Missing Gen Con (again)

This is me not packing for Gen Con 50.

I am extraordinarily bummed I’m not to be going to Gen Con this year. Due to the 50th Anniversary, everybody is going to be there… and I mean every body. If a designer or artist once worked in RPGs or board games, chances are quite high they will be at Gen Con 50.

It will be an amazing opportunity to get your stuff signed by almost anyone you can think of. Tim Kask, Frank Mentzer, Tom Wham (possibly?), Jeff Grubb, Larry Elmore, Tracy Hickman, Margaret Weis, Darlene, Luke & Ernie Gygax, Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Ryan Dancey, Peter Adkison, Steve Jackson, Davis Chenault, Jolly Blackburn, Chris Perkins, Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford… just about anyone old school or new school is going to be around if you can hunt them down for a chat and a selfie. If Gary Gygax or Dave Arneson were to rise from the dead like Lazarus, I'm pretty sure you'd see them there.

So, for all of you that are going, I hate you… Ok… maybe not hate… just mostly despise.  My one consolation is not having to stand within that press of humanity. I’m not agoraphobic, but even that mass of people would probably be uncomfortable.

But seriously, have a good time, but please be good to one another… and shower… and deodorize.

I think what I’ll miss most the opportunity to meet my childhood TSR heroes. I recall reading Tim Kask and Kim Mohan on a monthly basis when they edited Dragon Magazine. I loved Tom Wham’s mini-games that came about once a year in Dragon. I have fond memories of Jim Ward’s Gamma World, reading Dragonlance novels, and spending hours pouring over the details Darlene's freakin’ amazing Greyhawk map.

I hope all those designers and artists understand how much impact their works have had on a generation. It’s easy to underestimate the cultural impact these games have had. After all, they’re just games, right?

Not just games, but a gateway to adventure.

I did get to meet the exceptionally nice Larry Elmore in 2015
but I missed talking with Margaret Weis who I saw in passing.

Related:
Owlbear's Seriously Late Gen Con Post Game Report
Gen Con: This Is My Tribe Redux
Gen Con Day 0: This Is My Tribe
Missing Gen Con