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Gencon mustering was the best I've seen in a long time. Both Bonekeep specials were expertly mustered as well.
My first thought is that more low level tables need to be scheduled. Paizo especially needs more 2 hour demo sessions like "We Be Goblins". Paizo also needs to increase the number and variety of demo sessions. All successful companies have a saying "If you're not growing, you're contracting". As a company, it would be best if Paizo would spend more effort supporting the new blood, at least until these demo sessions stop selling out. Selling the demo sessions out is great, but the question is how many new players did they end up turning away?
Of course there were also far too many upper tier scenarios scheduled this year again.
I unfortunately encountered some bad things with a GM this year, but I think I'll save that for a private post.
I would like the ability to nominated a "Players Choice" Gm for Gen Con, as a reward for those who make Gen Con such a special experience. Would love some feedback on this idea.
I think competition is good and this is a good idea. The only question is who would do the data entry?
I did a demo for "another RPG company" at this Gencon and that company has the players rate their GMs after each and every 1.5 hour session. Paizo has dozens of tables though, so it's always the question of "who does the data entry" (which costs $$$ and time) which would probably need a full time volunteer or temp.
Let's see...my thoughts on Gen Con this year....
As regards to Pathfinder, overall a major kudos goes out to the staff and volunteers. It was an even better experience this year, and last year set a high bar.
Three things that deserve special mention:
-Liked the room, much bigger with better acoustics than last year, so I was better able to hear the GM.
-The HeroLab setup was much improved as well. More computers, so I never had to wait in a line like last year.
-Once again the Paizo staff went above and beyond to seat everyone who showed up. Except for the Friday event, which I was to late to get tickets for, I never had a problem getting seated for a game. Thank you.
Regarding Gen Con overall:
-The badges this year were plastic, like credit card. Nice, but I can't help think it was money that could have been better spent elsewhere.
-The weather this year was incredible. I've often winced at the costumes people wear, because the temperature in Indianapolis is usually 90-100 this time of year. But this year it was below 80 all week. And as an added bonus, the lower temps meant I didn't notice the funk I've come to expect wafting off people late in the day.
-We have officially entered Bizarro world. Games Workshop had a booth on the floor, and WotC didn't.
-And what the hell WotC? That. Was. Embarrassing. If you're just giving up, sell the D&D licence to someone who will do something with it.
Overall, this was one of the best Gen Con experiences I've had in twenty years of attending, and Paizo was a major part in making that possible. Kudos.
RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16
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The use of color for table zones (Table "Yellow 12" was in the zone of yellow tables, for example) was a good idea. (Suggestion for next year: don't put red and green zones next to one another.)
The room was not only larger, etc. It was also much better lit. Walking from the Sagamore into the Beginner Box / Children's Track room was like walking into a dim closet.
The woman running the Children's Track / Beginner Box did breath-takingly well with what she had.
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The use of color for table zones (Table "Yellow 12" was in the zone of yellow tables, for example) was a good idea. (Suggestion for next year: don't put red and green zones next to one another.)
Thanks. The challenge next year is that we'll have more tables but ICCLOS only has six colors of tablecloths.
The problem with the red/green tables was brought up in our post-event meeting, but thanks for reminding me :)
The room was not only larger, etc. It was also much better lit. Walking from the Sagamore into the Beginner Box / Children's Track room was like walking into a dim closet.
The woman running the Children's Track / Beginner Box did breath-takingly well with what she had.
Jen was great. Hopefully she'll be back again next year!
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This was my first GenCon, so I do not have a reference to say if this was "better" than previous years. Given the level of organization required, it was quite amazing how smoothly things did run. I do have a couple of comments/questions for possible incremental improvement. I don't want to imply that things were horrible, they were the exact opposite.
The biggest tension is of course that any area set aside for mustering is "wasted" space once the session is in progress. That's a problem that has no ideal solution and except for the special it really wasn't a huge deal.
1) Is there a reason GM table assignments (for all sessions) could not have been handed out with badge pickup? Not to replace mustering GMs (to count who was missing and hand out reporting sheets) but in addition. I was using mostly preprinted maps but I heard a LOT of GMs muttering about wanting to know where they would be so they could start drawing maps. In several sessions and several areas the players were only a few steps behind the GMs.
2) The elevated HQ with the Hero Lab stations in front of it made it difficult to interact with people in HQ. A few banners could have made it easier as well - "Token turn-in" for example. Perhaps an area on the floor (with a "general help" banner) where volunteers could answer general questions, like from people who didn't read the mustering signs. Ooooh, and a "The (rules) Doctor is IN" booth where some of the more rules-savvy volunteers (and hopefully the occasional developer) could answer rules questions. I just saw a lot of people craning up at the HQ tables trying to figure out who to ask their questions to.
