The 6 – 2 – 1 Rule

So what is this rule that I’m talking about? 6 – 2 – 1 must mean something and it does. It’s the number of hours you should try and sleep, meals you should eat, and showers you should take, per day at the convention.

Try and get 6 hours of sleep per day, you’ll have more fun when you do. Eat two actual meals per day, though even I cheat on this one. But I set aside time every day, one real meal either lunch or dinner. For breakfast I do a granola bar. And for the meal that I skip, I don’t skip. I stop and get out jerky, fruit, trail mix, and basically make a meals worth of food out of foods like that, easy to carry and non perishable. And then shower, once per day, don’t care when you do it, if you’re an evening shower, or morning, or you go back to your hotel at noon. Shower once a day.

Why You Don’t Skip

I think this one will be pretty obvious for some of them. And the one that is the least obvious or the most flexible, I think it also makes sense.

Let’s start out with showers. I don’t care who you are, you won’t smell good after a day of walking around a convention in the middle of the summer. I know that I don’t so every morning I take a shower. It’s a curtesy to your other con goers. I don’t go to Gen Con to smell other people’s body odor.

Then food, again, I think this makes sense. Food helps you focus, it’s the energy you burn throughout the day. Even if you think you’re going strong, being hangry is a thing. Or just not focusing like you should while you learn rules to a new game at an event. So get two meals in, and bring snacks.

Now the one where you can fudge it a little bit. The issue is for the people who fudge it a lot. Try and get 6 hours of sleep a night. That’s not that much really. If you go to bed at 1 AM that’s sleeping until 7 AM. And the dealer hall doesn’t even open until 10 AM. But if you fudge it, try and make up time. One night you go out and drink and party with friends and you get 4-5 hours of sleep. Try and get a good amount of sleep on either side of it. Again it’s about not being cranky, not being unfocused, and not ruining others times.

Final Gen Con Thoughts

Let’s face it, those are probably good rules in general for life. If you’re getting less than 6 hours of sleep it catches up to you eventually. And if you’re showering less, people will want to be around you less. But for an event like Gen Con, I do think there are strong reasons to try and live by these rules. I also understand, it’s that one event per year, possibly, where you can go crazy gaming and seeing people.

But it comes down to something a podcast I like says, The RPG Academy.

If you’re having fun you’re doing it right.

The RPG Academy

And when it comes to things like hygiene, what you do or don’t do can affect how much fun someone else is having. And when you pay for ticket, travel, and events and that can cost a lot, don’t step on someone else’s fun. And really, don’t ruin your own fun by pushing yourself too far.

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We’ve talked a little bit about it already when we went through packing, but let’s quickly hit those points again.

GenCon is a HUGE con. That means that a lot of areas are going to be packed and it’s probably going to be tough to move around. Be considerate with what bag you bring. The board game bag that you brought might be cool looking and work well for taking games to play with your friends, but it’s probably too bulky for something like GenCon. Keep it simple with a backpack or something else small that isn’t going to be swinging and hitting other people. Even though it might be obvious you’re wearing something large, it is still your responsibility to make sure you don’t hit someone, not theirs to give you a large birth to avoid being hit.

The other thing that I mentioned before is that you should please follow a 1/2/6 rule. That’s one shower per day. Two meals per day minimum. And six hours of sleep, which is actually the trickiest or should be. But when you eat and sleep you are going to be in a better mood and better to be around at the con. And the shower is really important for everyone else to be in a better mood to be around you. So please, do these things all days at GenCon or whatever Con you are going to be going to.

There are a few other things you can think about as well.

One of them will be in a con as huge as GenCon, don’t spend a ton of time on your phone in the bahtroom. If you need to get away from people for a little bit, GenCon has a quiet room or get out of the convention center for a little bit, you can probably go not too far and be out of the throngs of people. Clearly, something like GenCon is going to know their bathroom needs, but I’m sure once in a while a random bathroom will have a line at it, so don’t spend extra time.

When on the dealer floor and getting ready to make a purchse, if you know your cash or credit card is at the bottom of your bag, work on getting to that prior to being at the front of the line. This is especially important for hot games because there’s probably going to be a line, so don’t be the person holding up the line. You also never know when you’ll be the person in line buying that set of dice you forgot or decided you needed for a game that starts in five minutes and someone is taking a while. So be responsible yourself when you are in line. And if there’s no line, that’s fine to take your time, but if people are starting to queue, be courteous.

And this last one is going to seem pretty general. But pay attention to your surroundings. I know it might seem super obvious, but there are a lot of things to look at, and you might not notice everything and everyone around you. I’m 6’4″ so this is something that I have to pay attention to, and I always have to pay attention to, so I doubly do so at Cons. But when you’re always on the lookout for people shorter than you whom might not be in your eye-line, it helps. But there will be kids there, there will be people with accessibility needs who might not be in your eye-line, keep an eye out for them and be courteous about it.

Finally, I just want to say, all of these “rules” seem like they might be a lot of work. And sometimes these rules are going to be broken by me and by you and that’s fine. The simple rule you should ask yourself is if you’re stepping on someone else’s fun. The goal of a con is for everyone to have fun, so make sure that you are having fun, and that those around you are having fun. I think with that simple mindset, you’re going to have a good time and be courteous to those around you.

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