It's only fitting with The Con raging as I write this that is dictates the question. When you go to cons what do you do you mostly go for?
To buy a bunch of stuff?
To play in some games?
To meet other gamers? (getting stinky drunk is optional)
To meet girls dressed up in interesting costumes? (looking at Trey)
Or to dive into Chessex's giant dice bin?
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Until recently, I would have said mostly to buy a bunch of stuff.
ReplyDeleteEven when I went to Dragon*Con, which definitely has an excess of girls dressed up in interesting costumes, I was most interested in the vendors room.
Lately, I think I'm more interested in playing some games.
Girls go to cons now? Geez, where were they thirty years ago?
ReplyDelete@Sean: Mostly: Not even born... ;)
ReplyDeleteAll of the above.
I'm with Danjou's Hand. When I've gone before I mostly wanted to buy stuff. I'm thinking next time I go to one it'll be more for playing than for buying.
ReplyDeleteFor me it's about soaking it all up. Playing or running games not usually played or with new people or unusual setups is perfect, if the event is long enough that it doesn't mean missing too much else by doing it. Seminars or open rooms can be interesting if it's about more than just previews.
ReplyDeleteAs for the dressing up, girls or not, it's just good to see people letting it hang out, living the things they like for the time they're there.
I would like to see more gaming and fiction integrated into the fabric of cons, not so much competitions or larping as much as the kind of interactions you can get with strangers who aren't really strangers.
I've never actually been to a con. I feel like such an outcast.
ReplyDeleteDrowning in dice = dying happy.
ReplyDeletePlay games and buy lots of stuff! :)
ReplyDeleteThe last time I went to a gaming con, I spent the entire time playing games. However, it felt empty to me. It was that experience that led me to look back to the idea of the ongoing campaign instead of the one-off game. As a result, I don't know why I'd go to a gaming con anymore. It's something I need to work through in my head before I go back.
ReplyDeleteTo play in some games (and to run some, too).
ReplyDelete"Or to dive into Chessex's giant dice bin?"
ReplyDeleteIs that like the ball pit you find at some McDonalds and Burger kings? Where the last thing you want to find is a layer of wet balls at the bottom?
To run my games with complete strangers.
ReplyDelete... and drink a lot of beer.
ReplyDeleteI've never been to open cons, though I've been to a few LARP ones that were part of a persistent campaign.
ReplyDelete