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Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator
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Trying to assign GMs to the same table for every slot they GM is incredibly difficult. We attempted this at PaizoCon, and as Todd Morgan can attest, it took many hours just to make it work there for 42 tables. For Gen Con, where we had 140 tables this year and will have 160 next year, it would take more than a week of nothing but assigning tables to GMs to sort it out since so many GMs have different schedules. The other problem is most GMs want to GM 2-3 different scenarios instead of the same scenario 7-8 times. We muster the same scenarios to the same quadrant of colors. This would make it impossible to do so if the GM stayed at the same table but ran different scenarios throughout the weekend.
As for the muttering of GMs wanting to get to their table so they can Pre draw maps, most GMs receive their schedules months in advance. My question would be why aren't they already Pre drawn before they arrive?
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I was using mostly preprinted maps but I heard a LOT of GMs muttering about wanting to know where they would be so they could start drawing maps. In several sessions and several areas the players were only a few steps behind the GMs.
I wanted to comment on this part specifically. I was appalled by the number of GM's who did not have maps already drawn or printed. Sure, some scenarios have simple enough maps to be drawable during the session, but a Gen Con GM should not be showing up and complaining about lack of time to draw maps between slots unless they are taking over for someone's table or doing overflow.
However, I will say that getting tables assigned to GMs faster somehow would be good. That gives me time to lay out the drawn or printed maps I brought, pull out dice, make sure I have the right minis, etc. Maybe it's as simple as having a couple marshals at HQ - one marks off tables that are clear as GMs turn in reporting sheets while another begins assigning GMs who are ready to check-in for the next slot.
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Trying to assign GMs to the same table for every slot they GM is incredibly difficult. We attempted this at PaizoCon, and as Todd Morgan can attest, it took many hours just to make it work there for 42 tables. For Gen Con, where we had 140 tables this year and will have 160 next year, it would take more than a week of nothing but assigning tables to GMs to sort it out since so many GMs have different schedules. The other problem is most GMs want to GM 2-3 different scenarios instead of the same scenario 7-8 times. We muster the same scenarios to the same quadrant of colors. This would make it impossible to do so if the GM stayed at the same table but ran different scenarios throughout the weekend.
Sorry, misunderstanding I think. I was not asking to stay at the same table all weekend, just asking if people could know ahead of time what table they would be at for each session. I have been at a couple of (much) smaller conventions where along with badge pickup the GMs got a sheet of paper with a matrix:
Sat 8AM - table 14Sat 1PM - table 3
etc.
As for the muttering of GMs wanting to get to their table so they can Pre draw maps, most GMs receive their schedules months in advance. My question would be why aren't they already Pre drawn before they arrive?
Some good reasons, a lot of bad reasons, but it's the general setup time that was the thrust of the question. Just an observation that there were times that GMs were only 20 feet ahead of their 6 players in getting assigned to a table.
Venture-Lieutenant, Indiana—Indianapolis
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Trying to assign GMs to the same table for every slot they GM is incredibly difficult. We attempted this at PaizoCon, and as Todd Morgan can attest, it took many hours just to make it work there for 42 tables. For Gen Con, where we had 140 tables this year and will have 160 next year, it would take more than a week of nothing but assigning tables to GMs to sort it out since so many GMs have different schedules. The other problem is most GMs want to GM 2-3 different scenarios instead of the same scenario 7-8 times. We muster the same scenarios to the same quadrant of colors. This would make it impossible to do so if the GM stayed at the same table but ran different scenarios throughout the weekend.
As for the muttering of GMs wanting to get to their table so they can Pre draw maps, most GMs receive their schedules months in advance. My question would be why aren't they already Pre drawn before they arrive?
First, +1 to Mike's question. I mean, I ran 4-22 Halls of Dwarven Lore. That scenario has SEVEN maps. SEVEN. And they are are large maps. Maybe it's possible to draw those on the fly, or even when you get there, but I don't see how. It took me forever.
Also, I may be in the minority, Mike, but for me, even if I run 5-6 slots, if I run the same scenario each time instead of 2-4 different ones, that would be my preference. Less stuff I have to drag around (and I live in the greater Indy area to boot!) So, if next year I can request being assigned to just one scenario several times, that works for me, too. :)
Mark
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Spoiler for Mark Stratton's question:
I guess the answer is that I already knew ahead of time exactly what I was going to be drawing where.
