Crazeyal
09-05-2007, 02:30 AM
Wow...
LOTS of mixed emotions on this one...
First and foremost.. It's DRAGONCON!!!! Just the excitement leading up to it made the weekend special. I had to log in about 40 - 50 hours trying to learn how to sew, getting ready for the Pirate Party. Knowing my work schedule, I spent months getting my incompetent management ready for my whopping ONE DAY OFF :rolleyes: Next year I am taking the Thursday beforehand and the Tuesday afterwords off. I am friggen DYIN here...
zzzzzzz
Hoookay..
After a 4 hour and a half hour drive, we arrived at a friend of a friend's house Thursday night. Seeing as it was after 9, going to the con and attempting to obtain badges was pointless. So... we hit the hot tub and soaked until wrinkly!!! :jbangel:
Friday Morning:
The Marriott was undergoing MAJOR construction, and it had an immediate affect on the con and our actions. I had booked the Hilton because they traditionally held the gaming there. Seeing as I and my wife had primarily gone for the gaming, we just had to brave the crowds that little bit less..
Nothing to do but keep moving and dealing with it. Complaining would NOT affect the 12 foot walls erected to shield the general public, nor unblock the escalators that made a trip through the Marriott a #$%&!ing NIGHTMARE!! The emergency stairs that the general public had to use were designed for midgets and contortionists. God help anyone in stilts or some wild costume.
Registration was packed, even worse than usual. Pre-registration only helped a little bit, as they were short on people to man the desks. The pre-reg line was broken up into alphabetical last names, but there was a few gaps in the seats. The poor volunteers had to keep hopping from one chair to another, draining the line as best they could. NOT a good omen.
The wife and I had wanted to introduce our 18 year old niece to some convention gaming, but with traffic and the 1 hour + wait at registration, we missed the first session. (*I* wanted to get up at 7 am.. but noooooooooo:lol:) We went to gaming registration (a pointless affair for a few hours, but not for the rest of the day!)
Walking through the Atlanta streets was .. disheartening... The construction had taken a toll on the streets below.. want the maintenance of the area was.. lacking... It just smelled and looked BAD!!! I could understand the unswept trash AFTER the con.. but BEFORE??? The entire sidewalk was just.. unkempt. Being from NYC, I am hardly someone to worry about dirty sidewalks.. but it had been so nice in earlier years... I guess the spillover from the construction just made them say "the HELL with it!!!" 1 hour into a con and garbage/bad smells??? Bad omen # 2!!!!
The hotel was not ready to check us in, but they had taken our luggage and checked it. This was MUCH appreciated, as I didn't have to lug crap up the passenger elevators. After I checked in, the luggage (complete with weapons, costumes, computers and various illegal experiments...) was simply carted straight into our room! No muss, no fuss, and a tip GLADLY given!!!
I met with the Jenster briefly, bought a trinket or two, and did a quick run-through on all three hotels. The Hilton was a surprising fit for the Dealer's room. The area that normally housed the gaming area was expansive enough to let the dealers breathe and the crowds move. I caught a LITTLE bit of
"groan and wait" on some of the more popular booths, but the size, variety, and stock of the dealers and Exhibitors at the Hilton just blew me away!
Again, I missed the games I wanted to play in, and needed something to do. I found it in the Computer gaming area. DC has ALWAYS had an impressive setup as far as gaming went, and this time they had some REALLY nice swag for prizes. The comps were pretty high tech and the games were both current and old school (Brood war tourney anyone??) Shoveled money that way... but enjoyed every minute!
I played in my annual Formula De tournament (for those not in the know, Formula De is a French board game that simulates formula car racing. Tis fun!) As my luck is either in or out completely, I died in a flash of fuel and fire and failed to finish the race. Ah well...
To cap off the night, I tried to find hide or hair of RazorJAK, to no avail. The cellular service either didn't work, or he didn't answer. I'm actually leaning to-wards the first, as it was HELL trying to get a call out that night! I actually called it a night early and got some much needed rest.
