Gealcon 2003

Specky

Damn! and I was just looking forward to a Badger Bar or a Squirrel Squirl (with hazelnut on top of course)....sigh....

Specky

Ah yes, the coffee......I'd almost forgotten the coffee...

I'm pretty tolerant of bad coffee, as long as there's a constant flow of it throughout games. but the coffee available from the bar was some of the worst I've had in quite some time....and then they wanted you to pay for it! I'd imagine a pretty good deal is struck with the Clontarf Castle for the weekend but I'm surprised that free tea and coffee (or at least very cheap tea and coffee) can't be wangled into the deal. They did appear to do pretty well in other bar takings for those who were able to partake in the other alcoholic embibements....and dodgy sangers.

Lir

Thanks again for the comments, I amn't going to go through them one by one this time, sorry...

I'm really glad to hear that people are thinking about writing, the more the merrier, and to be honest the more submissions we get the more ruthless we can be in our selection process and hence the better quality of game we'll end up being able to offer to everyone who comes through the door.

The seating, well, as I said, it's not set in stone, so we'll see, but obviously as next year's committee hasn't been decided yet I can't promise anything just at the moment.

I'm rather distressed to hear about the bar situation, I didn't spend a lot of time near it during the day and in the evenings there was only one major delay (when I was sure the bar girl/lounge girl wasn't going to come back) that I experienced. We sometimes have a hard time persuading venues, even ones that we've been back to a few times, that the demand will be high, so it's something we'll have to hammer home again and again next year.

So, er, yeah, let me see what we can do...

Oh, and next time you guys are at a con, do grab me so I can put names to faces, I'm the overly large (well, I'm not Wookie, but...) guy with the beard and no hair and while I know there are people from here that go to the con it's a shameful admission of mine that I couldn't point any of you out in a lineup. Sorry.

Lir.

Nevyn

Originally posted by Lir

I'm rather distressed to hear about the bar situation, I didn't spend a lot of time near it during the day and in the evenings there was only one major delay (when I was sure the bar girl/lounge girl wasn't going to come back) that I experienced. We sometimes have a hard time persuading venues, even ones that we've been back to a few times, that the demand will be high, so it's something we'll have to hammer home again and again next year.

So, er, yeah, let me see what we can do...

There was plenty of staff on during the day on the saturday and again for the afternoon on the Sunday but the Monday was pretty bad service wise I guess the Hotel didnt adjust thier staff rota.

well as for the whole coffee/tea thing
take the number of 500 and say at least 3 cups per person at 1.20 euros
you get a grand total of 1,800 euros on coffee/tea alone over the weekend.

And that is not any other beverage or
chocolate or sandwhiches.
Something to think about.

yes yes I know you are going to get people saying that they dont drink the stuff but then you have complete caffine fiends like me who had at least some where between 9 and 12 cups over the weekend. hmmmmm maybe next year I should bring a flask of esspresso hmmmm ok maybe not a Good Idea

Oh, and next time you guys are at a con, do grab me so I can put names to faces, I'm the overly large (well, I'm not Wookie, but...) guy with the beard and no hair and while I know there are people from here that go to the con it's a shameful admission of mine that I couldn't point any of you out in a lineup. Sorry.

lol and what makes you think that was not intentional,
we know who you are Brian

As for me I was the Loud one in the purple hat.

/me waits to hear the cry of " Dear Gods No !!! " and the sound of Lir Fleeing.

mrbungle

Specky !

Take a look to the left of my reply, 'the CBG from the Simpsons'.

Your just short of saying, "worst, con, ever".

All Cons that have existed have done so because of volutary free help. I've been to a few in the past, GaelCon, LepreCon, LUGCon, that crazy waterford con. They all boil down to the same thing, it's pot luck if you get a good scenario and a GM that can pull it off.

I helped organise LUGCon before and trying to organise scenarios, sponsors, VIP is a pain in the t!ts. 3 cheers for the committee of GaelCon.
(You promise people loads and end up writing scenario's the night before, (which usually work out the best )).

