Talk:Gen Con

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[edit] More "See also"s?

It seems like some of the other noteworthy events at Gen Con, especially long lived ones, deserve either a brief mention in the write up, or an addition to the See also section if a page exists. Stuff I'm not sure I can write, but think might be worth adding: The Klingon Jail and Bail (which I believe is another charity activity), the NASCRAG events (Zef/Fez/whatever they're doing these days. Charity again?) [1]), the D&D Open, Game Base 7/Board Game rentals [2]. Paint-and-Take. Mind you, some of that probably doesn't belong, this is more of a brainstorm; I welcome additional thoughts or people to just |be bold and add good stuff. Alan De Smet | Talk 03:58, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] True Dungeon: LARP or Not

Before making changes to remove the "True Dungeon is a live action role-playing game" claim, please see and contribute to the discussion on exactly that topic over at Talk:True Adventures.

[edit] Trim True Dungeon entry?

The True Dungeon entry is getting a little large. It's not a big deal, but people who want more information can easily follow the link as it has its own page. (In contrast, the costume contest doesn't have its own page, so a longer entry makes sense.) Not a big deal year, but probably worth keeping in mind before anyone expands it further. Alan De Smet | Talk 02:14, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Is "SPA: Activities for the Better Half" really noteworthy?

I'm not totally sold that the "SPA: Activities for the Better Half" are really noteworthy. There were only 11 events. Only 95 tickets were sold in pre-reg. Maybe in a few years if it sticks around it will be noteworthy, but it really felt like a last minute addition this year. I'm tempted to delete it for now. Alan De Smet | Talk 02:18, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Different enough to split up this article?

Have Gen Cons Indy, SoCal, France, UK, and others become (or were from the outset) different enough from one another that the main Gen Con article should focus on Indy and the others should get their own pages (or page)? The timeline seems to be getting cluttered from the addition of these other events - and it seems like there might be some benefits to a split - for example - True Dungeon can only be found at Indy and SoCal... UK has a long history if its own... and so on... Junior rookie | Talk 21:02, 10 October 2006 (UTC)

It's really not that long of an article. It's too soon to split them (although it should certainly be reconsidered later). The timeline is cluttered, but showing the growth, movement, and forking of the convention is part of why the timeline is interesting. The timeline neads some love, but breaking it into a timeline per con will take away the ability to see the growth. Alan De Smet | Talk 02:04, 11 October 2006 (UTC)
Yeah... the article itself is pretty short - and would be shorter without the timeline... Perhaps when the article gets long enough the split could be per location along with a separate article for the timeline - then it would remain possible to see the growth across all locations... Junior rookie | Talk 14:24, 12 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Gen Con South? Gen Con East? Gen Con West?

I stumbled across http://www.greyhawkonline.com/grodog/gh_tourneys.html and see that several editions of Gen Con South, Gen Con East, and Gen Con West are listed... Are these real? Junior rookie | Talk 14:35, 12 October 2006 (UTC)

I'll answer my own question here - googling "gencon south" produces a number of other web pages with references to the event - as does googling for east and west... looks real to me... adding 'em to the timeline...Junior rookie | Talk 16:33, 12 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Gen Con numbering and dates

Gen Con has used a few variations for numbering over the years. Roman numerals for Gen Con I through Gen Con XVI, then Hindu-Arabic numerals starting with Gen Con 17 and ending with Gen Con 20 or Gen Con 21. For a few years the naming format might have been something like "Gen Con '89", until at some point (don't know when) there was a change to a format like "1990 Gen Con Game Fair". Recently another change to something like Gen Con (Location) 2006... I don't have any program books or old Dragon Magazines handy, but it would be nice to add the name used and dates for each event every year... Junior rookie | Talk 16:41, 12 October 2006 (UTC)

Between the above and the updated timeline, we have:
  • Gen Con I - Gen Con XVI
  • Gen Con 17 - Gen Con 20 (or 21)
  • Gen Con '89 - Gen Con '96??? (don't know for sure which years may have used this, but the timeline cites some references showing the common usage, if not official usage, of this format)
  • 1997 Gen Con Game Fair - 2002 Gen Con Game Fair (not completely certain of the first year of use for this format... following the citations referenced by the timeline - it's probably at least as early as 1997, if not earlier)
  • Gen Con (location) (year) - 2003 to present...
So, who's got program books or old Dragon Magazines available for citing additional references? Junior rookie | Talk 15:36, 15 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] "The Day of Thunder" L5R event