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Venture-Lieutenant, West Virginia—Charleston
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Personally, I liked the variety of having multiple scenarios to run. When I GMmed at Origins, I was stuck with a scenario that didn't really fit my style, which I had to run 6 times. The variety kept me on my toes a bit and kept everything from feeling monotonous. It was also interesting because one scenario that I felt would be extremely boring actually turned out to be really good. Without the con, I'm sure I'd have never ran it.
I would suggest that we offer more 1-5s in future GenCons. I heard several new players complain about the lack of 1-5s.
I would also suggest that musterers avoid putting people who hadn't played before the con in tier 3-7 games, unless they have reserved a ticket for it. That's probably not feasible, though. In the 3-7 I ran, one of the players who had just started at the con got very frustrated at the fact that there was a somewhat powerful swarm in my scenario, and he couldn't do anything about it. While the normal assumption that most players have come across swarms by then is a good one, it doesn't hold as true if somebody started playing PFS on Thursday and just played one level of Bonekeep plus 3 other scenarios.
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Personally, I liked the variety of having multiple scenarios to run. When I GMmed at Origins, I was stuck with a scenario that didn't really fit my style, which I had to run 6 times. The variety kept me on my toes a bit and kept everything from feeling monotonous. It was also interesting because one scenario that I felt would be extremely boring actually turned out to be really good. Without the con, I'm sure I'd have never ran it.
I would suggest that we offer more 1-5s in future GenCons. I heard several new players complain about the lack of 1-5s.
I would also suggest that musterers avoid putting people who hadn't played before the con in tier 3-7 games, unless they have reserved a ticket for it. That's probably not feasible, though. In the 3-7 I ran, one of the players who had just started at the con got very frustrated at the fact that there was a somewhat powerful swarm in my scenario, and he couldn't do anything about it. While the normal assumption that most players have come across swarms by then is a good one, it doesn't hold as true if somebody started playing PFS on Thursday and just played one level of Bonekeep plus 3 other scenarios.
To address the seating issue. If a new player has a generic ticket and wants to play, we as musterers, are going to do whatever we need to do to put the new person in a seat. I can understand the frustration from both the player and GM side, however, we aren't going to tell someone brand new that they cannot play because there are no level 1 games for them to get into.
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The one issue I had was mostly of my own making. I had been assigned to run tier 3-7 for the Special. Circumstances led to a tier 1-2 group being sat at my table. I didn't have the right minis or stat blocks for that tier and I had to improvise to keep the game moving. It was mildly frustrating. Beyond that, the con ran very smoothly. All the staff were polite and professional. The marshals were efficient.
I hadn't returned my original badge for a refund before the con began. GenCon GM HQ demanded that the Paizo convention organizer bring them my Paizo badge in order to give me a refund. I didn't expect Mike would have the spare time to go downstairs so I was prepared to kiss $80 goodbye. To my surprise, Mike went right away and I got my refund. I was impressed, but he pointed out that he picked the right people (Jon, Wes and company) to run HQ so it afforded him the freedom to leave. Anyway, as if we need any more evidence that we've got an awesome campaign coordinator.
I asked to run the same scenario over the whole con. It was much easier than doing 3 or 4 different ones. Like Victor said, you hit your stride at #3 and it was much fun after that. I was able to run the complete scenario in 3 hours because I didn't need to look anything up. It kept me interacting with the players instead of reading ahead.
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PFCBG: Oh, absolutely, absolutely, I'm not suggesting turning anybody away - I'm just suggesting steering them towards 1-5s where possible instead of 3-7s, where they may not be prepared for certain things.
Quite possibly there weren't seats at a 1-5 table as I know we were doing our best to get people into the 1-5 games
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Venture-Lieutenant, Florida—Melbourne
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First, Gencon was fabulous and the Paizo staff was very well organized and we had no sucky DMs. Only two real complaints and those where fairly minor.
1. Mustering when you had less the 6 players with real tickets.
When mustering begins there is a large mass of people at the front doors trying to hold signs up or calling out requests for players to fill tables making you feel like your in some kind of Hero bazaar. This is fine and all, be when you have a legal table of 4 or 5 people you may not want to join the fray to fill out you table and later in the Con you just want to sit down at your table as soon as possible to get away from the noise, crowd and standing. Some mustering coordinators were very accommodating and let us sit, sending over singles or couples as they showed up. Others wanted us to join the bazaar and find additional players ourselves and one was fairly pushy about making us do that. We did not like being told we had to join the fray of hero shopping when we had a legal table of 4 people.