I haven't RPG'd in a few years but it's the overly critical, annoying, mundane types that rely on coffee and Playboy for everything that have kept me away from it.

Oh, was Haggis at GaelCon this year ??

zenith

Mr Bungle wondered:

> Oh, was Haggis at GaelCon this year ??

Which Haggis? Haggis from Cork, or some other Haggis? He's in the States, PM me if you want contact details.

---

What I want to know is:
- Was Sal Roche there?
- Was Calen King there?
- Where was Dave Roe?
- Was Don Hoban around?
- Was Dorian whachamacallit there?
- Did ya miss me winning the pub quiz?

---

Zenith,
a real old-skool gamer.

Specky

Take a look to the left of my reply, 'the CBG from the Simpsons'.

Yes. I was a little hesitant at making the point but one of the things that have remained the same over the 25 years or so that I've been gaming is that cons are still full of the same sterotypes, people who look like that...there was even one sitting next to me at the D&D table I played. Oh well. I'm actually a different sort of stereotype altogether but then...who's into making broad generalisation?...

Your just short of saying, "worst, con, ever".

Hmmm...don't think I am. Read the posts. You obviously haven't.

All Cons that have existed have done so because of volutary free help. I've been to a few in the past, GaelCon, LepreCon, LUGCon, that crazy waterford con. They all boil down to the same thing, it's pot luck if you get a good scenario and a GM that can pull it off.

I helped organise LUGCon before and trying to organise scenarios, sponsors, VIP is a pain in the t!ts. 3 cheers for the committee of GaelCon.
(You promise people loads and end up writing scenario's the night before, (which usually work out the best )).

If you read the posts you'd have seen that I agree with all of that.

I haven't RPG'd in a few years but it's the overly critical, annoying, mundane types that rely on coffee and Playboy for everything that have kept me away from it.

Ooo now we're getting to it. Not content with putting words into my mouth you're now proceding to place sticky magazines into the hands of some large proportion of the gaming population and give everyone bad breath.

If criticism of things that others view as (how can I put it....) "wrong" annoys you then you are actually contributing more to the problem than the solution. One of our many issues within society in general is that people are unwilling to complain about things that aren't right and as a result we all suffer mediocrity.

Mundane? Erm, although I didn't go so far as to actually use the word myself my point was that the con was more "mundane" than a con ought to be...does that make me mundane by association? Is it catching??

You need to keep that anger under control there...think soothing thoughts....read a magazine...

I haven't gamed for a few years myself. Actually quite a few years but I've recently stuck my foot back in the water. I stopped for a variety of reasons but one of the big de-motivators for me was the whole direction the industry was going, the excessive dominance of a few companies, the overtly margin driven nature of these companies and the lack of focus on the furthering of the RPG ethos. I was, and still am, an ardent advocate of RPGs, F2F with real people as opposed to pale computer generated imitations.

As I think I've mentioned, Gaelcon was the first con I've attended for something like 16 years, and apart from the new titles on some of the book covers and the higher quality rubber swords I could have stepped back in time....(CBG would have made some reference to the space time continuum or something there I suppose...).

Obviously there will be good cons and bad cons just as there are good days and bad days, but let's not be blindly nostalgic here. Pretty much everyone has at some point referred back to some previous con and how great it was. Most of the pre-con chat on this thread was exactly this type of thing. The con itself did not deliver for me anything like the height of magical experience that the build up had promised and I am quite willing to accept that this could be something to do with me or that the con was on a low ebb (almost a SLA reference...tee hee) in comparison to other years.

However, even if this were so, I see no reason to don my rose coloured spectacles and say it was brilliant...because there are things about it that I think could have been better. And rather than simply saying "ah it was grand" or just keeping quiet so that next year can be the same I, and others, have offered suggestions as to what could have been improved.

