Gathering For Buffs™ Gen Con 2020 (July 30 - Aug 2)

[cdbd3rd]

Continuing my trend of being late getting this thread posted again this year.

Gen Con badges went on sale a few weeks ago, and housing opened this past weekend.

I continue to be burned out by their prices for badges, but there's still the Friday night Gathering for Buffs™! ...where we don' need no steenking badges.



Time: Always Friday evening at 8 PM'ish, and going til they close up shop. Always come 'n go as you please so it can fit in with any other con stuff you have scheduled.

Place: [TBD. Tentatively same place as last year.]


https://www.gencon.com/attend/gen-con-2020

[Cordovan]

I hear this may be a good year to hang with long-time attendees like Lessah and crew, and also hear Patrick from DDOcast will be there. I am still not sure if I can go, but hearing about peeps being there this year has been leaning toward yes.

Last year's meetup went well I think as a social event, although we ran into a few snags on the biz planning bit (no fault of the venue). Not sure if Punch Bowl is an option this year.

[Kutalp]

Sigh only if we could have Teleport spell in real life.

I wish you have a great time there.

[Plantman81]

I hear this may be a good year to hang with long-time attendees like Lessah and crew, and also hear Patrick from DDOcast will be there. I am still not sure if I can go, but hearing about peeps being there this year has been leaning toward yes.

Last year's meetup went well I think as a social event, although we ran into a few snags on the biz planning bit (no fault of the venue). Not sure if Punch Bowl is an option this year.

How many people are expected at any one time? I live and work in Downtown Indy. I could assist in finding a good venue.

[Cordovan]

How many people are expected at any one time? I live and work in Downtown Indy. I could assist in finding a good venue.

We have averaged about 50, with larger gatherings (the more official and officially booked ones) getting about 100. We've had more, but I usually ballpark about 50. The main issues are cost, availability, and location. It is pretty easy to find a place that meets two of the three, but not all three.

[PsychoBlonde]

I could probably manage to be there again on a Friday, since it's within driving distance for us.

[cdbd3rd]

Been keeping my eye on the Gen Con site. Still far enough away that they're not joining the 'cancel everything!' panic, but they're "monitoring the situation".

[Draculetta]

Been keeping my eye on the Gen Con site. Still far enough away that they're not joining the 'cancel everything!' panic, but they're "monitoring the situation".

Gen Con 2020 Officially Canceled Due To COVID-19

[cdbd3rd]

Gen Con 2020 Officially Canceled Due To COVID-19

Bummer.

Thanks for the update, D.

Went to the Gen Con web site, and had to hunt for their announcement there.

Gen Con Announces Cancellation of 2020 Convention, Plans for Online EventFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
INDIANAPOLIS (May 19, 2020) — Gen Con, the largest and longest-running tabletop gaming convention in North America, announced today that their upcoming 2020 convention in Indianapolis has been canceled due to health and safety concerns related to COVID-19. The decision was made after extensive consideration and in consultation with Indianapolis government officials and public health authorities. Gen Con will return to the Indiana Convention Center August 5-8, 2021.
“Gen Con is the highlight of our year, and we know that it means as much to our attendees, exhibitors, event organizers, and local partners as it does to us,” said Gen Con president David Hoppe. “But after carefully monitoring the situation and having ongoing conversations with experts and local government officials, it became clear that the only responsible option was to cancel the convention for this year.”
Attendees who have purchased badges for Gen Con 2020 will be contacted by email with details about rolling their badges forward to 2021 or receiving a refund, and current hotel reservations made through the Gen Con housing block will be canceled automatically and free of charge.
“We know this was a very difficult decision for Gen Con to make, but we understand and support their decision,” said Leonard Hoops, president and CEO of Visit Indy. “They’re great partners and we’re mutually committed for the long term. For me and so many others in our community, Gen Con 2021 can’t come soon enough.”
Pop-Up Gen Con, a companion program organizing in-store retail activations at participating game stores during the convention in Indianapolis, has also been canceled for 2020.
In place of the in-person event, originally scheduled to be held July 30 – August 2, the convention’s organizers today announced plans for Gen Con Online, a free-to-attend virtual convention experience featuring livestreaming content, remote gaming, and other online programming. Additional details about Gen Con Online will be announced in the coming weeks via the company’s website and email newsletter.
About Gen Con
Gen Con is the largest and longest-running annual event devoted to tabletop gaming culture in North America. The convention, which began in 1968 in Lake Geneva, WI, attracts 70,000 attendees and over 520 exhibiting companies each year. During the convention, attendees choose from more than 20,000 ticketed events representing a wide array of board games, card games, roleplaying games, seminars, entertainment events, and more. Gen Con takes place each August in the Indiana Convention Center, Lucas Oil Stadium, and surrounding downtown hotel spaces in Indianapolis, IN.

