August 9, 2009: 26-Year-Old Gen Con Virgin

Because someone (Paul) has to get the Daily Illuminator queue nice and full before he departs for Gen Con, someone (still Paul) is making me write a piece about my thoughts on Gen Con. You, the lucky reader, get to join me on this rambling journey of forced autobiographical musings. Thanks, someone (Paul again)!

So why are my thoughts on the impending Gen Con of particular note? I've never been to the show before. In fact, this'll be my first honest-to-goodness gaming con. I've only done the anime scene up to now, with A-Kon being my largest. Thomas, one of our IT guys, convinced me early this year that Gen Con was "omigawdsomuchfun." Because I have a nasty habit of trusting my friends, I believed him. Now, several hundred bucks lighter, I've got a badge and a ticket!

A train ticket, in fact. See, Thomas also convinced me that it would be fun to take a 30-hour-or-so train ride (one way!) to Indianapolis. It would seem I have poor taste in friends. Currently, I am deciding what mental illness I want to develop as a result of the two train rides. Not sure if want to go full-blown Ophelia-style delusion or a quiet sort of Elwood P. Dowd wacko.

I'm only doing Friday and Saturday, and I don't really know what the heck I'm going to do with myself when I get there. Normally, I'd be all about that playing of cos, but since I'm out of my element, I daren't subject the fine denziens of Indianapolis to my costuming "skills" just yet. As of this writing, I'm still unsure if Fantasy Flight is going to have the Pegasus expansion for Battlestar Galactica there, but that's easily what I'm most looking forward to. Oh, and Randy (our playtest co-somethingorother) has told me to get in line early for some event called "Hentai Dubbing." What could possibly go wrong?

I suspect I'll spend most of my time drifting aimlessly from one place to the next, slack-jawed and scratching my head. If you wave at someone and he dives behind a garbage bin, you've probably waved at me. Still, feel free to yell at me through our Twitter account and let me know what So Awesome thing a newbie Just Has To See at Gen Con. Or just yell at the guy with brown fedora, the slack jaw, and the nervous twitch to come over and look at whatever cool game you're playing. See you in Indiana!

-- Fox Barrett