Yup, it’s Gen Con season. I know of a number of people going this year. So I wanted to talk about some things to do, or not to do when going to Gen Con. Because, every year, there are some things that always bug me and other things that I always really appreciate that people do. This is going to combine both things that bug me, but also how to handle them better.

Toting Around Games

This one is probably the trickiest to talk about. Mainly because there are valid reasons to tote around games all day some days. If you really want to get a game, you might get stuck carrying a big box around all day. But I stress that for most people this is a might and something that shouldn’t happen.

Firstly, if you really want to get something some day, figure out how to store it. There isn’t a spot at the con to just hold it until later in the day, that is true. But if you know you want to buy Burncycle from Chip Theory Games or Frosthaven from Cephalofair, change up your plans. Don’t go and grab it early in the morning. Buy it the last thing or the last time you’ll be in the dealers hall.

And those are massive games (so it might be a lot of smaller games you buy) take them to your car or hotel room. Again, this is where it gets tricky, you might find that to be hard. But even if you are using Uber or Lyft to get from an AirBnB or Vrbo to the convention, if you buy a bunch of things one day, drop them off. Take that time, don’t be in everyone’s way with them.

Be Aware of Your Actual Size

Some people aren’t aware of how big they actually are normally. This is not to say some people are big. Most bigger people are fairly aware they are big, whether that’s heavy or tall. But what I am really getting at is you’re wearing a backpack or you are pulling along a cart of games. Be aware of how big you actually are.

The number of people who in the tight crowded spaces of the dealer hall who will just turn around quickly because they spotted something interesting is way to high. The thing is still going to be there for you to look at for you to walk across an aisle to, whatever it is in a few seconds. Wait for that moment in time.

I will say, most people are pretty good at this, both of knowing and when they forget saying excuse me. But do the common curtesy of saying excuse me. I want to remember this to do better myself. I like to think I do a good job, but I could do it all the time. Mainly, I know that I am very aware of my size because I am tall and quite broad so in general I need to pay extra attention. But for those who maybe don’t all the time, make sure you say excuse me when you hit someone.

Shower

This one is basic human decency at this point. You may reek, and you may think that the gallon of perfume or cologne that you put on cover it up. But what you’ve really done is create a combination of body odor and whatever it is that is equally as unpleasant.

Now, I give a whole lot more slack later in the day. Gen Con is generally fairly cool, but outside is not in Indy. If you need to walk between hotels, to the food trucks and wait in line, etc. throughout the day, I expect you to sweat. I expect that you may gain a bit of a funk, I know that I do. But shower so that you won’t start off the day with that funk. And that you don’t build it up over all the days. I know you want to do as much as you can at Gen Con, but showering lets everyone else enjoy Gen Con more.

Sleep

Going along with that, sleep while you are Gen Con. You come in the day before, don’t stay up the whole night just because you’re feeling great. If you want to stay up later and game, do it. But I recommend that people get six hours of sleep on average a night. That’s just sleeping from 2 AM to 8 AM. You get a lot of time staying up. And the dealer hall isn’t even open that early in the morning.

There are two primary reasons for this. Firstly, you nodding off and being distracted impacts other people you game with as well as yourself. So sleep so that you can just focus better. And much like the first, when you are really tired you are going to not take in new rules as well. Maybe you won’t play something new, but you likely will or a tweak on the rules. So please get sleep so that the person teaching you who is having to deal with tired people and smelly people and distracted people has a better rules teach.

Show Up To Your Scheduled Games On Time

I plan on saying something harsh, but I’ll get to it. Right now, I want to say, you signed up for an event, show up on time for it. There is an exception to that, I’ll get to it. But it isn’t just show up on time, show up slightly early. It is sometimes hard to find your table or room, give yourself time.

The first step to it is that you need to schedule enough time to do that. Don’t schedule, and it might be too late now, events that butt up to each other. That is going to make it hard. Especially if you play one time in the convention center and another in a hotel. And I see that happen often of someone “running” to a game. Plan better, most things are multiple times. Or skip one event or pick a different one. It is okay to miss out on something.

And let me get to the harsh thing. If you are late and I want to say over five minute late, don’t show up. It is more polite at that point not to show up than to show up late. Hopefully the teacher or runner of the game will give you time. That is polite of them. But if they get five or ten minutes into teaching the game and then you show up, that is rude. They need to restart and now maybe you get a game in, but everyone plays less than they should.

Final Thoughts on Good Gen Con Habits

There are more. This is definitely not an exhaustive list by any means. It is plenty long though, and I think I covered a lot of my biggest good habits that you can create. I know this feels negative, but I hope that I gave ways to help with them. Mainly, think about these things and then don’t always just plow ahead. Instead, slow down, enjoy, and think about others.

Really, I think that all of these come down to think about others. Gen Con is massive, 70,000 people last year. What you don’t want to be is the person that people complain about. If you are a jerk, rude, and inconsiderate, you might make it a worse time for several thousand people. So think about others and I’ll leave us with a quote that I like from The RPG Academy.

“If you’re having fun, you’re doing it right.”

So go, have fun, and this is not a singular you, it is everyone. Make sure that you, everyone at Gen Con, can have fun. Because when we all have fun, we are all doing it right.

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