm not just going to an event like GaryCon to play. As many people have stated, we can use the extra time to eat, check out the vendors, or socialize. I want to thank the veteran DMs in particular for coming. I was just happy to meet so many of you. I'll take partial blame for bailing out on Frank's event, after the auction. I had a ticket for "Falx", but I knew that when the auction ran long, I'd miss part of it. I wish I had cash that I could have spent on the auction. If I had, I would have spent it. Thank You, Jeff Easley. I've always admired your artwork, and I was so dumbstruck to be able to shake your hand and try to say something intelligible. Thanks to the GMs who put together that car race game, and so many of the other games that I didn't get a chance to try this year. One of the coolest things for me was seeing games that I never knew existed being played on such large scales. I'll be more adventurous next year. Big thanks to the organizers for being so friendly and welcoming. You set the tone that made the event great. I can't wait until next year. Simply awesome.
The Circus Maximus event is not all that important we can move on to other topics (grumble, grumble).
LOL........ Look at the bright side: Lucious Maximus was obviously good luck - the first person to run over you ended up winning the race. It's like your mojo rubbed off. Albeit, on the hooves and wheels . . . All my respect, James, coming in last among the living, Circus Maximus 2010
That's not a subject either! Hmmmm, maybe we shouldn't talk about games at all. I got my butt kicked this Gary Con I will just have to make up for it this year
One thing I'm considering for GC3 is bringing the whole family. Is there any chance of getting a "non-participant" badge for my wife and kids, so they can come down to the con area? What I had in mind is a reduced price badge, say for $10, which got no event tickets, or perhaps 1 general/generic ticket. If this adds to much complexity/clutter to the reg system, I totally understand, but I think this would be a great addition for many of us, and would bring in a little bit more cash for the Con.
Wow. This would definitely classify as "New School" con. Certainly not a consideration we had way back when... I think it's GREAT!
Some people would say that they prefer their kids attend an old school. Of course, my father had me wanting to attend Gencon as an excuse to drive me to Lake Geneva in the mid-seventies to the Playboy Club.
Thanks to everyone for making the con as great as it was. The first day I was gaming solid for over 12 hours and each of those were prereg games. I definitely cooled off for Saturday and Sunday when lack of sleep kicked in. There have been many good suggestions for the next con. One thing I didn't see mentioned was the ability to know the games one was registered for before Friday morning. It couldn't have been my fault, so it must have been the alcohol Thursday night that made Friday morning so tough. There was an outside chance I was in a Fri 9am game and when it came through, I wasn't in much shape for it. Another possibility might be a dinner break during the evening sessions. Maybe an hour? I know I left early one night to go out. I'd love it if there were more Sunday events too, to give folks a reason to stick around and see what's going on in the morning. Games by that time are generally tough too, but even a movie room with cartoons, D&D stuff, whatever would be a nice change and let kids have something to do when they beat their parents awake.
