Ten years ago, sure, we had a little bit of room where we could accommodate some fluff. Now? Indy cannot handle it and we have nowhere to move to.
Right now this is a housing issue. When the convention hits it will be a parking, restaurant, and getting through the exhibit hall issue. Severe housing problems are just a symptom of a bigger problem.
Lucky for those folks Gen Con seems to be excited and happy to have Gen Con be a more varied experience than God Emperor gharris would prefer.Perhaps the God Emperor could start his own gaming convention and invite all the like minded people who are so disappointed in their inability to get a hotel room in walking distance that they want to disallow anyone who does activities they don't like. What perfect fun it would be for them without all that other fluff!
And, as a bonus, the more cosmopolitan among us wouldn't have to suffer this kind of irrational outburst targeted at members of the community.
First off, why are you personally attacking me? Is that sort of thing now allowed on this board?Secondly, how exactly am I being irrational?
Is population in excess of the capacity of downtown hotel rooms NOT the cause of yearly housing complaints?
Is being able to stay within walking distance of the convention center while keeping price gouging to a minimum NOT a key part of the experience for the vast majority of Gen Con attendees?
Does hitting the badge cap NOT mean that there are too many people, that gamers will be turned away, and that we need to trim back?
Are gaming and gaming events NOT the priority at "The Best Four Days in Gaming"?
Are we NOT locked in to staying in Indy for the next few years, with no realistic new city to move to, meaning we really can't expand any more?
Calling attention to your opinions is not an "attack" on you.I am calling attention to your opinions because you have:
a. Appointed yourself as arbiter of what is and is not gaming for Gen Con and its 60,000+ attendees.
b. Identified a list of activities you have determined are "fluff" and therefore not suitable or necessary for Gen Con
c. Stated that it will be necessary to "cut" these activities from Gen Con.
The idea that one of 60,000+ Gen Con attendees is in a position to dictate to the other 59,999+ of us and to Gen Con what events are "fluff" and what events must be "cut" is an irrational idea.
A person who expresses this idea is being irrational.
Hope that clears it up!
I did not appoint myself as the arbiter. Calling me out by name and calling me an irrational "God Emperor" is pretty clearly getting personal. I also note that you didn't even address my points.
Gen Con has defined itself as a gaming convention for 50 years now. Gaming is the heart and foundation of "The Best Four Days in Gaming". "God Emperor gharris" did not declare this, Gen Con did.
Spa activities are defined by Gen Con as "nongaming". Defined by Gen Con, not "God Emperor gharris":
http://www.gencon.com/experience/spa2017
Do I really need to explain why puppets, watching Japanese cartoons, comic books, and playing dress up outside of a LARP are not gaming? Better yet, can you explain why they ARE?
Do you want housing to get better next year? Then you need to reduce the population. This isn't rocket science. You do that by cutting back on events. Keeping just as many events or adding more just maintains the problem. If you are going to cut events at a gaming convention you don't start with cutting the actual gaming events.
There is no need to apologize for saying that a gaming convention should have gamers and gaming as its primary focus. This isn't the irrational ravings of "God Emperor gharris", this is what you expect from a gaming convention.
The alternative is to keep having bad housing experiences for years to come. So what do you want? Keep the fluff and continue to have bad housing or start trimming the fluff and give attendees a better experience on housing day?
Note that Gen Con doesn't actually need fluff events to thrive. Yes, I said fluff because that is what nongaming events that inflate attendance at a gaming convention are. Gen Con repeatedly outgrew its previous homes, including the city of Milwaukee, with a minimum of fluff- keep in mind the Spa program didn't even exist until 2006.