2. Confusion over the new guide.
We experience a fair amount of table variance at Gencon when it came to how out of tier gold worked, how ITS were supposed to work, how to calculate appropriate tiers and especially how gaining PP in year 5 is supposed to work. I asked one of the DMs if all of this was gone over in the GM meeting they had on Wednesday and was surprised to learn it had not been.
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I ran 3 tables and played 2 at the convention and had a great time.
Stuff that was done well:
Mustering went much better than last year.
The relay system for successes in the special worked much better than I expected.
Sagamore Ballroom worked much better acoustically.
With all that I see one are for major improvement:
I have a good friend who I went to Gencon with who uses a wheel chair.
The problem is that for most of the room the tables are far too close together to allow easy wheelchair access. Chairs can be moved to allow them in but during the heart of a session it's impossible for a wheelchair user to get away from the table if needed.
The first slot she played was the special and I took her up to HQ early to make sure she could get assigned to a table she could physically get to. Jon Cary and the rest of HQ were wonderfully willing to help out but I could tell that HQ had not really considered wheelchair accessibility before.
For the special it wasn't an issue as they seated her at a table on the main isle which was fine.
If she had been playing a regular slot where the scenario she wanted to play was somewhere in the middle of a pile of tables this could have been a big issue.
Let me stress though that she had a great time and there are no hard feelings here. HQ was wonderfully helpful and she had a great time with both the slots she played. (The 2nd one was WBG2 and was also on the center isle). For a con as big as GenCon though not even considering accessibility issues beforehand seems like a huge oversight.
All I ask is that we consider such a thing for next year and have a plan.
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Had a blast.
Only 3 small things:
* Running We Be Goblins Too in 2 hours was definitely too short. I had a few new PFS players and spent 15 minutes explaining PFS and the importance of having a PFS number (as directed by HQ) before we started. The first act took an hour. Now I have 45 minutes to do as much combat as possible. Here is a thingy, then the final thingy. Felt too rushed, and I think most players agreed.
* No break from AM to afternoon slot sucked, and the afternoon slot at 6. I had about 45 minutes of time to wander the vendor hall. I gave up shopping. Sure most games got finished earlier, but my tables didn't.
* Kyle didn't want to cuddle.
Still, I give my experience a 9 out of 10. Mustering was smooth, and having those big arse screens certainly helped.
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Overall, I really enjoyed GenCon as a whole and Pathfinder play in particular. It seems like the scenarios are getting better and better. I played both #5-1 and 5-2 and thoroughly enjoyed both.
As others mentioned mustering was much improved and coordination better than in previous years. I do have couple of small gripes about it.
The emphasis on seating 6 person tables before anyone else was a bit of a problem. I was with 4 other friends for 2 of the specials and we found it a frustrating having to hunt down that last person. There was also one occasion where 5 of us (who all showed up individually) with actual tickets waited around while other mustered groups of 6 were seated, only to be told that there were no tables left. Part of this was on the person doing the mustering as she apparently didn't check to make sure that the 6 person tables she seated didn't have generics mixed in, but I think the emphasis to get full tables seated first didn't help. As far as I know all of us did end up in a game.
I was also surprised when they turned away generic tickets Friday night and then the table my group was seated at had 2 empty tables right next to us (with GM's ready to run, no less).
I also agree with the advantages of moving to the ballroom. It's nice to be able to hear what your GM and fellow players are saying.
The new faction goals were a bit fuzzy, but the GMs I had running season 5 scenarios did a good job of either laying them out ahead of time or subtly pushing players toward them with hints and good role playing.
The quality of the GMs I had this year was excellent, with 1 exception (sort of). My first GM on Thursday showed up late and then asked the group if we could hurry through the scenario so he could get to the dealer booth soon after the hall opened. I was not happy with the idea but the rest of table agreed. However, after we started playing he seemed to settle into GM'ing and we ended up not skipping over or rushing any of it (except at the beginning).
Finally, I'd like to say a big thank you to all of you (including my fellow players) who made this year such a great experience!
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The emphasis on seating 6 person tables before anyone else was a bit of a problem. I was with 4 other friends for 2 of the specials and we found it a frustrating having to hunt down that last person. There was also one occasion where 5 of us (who all showed up individually) with actual tickets waited around while other mustered groups of 6 were seated, only to be told that there were no tables left. Part of this was on the person doing the mustering as she apparently didn't check to make sure that the 6 person tables she seated didn't have generics mixed in, but I think the emphasis to get full tables seated first didn't help. As far as I know all of us did end up in a game.
I was also surprised when they turned away generic tickets Friday night and then the table my group was seated at had 2 empty tables right next to us (with GM's ready to run, no less).
