Quote from: estar;1031065Well it from reading what posted here, OD&D discussion forum, Murkhill and your blog like this post
http://chirinesworkbench.blogspot.com/2014/06/a-game-for-stormy-saturday-and-videos.html

Correct me if I am wrong, but my impression like me the professor was like me in his love of setting up his world in miniature. Of course I never went as far as having costumes made of anything from the Wilderlands. Although I was pretty heavy into LARPing for a decade.

Great! Thank you! In my role as informal archivist, I like to collect information and sources, so you're being a great help to me. I really appreciate your answer, as it helps me understand what information is out there.

You're not at all wrong; one of the very first games I was at out at Phil's used my collection of wooden blocks - off-cuts from a instrument makers' shop - to fight the battle on the table when we assaulted the palace of Bassa, king of the Ssu; Phil did indeed love to make as much stuff as he could, just because he could. He did the Temple of Vimuhla model freehand on his table saw, and didn't lose any fingers doing it.

The costumes were made just for the fun of it; LARPs hadn't been invented yet...

Quote from: estar;1031068Well the last event that was held there the only I could get out was squeeze myself underneath this narrow overhang with the floor covered with this thin sheet of slime mud. I was in full armor and I am not a small guy by any means.

Then to top it all of, during the event a ice storm came through. The way out of the place was uphill. The event ended at 9pm and it took until 3 am to get everybody out and onto the road. I was driving a battleship of an old station wagon (old for even the nineties). I went up the hill a bit and had to come back down. Then I wasn't stopping. Luckily there was a small maintenance road to the right so I veered that way and slowly plowed into the snow along side of that road. Otherwise I would have gone right through the driveway, over the cliff and dropped on top of Uniontown.

Wheee!!!

Quote from: EOTB;1031025Mapping is never a chore, nor a requirement.

For players who enjoy mapping, its part of the fun.

I find that even when I lay out the map sections, there is often 1 player scribbling down a map for the party.

I used to play AD&D with a DM who declared the PC had have their parchment, quill and light to do the mapping so they were always unarmed and unready when combat broke out. We used to hire a scribe, dress him in plate armor and keep him in the center of the party with the mages. But then he'd die in an area effect attack and the parchment always failed its save. So my Fighter would carry chalk in his shield hand and mark walls and rooms.

Quote from: estar;1031069As for myself I do things like setup the central portion of City-State or this smaller layout of a dungeon I made for Green Ronin's Fantasy Age. Note: this was taken after the adventure was over with.

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I love doing stuff like this; people seem to enjoy it,, too.

Quote from: Spinachcat;1031079For players who enjoy mapping, its part of the fun.

I find that even when I lay out the map sections, there is often 1 player scribbling down a map for the party.

I used to play AD&D with a DM who declared the PC had have their parchment, quill and light to do the mapping so they were always unarmed and unready when combat broke out. We used to hire a scribe, dress him in plate armor and keep him in the center of the party with the mages. But then he'd die in an area effect attack and the parchment always failed its save. So my Fighter would carry chalk in his shield hand and mark walls and rooms.

Yes - maps are tenuous.  I've seen DMs who make slate available for a better item save.

TBH, I keep a basic path/room (no pixel-bitching dimensions) and that's it; I go with 80% of the benefit for 20% of the effort every time.  And if I get lost it's part of the fun.  

Having setbacks and having to scrape your way out is the best part.  All heroes are disposable heroes, and live only for my entertainment as a player.

Quote from: EOTB;1031082All heroes are disposable heroes, and live only for my entertainment as a player.

The only story is "This is what happened."

Quote from: Gronan of Simmerya;1031083The only story is "This is what happened."

We don't always agree, but in this - very much agree.  As a DM, I want to be surprised by my players.  I mean completely and utterly taken aback and having to fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants referee something I never saw coming (at least for the remainder of one session).

