I went to one at a hotel where it was just a couple of days of tons of people playing board games. They had lots of games on the side of the ballroom you could check out for free. It was pretty disappointing. I went by myself and I was hoping to jump into games with rando's. Nope, all the tables were full. There were a couple of other awkward guys I met up with and we played a couple of short games but they ended up leaving soon after and that was it. I left soon after as well. My recommendation would be to go to these type of events with friends so you always have someone to play a game with.
So glad to hear a different take on this subject! As much as I am 100% all about board game conventions/events/tournaments/retreats/etc., it's important to point out that they're not for everyone and they tend to be expensive! I think for a lot of us the FOMO is always there with big board game conventions but you made a good point that they'll always be there next year! 😊
I live outside of Philly in NJ. The only con I go to is PaxU. I pay a few bucks to take the train each day. I pack my lunch. I pack snacks like protein bars. Etc. I love big crowds. I love being out and about with friends or myself. Conventions really are for people like me. If only I had more cash to go to more than 1 convention a year. I will say, discounts on games/availability of games/directly purchasing rather than target or Amazon/not paying for shipping (due to living nearby)/math trades/game jams/going to prototype or play testing designs/etc. There are a ton of great reasons to go. But find what works for you. Just like live music isn't for every fan of a band, a convention isn't needed to be a hobby board gamer.
Well, those are all good and valid points: Think, before you make a huge effort. I'm from Gemany and lived close to Essen for some years, "before RUclips". So Essen Spiel was the one chance we had to go and see the games IRL, have a look at mechanisms and how they played. And back then games were cheaper at Essen, than on other opportunities eg online (just by the sheer volume they sold during Essen Spiel; exibitors from Germany they just "drive' to the convention, don't fly; in and on the other hand nobody from the US wanted to fly unsold games back again, so on sundays you could make bargains; games are not only sold by their respective publishers but by a variety of shops that put on the preasure to be the "best offer" at the conevention). Nowadays I go to Essen to have a look at some stuff usually not readily available in Germany, that would come with higher transportation cost and fees/customs if I bought a single copy in UK/US/Kickstarter.
I Literally just got back from a convention about an hour ago. It is a smaller con called CuseCon in Syracuse. I had the best time! I didn’t spend much at all on a ticket. Just the hotel and money for food from the food trucks. For four days gaming with amazing people is still less at this con than a day at Disney 😂. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I get what your saying about a large con for sure but a small con can be amazing if its the right one.
I go to two local conventions every year. I love playing games I don’t own and having someone else teach me the rules. It’s also fun talking with vendors and making convention friends
I go to conventions to have a board game vacation with my friends. If you are going to buy games you should absolutely not go. You can get half the value just going to a local board game cafe and renting all the games that they have in turn if that's why you are going
I’ve had this discussion with my buddies and we’ve determined that if we want to do that, a convention is the last place I’d want to do it. We’d much rather get an air bnb in the woods and just chill out.
Same here. I think of it as a vacation not to go buy games. I also love conventions because its fun to be around people that are enthusiastic about the hobby.
The cost? Who cares... its just money. People spend money on all sorts of hobbies, for example traveling to sports events all year long. If It makes the person happy, then go enjoy yourself. A board game table? $3000 for high end table? Big deal. People blow that on movies and restaurants yearly. Alot of people have over 200 board games , a table and still go gaming conventions.
I've only been to a small local convention 3 of the past four years. I don't have to pay for a hotel. I don't feel the need to travel to a big convention, even if it is not too far away. However, it would be nice to go to a Dice Tower convention or cruise someday. The cruise would have the food and all the other activities, and a convention in Orlando or Las Vegas would have opportunities to do other things. I watch their channel a lot, so it would be cool to see them in person, and possibly play a game with one of them or their contributors.
I'm going to my first convention this weekend. You are right, it is expensive. I've spent 1k+ for travel and hotel though I'm sure it doesn't help they were booked so close to the event. I'd love to go to Gencon, Dice Tower or Essen one day but they seem really overwhelming. The convention I'm going to is just for Buttonshy, a group of 40-70 people. Basically just a official get together with some featured tables. Will it be worth the cost? At the amount I spent, almost for sure not. But I'm going to love the experience and I'm staying longer to explore the city as well since Nashville has a lot to offer.