From a musterer standpoint, it can be extremely frustrating to try and muster tables when those with generics are clamoring at the same time as those with real tickets to get a seat ... I found even when asking to make sure that everyone in the group had real tickets that those with generics were telling me they had real tickets to get seated at a table. Next year I'm going to have to have people show me their ticket in order to get a seat I guess... this will unfortunately mean that it takes longer to muster, but that that will have to be the way it is.
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RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16, 2011 Top 32
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This was my first Gen Con ever. It will TOTALLY not be my last! I GM'd two games (was signed up for four, but had a no-show at one slot and had to leave early on Sunday due to work concerns. I'm so sorry, Mike Brock. I really wish I didn't have to do that to you guys.) I LOVED IT. I had great players, great attitudes, great understanding when I had to take a 5 minute break to call my landlord to let my ex-wife back into my house when she got locked out after taking our son to school. Murphy: it's the law! I loved being a GM and I loved the experience! I didn't draw my map ahead of time, but I was doing Wonders in the Weave I and II and wanted the tactical experience of showing the map growing as they went. My choice and not getting to the tables super early was not a big deal to me. I also played in 4 games and one short goblin attack scenario. The games were awesome. Some of the GMs were more high energy than others, but all were enthusiastic, knew their stuff and were willing to roll with the many surprises we laid upon them. Kudos!
(Note: next year I totally want to run the mini encounters! I think that's the best idea ever and I want to subscribe to its 'zine.)
The GOOD:
- The players! Darn there were some great players and characters! They were kind, fun, open to having a good time and great!
- The layout. It was loud without being overpowering. I had to speak up and lean in, but it worked which is a HUGE thing in a large con room.
- HQ: Damn you guys were nice. And organized and if anything went wrong, I sure didn't know about it.
- The muster: Good idea. The banners worked well, even if they needed to be spaced out a little more. I guess the only suggestion might be to group low, mid and high level modules together when possible. Also, you need goblins hanging from the banner, chewing on them and trying to set them on fire.
- The Special: I played low tier and it was a blast! I spent a lot of time in the last encounter cranking away at the ballista, which was a little repetitive, but hearing the results of our work was AWESOME. Also it gave the others a chance to shine, which I dig.
-The Boons: Loved the boons! Creative and flavorful without being over-powered. Great job!
- The VCs (and others) who got together to make the PFS die. What a cool idea!
The SUGGESTIONS:
- Screw water; give out hot tea and honey... My poor voice (and the poor GMs on Sunday's voices) was nearly gone by the end. The water was excellent, but if you have any suggestions for avoiding voice loss, I'm open!
- Maybe if there was some reward for GMing the same scenario multiple times? I certainly would GM without a reward, but it might help incentivize getting more people to do so. I did run the same scenario twice and it definitely helped.
- More otyughs! You can never go wrong with an Otyugh. Never.
- Special GM time to browse the shop. I felt bad for the GMs; if they ran morning and afternoon slot, the dealer's room was closed to them. I guess it's a great way to save money! But if there was some way to arrange to give them a half hour to browse the floor, maybe on Sunday morning before it opens? Even if it's just the Paizo store, they've got store credit to use!
All-in-all, great time, great job, great Con. Thanks for letting me be a part of it!
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The emphasis on seating 6 person tables before anyone else was a bit of a problem. I was with 4 other friends for 2 of the specials and we found it a frustrating having to hunt down that last person. There was also one occasion where 5 of us (who all showed up individually) with actual tickets waited around while other mustered groups of 6 were seated, only to be told that there were no tables left. Part of this was on the person doing the mustering as she apparently didn't check to make sure that the 6 person tables she seated didn't have generics mixed in, but I think the emphasis to get full tables seated first didn't help. As far as I know all of us did end up in a game.
I was also surprised when they turned away generic tickets Friday night and then the table my group was seated at had 2 empty tables right next to us (with GM's ready to run, no less).
From a musterer standpoint, it can be extremely frustrating to try and muster tables when those with generics are clamoring at the same time as those with real tickets to get a seat ... I found even when asking to make sure that everyone in the group had real tickets that those with generics were telling me they had real tickets to get seated at a table. Next year I'm going to have to have people show me their ticket in order to get a seat I guess... this will unfortunately mean that it takes longer to muster, but that that will have to be the way it is.
This is something I can chime in on, as I used to be a marshall for another campaign, I would ask people to muster among themselves, and then send one person to me with six real tickets, at which point I would assign them a judge and table.
