Posted by Conor Duffy on Oct 27th, 2009
Of all the writers here at Way of the Geek, I am most likely the least qualified to write a report of Gaelcon, the Irish Games Association’s annual convention for players of card games, wargames and RPGs. The reason for this is because, up until last Sunday, I had never played a tabletop RPG. Not one. Ever. And I’m engaged to a woman who played them all the time, and still would if given the chance. Sure, I’ve played some adventure and RPG games online, and I’m pretty sure I’ve reviewed a couple of them in my weekly Big Mean Flash Gamer article, but I’ve never sat around a table with four other people and actually roleplayed.
Same deal with card games. I played with Pokemon cards about ten years ago, but that’s a time I like to forget. And as for wargames, well… I really liked Command & Conquer.
So yeah, I’m a console gamer. And it was through good luck that this, the 21st Gaelcon, happened to include a decent console section, with competitions happening throughout the weekend. I had my way in, at least, but how did I get to Gaelcon in the first place?
Well, in my mind I like to imagine being called in to the corner office of WotG head honcho Jerry Stephens. Jerry’s imaginary office, with its oak panelled walls and photographs of him at parties with Heather Locklear and Rupert Murdoch, was dark and intimidating. The Venetian blinds were partially drawn, slits of grey light breaking weakly through the darkness. Jerry sat on his ergonomic leather chair, his features barely visible behind a haze of cigar smoke.
“Come on in, Duffy,” he gruffly said. “Take a seat, boy.” I made my way towards his desk and sat down on a finely carved wooden chair, my legs crossed and shoulders slouched.
“What is it, Jerry?,” I asked, trying to sound nonchalant, hoping he couldn’t see how much his steely grin unnerved me.
“Got a big assignment for ya,” he said after a few moments silence. “We’re sendin’ you to Dublin to cover Gaelcon. You’ll love it – 500 nerds in a room, all playing Warhammer.”
“Sounds great,” I murmured. “Well, I guess, I could do with a paid vacation. What’s my hotel like?”
“Beats me,” said Jerry. “You’ll have to take care o’ that yourself.”
“Well, that’s OK,” I replied. “I’m sure I can afford a decent enough place, and the company credit card will take care o’ the rest.”
“Credit card!?,” spluttered Jerry, almost choking on his cigar. “What do ya think this is, Time Magazine!? We’re a website – we can’t even afford our own paper!”
“That explains why our watermark says ‘Department of Social Services’,” I said. “So what do I get?”
“You get this pass,” said Jerry, tossing me the plastic name tag. “And you get outta my office!”
That’s how I like to remember it. The reality is, one day on GMail Jerry asked if I wanted to go to Gaelcon, and I said “sure.”
Less padding and more reporting on the next page.
If you liked that, try...
- Miss Manhattan
- Retro-Active: Sword of Fargoal
- Week in Geek: Final Voyage
- Retro-Active: Alley Cat
- Big Mean Flash Gamer: Platform Robot 2
Posted in community, games, geek, reviews
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Man, now I want an office like that at the HQ so I can be snarky and cold-hearted to all of my slaves in person.
I’m glad you opened up to other views of gaming aside from just consoles. There’s a whole world out there full of pale people willing to stomp your butt in a different medium.
I probably should’ve mentioned that the last day of the con is almost always “sale day”, when the vendors cut their prices so they don’t have to take so much back to the store.