Quote from: Larsdangly;1031031Speaking of real dungeon survival skills, who among us punishes PC's when they don't take care of their needs for water and sources of light? I put people on a HP loss schedule when they've run out of fresh water.

I just tell mine they better leave the dungeon at the end of the session. Their kit includes water for a few hours' delving. I like the cadence of weekly delves, starting each session at the Inn (just as we play each session at the pub!), with real time = game time.  This makes open table play very easy since new PCs can show up at the Inn just as new players show up at the pub.

Quote from: Gronan of Simmerya;1031004And he was stating that there is some new stuff there, not that the old school has disappeared, which rumor is running around, spread by people not there.

If you're referring to me and what I said up-thread, please review what I said, again. I was intentionally very explicit that my comments were not based on personal experience, but based on talking to people who did attend. I didn't do that so my comments/questions could be summarily dismissed out of hand, but to provide full disclosure and put what I said into context. And I never said old school at GaryCon has disappeared. Again, I very explicitly said that I know you can find and enjoy old school gaming at GaryCon. My posts were more a question about your statement that "old school gaming is what GaryCon is ABOUT." In other words, the thrust of my comments was exactly what you mention, above, (and what EOTB talked about): the growth of the con mainly coming from the newer games.

You're not the only person I'm referring to and I was and am frankly far too lazy to dissect several different posts point by point.

It's possible that the 5e and PF people might step away from organized play long enough to play some of the older games run in a different style.  Yeah, there's the argument of dilution, especially if bog standard con stuff starts pushing the older stuff to the side, but the cross-pollination might be worth it.

It certainly might result in some crossover.  

The main thing I keep front and center is: it's not my con, and I don't begrudge Luke and the rest with whatever they want to do.  The years where everything was old school and the area small enough so that you couldn't fail to run into everyone else attending were a special time, but those don't last unless there's an active desire to not grow - like at NTRPGCon.  I was able to experience some of those, so I'm happy.

If it becomes a similar experience to one I would have at some normal con closer to home that I don't have to spend vacation money to attend, then I'll stop coming.  That's not said in a taking my ball and going home sort of way, but simple economics.  I'm willing to pay a premium for a certain sort of experience.  GaryCon might be better off selling a different one.  This sort of change happens all the time.

Quote from: EOTB;1031180It certainly might result in some crossover.  

The main thing I keep front and center is: it's not my con, and I don't begrudge Luke and the rest with whatever they want to do.  The years where everything was old school and the area small enough so that you couldn't fail to run into everyone else attending were a special time, but those don't last unless there's an active desire to not grow - like at NTRPGCon.  I was able to experience some of those, so I'm happy.

If it becomes a similar experience to one I would have at some normal con closer to home that I don't have to spend vacation money to attend, then I'll stop coming.  That's not said in a taking my ball and going home sort of way, but simple economics.  I'm willing to pay a premium for a certain sort of experience.  GaryCon might be better off selling a different one.  This sort of change happens all the time.

Agreed with your points. I look at conventions as a sort of cost/benefits exercise; if I'm not going to have fun in proportion to what it's going to cost me to go, then I don't go.

What you're describing is the normal life-cycle of conventions; over time, they do morph and change to stay in existence. Look at the way that WorldCo and the Five Great Regionals have changed, or Origins and Gen Con for that matter.

And there is much discussion over "whither GaryCon."  A LOT of us don't want to see it undergo unlimited growth.

Quote from: Gronan of Simmerya;1031192And there is much discussion over "whither GaryCon."  A LOT of us don't want to see it undergo unlimited growth.

Also agreed!!! Uncontrolled growth has, historically, destroyed a lot of conventions. I've seen all to many convention organizers, whether a small group or a large organization, fail to plan for the future and fail to grow new convention runners and wind up being utterly swamped when the convention hits a certain size. Venue costs also go up, as does operational overheads and liability-related costs. Conventions which have what amounts to a managed growth strategy and plan survive far longer then those which do not. Attendance caps can get a lot of people's knickers in a twist, but them do work to minimize problems.