I hope (and expect) that although the organisers of Gaelcon probably don't enjoy having their baby abused (ick!) they're willing to listen to suggestions so that (where possible) the experience can be enhanced for us all in the future.

Nevyn

I haven't RPG'd in a few years but it's the overly critical, annoying, mundane types that rely on coffee and Playboy for everything that have kept me away from it.

hmmmm define mundane

and with there being more female gamer types at this gealcon then I have ever seen in the last 7 years I think some one has been hiding out while changes have been happening.

If I had of know they where stuck for games or GM's I would have done it but all the time I've been going to the con at the castle this hasnt been an issue.

And I do know that the staff are runn of thier feet before and during the con so it is wise not to pester them,( unless they truelly deserve it ) so it would be rude to stick your nose in and demand to sort things out for them.

for as you put it a lot of them have being doing this in some guise for quite a while. what was the stats this year ah yes all but 3 of the commitee members had run at least one con as chair person. But for all that they are not going to get an idea of what it was like as just an attendee unless we tell them.

Specky

hmmmm define mundane

At the risk of appearing to be an "overly critical, annoying, mundane type", Concise Oxford says:

"Mundane - of this world, worldly; of the universe, cosmic; dull, routine..."

if you ignore the last bit it's almost a compliment!

Yes, must admit there were a lot more girlies in attendance than I recall from bygone years but...I really find the current situation less odd than the former. All the gaming groups I've ever been involved in (even in the dim and distant past) have had a significant female membership (anything from about 25 to 50 per cent) so any lack of representation at cons is, in my experience, an unfair reflection of the true demographic.

Earthhorse

I haven't been to Gaelcon in a few years so I can't and won't comment on this year's con but it doesn't sound like a lot's changed.

To be honest a lot of what we're talking about here is outside of the committee's control; quality and quantity of submitted scenarios for instance. I can't remember a Gaelcon where this wasn't an issue and where the committee didn't ask, nay beg, people to send them in.

The problem of noise has risen it's head again I see. Wasn't an issue in the ehm, hotel place near the canal (can't remember its name) or Croke Park. Would it be possible to get dividers like what they have in the offices? Even a few to cordon off some of the tables might dampen the noise. That may sound crazy, what I'm suggesting is perhaps Clontarf Castle have such dividers available for rent (if they are always putting on conventions).

Lir

Originally posted by zenith

---

What I want to know is:
- Was Sal Roche there?
- Was Calen King there?
- Where was Dave Roe?
- Was Don Hoban around?
- Was Dorian whachamacallit there?
- Did ya miss me winning the pub quiz?

---

[/B]

Er, in order...

- Yes, and she even got a date.
- No.
- There some of the time, but he had to look after his daughter for a lot of the weekend.
- Oh yes, quite a bit.
- Yup, all weekend.
- Er... no?



Oh, and Thaed, I think it's a measure of how busy I was that I don't remember a purple hatted person, hence my need for people to come and talk to me, assuming they want to that is

Lir.

The Brigadier

Blasts from the past....

G...Dorian was there....
Don "Now correct me if I'm wrong but isn't that a load of boll'cks"Hoban...
Caelen King...
Dave Roe has kids....WTF...

Lir

Yup, Dave is happily married and has a daughter. Bear in mind James that it has been absolutely ages since I can last remember you being around, all sorts of things have changed.

The Brigadier

Well it has to be about 10 years since I last went to Gaelcon, hit all of them from 89 up to 94 I think....

El Nick

Just to send a thanks back to the group from Boards.ie who I ran Cthulhu for the second time around. Completely different group from my first table, but I had an absolute blast. And more innuendo than I've had in a single scenario for a long time.

Now all I need is to find some fallen warrior's grave. Or a fallen warrior. That'd be a turnip for the books, too.

Nick.

Specky

Innuendo??

There was nothing in my endo!!

We had a jolly spiffy time too Nick, thanks very much for sharing your vast array of accents with us. There was....erm...West country old woman....West country old man....other West country old woman...slightly younger West country woman...