It is by far the best system I have used to marshall 100+ events like Specials, etc at Gen Con.|
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The emphasis on seating 6 person tables before anyone else was a bit of a problem. I was with 4 other friends for 2 of the specials and we found it a frustrating having to hunt down that last person. There was also one occasion where 5 of us (who all showed up individually) with actual tickets waited around while other mustered groups of 6 were seated, only to be told that there were no tables left. Part of this was on the person doing the mustering as she apparently didn't check to make sure that the 6 person tables she seated didn't have generics mixed in, but I think the emphasis to get full tables seated first didn't help. As far as I know all of us did end up in a game.
I was also surprised when they turned away generic tickets Friday night and then the table my group was seated at had 2 empty tables right next to us (with GM's ready to run, no less).
From a musterer standpoint, it can be extremely frustrating to try and muster tables when those with generics are clamoring at the same time as those with real tickets to get a seat ... I found even when asking to make sure that everyone in the group had real tickets that those with generics were telling me they had real tickets to get seated at a table. Next year I'm going to have to have people show me their ticket in order to get a seat I guess... this will unfortunately mean that it takes longer to muster, but that that will have to be the way it is.
One way to solve this problem is to have door guards as a first tier of mustering. They check tickets to make sure they are real before they let them into the room to go to the muster stations.
The musterers had enough going on, that they don’t need to also check for real tickets too.
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The emphasis on seating 6 person tables before anyone else was a bit of a problem. I was with 4 other friends for 2 of the specials and we found it a frustrating having to hunt down that last person. There was also one occasion where 5 of us (who all showed up individually) with actual tickets waited around while other mustered groups of 6 were seated, only to be told that there were no tables left. Part of this was on the person doing the mustering as she apparently didn't check to make sure that the 6 person tables she seated didn't have generics mixed in, but I think the emphasis to get full tables seated first didn't help. As far as I know all of us did end up in a game.
I was also surprised when they turned away generic tickets Friday night and then the table my group was seated at had 2 empty tables right next to us (with GM's ready to run, no less).
From a musterer standpoint, it can be extremely frustrating to try and muster tables when those with generics are clamoring at the same time as those with real tickets to get a seat ... I found even when asking to make sure that everyone in the group had real tickets that those with generics were telling me they had real tickets to get seated at a table. Next year I'm going to have to have people show me their ticket in order to get a seat I guess... this will unfortunately mean that it takes longer to muster, but that that will have to be the way it is.
One way to solve this problem is to have door guards as a first tier of mustering. They check tickets to make sure they are real before they let them into the room to go to the muster stations.
The musterers had enough going on, that they don’t need to also check for real tickets too.
I like you... I keep you ... you have good idea
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I also like the suggestion of having the ticketed folks go in first, then. once sometables are seated, add in generics. That will help keep the crowds down when trying to self muster.
It also will help avoid the generic ticket holders from harrassing the musterers .... I lost count of the number of times I got told I should seat a generic ticket holder... after I'd already told them and it had been announced that we weren't seating generics.
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Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator
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The quality of the GMs I had this year was excellent, with 1 exception (sort of). My first GM on Thursday showed up late and then asked the group if we could hurry through the scenario so he could get to the dealer booth soon after the hall opened. I was not happy with the idea but the rest of table agreed. However, after we started playing he seemed to settle into GM'ing and we ended up not skipping over or rushing any of it (except at the beginning)....
Sent a PM
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Being my first GenCon (but far from the first Con I have GM'd for Paizo) I have to say this was one of the smoother run events I have participated in.
When it started on Thursday, yes, there was a bit of chaos about mustering, tables for GMs, ticket types, but as we moved forward, everything did get easier. I had no issue finding my marshal, getting to my table, and having plenty of time getting my maps ready for the game I was putting down for the players.
Out of all the slots I ran, only one got changed up at the last minute (I helped run a 1-5 table I wasnt slated for after my 7-11 didnt show. Thank you again Bruce and Dan for filling seats so those two could play!) and going from the 7-11 in the special to a 1-2 instead (yes, I prepped only the 7-11, next year I will prep both the tier I am set for and the 1-2 tier *just in case*). I had one slot actually get flattened because all the tables were actually filled for what I was supposed to run, and so got placed on a table to fill so the players could enjoy their scenario. Overall though, still a very pleasant experience.
Now, on to my kudos/suggestions (the suggestions, FYI, are from things I personally experienced or I overheard/got mentioned to me. If the suggestion itself has no basis or merit, feel free to correct me)
My kudos;
Jon and Wez did a great job with all the chaos that we had going on. They took the problems as they came, and handled them as efficiently and quickly as possible. While they may not have had every answer, they made the best possible decisions for the greatest outcome in a situation.
