Tuesday, March 16, 2010

BGG.CON 2010

Although registration is not quite open for this year's BGG.CON, the prices are up, and it's kicked up to $75 for Early Registration, and a cool $100 after that.

Seeing this really made me feel like I'm getting to be a gamer grump, because this feels like it went just a little bit over my personal price limit for this kind of thing. I don't want to dampen the enthusiasm too much, since I think there will be a lot of people from here that want to go (especially a lot of the new gamers, I hope), but when I start to figure in the cost of the con, the drive, the hotel, and the food, I'm considering skipping this year. It just seems like a lot of money to spend for essentially a weekend of gaming. (And get off my lawn, you dadgum kids!!!) I'd be interested to hear other people's thoughts (especially those planning to attend).

9 Comments:

At 9:31 PM, March 16, 2010, Blogger Rob said...

Man, I'd be all over it with an extra day of gaming this year (opening on Wed vs Thurs)? Are you kidding me? Dude....

But I have to be a realist and accept that I probably won't be able to, with my baby and all arriving in August.

 
At 10:55 PM, March 16, 2010, Blogger Ben said...

Baby??? Congratulations!


BGG.Con.... Hmmm.... Although a repeat of Meat Fest is tempting, I suspect I'll pass this year. For ~$500 for the week one could buy a lot of fun games or other toys.

 
At 10:56 PM, March 16, 2010, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Jon correctly pointed out to me that the price is $10 over last year, and if I was willing to pay $65 last year, there's not that much difference between that and $75.

I don't begrudge the BGG.CON organizers at all--they earn every penny. Maybe I'm just bemoaning the fact that I don't play board games as much as I used to and I'm worried that I'm falling into the pattern that Ben has pointed out of former gamers losing their interest and moving on. I probably just need to play more on Monday nights.

 
At 10:59 PM, March 16, 2010, Blogger Carlos said...

See, this really makes me kind of sad. With my three kids something like this is next to impossible to justify. But if I had no kids (or grown kids) thin I would think that the $75-$100 fee would not be such a big deal.

Of course I may think otherwise if I was actually in this position. But I guess because of the fact that I get to game only about 15% as much as I would like, then just about anything looks good.

If I can put on my preachers hat for a quick minute, I think that we here in the SABG are very fortunate to have such an enthusiastic group here locally. Since we are such a diverse and decent sized group who is not starved for good gaming fellowship then perhaps events like BGG.CON are fun to think about, but not really a necessity.

I miss the Saturday morning games. But my daughter and I recently played Mystery Date, so all is not lost!

 
At 12:11 AM, March 17, 2010, Blogger Anne said...

I will probably be doing because I've never been before. And yes, you're spending a lot of money for the privilege of taking a vacation dedicated solely to round the clock gaming.

There's a social component: seeing people from far away places that you wouldn't normally get to meet in person.

Certainly if you've gone before, with each successive year, your marginal increase in utility for attending declines. It's bound to happen.

 
At 8:28 AM, March 17, 2010, Blogger Carlos said...

"marginal increase in utility for attending declines"....

Good analysis Anne. Were you by chance an economics major? I think you are correct.

Would like to join you, but as usual I will not be attending. Of course during October and November is the Texas Renaissance Festival - a must for me and my family.

 
At 8:34 AM, March 17, 2010, Blogger Anne said...

Carlos: Why, yes. Yes, I was. :)

 
At 9:38 AM, March 17, 2010, Blogger seanp said...

The con is easily the highlight of my year, and I'll be there... of course, everyone who remembers the "attended days after baby #3 was born" event already knew that. Amy will likely be joining me as well - she got to attend for the first time last year and had a great time. A big part of the draw is definitely the friends from around the country I get to see. The other thing for me is that with kids my weekend time is dedicated to family - so the big all day sessions on Saturdays don't happen too often anymore. The con is four straight days of solid gaming, getting to try out a bunch of new hotness, and getting to live like a youngster again - no responsibilities and way too little sleep.

 
At 8:49 PM, March 17, 2010, Blogger Rob said...

"....getting to live like a youngster again - no responsibilities and way too little sleep."

amen brother

 

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