10 Things We're Excited About at Gen Con 2014

We’re off to GenCon next week (how is it next week already?!) and we wanted to run down some of the things we’re most looking forward to and why!

Here’s ten, in no particular order…

LARPs! – Or larps, depending on where you come from. Live Action Roleplay is how we met, in the misty days of Vampire: The Masquerade‘s prominence in Toronto, and it’s nice to get out and play different and homebrew settings. There’s a lot of LARPing at GenCon, but we’re “only” playing three.

There’s something really enjoyable about physically enacting another person for an evening… as all secret actors know. Also, Gary never gets to PLAY a LARP, so he enjoys that, and the opportunity to see how other people run their games.

Seminars! – Are not at all dull, and if you love thinking about and discussing your hobby (and what geeks don’t?), they’re the place for you. They’re also an awesome opportunity to learn from people with different experiences in running and making games — and now, crowdfunding games.

First Exposure Playtest Hall! – Double Exposure has created an area at the con where designers and publishers can offer their prototypes for playtesting, and attendees can get FREE tickets to play new concepts with aspects they’re interested in. It’s a great deal, AND you’re helping someone make their game better. Feel good!

Games On Demand! – 210 RPGs & LARPs, 46 Hrs, 25 Tables, 70 GMs, No Registration, No Planning! Wow! Want to play, just show up 10 minutes before a slot. No experience necessary. If you don’t like to plan, the Marriott is the place to be. (Actually, the Marriott really IS the place to be… they’ll have the 24hr Starbucks!)

Parties! – In Nicole’s past at GenCon, she was not only a cage dancer at an excellent party, but convinced others to join her in free-alcohol-fueled debauchery. That was many, many years ago, but we still enjoy what GenCon offers in terms of parties. We’ll be kicking things off with the Wizards of the Coast on Friday night at the draconic-themed gathering below (unless there is a Thursday party. We’ll still go, we’ll just be kicking off things then):

New Tech! – There’s a move toward making pencil-and-paper RPGs paperless and migrating some of the work of rule adjudication and die rolling onto our mobile devices. A few companies are bringing their new projects to GenCon. Oomba tweaks Nicole’s TV-gamification senses, and we’ll be getting a look at Golem Arcana, from Harebrained Schemes, which has a tech and IRL component.

(Here’s a great overview from VentureBeat.)

Food Trucks! – We like food, and support food trucks! We love ’em, so we’re hoping to try as many as possible. We’ll see how the lines are, as there’s been mixed reports from previous GenCons.

Cosplay! – Love seeing all the costumes. Love cosplayers. We’ll be in costume on Saturday as the PPDC’s Canadian Jaeger pilots from Pacific Rim.

It’ll be a new thing for Gary!

Dealers Floor (Shopping!) – It’s probably the best place to find a steel-boned corset that fits, say, or anything else that’s gaming-related and difficult to find. And even if you’re not looking for anything, something will find you. Trust. There are skilled artisans and business people there to sell you nerd gear. And they will. (And games! All the games!)

Nerds! – Gen Con, by virtue of being the biggest four… five… etc days in gaming, is a crossroads for nerds – so it’s a great place to run into old friends and catch up on how life is going. While it may seem like the activity of everything going on would preclude socializing, it’s one of the best parts of the con for us. If you want to run into us, check out where we’ll be!Hope to see you there! Share whatever you’re excited about with us!