AL][EN

here here absoulte cracking time CoC was deff game of the con for me really enjoyed it!!

big thanks to the GM's who stayed back and DM'ed our "crazy group" late into the nite when no one else wood!! you no who you are,

Innuendo.......in your endo!!! (i'll remove if this is a bit too much)

Nevyn

/me peers to be sure that is Nick and not porn GM

It was a hell of a lot of fun and thank you again Nick.
I'm sure all of us would be happy to play with you anytime

great senario even with the last minute addition of a creek

Specky

:ninja:

No, not Ninja, this is the symbol for the new Dungeons and Dominatrix module of the PornRPG(TM)...

...ww)

...and for the auto-erotic aesphixiation module...

Nevyn

WTF? Specky did you take any of my scribble pads when you were over the last time ?

Specky

what...you mean the one with the picture of the....ewwwwww!!

Nevyn

you know "Dungeons and Dominatrix module of the PornRPG(TM)..." is not a bad description but for your own
sake if it is in m house and written in purple ink leave it be .

El Nick

Firstly, Nick is no more. Porn GM has taken over. And I'm running an "X-Men" themed scenario at Vaticon tomorrow, which is just going to be *wrong* when run in a porn stylee.

"Professor X - What are you doing in my head? What's the... ohhhh... Oooohh."

And we don't want to go *near* the whole alternative use of mutant powers thing. And I'm not even going to try considering I'm boards newbie and there's probably a moderator and an acceptable use policy and stuff

Anyone want to write the PornStar RPG? I could get into that...

Secondly - *Mister* Specky, it's a simple fact that folk in the same village have the same accent. I shall be sporting my New York accent for the game tomorrow. "Ooo-ar boo-dee. Do youse wahnt a baygell?"

Anyhoo.

Nick.

Specky

Deep in the dungeon-like lab of Professor XXX, the two arch enemy porn mutants come face to face for the first time....

Booberina - "Why do they call you Pulverine?"

Pulverine - SSSShhhhhhing!!!!!

Booberina - ......"oh...."

Nevyn

oh oh oh I get to say RTFAQ lol

we can get away with a fair bit here lol
sure Al][ien is 'one of us' you did meet him at Gealcon.
He was in the other group that broke poor David .

oh did you knows theres a NWN module called The sliver key CoC and sexual deviant abounds it has lots of NOT FOR CHILDREN warnings on

Ahhhhhh the session at Vaticon sounds fun but busy spreadingmy own brand of corruption dont in cork this weekend.


Al][ien think we should add nick to that list of Guinea pigs

El Nick

Originally posted by Thaed
oh oh oh I get to say RTFAQ lol

Of course, I asked for that.

Al][ien think we should add nick to that list of Guinea pigs [/B]

I am nobody's guinea pig! Butcha all missed some fun in UCD. Warpcon, anyone?

Nick.

Specky

I think I'm somebody's gerbil......

...what? back in the wheel??.....oh, ok....

Salubri

Just like to say - I loved it!!
Gaelcon was just as good this year as always *wiggly hand movements* give or take a little here and there. My perception of the whole thing may have been a little marred by losing my voice on the first day... *sob* but on theother hand - all the hot whiskeys brightened things up a great deal! My thanks to Thaed who ALWAYS know how to make a GM feel loved

Lots of valid points have been raised and answered by the peeps here - so I won't get into them... Except for the space issue in the RPG rooms... As a serial GMer for about 11 of my 12 Gaelcons, I have to say that this year was the only time I have found this a problem. Any other year I would have been OK to run a game and make myself heard even with a failing voice... (I'm quite a loud person) This year however, *shudder* HOW many tables of RPGers can you get in a room?

Unfortunately however, we are in neither Croake Park (sp?) with loads of space and rooms nor Kilmainham with MASSIVE rooms... We are in our own, lovely, seemingly permanent venue in Clontarf and I love it! Definitely need to find a way to thin out the number of tables in a room though.