Lol been going to conventions for 20 years. The smaller cons are great, you meet wonderful people, play new games, community. If I get over whelmed I take a mental break and go rest somewhere. I bring my own food. Small cons /hotels don't charge parking.
World Series of Board Gaming was perfect for me. It was small and I was able to meet a whole bunch of great people. Plus we love some friendly competition.
We hit a local "Game Day" and that worked out pretty well. Not a con, but a fun experience. Those are all good points to consider, though. The experience can be a good one, but if you don't take care of yourself and have a good budget, it could be a long time recovering.
Been a fan of your channel for almost a year now. Now that Quackalope is taking over your channel I will probably unsubscribe. I really cant stand his videos. He is such a needy person. I wish you luck at BGG.
I've only been a couple conventions. Got sick at one and overwhelmed at both. In each case, I did it to join friends that were going and that was fun, but it wiped me out. The only thing I found at the convention that I lacked locally was the intensity of competition that I found at the Magic: The Gathering Grand Prix I went to. Locally, I tend to do really well, but going to a big tournament opened my eyes to the skill level I could test myself against at a convention. Buuuuuut then Magic made an online client and now I can test myself against all sorts of people of similar skill level so now I don't feel any compulsion to go anymore. Maybe someday the World Series of Gaming?
went to first convention this weekend. Would like to have played more games. Was fortunate enough to play Mythic Mischief with my son and Moonrakers with Austin@iv studios who gave great instruction and made it a great experiance.
Just got back from Shux. It was awesome. Met a ton of friendly new people and played many new games, in addition to the great panels they had running nonstop that I caught a couple of. Was absolutely worth the cost to me, but obviously that's going to be subjective. Cons (where open gaming is a big focus) just give me something I can't get anywhere else, and that's where a lot of the value comes from.
I live in Middle Earth (aka New Zealand) so buying a game such as Too Many Bones is a big enough decision alone because of the lack of accessibility (i.e I have to get it shipped from an online retailer in Australia) and the weak NZ dollar relative to most currencies. I recently purchased an older game that’s been on my wish list for some time and only available from the publisher in the US, so a US$150 game bundle plus US$30 postage cost me NZ$325 all up (I really want this game). So deciding whether to go to a major convention is a long way off in the future. The next best thing is to watch a panicked Alex rushing around GenCon showing the greatest and latest games before the hall closes. Eventually I might buy some of those games but they are no longer ‘new’ by the time they hit NZ game stores (of which we have a handful of so I buy online) because everything takes so much longer to get here. So yes, many reasons not to go to a convention and more reasons to enjoy them vicariously through RUclipsrs. 🙂
Saying that you won't get games cheaper is true, with a caveat. If you wait until the last day of the convention, you can often get very good deals. Companies may have had to pay to ship the games there, but they don't want to pay to ship them back. Selling a game on the cheap is better than sending it back unsold. This isn't true for every company or con, but it is generally a very consistent element. The caveat to the caveat is if you wait until the last day, a lot of games might have already sold out, so you are taking that risk. But yeah, I frequently end up with some sort of cold after a con. Are you going to, Alex, or have you already done, a counter video? Because there advantages to going to cons that you did not touch on here. Chance to meet the creators, chance to play with people you don't know, networking from both of those and otherwise, special events (tournaments, unique scenarios for scenario type games), panels and other events (like I never miss True Dungeon at GenCon or any other con I go to that has it)...
So I entered this video assuming I would disagree but actually agree with most of your points I have never gone to any of the big conventions someday I probably will once but cost wise just hasn’t been worth it for me. But local small conventions are awesome I’m lucky enough to live in KC area and we have several a year and have had amazing experiences there but in that case I am just driving there and back and spending a few $ for the wknd pass. And in exchange getting access to game libraries, new friends, and often play to win sections and raffles and other fun enjoyable things. If you are dropping $100s or more I think you have to think hard about if the experience is worth if for you.
