On Wednesday, I'm heading to GenCon in Indianapolis. I had a great time when I was there before, and I'm looking forward to attending this year.
Here's what you need to know, from GenCon:
Wil will be signing autographs in the Autograph Area of the Exhibit Hall, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday morning. Check local signage for exact times.
I hope that I'll have some time to do a True Dungeon run (since I killed a dragon the last time I was there), and I also hope that I'll return with lots of new games to consider for Tabletop. If you feel like tipping me off to something new and awesome, feel free to do it in the comments.
If you are coming to meet me, and want to give me some dice to add to my growing collection (it's for science!), I'd love to receive them.
Finally, this is an important thing I have to restate at least once a year:
I got the Swine Flu at PAX Prime, and it was the worst two weeks of my life. When we went to PAX East, all of us (Jerry, Mike, Kurtz, Straub, Paul and Storm, The Professor and Mary Ann) all agreed that we wouldn't shake hands, give hugs, or engage in human contact with people, to limit the introduction of infection vectors. Most people understood, and we gave each other the old Iron Guard Salute (not the fascist thing, the gaming thing that looks like like "love" in ASL). The result: a few people were cheesed off, but none of us were too upset about that, because none of us got sick. It was the first con I've gone to in my whole life where I didn't get some form of Con Crud, and I'd like to repeat that until we turn out the lights on Planet Earth. So, tl;dr: I'm not going to touch people at the con. I know it seems weird, but I hope you understand why. I'm not trying to be a dick, I'm trying not to get sick.
A non-zero number of readers seem to have a real problem with this, and people on the rest of the Internets are already giving me a hard time about it in very unkind terms. This makes me really sad; I hoped for a little more empathy and understanding. Not that it should matter, but I have Epstein-Barr, so my immune system isn't as robust as a normal person's; it is very easy for me to catch viruses and other nasty things. I'm not going to apologize for not wanting to get sick, especially after two weeks of Swine Flu. If you can't understand that, it's your problem, not mine.
Back to happier things: I'm going to bring some Tabletop posters, and a few of those silly 3 Wheaton Moon posters. I'll also have the usual collection of 8x10s.
The best part of GenCon last time I attended — other than slaying the dragon, of course — was the time I spent talking with people and geeking out about the games we love. That's actually what I love about nerd cons in general, that we can let our geek flags fly without feeling even a little self conscious about it. I'm really looking forward to doing that again.
In addition to True Dungeon, I hope to have a Fiasco with some friends, find a Parsley RPG to play (or at least watch), get a new Utilikilt, and — of course — come home with lots and lots of dice.
Nice, Arkham Horror is definitely one of my favorite games of all time. A multi-episode special on that would be terrific.
I suggest a surgical mask, some large rubber gloves (dish washing type), some safety goggles, a large bucket, and a bottle of bleach. If nothing else, it should make for some interesting photos!
I think we’re actually going to make it! I am so excited. I have at least one extra set of D&D dice around here somewhere, so you can have those.
So excited! Also, since this is our first major con, TERRIFIED. But in a good way!
Please stop by the Game Crafter booth (#2041) to try out my brother’s game, Battle!. He designed it when he was 10 and has been revising it ever since (he’s now 24). It actually won the Game Design Contest at Geekway to the West. He’ll be manning the booth 10-2 on Saturday, which I know conflicts at least partially with your schedule. But it’s a great game, and I think you’d enjoy it.
I’m actually going this year just to meet you! This will be my very first Con. Ever. Eeeh, boy.
Come to Austin Con in October and not only with the weather be beautiful but I will make sure to give you some dice for your collection 🙂
It was great meeting you at Gen Con Wil! And thank you for the blessing on my d6.
It was a pleasure meeting you at GenCon. On your advice I did get the Fiasco Companion. Thanks for everything. I hope you enjoyed the con as much as I did.
If you have not checked it out maybe give Mana Punk a try. I know the guys who are putting it together and they are a great group. Check them out at http://mana-punk.com/
Wil – is there anywhere else to buy the 3 Wheaton posters?
I think you can get them at sharksplode.com. If you can't find them
there, your best bet is to get one from me at a con.
I suppose, if there's enough demand, I could do a one-day sale of them
here, taking orders through PayPal or something.
Speaking of Cons: How do you decide which ones to go to? Do you get contacted by staff?