Is it worth it for me to go to GenCon?

[Mr Migraine]

I live in Florida, the only game I really play is Heroscape.

Would it be worthwhile for me to GenCon next summer, considering the monetary and time costs?

Thanks.

[Cavalier]

I live in Florida, the only game I really play is Heroscape.

Would it be worthwhile for me to GenCon next summer, considering the monetary and time costs?

Thanks.
Only you can answer that. I know of a few people who are GenCon regulars who only play Scape. I know others who play a variety of games and yet do not feel they can justify the GenCon expenses.

There are a lot of HS related events at GenCon and a Scaper can fill his time there easily. And you never know what other gaming addiction you might develope surrounded by all that plastic and cardboard.

[Draconious]

If you can afford about $500 to play heroscape for 4 days... go for it. (thats what it wound up costing me last time)

[Grungebob]

I live in Florida, the only game I really play is Heroscape.

Would it be worthwhile for me to GenCon next summer, considering the monetary and time costs?

Thanks.Nope! Don't go.

[Mr Migraine]

Okay, thanks guys. Any other opinions?

[Hahnarama]

If you can afford about $500 to play heroscape for 4 days... go for it. (thats what it wound up costing me last time)

$500 that's chump change.

[Gulp]

GenCon is SOOO much fun as long as you just get a room within walking distance and hang out with the people you meet while playing scape or other games. If you decide that you want to spend the money, which $500 sounds about right if you have to get rooms each night, then you'll have fun.

I'm already looking forward to GenCon and I've probably thought about it three times this week, just starting to plan my money. Be ready to put some money on rooms in.... March? (when is a good time to reserve a room?)

[Hahnarama]

If you want a room downtown you need to get it the first 30 minutes of :gencon: room reg.

Tix normally go on sale the first Sun in Feb and then on Monday they open up the code word room registration.

and for the record I dropped $1200 last year @ GC.

[Onacara]

If you want a room downtown you need to get it the first 30 minutes of :gencon: room reg.

Tix normally go on sale the first Sun in Feb and then on Monday they open up the code word room registration.

and for the record I dropped $1200 last year @ GC.

But $1100 of that was on beer Hahn

[Hahnarama]

Hey I hardly drank any beer last year. 3 Growlers and about 5 pints.

It was mostly aged Rum, Mojitos, and vondka for me last year.

[Gulp]

Oh crap, good call Onacara. I forgot about the Hahn curve. Economist are still studying the curve, but basically, if you hang out with Hahnarama apparently you need a few extra bucks. I personally have only recently become acquainted with Hahnecomics, but I look forward to learning more in about nine months. :)

[wdgrant]

I think it depends on how much you enjoy the whole spectacle of GenCon. I live close, so don't have the dilemma you do. If the positions were reversed, I would still plan on being there every year.

I really enjoy the chance to try new games though. I spent about 1 or 1 1/2 days scaping, and the rest checking out stuff I couldn't play without buying otherwise. The demos and library are fantastic for trying out new stuff. If you would be open to at least trying that, I highly recommend it. If not, don't go. I would say at least try it once. If you don't mind a packed room, and can find people via this site to room with, you can do it on the cheap. I think maybe even $250-300. My first GenCon (when it was in Milwaukee), I had all of $25 in my pocket after tickets and room costs. I brought things I could eat, and played for free with different people that were there casual gaming. Had a blast.

That's my opinion, for what it is worth.

[Hahnarama]

Oh crap, good call Onacara. I forgot about the Hahn curve. Economist are still studying the curve, but basically, if you hang out with Hahnarama apparently you need a few extra bucks. I personally have only recently become acquainted with Hahnecomics, but I look forward to learning more in about nine months. :)

If you can't run with the BIG DOG stay home on the front porch.

This rambling was brought to you by Goose Island's new Mild Winter. A good mild Rye based ale..toffee brown with a good creamy head,carmel maly and rye.....Hmmm tasty.

