Thursday was day one of Gencon Oz 2009. Oh, I'm so tired... so very, very tired. But I love it!
Something I enjoyed about last year's inaugural Gencon Oz was the number of old friends that I bumped into over the weekend and I was hoping the same would happen this year. To my surprise as I approached the registration queue I immediately saw some of my oldest friends (who to my shame I have failed to keep in touch with). Sadly they were lamenting their lack of blue wrist band which would allow them access to the convention, more on this later.
Whilst chatting with them a few other friends from different circles began to wander past and soon enough I was carefully maneuvering to maintain conversations with each pod (and facilitate introductions as best I could). It's not so much a claim of popularity, more a reflection of gamers who like each other clinging together - and with my poor friendship maintenance I have managed to accumulate sticky with a few different circles of gamers as I pass in and out of other people's games.
Speaking of casual gaming my event for the day was a double session of RPGA; part one of the "mini campaign" on offer: Stirring the Embers.
Preparing to beat up some rowdy halflings who are speedbumping our access to The Next Bit of The Module
(Click on image for a slightly larger version)
Our party consisted of a Swordmage and Dragonborn Paladin on the frontline followed by a Bladeling Monk and Dwarf Artificer. In the backrow was a Sorceress and myself playing the Dwarf Cleric mentioned in an earlier post. The balance worked better than I expected; two protectors, two healers and two strikers - this gave us the option of either sticking together or splitting into two mini-parties to approach bad guys from the flanks. From memory the Dragonborn's breath weapon and Bladeling's burst attack made for impressive minion-sweeps - as did the Artificer's wall of acid!
The players were all polite and worked together well. There was a minimum of player fuss and most of the focus was kept on the game itself. Overall I would love to play with these players again - and at least three are signed on for part two of the "mini campaign" scheduled for Friday (day 2) as I am. We may not be playing together at the same table but I have my fingers crossed.
And now for some negatives :P
I was a little surprised to see that there was no carpet this year. It seems like a minor detail but I was immediately reminded of someone telling me that if you want to change the clientele of your pub you change the carpet. I'm not sure what bare cement with black tire marks from countless forklifts/cherrypickers/trolleys suggests to others but it made me feel like I was in a Titan shed and Fight Club was about to start (perhaps it is a deliberate attempt to extend on an "arena" feel). As far as costcutting goes it makes sense to skip the presumed additional venue-imposed price of carpet rather than lose something more important such as interesting guests. A minor gripe but something that stood out and was noted by many other than myself.
A more frustrating gripe follows. As mentioned above one group of my friends, who had not realised Thursday was an extra day only for those who had pre-registered before deadline, arrived with the expectation that they would be able to buy their blue wrist band at the door and enter. Sadly they were told by the volunteer staff that there was nothing that could be done to let them in - this is harsh but perhaps reasonable enough, after all it is a bonus day that functions as an incentive to attract early registrations and if we "just let anybody in" it stops functioning as an incentive. However I would prefer it if everyone that made the effort to come over to Gencon on Thursday be permitted to pay at the door and come in to play a game, particularly when those people are my friends (yes, I'm biased), particularly when the space needed more people to fill it out and particularly when other people who had not pre-registered were allowed in. It's something that I could otherwise let slide, but when a few hours later I learned that other people in exactly the same situation as my friends were allowed access to the convention - after my friends had been turned away - I'm sure anyone reading this could appreciate my frustration.
To further rub salt in the wound (if I may!) one of the events they had in their sights was the RPGA "Ultimate Dungeon Delve"... for which two tables of players did not show up - leaving DMs idle!
I appreciate that technically they shouldn't have had access - but when exceptions are made for others on criteria that my friends equally met it builds negativity.
Still, the lack of carpet and unfair treatment of friends aside, I did enjoy my Thursday at Gencon Oz. Today (Friday) promises to be better with more players in the space, more buzz and having the Trade Hall set up and running ~ time for some shopping!
As I have just come off my nightshift after very little sleep yesterday I am going to pass on this morning's game "Shield Wall". This is disappointing as I like the game that is used in this session (Feng Shui) and it was the only non-RPGA roleplay event that I had signed on for. As it is I've got just enough time for a few hours sleep before I dive back in.
Mercifully the lovely Emily has offered to pick me up tonight, so no walk home for me :)
Update; the Trade Hall has carpet, so only half of the convention is cold cement. It doesn't seem so bad now that both halves are open - but it was very stark on Thursday when only the gaming arena was unlocked.
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