My first reaction feels like a cop-out answer. I just want to see it. I want to see for myself what 30,000 geeks in the same building looks like. I want to walk along the rows and rows of displays and booths and whatnot. I want to experience it. It's hard to be more specific than that, really, but that's a lame answer by itself, so I'll try anyway. Quantification, as they say, is the sincerest form of flattery.* And as an added bonus I'll finish the hat trick with a third consecutive enlistified post! Whee!
- I'm looking forward to trying role-playing with some people I don't know. I'm a fiercely introverted person; I'd always rather do things with people I already know and I don't make new friends easily or quickly. My entire role-playing experience, therefore, has been with a total of maybe a dozen other people: two small groups (one in high school, one in (and since) college) that played together for extended periods of time. One of the big attractions at Gen Con is a chance to sit down with a group of strangers and try my hand at being part of a new group. I'm nervous and excited about that all at once. Nervous because it will be weird, and I'll bet that it will be hard to role-play correctly with a group of people I don't know, and there's a huge logistic difference between sitting around a kitchen table and sitting in a room with 200 tables each with a game going on. Excited because it will be a new role-playing experience. I think I'd like to try a couple of systems over my time there. Play D&D or Deadlands once and something I've no experience at all with once. Maybe that will change as we get closer to (ahem) 4/20, but right now I think that's about all my feeble little system will be able to handle.
- I'm looking forward to the trip itself. I've never been to Indianapolis and, as we've already mentioned a few times, our housing situation will afford us a chance to see quite a bit more of the town than those whose hotels are skywalk-linked to the Convention Center. I think it'll be fun to bus in and taxi back out, and I'm definitely looking forward to the road trip out and back with Pat. Durango and the Highlander (aka The BotCP) ride again! Yababbo!
- I'm looking forward to meeting some authors and seeing some celebrities. I first read The Dragonlance Chronicles in 1990 and I've gone through many many more books like them since. Meeting the creators of these worlds and getting a book or two signed is a huge draw.
- I'm really looking forward to walking the floor of the Main Hall, or Display Hall, or Vendor Hall, or whatever they call it - the giant room with hundreds upon hundreds of vendors displaying their wares. Game systems, board games, apparel, etc. etc. and etc.; I'm told one can spend most of a day just walking around looking at it all. Plus, you know, that's where the Vat of Dice will probably be. I probably don't need to talk about that again, although I should mention that I hope Pat isn't too gung-ho to bring back vast quantities of dice from the weekend. As a dice collector (some say hoarder) from way back it'll be hard to quell a competitive need to have at least a few more new ones than he does. =|:-)
- I'm looking forward to seeing the people. I predict there will be a lot of quintessential power dorks there, and probably quite a few folks like Pat and I (power-dorks with a little better game face than some - better able to move unnoticed among regular society). Probably a few of the classic popular template, too, although I'll bet they feel like the awkward, outnumbered ones. And there will be some characters walking around - some people drawn to a place like Gen Con where their flamboyance and dedication to a world of fantasy is interesting and cool instead of weird and looked down on. The chain mail bikini girls Pat mentioned, and the guys who spend the whole weekend dressed up as their favorite character. I want to see some of these folks, maybe even strike up a conversation. People-watching at Gen Con doesn't seem like it can possibly disappoint.
Here's a YouTube video that covers some of the things I mentioned here. Hosted by Jason Marsden (not to be confused with James Marsden of X-Men and Enchanted fame), it's got some neat footage of what Gen Con actually looked like last year. It shows the gaming floor, Hickman's Killer Breakfast, Margaret Weis's famous weird laugh, Vendor's Row, and a fellow who looks so much like "Franklin" that I had to stop the video three times before I was convinced that it wasn't. Tune in soon for a Pat-errific post about what it is about the world of fantasy gaming that's such a draw for so many people (hopefully we're not soon to the point of posting about how we need things to post about...).
*to the best of my knowledge, no one actually says that.
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