I saw some mention of Vaticon earlier also - for anyone who wasn't there - it was cool. Nice and relaxed. For those of you who were there, Lir etc, thanks for helping make it good craic. We will not mention that "phrase" Emma coined ANY MORE will we...?

Nevyn

Originally posted by Salubri
My perception of the whole thing may have been a little marred by losing my voice on the first day...

yes that nasty bug was horrid, and not fun at all thanks a lot Salubri, I hate you two week of flu filled fun after Gealcon :P.

[/me plots and plans smuggling a Pox ridden child into Gealcon next year and infecting Salubri or failing that aquiring a distilation of pioson ivy.

My thanks to Thaed who ALWAYS know how to make a GM feel loved

only if they deserve it and you usually do besides having a GM cough up a lung or keel over in a faint is never fun and damned distracting.

Lir

Originally posted by Salubri
I saw mention of Vaticon earlier also - for anyone who wasn't there - it was cool. Nice and relaxed. For those of you who were there, Lir etc, thanks for helping make it good craic. We will not mention that "phrase" Emma coined ANY MORE will we...?

I think we should, it could become a meme...



Anyway, how did your Games Day go?

Lir

DeVore

Any comments about the Charity auction? I thought it ran dead smooth (from a behind the scenes point of view... ie the bit I had nothing to do with).

They wouldnt let me make fun of the nun who picked up the cheque before either.

whats better then a cheque for 3000 quid? SEX!!!

I was well happy with it this year and while we didnt top last years monster take, I think when we collect it all it will all come in a lot easier then the big lots of yesteryear.

Once again, I'd like to unreservedly apologise to bunny lovers everywhere. I'd like to say that I will never make fun of abusing rabbits ever again and I'm very sorry for my crude jokes.

I'd like to... but I'd be lying through my teeth

DeV.

Salubri

Originally posted by Lir
I think we should, it could become a meme...

Nononono!!!!! ¬.¬ Not gonna happen!

Originally posted by Lir
Anyway, how did your Games Day go?

Woohoo! Another success!
(Personally I found running a Grand Melee single handed quite draining... I'll live though)
We had a similar turnout to last time - also had immense interest in membership and TShirts. We had an impromptu meeting afterwards and have decided that we are all systems go for a con next year. Now all we need is a date.
I will be mailing you sometime soon about that - I need to get in contact with any groups that haven't announced dates and see what we can arrange. We are flexible. The "end of april" idea is (as you all pointed out) very close to exam-evil for the student types so we are looking for an opening.
Any ideas?

Anyone?

I'm scared!

Salubri

Originally posted by DeVore
Any comments about the Charity auction?

Sssshhhhhh!!!! Never mention THAT

Originally posted by DeVore

Once again, I'd like to unreservedly apologise to bunny lovers everywhere. I'd like to say that I will never make fun of abusing rabbits ever again and I'm very sorry for my crude jokes.

Poor bunny!

Seriously though... While possible a little less successful on the cash side (probably due to having less BIG lots like last year) I personally think that the Charity Auction ran much more snappily and with a bit more zing this year. Kudos to those poor sods "behind the scenes"

AL][EN

Originally posted by DeVore
Any comments about the Charity auction?

Again as expected another Fab Charity auction but alas i couldnt stay for it all i had no money this year so i couldnt bid for anything (the temptation was there believe me) however next year im going to save up and go mad at the auction to make up. from what i saw of the auction it ran very smoothly

Originally posted by DeVore
Once again, I'd like to unreservedly apologise to bunny lovers everywhere. I'd like to say that I will never make fun of abusing rabbits ever again and I'm very sorry for my crude jokes.

I missed that..... should i be afriad???

Ameirgin

I gotta say from a personal perspective, I thoroughly enjoyed Gaelcon 2003 - no hassle, no stress, no stoopid wargamers asking stoopid questions

I even PLAYED something at Gaelcon - now there's a first! And I got an award! First time for everything, I guess.