A few recent threads have either dealt with cons, or mentioned them.  From what I can glean from people's comments, it seems like everyone has attended at least one gaming con.

Well, umm, I haven't.  I've been gaming for about 22 years, and I've never attended a con.  I don't have anything against cons, but just don't particularly have the interest that would motivate me to attend one.  

Does this make me one very odd duck?  Is it unusual for someone to have been in gaming for as long as I've been to have never been to a con?

Yeah, I know, this is a fairly inconsequential query, but I'm at home in the middle of the afternoon, sick unto death from some sort of sinus-destroying ailment, and I'm curious.

(Oh, and if this is better suited to one of the other forums, take my apologies.)

I don't know if it makes you odd, but I'm surprised that have gamed as long as you have and not gotten curious enought to just go check one out.

I'm not real big on cons either, but I do go to the local cons every now and then and went to Gencon this year.

Well, I've been gaming nigh onto 20 years now (though I must admit to some precociousness) and I haven't been to a RPG Con for roughly 16 years, and I've never been to any of the big ones...

So, off hand, I'd say you aren't odd, just odd in the Online community

I've been gaming for 28 years now, and I just went to my first con this February - a local con at Harvard. Next year I'm going to GenCon - I'll be running some of my games. It was interesting... But you're not that odd, I think.

-clash

I went to some comic conventions as a kid and I haven't missed an Otakon in seven years.  Admittedly, conventions have less to offer as I get older.

I'm trying my luck at Comiket (the mother of all conventions, God help me) in 2007, so I'll have the final word on whether or not they're for me.

I'm intrigued by the idea of an RPG con, though.  I might break down and hit up GenCon one of these years.

Any truth to the rumor about the bondage freaks walking the con floor in their leatherwear?

I agree it's not odd, though going to cons is not uncommon among gamers, either.  So I'd guess the split somewhere in the range of 25% to 75%.  

Incidentally, my inexpert impression has been that even as tabletop RPG sales have been dropping for the past several years, RPG conventions have been doing well and even expanding.

I've been to a couple but I'm really not a fan.  Don't see the point.

I hadn't went to a "real" con (i.e., not the dinky thing put on at the local library) for 20 years of gaming.

Of course, I went to GenCon ever since it moved to Indy, and every year since, and probably for the forseeable future.

I've never been to a "real" con in my life, but that probably has more to do with my location rather than any volition - or lack thereof - regarding going to these events.

I've been playing since 1980, and I went to my very first con a month ago. I'm trying to network and find new people to play with, and it certainly worked: I got invited to lunch and gaming this Saturday, and I've got some other people to contact.

Quote from: Pebbles and MarblesDoes this make me one very odd duck?

Or lucky. Considering what you may end up hearing in the next toilet stall over. :spank: :crap:

On a more serious note of the dozen or so people I've played with on a regular basis over the last decade (I've played a lot longer, but I've lost contact with nearly all those people) I'm the only one I know of that has gone to an RPG Con. Though there might be one other guy, I've just never asked him. And I've only gone to two, one of which was only about 30 people and the other maybe 150 people tops.

I'm also the only one that I know of that's played pick-up type games at the local FLGS.

So you might be in the minority here, or amoung people that you'll find on RPG messageboards.  But don't think that is a particularly representative slice of the gaming public.

I attended my first con (a small, university con an hour away from my home) within a year or two of getting involved with roleplaying games in high school. I'd seen advertisements for GenCon in Dragon Magazine and, knowing I couldn't possibly make it to Wisconsin for that, tried the nearest local con. I had some regular gaming buddies at home, but I wanted to see what else was out there and try some new things; I played my first miniatures wargame, sat in on a lecture about board wargames, and met Al Leonardi (creator of the Ace of Aces game books).

I didn't attend a hard-core gaming convention until I was out of college years later. This, too, was a local con in a nearby town -- attending huge conventions in other states was really beyond my means or interest. This small con gave me a chance to run some games that really excited me and meet other gamers of different levels of involvement and enthusiasm. (I didn't go to GenCon until I started working as a full-time game designer with West End Games.)

These days I attend cons to promote my independently published gaming product, but also to talk with gamers and enjoy myself. I have longtime gaming friends who attend their local con once a year as a break from their regular gaming group, to try new things, and hang out with con buddies. I have other longtime gaming friends whose regular groups are so insulated that they'd never dream of hanging out with the diverse gaming masses at a con, let alone join other relative strangers for a game at the local game store.

I think attending conventions requires a few things: a convention within easy travel distance; an interest in the games/programming/guests at the con; and a willingness to meet new folks and try new games beyond one's immediate group. The first one is a huge obstacle to overcome without considering making time and setting aside money to attend.

So no, I don't think you're odd. I doubt the majority of gamers attend conventions; a small segment is "hardcore" enough and has opportunity to attend. I don't think it makes you any less of a gamer. Every person engages in this hobby (or any hobby) to the extent it provides enjoyment.

Just some thoughts.

Best regards,

Peter Schweighofer

Griffon Publishing Studio
//www.destinyrealms.com/griffon/