The special seating was probably one of the best musters I have seen for a large event like this. The fact we had a bit of leeway in the scenario for this really helped I think. (As for the real vs generic argument I see for the Special, I thought I saw this posted on the actual mustering foam boards saying that only real ticket holders would get seated for the special. I would have to see the foam boards again to be sure)
The GM's were overall willing to help each other out and were relatively friendly to each other as well. I can understand how the weekend would grind us down depending on how much we run, but we kept up our positive attitudes none the less.
Runners. Thank you for the water, tokens, ticket take, etc. Without you, I am sure I would have a much worse voice loss right now :)
Suggestions;
Many of my players asked for a GM review sheet (I assume to report on how much fun they had). While something else to print out, would it be possible to maybe have something like this at the HQ table that players can voluntarily fill out after an adventure?
Would it be possible to maybe tier out the sections going from a left to right kind of thing in the hall? 1-5/WBG/WBG2 start at the left, with the 7-11 finishing at the right? Leave Sneak Attack where it was though, I think that was perfect placing. I believe this might help the overall mustering since folks would be able to have a general idea over the weekend where they need to go to find their table (and us GMs, too)
I may get shot for this one, but here it goes; Giving the Tier 1 GMs at least one slot off during the daytime to be able to enjoy a bit of the Con and Dealer room? (Honestly, I have forgotten what it took to be considered Tier 1 GM, so this suggestion may be moot.)
Food. I understand pizza can be delivered to the convention hall. Would it be possible to maybe have some sitting at HQ and made available for the GMs/HQ staff to purchase by the slice and then use that money to rotate in more pizza? Just a thought to keep the volunteers fed and not have to run far if they have little time between slots.
I overheard from someone that the HQ staff didnt get tokens or boons for helping out. If this is true, could we maybe look into fixing that? While not running scenarios they are filling in important roles for this entire thing to move much smoother.
I believe that should cover what I have for now.
Again, a HUGE thank you to the volunteers for everything you have done to make this GenCon great, a round of applause to Thursty for another special event that I enjoyed, and cheers to Paizo for continuing the level of excellence we have all come to expect at these events.
Venture-Captain, California—San Francisco Bay Area North & East
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The Con itself went great for me. I got in 5 real games and 2 goblin games. And two non-pfs games, with plenty of time for the dealer's hall. The flight, hotel, car, parking, blisters from new shoes... those were trouble, and I scraped up my leg pretty bad in the swordfighting demo, but the con was great.
For some reason, the game I had signed up for first didn't happen, so they shuffled me to a different game. Still had a good time.
I got an absolutely fabulous judge for Hellknight's Feast. Good judges on other games too. The special was a lot of fun.
I don't like hard-mode things, so I didn't want to get anywhere near bonekeep. So I was off playing We Be Goblins 2 & 1 instead. Had some trouble with the judges here, but the table held together.
During bonekeep though, I would have loved to see a death counter on the big screen. Send the deaths to HQ like the special was counting things the night before and watch them drop like flies.
One other downside - Indianapolis smells terrible. Get a modern sewer system that doesn't make the streets smell like crap.
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Venture-Captain, California—San Francisco Bay Area North & East
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Oh, and how were the banners for mustering picked? I mean, Seltyiel and Dameil, but no Imrijka? Maybe it was just too hard to pronounce. Sadly no Lirianne either, but since gunslingers remain controversial anyways I wouldn't really expect her.
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One other downside - Indianapolis smells terrible. Get a modern sewer system that doesn't make the streets smell like crap.I blame the bikers.
I blame the bikers for the sound. The smell is the same with or without them.
I think everything went pretty smoothly. I wish level ranges had been listed next to the scenario like they were last year.
I would like to see mustering start at X:30, and X:45 for generics, more likely to get everyone seated by slot start time, also should make the musterer's job easier (expanding the time frame is helpful, it's not bad if the player's beat the GM to the table)
If the previous slot's table is still running, the player's know where they are supposed to go and can wait a few moments.
I loved the special this year, I like the way it was done. We felt like a society, I felt like our actions did things.
(though the aid tokens didn't make it to our table, so I didn't figure out how that worked, seemed like a really cool idea, if logistical nightmare, I would think that the announcements on something occurring could have an immediate impact at all tables)
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It was fun and I had a blast. 10 games of pfs is still leaving it's mark on my voice.
I would personally love to thank everyone that did everythign for this. Obviously the DMs, organizers, and musters. But I am also sure there were countless others I never saw that made this possible, and thank you to them as well.
