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Gen Con Bingo
An anonymous reader writes "Gen Con begins this week in Indianapolis. This convocation of the geek is epic in its scope, encompassing all aspects of the gaming subculture. Rabbit over at GamersWithJobs kicks off their coverage with a hilarious little game of their own called "Gen Con Bingo." From the list of potential Bingo squares: The Inappropriate Card Game - Ever see 12 year old boys playing Magic in a public bathroom? It's not pretty. Ever since I've been going to Gen Con (not forever, but long enough that I consider myself a veteran) there has been an entire subculture of teenage boys who will play Magic, or whatever the collectible card game of the moment is, anywhere, anytime. Their therapists say they have 'boundary issues.'" I got that square at my very first Con. I actually thought they were dealing crack in the stall at first, but the mention of a 'Mox' quickly dispelled my imagination of normalcy.
Do you want to play the magic with me?
"C'mon kids, I know a place we can play 'magic'. Lets go to the bathroom... I'll show you my Big Furry Monster"
You will be baked, and there will be cake.
I'm going to GenCon for the first time this year and I was just sorting out what to pack.
It's good to know that I can leave the shampoo and deodorant at home.
More room for dice!
Woot.
Looking forward to it, myself. This'll be my first Gencon experience. I meant to go last year, but I had something else come up at the last minute (don't remember what). Anyways, now that I live in the Indy area, I suspect I'll be going every year.
I'm looking to get into the Living Greyhawk tourney on Saturday. We'll see how that goes.
"You will pay for your lack of vision..." - Emperor Palpatine to Ray Charles
Yep. All those middle-aged guys playing Texas Hold'em, they need to be committed.
"You will pay for your lack of vision..." - Emperor Palpatine to Ray Charles
Stop plugging your fucking retarded flash on Slashdot, you stupid little cunt.
The Bible is best burnt. Magic: The Gathering, on the other hand, loses its appeal when you can play poker for real money.
Magic for real money is pretty fun aswell.
I think we need an age limit on this stuff. Anybody 30 or over, who's still reading the Bible, has issues. Start playing Magic or whatever card game instead.
I think the Parent is a victim of poor moderation.
/. FAQ says "How does moderation work?: Do not promote personal agendas.".
I'm also going to GenCon for the first time this year (I can actually afford to thanks to getting in for free due to a friend who's doing a presentation there, and staying with my brother who lives 8 miles from the convention center), and it's interesting to read these things.
One thing that he didn't mention in the article: take extraordinary precautions with your wallet. Big gatherings like fairs, festivals, conventions, and so on draw the criminal element, and that wallet poking out of your back pocket makes a convenient target. Me, I'm going to stick my credit cards, driver's license, and some cash in my PDA wallet which I always keep in a front pocket, and leave my wallet at my bro's house.
Editor Emeritus and Senior Writer, TeleRead.org
Yeah, mature people should be busy listening to crappy Christian (redundant I know) rap.
Ever since I've been going to Gen Con (not forever, but long enough that I consider myself a veteran) there has been an entire subculture of teenage boys who will play Magic, or whatever the collectible card game of the moment is, anywhere, anytime
That's the most depressing thing I've heard in the gaming community in I don't know how long.
Magic ruined GenCon, for my money - it was vastly cooler before the hordes of "gamers" whose only exposure to fantasy gaming was M:tG took the con over. Not that I'm innocent of playing the game (though I'm happy to say I got out by the time 4th ed. came out), but I can't even properly express the annoyance factor when, suddenly, it got hard to find anything not CCG related.
(Admittedly, part of my general disgust towards M:tG revolves around WotC, in my opinion, driving it into the ground. When the only way to maintain game balance is to start saying large numbers of existing cards just can't be used anymore, you've done something wrong)
The decision to move the GenCon two states away from its namesake Lake Geneva, of course, is a whole different travesty.
Bah.
[/old fart rant]
(there's something vaguely dismaying about being an old fart at 29)
Reality has a conservative bias: it conserves mass, energy, momentum...
I think we need an age limit on this fairy-tale stuff. Anybody 30 or over, who still believes in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, or any kind of God, has issues. Start reading Playboy instead.
Lost: Sig, white with black letters. No collar. Reward if found!
My Dad goes to these things, and I assure you:
There is no age limit on having a good time, particuarly if part of that good time is laughing at all the half-naked girls in fairy outfits.
Of course, I just stick to DragonCon, so maybe you guys don't get the half-nekkids as much...
Gen Con is really one of the only mainstream events that gamers can show up just to play together. So far the game companies that have shown up follow that mantra. They bring playable games to Gen Con instead of just previews and this is something I hope will always continue. Unfortunately I've never been able to attend, but since my HS days I always get a hold of the break down of the event from whatever sources offer it. Luckily some folks I talk with regularly will be going so this is the first year I will get to pick their brains about the event. Gen Con has the right format for gamers and I just hope the E3 mindset and E3 booth crap stays away for many more years.
The "fairy-tale" stuff that I was talking about was the Bible that the fundie suggested as a "grown-up" alternative to RPGs. So unless your dad really does go to a church where there are half-naked girls in fairy outfits, I think you misunderstood. :-)
Lost: Sig, white with black letters. No collar. Reward if found!
My wife said "I hope you're not distracted by all the hot scantily-clad women at Gen Con."
I assured her that there was no possibility of that happening.
I remember going t a gaming convention in Canberra (Australia) the year that Magic the Gathering was released. There was a charity auction with a carton of magic packs as the main draw. A group of hardcore (context is important in all things) roleplayers grouped together, won the auction and held a ritual burning of the unopened cards.
It seemed witty at the time.
From memory it was the same convention which saw the one and only sanctioned RPGA Master's Tournament that I'm aware of ever being run in Australia. We lacked the numbers of Master's ranked players for this to be a regular thing.
Sara
Designer, Gamer, Macgrrl in an XP World
I once saw people playing Magic on the floor of the elevator at a Con. Since they were girls it didn't bother me.
Actually, I kind of vaguely remember a group of hardcore dice chuckers having a big "tear up the cards" party at Gen Con the year Magic came out too.