For reference, I've probably been to something near 100 conventions (mostly gaming and literary SF, which have a very similar vibe). In many cases, that was for professional reasons, but in many it was just for pleasure. Most of your point are well-taken, but I do have a few comments. Game prices at big conventions may well be higher than online, but it's not necessarily because it's more expensive for the company. It's not particularly more expensive to ship games in bulk to conventions than one-by-one direct to consumer (the latter is usually more expensive) and it's not more expensive than shipping in bulk to a distributor. And the company gets to sell at or near retail price rather than at 40% of retail (as when shipping to a distributor). It is very expensive to attend a con as a company (booth fees, travel, hotel rooms, salary, and per diem), so you do need to sell enough games to cover those costs. But for companies that can sell well at cons, it's nearly always a profit center. As an attendee, my experience is that if you're travelling a significant distance to a four-day big con, you're looking at a minimum of several hundred dollars even if you are sharing a room with several other people and eating as cheaply as possible. If you're not going for the full cattle-car experience, it's more like $1000+/person. Con crud has absolutely been a factor for decades. Especially for big, national cons, you're exposing yourself to a much wider disease pool than just the local variants that you've already been exposed to. My experience is that about half the time I go to a con, I come back to a "cold", whatever that might mean. Finally, your comments are most true about the large, national conventions -- Origins, GenCon, WorldCon, DragonCon, San Diego ComicCon, etc. But those aren't the only sort of conventions. Many areas have local conventions that are much less overwhelming. 100-200 attendee conventions can be found in many areas, and they're less problematic in nearly every way that you mention: they're less expensive, you're less likely to be exposed to a wide disease pool, you're more likely to be gaming with people in the local area (who might become regular opponents), and travel costs are likely minimal.
Alex, I love how you encourage people to have balance in their lives and to practice critical thinking and self control in their decisions. You are wise. 🦉
![I.N "HALLUCINATION" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/n5B5q1Hwt_U/mqdefault.jpg)
By not going to conventions I can afford to buy the board games 😂.
I went to one at a hotel where it was just a couple of days of tons of people playing board games. They had lots of games on the side of the ballroom you could check out for free. It was pretty disappointing. I went by myself and I was hoping to jump into games with rando's. Nope, all the tables were full. There were a couple of other awkward guys I met up with and we played a couple of short games but they ended up leaving soon after and that was it. I left soon after as well. My recommendation would be to go to these type of events with friends so you always have someone to play a game with.
So glad to hear a different take on this subject! As much as I am 100% all about board game conventions/events/tournaments/retreats/etc., it's important to point out that they're not for everyone and they tend to be expensive! I think for a lot of us the FOMO is always there with big board game conventions but you made a good point that they'll always be there next year! 😊
My dude, my bro, my brother in Christ, I am beginning you to get to the point without 3 minutes of lead in
I live outside of Philly in NJ. The only con I go to is PaxU. I pay a few bucks to take the train each day. I pack my lunch. I pack snacks like protein bars. Etc.
I love big crowds. I love being out and about with friends or myself.
Conventions really are for people like me. If only I had more cash to go to more than 1 convention a year.
I will say, discounts on games/availability of games/directly purchasing rather than target or Amazon/not paying for shipping (due to living nearby)/math trades/game jams/going to prototype or play testing designs/etc. There are a ton of great reasons to go.
But find what works for you. Just like live music isn't for every fan of a band, a convention isn't needed to be a hobby board gamer.
Well, those are all good and valid points: Think, before you make a huge effort.
I'm from Gemany and lived close to Essen for some years, "before RUclips". So Essen Spiel was the one chance we had to go and see the games IRL, have a look at mechanisms and how they played. And back then games were cheaper at Essen, than on other opportunities eg online (just by the sheer volume they sold during Essen Spiel; exibitors from Germany they just "drive' to the convention, don't fly; in and on the other hand nobody from the US wanted to fly unsold games back again, so on sundays you could make bargains; games are not only sold by their respective publishers but by a variety of shops that put on the preasure to be the "best offer" at the conevention).
Nowadays I go to Essen to have a look at some stuff usually not readily available in Germany, that would come with higher transportation cost and fees/customs if I bought a single copy in UK/US/Kickstarter.
I Literally just got back from a convention about an hour ago. It is a smaller con called CuseCon in Syracuse. I had the best time! I didn’t spend much at all on a ticket. Just the hotel and money for food from the food trucks. For four days gaming with amazing people is still less at this con than a day at Disney 😂. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I get what your saying about a large con for sure but a small con can be amazing if its the right one.
Nice :) glad you enjoyed!