[Onacara]

Oh crap, good call Onacara. I forgot about the Hahn curve. Economist are still studying the curve, but basically, if you hang out with Hahnarama apparently you need a few extra bucks. I personally have only recently become acquainted with Hahnecomics, but I look forward to learning more in about nine months. :)

If you can't run with the BIG DOG stay home on the front porch.

This rambling was brought to you by Goose Island's new Mild Winter. A good mild Rye based ale..toffee brown with a good creamy head,carmel maly and rye.....Hmmm tasty.

Hahn...you really need to start a Micro Brew Blog...I'm not even kidding because every beer you recommended so far has been a winner.

Do they sell Buttface Ale anywhere but at The Ram itself?

[Hahnarama]

ButtFace is a Ram only.

On Saturday me and some of my bros-in-law are going to

http://www.threefloydspub.com/

If you can find GumBallHead or Alpha King I HIGHLY recommend them.

:hijacked:

[EternalThanos86]

How much does it cost if you don't stay in a hotel? I'm assuming that I would be paying for food, gas, tix, and anything I would buy. What else would cost me money?

~ET86

[Onacara]

How much does it cost if you don't stay in a hotel? I'm assuming that I would be paying for food, gas, tix, and anything I would buy. What else would cost me money?

~ET86


The individual events cost money. Plus the round of drinks you are required to buy the senior members of the site.

Look in all honesty GenCon is what you make of it. All of the fun and laughs I had after hours hanging out with some fun people from this site made it worth every penny I spent.

PS...BATTLESTAR GALLACTICA IS THE BEST GAME EVER!!!!!!!!!!

[Lord Pyre]

I really want to go, and I think I could raise the money, but it's the trip that's really killing me. If it's in Milwaukee, I'd be going, no question. But Indianapolis? It seems to close to fly to, but still a long car drive. And there's nothing else there that my family would want to go to, as I'm sure they wouldn't want to spend the cash and go in the convention, and I don't want to drive by myself...

I dunno. I want to go, but I'm still not sure...

[EternalThanos86]

The individual events cost money. Plus the round of drinks you are required to buy the senior members of the site.

Look in all honesty GenCon is what you make of it. All of the fun and laughs I had after hours hanging out with some fun people from this site made it worth every penny I spent.

PS...BATTLESTAR GALLACTICA IS THE BEST GAME EVER!!!!!!!!!!

...oh my...I think that is enough to make me go broke. Who counts as a senior member? According to the almighty Smilies:
:bunjee: :funrun: :gencon: :gb: :nether: :mal: :ninja: :odb: :truth: (plus Revdyer, he deserves a smiley)

Anyway, thanks for the quick response. More specifically, what do individual HS events cost?

[wdgrant]

I really want to go, and I think I could raise the money, but it's the trip that's really killing me. If it's in Milwaukee, I'd be going, no question. But Indianapolis? It seems to close to fly to, but still a long car drive. And there's nothing else there that my family would want to go to, as I'm sure they wouldn't want to spend the cash and go in the convention, and I don't want to drive by myself...

I dunno. I want to go, but I'm still not sure...

You should find some other folks to ride with. I'm sure a good sized contingent come down from Milwaukee, seeing as it was the original home of GenCon. Worst case, there is a good Chicago group on this site that was at GenCon last year. Put up a thread and find some people. Save on gas money and share driving. More money for Onacara's beer tab.

[Gulp]

I really want to go, and I think I could raise the money, but it's the trip that's really killing me. If it's in Milwaukee, I'd be going, no question. But Indianapolis? It seems to close to fly to, but still a long car drive. And there's nothing else there that my family would want to go to, as I'm sure they wouldn't want to spend the cash and go in the convention, and I don't want to drive by myself...

I dunno. I want to go, but I'm still not sure...

Just tell your family that you have to work REALLY late, so late that you won't be home until four days later.

A long car drive is fun, and that's about six hours (guessing). Find an audiobook of something you've always wanted to read, and there ya go. I drive a lot, and very long distances, and audiobooks make it pretty fun.