It was lotsa fun meeting the people on here in person.
It was awesome to play with everyone. Netopolis even though we disagree on things here. I had a blast with you at my table. I hope likewise.
I felt the teir 7-8 I played in the special was anti-climatic. Although I had a great GM
I loved the idea of bonekeeps but in the first 1. Although it seemed all smashed together. Like there is this dungeon and none the rooms are related and do not matter for each other. It was just a emotionless dungeon crawl challenge. Taking the extra time to make things related would help a lot. To me it would be the difference between good and great. Also since you are going to have hard mode in mods. They should be considered hard mode.
I loved how open the paizo staff was to talking with people. Although I am sorry I did not get to meet Mr brock. Meeting Mr. compton was a pleasure. One sided I think.
This was my first GenCon, and I really enjoyed my time there. I'd been to Origins before, but this was a scale of gaming I'd never experienced!
I have a couple of suggestions for mustering from what I experienced.
1. For the more popular time slots (not just special) it can be a challenge to walk up and down the hall through crowds to find which banner you're supposed to be mustering under. Could the boards be altered to hold printed posters that show all the scenarios running and which banner you head to for mustering? That way you're not walking up and down the hall, visiting every board just to find your scenario.
2. The first game my son and I played, the marshal heard what we had tickets for, asked us for our tier, then directed us to stand at a certain area near her to wait for more players to arrive so we could make a table. She was very active in helping players find each other. Other marshals were often turning us away until we were already in a party of six.
I'd like to see marshals taking a more active part in helping individuals/pairs find each other to build tables. It's a bit disconcerting to be told I have to troll through the crowd, looking for others who are ticketed for the same event I am and who are prepared to play the same tier I am.
3. As others have said, the banners need to be spaced further apart. It was often difficult to find the one we were looking for, especially as relatively new players who don't know the iconic characters by sight.
4. Maybe there's a creative way to share with generics what scenarios are not sold out? I can't tell by looking at the marshal area or the mustering posters, so if I don't have a event ticket but am looking to play, I have no idea what area to head towards for my best luck in getting seated at a table.
5. I appreciate the issues that the organizers face in organizing and seating nearly a thousand people for a game slot and how much space so many tables take up, but in the long run, obtaining extra space for marshaling might be worth it in terms of less frustration for everyone.
[Edited to add] Store Request: Find a way to set up PDF purchases at the store! Maybe offer special deals on the PDF versions to those who buy a hardbound copy at the convention. The books are great, but man are they heavy to carry around. And as I don't have a device with easy connectivity at a convention, the resource document isn't really an option.
Thanks so much to Paizo for great Pathfinder events! I hope we can come back soon!
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Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator
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Thanks for all the feedback thus far. You can bet we a going to continuously work to improve the Gen Con experience and your feedback does just that. I'm pretty tired and I'm battling con crud at the moment so will try to give some more in depth responses later this week. One note for everyone in case you weren't aware.
I see a lot of suggestions to improve marshaling. I agree it was challenging as we were seating 800-1000 players per slot. What I will note is that, with the exception of the Special, the other 9 slots were all seated no later than 12 minutes after the top of the hour. So, even though it still seemed chaotic, it was a vast improvement over last year when some slots took as much as 30 minutes after the top of the hour to sit the last tables.
Please keep the feedback coming. It will only help for a better Gen Con in future years.
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It was fun and I had a blast. 10 games of pfs is still leaving it's mark on my voice.
I would personally love to thank everyone that did everythign for this. Obviously the DMs, organizers, and musters. But I am also sure there were countless others I never saw that made this possible, and thank you to them as well.
It was lotsa fun meeting the people on here in person.
It was awesome to play with everyone. Netopolis even though we disagree on things here. I had a blast with you at my table. I hope likewise.
I felt the teir 7-8 I played in the special was anti-climatic. Although I had a great GM
** spoiler omitted **
I loved the idea of bonekeeps but in the first 1. Although it seemed all smashed together. Like there is this dungeon and none the rooms are related and do not matter for each other. It was just a emotionless dungeon crawl challenge. Taking the extra time to make things related would help a lot. To me it would be the difference between good and great. Also since you are going to have hard mode in mods. They should be considered hard mode.
** spoiler omitted **I loved how open the paizo staff was to talking with people. Although I am sorry I did not get to meet Mr brock. Meeting Mr. compton was a pleasure. One sided I think.
Your GM was correct on the weapon hardness ruling. Only adamantine armour has additional hardness; weapons do get the benefit of an extra third of hit points however.