I go to two local conventions every year. I love playing games I don’t own and having someone else teach me the rules. It’s also fun talking with vendors and making convention friends
I go to conventions to have a board game vacation with my friends. If you are going to buy games you should absolutely not go. You can get half the value just going to a local board game cafe and renting all the games that they have in turn if that's why you are going
I’ve had this discussion with my buddies and we’ve determined that if we want to do that, a convention is the last place I’d want to do it. We’d much rather get an air bnb in the woods and just chill out.
@@cincydooley I wouldn't mind if my gaming friend group did that, that's for sure
Same here. I think of it as a vacation not to go buy games. I also love conventions because its fun to be around people that are enthusiastic about the hobby.
The cost? Who cares... its just money. People spend money on all sorts of hobbies, for example traveling to sports events all year long. If It makes the person happy, then go enjoy yourself. A board game table? $3000 for high end table? Big deal. People blow that on movies and restaurants yearly. Alot of people have over 200 board games , a table and still go gaming conventions.
Sure, and if that's something you can do responsibly then sure.
I've only been to a small local convention 3 of the past four years. I don't have to pay for a hotel. I don't feel the need to travel to a big convention, even if it is not too far away. However, it would be nice to go to a Dice Tower convention or cruise someday. The cruise would have the food and all the other activities, and a convention in Orlando or Las Vegas would have opportunities to do other things. I watch their channel a lot, so it would be cool to see them in person, and possibly play a game with one of them or their contributors.
I'm going to my first convention this weekend. You are right, it is expensive. I've spent 1k+ for travel and hotel though I'm sure it doesn't help they were booked so close to the event.
I'd love to go to Gencon, Dice Tower or Essen one day but they seem really overwhelming. The convention I'm going to is just for Buttonshy, a group of 40-70 people. Basically just a official get together with some featured tables. Will it be worth the cost? At the amount I spent, almost for sure not. But I'm going to love the experience and I'm staying longer to explore the city as well since Nashville has a lot to offer.
Lol been going to conventions for 20 years. The smaller cons are great, you meet wonderful people, play new games, community. If I get over whelmed I take a mental break and go rest somewhere. I bring my own food. Small cons /hotels don't charge parking.
I got sick at pax last year. The humidity mixed with the mask and being surrounded by hundreds of people gave my sinuses a field day.
World Series of Board Gaming was perfect for me. It was small and I was able to meet a whole bunch of great people. Plus we love some friendly competition.
We hit a local "Game Day" and that worked out pretty well. Not a con, but a fun experience. Those are all good points to consider, though. The experience can be a good one, but if you don't take care of yourself and have a good budget, it could be a long time recovering.
Been a fan of your channel for almost a year now. Now that Quackalope is taking over your channel I will probably unsubscribe. I really cant stand his videos. He is such a needy person. I wish you luck at BGG.
I'm so confused....who is taking over my channel?
LOL, what?
I've only been a couple conventions. Got sick at one and overwhelmed at both. In each case, I did it to join friends that were going and that was fun, but it wiped me out. The only thing I found at the convention that I lacked locally was the intensity of competition that I found at the Magic: The Gathering Grand Prix I went to. Locally, I tend to do really well, but going to a big tournament opened my eyes to the skill level I could test myself against at a convention. Buuuuuut then Magic made an online client and now I can test myself against all sorts of people of similar skill level so now I don't feel any compulsion to go anymore. Maybe someday the World Series of Gaming?
Does a stream for this tournament exist?
went to first convention this weekend. Would like to have played more games. Was fortunate enough to play Mythic Mischief with my son and Moonrakers with Austin@iv studios who gave great instruction and made it a great experiance.
Nice!
Just got back from Shux. It was awesome. Met a ton of friendly new people and played many new games, in addition to the great panels they had running nonstop that I caught a couple of. Was absolutely worth the cost to me, but obviously that's going to be subjective. Cons (where open gaming is a big focus) just give me something I can't get anywhere else, and that's where a lot of the value comes from.