[Rÿchean]

More specifically, what do individual HS events cost?
The events took a major hike last year when they went from being privately run by us to being run by Pasttimes for WotC.

We have no way of knowing what the price for events in August of 2009 will be in Dec of 2008.

If last year is an indication, events will be between $8-$20 each depending.

[Jexik]

I spent 65 bucks on the GenCon pass last year.
~65 more bucks to play in 23 games of heroscape tournaments (6 events including the main event) Won 0 prizes aside from 6 free Skahens. I'll probably play in fewer events next year so I can look at more stuff.
~My share was 200 dollars for 3 nights at a hotel split two ways (but we booked ours late, and got one that was a 15 minute drive away. Sweet room though).
~50 dollars on gas.
~50 dollars on Tomb of Ice, the Descent expansion.

So my expenses were about $430 dollars I guess, plus a few nights of restaurant food/beer, so closer to 500. I think food, transportation, and hotel are the biggest expenses, but also the easiest to budget or limit yourself, if you want to.

I'll also point out that I mostly went just for Heroscape, and I felt it was definitely worth it. But since I bought a Descent expansion, you can see that I had other interests in the back of my mind. We'll see how the support for HS is this year.

[wdgrant]

Honestly, something I didn't think about when I posted earlier. If they still keep with the trend of new promo figures at GenCon, you can make up a decent chunk of your cost in selling the figs. People on this site were offering a fair amount, and there is always ebay.

[Codeman]

I really want to go, and I think I could raise the money, but it's the trip that's really killing me. If it's in Milwaukee, I'd be going, no question. But Indianapolis? It seems to close to fly to, but still a long car drive. And there's nothing else there that my family would want to go to, as I'm sure they wouldn't want to spend the cash and go in the convention, and I don't want to drive by myself...

I dunno. I want to go, but I'm still not sure...

So did you go when Gen-Con was in Milwaukee?
It can't be too bad of a road trip all you really have is Chicago in the way... once your past that you should be home free. It is about an 8 hour drive from North Central Iowa, and I don't think that is too bad... If I flew I might save an hour or two but that is if the flight isn't delayed or other problems....

[damja]

How much does it cost if you don't stay in a hotel? I'm assuming that I would be paying for food, gas, tix, and anything I would buy. What else would cost me money?

~ET86


The individual events cost money. Plus the round of drinks you are required to buy the senior members of the site.

Look in all honesty GenCon is what you make of it. All of the fun and laughs I had after hours hanging out with some fun people from this site made it worth every penny I spent.

PS...BATTLESTAR GALLACTICA IS THE BEST GAME EVER!!!!!!!!!!
Yes it is, sir.

Yes it is.

[skyknight]

If you want a room downtown you need to get it the first 30 minutes of :gencon: room reg.

Tix normally go on sale the first Sun in Feb and then on Monday they open up the code word room registration.

and for the record I dropped $1200 last year @ GC.Thtas just about the same for me as well...and every penny I spent was worth it. I LOVE GENCON!!!!!!!!!!!

[Mr Migraine]

If you want a room downtown you need to get it the first 30 minutes of :gencon: room reg.

Tix normally go on sale the first Sun in Feb and then on Monday they open up the code word room registration.

and for the record I dropped $1200 last year @ GC.Thtas just about the same for me as well...and every penny I spent was worth it. I LOVE GENCON!!!!!!!!!!!

Yep. We've decided to go next year.

[KCU Master 2007]

We want to go really bad, but we're trying to figure out how to pay for it. A Taco Bell check and library work study check only go so far.

We'll see what we can do. Although, if its just me, that might change it a little bit.

[Worseley]

I got by pretty cheap at GenCon in August, it was a last minute decision to go but I had a blast.

I got lucky and found a really good hotel (though 10 minutes away) for $25 a night off Priceline. Bidding on there really saved me some money, the same hotel would have costed us $70 a night normally. (THIS wasn't a flea bag hotel either, the rooms were huge and had a full kitchen/stove to cook).

