DragonCon Day Three
I did sign off last night saying I had to be at the con by 8:30 so I could get lost.
I did get lost. Well, not quite. I went ahead without Elysa because she wasn't feeling well, and while on the train I was reading. I noticed Civic Center station going by. I didn't remember that Peachtree Center is right after Civic Center, so at the next stop I asked which stop it was. I wasn't wearing my hearing aids, so by the time I figured out that was Peachtree Center the train's doors were already closed. I had to get off at Five Points and backtrack to Peachtree. Luckily the wait wasn't long, and I did make it to my planned gaming session.
I haven't been gaming in a long while. It was fun to do it again. I also learned that Wizards of the Coast is planning on forcing all of the RPGA Living Campaigns to Edition 4. 2008 is the last year for Living Greyhawk. In 2009 they will start Living Forgotten Realms with edition 4 rules. So play like there's no tomorrow!
I honestly don't know how I'll handle that. I've not really bought all that many 3.5th edition books. I've got the three basic ones, and a few others, but hardly the dozens that I could own. Switching to 4th edition wouldn't be such a great deal of "look at all these books I won't be using anymore" for me. But I do know some people who have a small fortune invested in 3.5th edition, and switching will be painful for them.
In a way it's testimony to the amazing quality of the product since 3rd edition. When TSR owned the franchise there were very few well produced books. The main books were in fact amazingly inferior productions. And there weren't that many of them, mostly because of TSR's counterproductive attitudes to issues of copyright, which kept a lot of people from writing or making art for them. Switching from one edition to the next under TSR was never an issue. Wizards changed all that, and that is really the only reason why people now even have a reason to complain about all that money they've already spent.
Anyway, I suspect my own gaming group will stick with 3.5, but I'll also play 4th edition because of the RPGA. Sure, RPGA is a marketing tool for Wizards. But RPGA is also fun, which is the whole point of this hobby.
(Above I used the word "invest" intentionally. If you're "investing" in your hobby by buying stuff, then you've got the wrong attitude entirely. Invest in stocks or bonds or gold or whatever you think you can count on creating an income for you. Buying DnD books will never do that. They are not an investment. Collecting them compulsively will never get you anything but a hole in your bank account. Thus endeth Helge's Wallstreet Minute.)
The modules they play here in Georgia (Grand Marche in Living Greyhawk) are very militaristic in tone. This time was no different. The first module was along the lines of "explore this hole in the ground and report back" - APL 2 (for low level characters), with a finish that involved a confrontation with uniformed bad guys. The second was a double sized interactive combat scenario, complete with some LARPing. It started with a regatta and ended up with taking back a town from some bandits. I had a great time.
DragonCon apparently has some kind of arrangement with the hotels, because no one got yelled at for bringing in outside food. Knowing that I brought a bagel for lunch to eat at the table. They did have a 1 hour break for dinner, and I met up with Elysa in the food court.
At the end of the second half I collected Elysa and we returned to the hotel without mishap.
Tomorrow Elysa plans on spending with Devan's stepsons. I'm going back to the convention. I was originally planning on going to robot wars, but I'm thinking of changing my mind and playing some more RPGA. I'll have to see if I can get tickets.
I did get lost. Well, not quite. I went ahead without Elysa because she wasn't feeling well, and while on the train I was reading. I noticed Civic Center station going by. I didn't remember that Peachtree Center is right after Civic Center, so at the next stop I asked which stop it was. I wasn't wearing my hearing aids, so by the time I figured out that was Peachtree Center the train's doors were already closed. I had to get off at Five Points and backtrack to Peachtree. Luckily the wait wasn't long, and I did make it to my planned gaming session.
I haven't been gaming in a long while. It was fun to do it again. I also learned that Wizards of the Coast is planning on forcing all of the RPGA Living Campaigns to Edition 4. 2008 is the last year for Living Greyhawk. In 2009 they will start Living Forgotten Realms with edition 4 rules. So play like there's no tomorrow!
I honestly don't know how I'll handle that. I've not really bought all that many 3.5th edition books. I've got the three basic ones, and a few others, but hardly the dozens that I could own. Switching to 4th edition wouldn't be such a great deal of "look at all these books I won't be using anymore" for me. But I do know some people who have a small fortune invested in 3.5th edition, and switching will be painful for them.
In a way it's testimony to the amazing quality of the product since 3rd edition. When TSR owned the franchise there were very few well produced books. The main books were in fact amazingly inferior productions. And there weren't that many of them, mostly because of TSR's counterproductive attitudes to issues of copyright, which kept a lot of people from writing or making art for them. Switching from one edition to the next under TSR was never an issue. Wizards changed all that, and that is really the only reason why people now even have a reason to complain about all that money they've already spent.
Anyway, I suspect my own gaming group will stick with 3.5, but I'll also play 4th edition because of the RPGA. Sure, RPGA is a marketing tool for Wizards. But RPGA is also fun, which is the whole point of this hobby.
(Above I used the word "invest" intentionally. If you're "investing" in your hobby by buying stuff, then you've got the wrong attitude entirely. Invest in stocks or bonds or gold or whatever you think you can count on creating an income for you. Buying DnD books will never do that. They are not an investment. Collecting them compulsively will never get you anything but a hole in your bank account. Thus endeth Helge's Wallstreet Minute.)
The modules they play here in Georgia (Grand Marche in Living Greyhawk) are very militaristic in tone. This time was no different. The first module was along the lines of "explore this hole in the ground and report back" - APL 2 (for low level characters), with a finish that involved a confrontation with uniformed bad guys. The second was a double sized interactive combat scenario, complete with some LARPing. It started with a regatta and ended up with taking back a town from some bandits. I had a great time.
DragonCon apparently has some kind of arrangement with the hotels, because no one got yelled at for bringing in outside food. Knowing that I brought a bagel for lunch to eat at the table. They did have a 1 hour break for dinner, and I met up with Elysa in the food court.
At the end of the second half I collected Elysa and we returned to the hotel without mishap.
Tomorrow Elysa plans on spending with Devan's stepsons. I'm going back to the convention. I was originally planning on going to robot wars, but I'm thinking of changing my mind and playing some more RPGA. I'll have to see if I can get tickets.
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