To be continued
LOTS of mixed emotions on this one...
First and foremost.. It's DRAGONCON!!!! Just the excitement leading up to it made the weekend special. I had to log in about 40 - 50 hours trying to learn how to sew, getting ready for the Pirate Party. Knowing my work schedule, I spent months getting my incompetent management ready for my whopping ONE DAY OFF :rolleyes: Next year I am taking the Thursday beforehand and the Tuesday afterwords off. I am friggen DYIN here...
zzzzzzz
Hoookay..
After a 4 hour and a half hour drive, we arrived at a friend of a friend's house Thursday night. Seeing as it was after 9, going to the con and attempting to obtain badges was pointless. So... we hit the hot tub and soaked until wrinkly!!! :jbangel:
Friday Morning:
The Marriott was undergoing MAJOR construction, and it had an immediate affect on the con and our actions. I had booked the Hilton because they traditionally held the gaming there. Seeing as I and my wife had primarily gone for the gaming, we just had to brave the crowds that little bit less..
Nothing to do but keep moving and dealing with it. Complaining would NOT affect the 12 foot walls erected to shield the general public, nor unblock the escalators that made a trip through the Marriott a #$%&!ing NIGHTMARE!! The emergency stairs that the general public had to use were designed for midgets and contortionists. God help anyone in stilts or some wild costume.
Registration was packed, even worse than usual. Pre-registration only helped a little bit, as they were short on people to man the desks. The pre-reg line was broken up into alphabetical last names, but there was a few gaps in the seats. The poor volunteers had to keep hopping from one chair to another, draining the line as best they could. NOT a good omen.
The wife and I had wanted to introduce our 18 year old niece to some convention gaming, but with traffic and the 1 hour + wait at registration, we missed the first session. (*I* wanted to get up at 7 am.. but noooooooooo:lol:) We went to gaming registration (a pointless affair for a few hours, but not for the rest of the day!)
Walking through the Atlanta streets was .. disheartening... The construction had taken a toll on the streets below.. want the maintenance of the area was.. lacking... It just smelled and looked BAD!!! I could understand the unswept trash AFTER the con.. but BEFORE??? The entire sidewalk was just.. unkempt. Being from NYC, I am hardly someone to worry about dirty sidewalks.. but it had been so nice in earlier years... I guess the spillover from the construction just made them say "the HELL with it!!!" 1 hour into a con and garbage/bad smells??? Bad omen # 2!!!!
The hotel was not ready to check us in, but they had taken our luggage and checked it. This was MUCH appreciated, as I didn't have to lug crap up the passenger elevators. After I checked in, the luggage (complete with weapons, costumes, computers and various illegal experiments...) was simply carted straight into our room! No muss, no fuss, and a tip GLADLY given!!!
I met with the Jenster briefly, bought a trinket or two, and did a quick run-through on all three hotels. The Hilton was a surprising fit for the Dealer's room. The area that normally housed the gaming area was expansive enough to let the dealers breathe and the crowds move. I caught a LITTLE bit of
"groan and wait" on some of the more popular booths, but the size, variety, and stock of the dealers and Exhibitors at the Hilton just blew me away!
Again, I missed the games I wanted to play in, and needed something to do. I found it in the Computer gaming area. DC has ALWAYS had an impressive setup as far as gaming went, and this time they had some REALLY nice swag for prizes. The comps were pretty high tech and the games were both current and old school (Brood war tourney anyone??) Shoveled money that way... but enjoyed every minute!
I played in my annual Formula De tournament (for those not in the know, Formula De is a French board game that simulates formula car racing. Tis fun!) As my luck is either in or out completely, I died in a flash of fuel and fire and failed to finish the race. Ah well...
To cap off the night, I tried to find hide or hair of RazorJAK, to no avail. The cellular service either didn't work, or he didn't answer. I'm actually leaning to-wards the first, as it was HELL trying to get a call out that night! I actually called it a night early and got some much needed rest.
To be continued