[Cordovan]

Yeah, sad to read about this year's event. I wonder if we shouldn't organize some kind of Virtual Gathering for Buffs?

[Jerevth]

Yeah, sad to read about this year's event. I wonder if we shouldn't organize some kind of Virtual Gathering for Buffs?

That would actually be quite awesome.
Maybe you could repurpose the HC server as a convention center;

-break out a few instance based events like the Spectral Dragon used to be during the old night revels (in a common area where everyone can try to topple the threat. May be a DBL (Death by Lag) situation, though...)
-group competitions (Teams of friends in one category, random drawn teams for another category) for raid flagging and completion.
-Event specific useful gear (Cokebottle glasses of true-seeing/searing light clicky)
-Prizes can be DDO T-shirts sent in the mail afterwards, maybe you can put tpgether a color spread of all the Screen Shots of the week as a glossy book?
-A catwalk event for best dressed (Based on random loot finds), worst dressed and theme based. (Batman and Supes have been done but maybe a Green Arrow?)
-throw some prizes out there to transfer to the home server (Cosmetics that look like T-shirts from the convention, hand sanitizer that cures disease and removes debuffs, etc.)

Obviously this wouldn't be a free event but not an insanely priced actual convention fee, either.

[nazgul748]

That would actually be quite awesome.
Maybe you could repurpose the HC server as a convention center;

-break out a few instance based events like the Spectral Dragon used to be during the old night revels (in a common area where everyone can try to topple the threat. May be a DBL (Death by Lag) situation, though...)
-group competitions (Teams of friends in one category, random drawn teams for another category) for raid flagging and completion.
-Event specific useful gear (Cokebottle glasses of true-seeing/searing light clicky)
-Prizes can be DDO T-shirts sent in the mail afterwards, maybe you can put tpgether a color spread of all the Screen Shots of the week as a glossy book?
-A catwalk event for best dressed (Based on random loot finds), worst dressed and theme based. (Batman and Supes have been done but maybe a Green Arrow?)
-throw some prizes out there to transfer to the home server (Cosmetics that look like T-shirts from the convention, hand sanitizer that cures disease and removes debuffs, etc.)

Obviously this wouldn't be a free event but not an insanely priced actual convention fee, either.

I would happily pay to participate in something like this.

[ironmaiden-br]

Yeah, sad to read about this year's event. I wonder if we shouldn't organize some kind of Virtual Gathering for Buffs?

+1 if is virtual count me in...

[Phoenicis]

Yeah, sad to read about this year's event. I wonder if we shouldn't organize some kind of Virtual Gathering for Buffs?

Ummmmmm, lemme think.


YES!

(+1 incase I wasn't clear)

[ThomasHunter]

Yeah, sad to read about this year's event. I wonder if we shouldn't organize some kind of Virtual Gathering for Buffs?

This has really cool potential!!!

[cdbd3rd]

Yeah, sad to read about this year's event. I wonder if we shouldn't organize some kind of Virtual Gathering for Buffs?

[fatherpirate]

Yeah, sad to read about this year's event. I wonder if we shouldn't organize some kind of Virtual Gathering for Buffs?

STEAM has some apps/programs that are SUPPOSE to allow virtual D+D games with a live DM
heard - never tried any of that myself