We planned it so our hotel had a Full Kitchen where we could make meals when we wanted too. Ussually for lunch we'd use some Restaurant.com gift certificates were, with the right promo codes you can grab $25 gift cards for $2 (when they're 80% off). There are a absolute TON of great places within 2-3 blocks of the convention center that are on that site. DEFINITELY try the BBQ joint a couple blocks away, for lunch you'll get way to much food and they're drinks pretty strong too.

Hotel 4xdays $125 after taxes/fees
4 Restaurant.com GC were $8
Parking 4x days was around $12 (but 3 blocks away)
Events were probably $120 total, I'll double this next year though :P

Of course I split hotel costs 3 ways but the room was big enough for a Queen inflatable and probably another twin without much effort. So splitting it with friends isn't much hassle.

In the end, I like to think that GenCon was free. I was able to get several GenCon Promos which i traded for Scape that would have costed me more in the end.

Definitely go guys!
Especially if you can get $25 in margaritas and BBQ for $2!

[S1R_ART0R1US]

I would like to go to GenCon, but airfare itself is around $400 round trip. Add on a place to stay (although I would probably be fine with somebody's closet or something :P), and GenCon suddenly becomes really expensive, at least the value of my entire 'scape collection.

I don't know if I'll decide to go, but it would be a nice thing to do for my senior summer.

[Lord Pyre]

I really want to go, and I think I could raise the money, but it's the trip that's really killing me. If it's in Milwaukee, I'd be going, no question. But Indianapolis? It seems to close to fly to, but still a long car drive. And there's nothing else there that my family would want to go to, as I'm sure they wouldn't want to spend the cash and go in the convention, and I don't want to drive by myself...

I dunno. I want to go, but I'm still not sure...

So did you go when Gen-Con was in Milwaukee?

I really only got into gaming a few years ago, and last year was the only time I probably could've gone. Ran out of time and didn't have the money.
This year's still up in the air, though....

[Cleon]

I would like to go to GenCon, but airfare itself is around $400 round trip. Add on a place to stay (although I would probably be fine with somebody's closet or something :P), and GenCon suddenly becomes really expensive, at least the value of my entire 'scape collection.

I don't know if I'll decide to go, but it would be a nice thing to do for my senior summer.

Yes, it is expensive. I spend around $200 (usually the peek of my periods for money-saving) at GenCon for Heroscape, VixenTor Dice models (towers, boxes) and accessories, GenCon T-Shirt + other merchandise, and my spending money from my dad (which is really the whole trip) on tournaments. Last year (2008 ) I didn't spend as much as 2007 because there were no new Heroscape sets, but I guess the amount of tournaments we were in made up for it. :) .

By the way, this year, 2009, I am practicing with my camera more, and now I got a very nice video camera for Christmas. I'll be taking much more pics and will take some videos for everyone. I usually stay away from battle reports because I can't remember every detail and every opponent, especially ones who don't have a ser name here. So look forward to my new reports featuring more pics, descriptions, videos, reviews, thanks, and as always my dad and I's tournament scores/results + armies.

Hopefully I can update, finally finish, and come up with a format of all my tournament reports. I have a portion of my GenCon 08' up that I'll have to update, and do a GenCon 07' one with my experience, and for non-GenCon I will post my Wave 7 - 8.5 Draft report (small), my Birthday Tourney 08' Report, and my NHSD (NESA) report.

[No, David, No]

Short answer yes! Cough_drops and I made our first multi-day visit last year. We had a free place to crash, so our expenses were minimal. Probably have to stay in a hotel this year, but we still plan to attend.

[Malicain]

I went to Gencon 2008 with my wife and 2 year old daughter. We stayed at the Adam Mark Hotel out by the airport. I drove to Indianapolis from Richmond, Virginia, it was a 10 hour trip.

It was my first time at Gencon and it was a blast, even for my non gamer wife who enjoyed the presses of standing at the door in the mourning in line to get the Skahen promo (we got 3), and the Magic the gathering Dragon set. I did learn some lessons though. First off I will leave my toddler at home with Grandma. I will get a room close to the event this time as I had to pay for parking, and not knowing much about the area hurt because I spent allot of money parking, (at least 60 bucks). I will buy food from the local supermarket. I will not buy every game I see.

