OK, con's over. Back to reality. Voice is almost back to 100%.

Before I write a single word about the con, I think I need to bring people up to speed on my whole con mindset, as to make it clear as to where I'm coming from. I used to hit a lot of gaming cons, including of course, GenCon. I faithfully attended local cons, and contributed tournaments to many of them. As time went by, GenCon got too damned expensive (then eventually left Milwaukee), some local cons died, and some of the ones that remained seemed to decline in quality, at least as far as I was concerned. Disillusioned, I quit the con circuit. My time and money could be better spent elsewhere.

OGC has marked my return to con-going, although it's the only one I attend. Frankly, I enjoy gaming with my own group way too much to devote precious weekends to cons. So, if I'm going to do it, it better be a.) seldom, and b.) a damned good con.

OGC is a damned good con, and this year, they outdid themselves. I'd have to go back pretty bloody far back in my con experiences to find one that compares with the enjoyment, the pleasantness, and the organization of OGC 2008. This was one of the great ones in my book.

The OGC staff, that hardworking talented bunch, deserves heaps and heaps of praise for putting together such a wonderful con experience. Because I'll tell ya, when a con's been around for a few years, they sometimes experience a drop in quality and (and this one's inexplicable) a drop in organization. You'd think after doing it a few years in a row, a con staff would now know what to do. But no, with many cons, they seem to suddenly forget all the neat stuff they did years before, and suddenly, it's a huge mess. Weird.

But not so with this year's OGC. Everything, at least from where I was sitting, looked like it ran smoothly. I don't know attendance figures, but there seemed to be a good-sized crowd (esp on Saturday), and you'd think that a lot of people would result in more mix-ups and problems. But again, sure didn't look like it from where I was sitting.

Here's a measure of how good this con was. My wife Carol's been taking a break from gaming for an indefinite period....trying to avoid burnout, that sort of thing. She didn't even run her usual Cthuluh Gaslight at OGC. In fact, she was only planning on swinging by the con for about an hour on Saturday, then head off. She ended up staying for the balance of Saturday, and came back again on Sunday! She said "I only started realizing how much I missed this when I actually got here, sat down, and started interacting with people."

Here, in no particular order, are my highlights:

Frank Mentzer. As a rule, I tend to downplay not only the zillions of things I've written for the gaming industry, but also who in the industry that I not only know, but am also friends/associates/co-workers with. I tend to not blow my own horn, although others have repeatedly told me that I apparently have justification to do so if I wanted. Frank's one of my fellow TSR conspirators, and it was an absolute pleasure to see him again! In fact, he found me at the con before I maanged to find him! It was fantastic catching up with him on things, talking a bit about the old days, the new days, and everything in between. Capping it all off was hearing him publicly praising my writing, and I tell ya, that felt GOOD!  Hope to see him at future OGCs!

Fourth Edition Hatred. I was pleased and gratified to hear people villify 4th Edition throughout the weekend. It made me feel all warm and gooey inside! If RPGBomb ever has a position open for Official Fourth Edition Hater, I wish to toss my wizard's hat in the ring.

"My" Players: Without exception, every table I ran at OGC was a fun, rewarding experience. I was impressed not only by the number of people at the con, but the quality of gamers in attendance. People were sharp, on the ball, on time, ready to rock and roll, and played some damned good sessions. If you were at my table, I salute you!

Meeting Bombers: I'm great at remembering faces, lousy at names. That's my deep dark secret. Finally placing faces to RPGBomb names, realizing that some of the people on RPGBomb are people I already KNEW (how embarrassing!), etc., was an extra-special treat. It was great meeting some folks for the first time (Andre and CCG leap to mind immediately).

Bizarre Crap: Anytime I get the opportunity to put a sock puppet on my hand and scream at people is a good time indeed!

Random Moments: Here's some random moments that definitely made my con.
- Peeing on a wall to wash away a Mythos spell design
- Colliding in mid-air with Big Bird, causing explosive eggs in his BACK-SIDE to detonate
- A 20-20-15 Instant Kill (3.5 rules) to destroy Cyric's avatar during the dramatic Final Battle of the adventure.
- Forcing mimes to make noise, so that the Mime Enforcement Bot lasered them to death
- NPC Marriage counseling, courtesy of a Sunite paladin
- A barrage of dynamite, grenades, kerosene, and exploding ether cans
- Shooting Howdy Doody in the chest
- Talking hill giants into abandoning their post, instead of simply attacking them
- FLUFFY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Mister Scooples
- Pyrokinesis accidentally touching off an ammo dump of cone rifle shells, including some napalm ones, taking out half of Sesame Street
- Vun! Vun dead Troubleshooter! AH! AH! AH! (insert sound of rumbling thunder here)
- Thermonuclear warhead arrow, right down the elevator shaft

I could go on and on, but for everyone's sake, I'll stop.

In closing, once again, bravo to the OGC staff! And all you players, give yourselves a hand, too!

Can't wait for next year. Already got my ideas together. And Carol's gone on record as promising to run two Cthulhu scenarios!

Tags: OGC