I'm glad you enjoyed :)
I live in Middle Earth (aka New Zealand) so buying a game such as Too Many Bones is a big enough decision alone because of the lack of accessibility (i.e I have to get it shipped from an online retailer in Australia) and the weak NZ dollar relative to most currencies. I recently purchased an older game that’s been on my wish list for some time and only available from the publisher in the US, so a US$150 game bundle plus US$30 postage cost me NZ$325 all up (I really want this game). So deciding whether to go to a major convention is a long way off in the future. The next best thing is to watch a panicked Alex rushing around GenCon showing the greatest and latest games before the hall closes. Eventually I might buy some of those games but they are no longer ‘new’ by the time they hit NZ game stores (of which we have a handful of so I buy online) because everything takes so much longer to get here. So yes, many reasons not to go to a convention and more reasons to enjoy them vicariously through RUclipsrs. 🙂
Can you do a video talking about the heroscape haslab? 🙂
the cost of a board gaming table also isn't insignificant. you can buy a second-hand 6 foot table for $200 and spend the other $800+ on board games
Saying that you won't get games cheaper is true, with a caveat. If you wait until the last day of the convention, you can often get very good deals. Companies may have had to pay to ship the games there, but they don't want to pay to ship them back. Selling a game on the cheap is better than sending it back unsold. This isn't true for every company or con, but it is generally a very consistent element. The caveat to the caveat is if you wait until the last day, a lot of games might have already sold out, so you are taking that risk.
But yeah, I frequently end up with some sort of cold after a con.
Are you going to, Alex, or have you already done, a counter video? Because there advantages to going to cons that you did not touch on here. Chance to meet the creators, chance to play with people you don't know, networking from both of those and otherwise, special events (tournaments, unique scenarios for scenario type games), panels and other events (like I never miss True Dungeon at GenCon or any other con I go to that has it)...
There's no guarantee that the convention you're interested in is going to exist next year, the pandemic has shown thid
Sure, but even in this kind of once-in-a-lifetime situation, all the main ones did return.
Just came to the video to find out who the cute guy is - named him yet and are you keeping him/giving him to your kids?
So I entered this video assuming I would disagree but actually agree with most of your points I have never gone to any of the big conventions someday I probably will once but cost wise just hasn’t been worth it for me.
But local small conventions are awesome I’m lucky enough to live in KC area and we have several a year and have had amazing experiences there but in that case I am just driving there and back and spending a few $ for the wknd pass. And in exchange getting access to game libraries, new friends, and often play to win sections and raffles and other fun enjoyable things. If you are dropping $100s or more I think you have to think hard about if the experience is worth if for you.
Glad to hear :) and yes, every convention will be different.
I only go to a convention if they happen where I live 🤣
Lol fair
For reference, I've probably been to something near 100 conventions (mostly gaming and literary SF, which have a very similar vibe). In many cases, that was for professional reasons, but in many it was just for pleasure. Most of your point are well-taken, but I do have a few comments.
Game prices at big conventions may well be higher than online, but it's not necessarily because it's more expensive for the company. It's not particularly more expensive to ship games in bulk to conventions than one-by-one direct to consumer (the latter is usually more expensive) and it's not more expensive than shipping in bulk to a distributor. And the company gets to sell at or near retail price rather than at 40% of retail (as when shipping to a distributor). It is very expensive to attend a con as a company (booth fees, travel, hotel rooms, salary, and per diem), so you do need to sell enough games to cover those costs. But for companies that can sell well at cons, it's nearly always a profit center.
As an attendee, my experience is that if you're travelling a significant distance to a four-day big con, you're looking at a minimum of several hundred dollars even if you are sharing a room with several other people and eating as cheaply as possible. If you're not going for the full cattle-car experience, it's more like $1000+/person.
Con crud has absolutely been a factor for decades. Especially for big, national cons, you're exposing yourself to a much wider disease pool than just the local variants that you've already been exposed to. My experience is that about half the time I go to a con, I come back to a "cold", whatever that might mean.
Finally, your comments are most true about the large, national conventions -- Origins, GenCon, WorldCon, DragonCon, San Diego ComicCon, etc. But those aren't the only sort of conventions. Many areas have local conventions that are much less overwhelming. 100-200 attendee conventions can be found in many areas, and they're less problematic in nearly every way that you mention: they're less expensive, you're less likely to be exposed to a wide disease pool, you're more likely to be gaming with people in the local area (who might become regular opponents), and travel costs are likely minimal.
OMG...the plushie is adorable! I want one!
Alex, I love how you encourage people to have balance in their lives and to practice critical thinking and self control in their decisions. You are wise. 🦉
I hated cons before this video, I hate them even more now. Good job :-)
Lol thanks :)
Only 5? ;-). Lol.
the smell
Lol fair