I did not play any games while I was there except the WOW miniature demo. I plan to change that this year. I want to get in some scape for sure.

I would say with the cost of hotels, food, gas, parking, and games I spent about 2 grand, but I was not paying to much attention to the money as I was focused on fun. :D

I will be more frugal this year.

I can’t wait to go again.

[Worseley]

I will get a room close to the event this time as I had to pay for parking, and not knowing much about the area hurt because I spent allot of money parking, (at least 60 bucks).

There is a place 3 blocks east of the Convention Center that charges $3 for parking, the walk wasn't bad considering all that you do at GenCon but I was the nice guy and dropped everyone off at the center and walked back by myself.

Just make sure everyone remembers their backpacks though!!!! 2nd day we were so rushed to get there that 2 other people forgot their bags... Lugging 3 full backpacks 3 blocks about killed me.

[SuperflyTNT]

I am going, for sure, and from what everyone has told me, it is better than anything else you could spend a grand on. :D

[RoninValentina]

Hey all. I was pretty interested in going last year but didn't have it together enough to make it happen. This year will be different. I know that badge registration starts this Sunday, and Hotel reg the following Tuesday. I wanted to ask about the latter process as a first time attendee- So you get a badge and with it you get a housing code. On Tuesday, do you just mob the phoneline of the hotel you want to stay at until you get a booking or it fills up? Or is the process a little more elegant than that?

[Hahnarama]

Buy your badge.

Sometime Tues before 12 Noon Eastern you will receive the URL and the pass code for hotel rooms.

Don't even bother to call the downtown hotels directly to book rooms. They are all blocked out, via the Indy Convo Center. The only way you will get a room that way is if you have a frequent guest card with said hotel chain.

[RoninValentina]

Thanks, Hahn.

[Hahnarama]

One other piece of advice, especially for folks who have gone in years past. GC has a new database. You have to create a new login and ID. I am betting that it will be a bottle neck on Sunday because a lot of folks haven't done so yet. To be honest it's been a cluster F@%$. It took me 7 calls and 2 faxes to get my old account credits applied to my new account.

[Arcus]

Last year was my first and I'm dying to go back. I went with 2 buddies and it cost me about $1000. I played in 4 heroscape events and I had a lot of fun. I met some people that were really cool and a few I would have liked to taken outback and beaten the tar out of (especially the guy that got up in the middle of our Heroscape game just to start another one so he could get his Agent figure and then told me I probably wouldn't have beaten him anyway - I really hope I get to see you this year :twisted:) but then again, that probably happens at a lot of big tournaments.

All n all, it was a blast and there is sooo much to do. You can literally stay up all night playing games and doing stuff if you wanted. Once you get there, you pick up one of the event books and plan out your 4 days.

I almost forgot, the bar scene is pretty cool too. Some nice brews on tap at the local bars.
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[Hendal]

Arcus - I am sorry that happened, that so sucks, I really only saw one person raise his voice, and not very loud, so I was lucky to deal with only cool people ( well except that Lonewolf guy who just happen to have the very bothersome habit of beating me down like a dog ).

I have been reading over my booklet from last year and see oh how very much I missed, I am there Wend. night will get my book and will read it like it is m life and find some cool things I had no clue was there and make sure I do them this year.

The Open Game library with over 400 games open 24/7 is where I am mst likely to be besides the Heroscape section.

[wdgrant]

I highly recommend taking advantage of the game library. I have a group of friends that basically spend all their time in the library. For a couple bucks, they check out a game they have never played and go at it. A great way to try before you buy.

That is how I finally got a chance to play Race for the Galaxy. It was an immediate buy afterwards, and I never regretted it.

I also got to play a light Steve Jackson game, Ninja Burger. A fun little game, but the jokes probably turn stale after playing a few times. The game is perfect for "renting." I would tire of it if I owned it, but was glad to get a game in and have some laughs.