TOPIC: Are You Going to Attend Cons This Year

I feel like at this point we're not going to learn anything new about Covid-19. It is what it is, the situation is what it is, and it's not changing before the end of con season. There won't be any treatments or vaccines tested and publicly available before at least sometime next year, and testing is increasing to the point where people can actually start getting tested, so there won't be any big changes there. We'll lock down a more thorough understanding of the virus, sure, but the risk profile isn't going to change between now and January 2021.

I'm not interested in re-litigating anything Covid related or judging people that pick either way, this is more a general poll because I'm curious what attendance will be like. Assuming that the cons that haven't cancelled yet aren't cancelled, are you going to go? Which cons will you be attending, which would you normally attend but are skipping this year?

For me, if True Dungeons is at Origins I'm at Origins. If True Dungeons isn't at Origins but is at Gen Con I'm going to Gen Con. If True Dungeons isn't at either then I'll probably just go to Origins anyway, and be sad about not getting to enjoy the best part of Origins. I generally just go to one, so I won't be attending fewer cons unless everything is cancelled.

GenCon
Origins
Summer Camp at Ramblewood (X-rated adult fun)
Monster Mania Con
Gamehole Con
Fozzy concert
AEW live events
PAX Unplugged
The other PAX in Texas
The other other PAX wherever
Other live concerts (Rage Against The Machine got back together!)
Baltimore Comic Con
Maybe NYCC... but I may be done with this one. The past few years it has gotten way too crowded... even on Sundays
Dallas Cowboys home games
I'm forgetting some other ones

Ro-gan wrote: GenCon
Origins
Summer Camp at Ramblewood (X-rated adult fun)
Monster Mania Con
Gamehole Con
Fozzy concert
AEW live events
PAX Unplugged
The other PAX in Texas
The other other PAX wherever
Other live concerts (Rage Against The Machine got back together!)
Baltimore Comic Con
Maybe NYCC... but I may be done with this one. The past few years it has gotten way too crowded... even on Sundays
Dallas Cowboys home games
I'm forgetting some other ones

Rage Against The Machine = Awesome!!

I do plan on attending Gen Con. This will be my 39th consecutive year. I am in some what high risk (heart patient/sepsis survivor). Since I live daily with the threat of a ticking bacterial time bomb, I have learned that everything is out to get me. Living my life in fear for 3 years after my surgery was not living. I've learned to be aware of my environment and constantly run risk assessment. Our group is brain storming comfortable clean suits to minimize our contact at the con but still allowing us some degree of interaction. I still plan on volunteering for TD set up/tear down and possibly work in some additional volunteering as they will need it. Will I get the virus, eventually, probably, given current political inaction/stupidity. But since I am an essential worker and daily in among the masses, odds are I may have had it before Gen Con rolls around. My advice is, be proactive, aware of your environment, make informed choices and decisions based on your best understanding of the situation/science and manage your stress response to not act impulsively or irrationally. And be kinder and patient to one another. I'm tired of dealing with @sses on a daily basis in the retail food sector. I need Gen Con to maintain my sanity.

Spud

As I said elsewhere, the better part of wisdom would be not to go. But I guess wisdom must be my dump stat, because I'm likely to go unless things get worse.. I have volunteered for 7 years and my application is already in for both GenCon and Origins.

I usually coach or train, so I'll be very interested in how we will rearrange those functions to protect volunteers and players. I'll certainly be wearing a mask and using a lot of hand sanitizer. If I'm coaching I'll be contemplating using gloves to handle tokens, but I'd have to bring a lot of them to use them properly.

I'll probably stay in the TD area exclusively to minimize the number of people I come in contact with. Enter at the closest entrance and leave the same way. It will be interesting to see how many entrances they have open and if they are really going to do temperature checks on everyone coming in.

Team Legacy isn't going... other than Smackdown but he is immune to eveything.

I will not be attending any convention until the risk is down. At first I thought that might be 2020 GHC, but more than likely that means gen con 2021 at the earliest

My Gen Con plan is a one day trip over (I live in Illinois so it’s a short trip) so hopefully I can do a TD run or 2, redeem my treasure draws, and shop a bit/see some retailer friends in the exhibit hall.

I may try GHC for a day if Gen Con is a no-go.

Whatever cons I do this year, will be exclusively so I can play TD.

I'm sort of 50/50 on Gen Con. I want to go. I'm just not sure I should. It feels just a touch too early to get a comfort level on where we're at. I certainly could be more comfortable at the end of July, but my decision to go or not go will need to be made in early June. But right now, if my friends are still going and TD is there, then I will likely be there. And while Gen Con may not be enthused by this, I would be bringing my own food/drink to keep in the hotel and exclusively going only back and forth between hotel room and TD (no dealer hall or walking around to check things out). Also, for TD, no PUGs for me this year. I'm going to just try and do runs with people from the forum who attend.

Origins and GHC are a little easier. Likely, just doing TD. However, by October/November we'll either be in a second or third wave with more cancellations or things will have adjusted to the new normal (pre-vaccine).

Gen Con, Origins, and GameHoleCon -- if TD is there, I will be too.

If TD is not there, it will depend on the refund policies, can I keep VIG status, what events are there, hotel situation, etc.

Just in a wait & see mode right now. I'm expecting an announcement from Gen Con any day now...

Short answer, I don't know. I usually only go to GenCon and sometimes Origins in the TD realm. I attend some smaller local cons for general gaming. Last year bronchitis the day before crushed my Origins plans.
My wife has pretty much said no to GC. A couple other friends had planned on Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim instead, but other friends from Seattle scored GC VIG badges. So, I just don't know. I guess it will depend on what happens as states open and how the developments in therapies goes. I have read some pretty exciting studies using synthetic monoclonal antibodies. I put more hope in those than an actual vaccine.

I'm on the fence with what we know now but honestly the fact that cons are almost entirely indoors is a concern point.