Someone recently added a claim that the Legend of the Five Rings event "The Day of Thunder" was the largest collectable card game event ever or since at Gen Con. That seems a bold claim for an event that apparently only drew 240 people and did so a decade ago. It's not entirely implausible, checking the 2006 event database the largest potential CCG event size appears to be 300. and the most tickets sold through preregistration is a mere 25. Can anyone find a citation? — Alan De Smet | Talk 01:19, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

The event actually drew over 500 people over the course of the qualifiers. Check the registration numbers.—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 12.218.240.171 (talk • contribs) 21:19, April 18, 2007.

The qualifiers prior to Gen Con? That would be outside of the scope of the Gen Con article. Either way, I don't have access to registration numbers; if you're aware of a public source of that information (perhaps a press release from Alderac?), please do cite it. In the meanwhile, a journalist covering the story concluded the number was 240, so that's what we have to work with. Furthermore, even assuming 240 or 500 is accurate, the claim is that it's the largest, to date. Maybe that's a huge event, maybe it's really small; it's not clear. Who can validate that claim? Who has even credibly made the claim? — Alan De Smet | Talk 22:34, 19 April 2007 (UTC)
A reminder, you can and are encouraged to sign your posts with ~~~~. — Alan De Smet | Talk 22:35, 19 April 2007 (UTC)
Perhaps another way of looking at it is, why is the Day of Thunder noteworthy? Based on my understanding, it is a very noteworthy event in Gen Con and gaming history. Whose written what about it? — Alan De Smet | Talk 22:36, 19 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Magic: the Gathering debut in 1993 deleted

When someone flagged "noteworthy events" entry for Magic: the Gathering with {{fact}} I did some investigation and I now believe the claims were incorrect. The claims were that MtG debuted at Gen Con, and sold out within a few hours. The official history (Microsoft Word document in a ZIP file) disagrees. It says:

After two years of testing, Adkison's company, Wizards of the Coast, renamed the game, printed a limited edition of the cards and launched a month-long publicity campaign. The tour ended at 1993's GenCon, the world's biggest game fair, where the Magic: The Gathering game became an instant sensation, selling out a six-month supply in six weeks!

So MtG debuted a month ealier. And supplies lasted at least two weeks after Gen Con. The only claim I can even slightly support is that they may have sold out of the copies they brought to the convention, but that's extremely common. (The special edition figs WizKids release sell out promptly. The Order of the Stick board game sold out very quickly as well.) So, absent evidence supporting something noteworthy about MtG at Gen Con 1993, it should stay removed. — Alan De Smet | Talk 22:29, 19 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Splitting the timeline

I think we need to separate the extra Gen Cons away from the main ones of Wisconsin and Indiana. It would flow better, and better show that the extra Gen Cons have usually be unsuccessful in lasting for long (although I'd love for Aussie's to stick around).--Bedford 02:31, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

I really could go either way on it; it's a tough call. It's good information, but I doubt any one ay of presenting it will be ideal. — Alan De Smet | Talk 16:30, 20 August 2007 (UTC)
WHat we could do is have a separate timeline of altenate Gen Cons, or just list the various attempts of other Gen Cons in non-timeline form. Maybe talk about other American ones, British ones, European one, and of course Australia.--Bedford 16:41, 20 August 2007 (UTC)
I would say start a seperate listing called "GenCon Expansions" or "Other GenCon related shows". --Marty Goldberg 20:23, 20 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Bankruptcy

I have added the breaking news of the Gen Con LLC bankruptcy. Right now the reference is to John Kovalic's Livejournal Blog. John is a reputable source in the industry, and so I trust this as news. Nevertheless, the reference should be updated to a proper news story link if someone can find one. 99.233.74.73 (talk) 14:42, 16 February 2008 (UTC)

I'm not sure if the lead paragraph is the right place to mention the bankruptcy. Either "History" or "Noteworthy events" seems a bit more fitting. 72.17.147.138 (talk) 07:09, 19 February 2008 (UTC) Some Anonymous Editor