"Ever walked away from your convention game?" Topic

I was just reminiscing about good and bad convention experiences and got to wondering if anyone else ever left a game in progress without actually being eliminated.

I have done it once, about 12 years ago. I signed up for what I thought was a Viking PigWars game. The fact that the PEL listing said "PigWars home variant" and the rest of the PEL listing was in Gaelic should have been a tip off, but on the first turn we vikings were told, as the GM started putting all these nude female miniatures around our Vikings, "You Vikings are now under an immobility spell and you are being collected for use as sex slaves".

I might have tolerated that, but through the whole setup and into the game, the GM's teen daughter and her octopus armed boyfriend were permanently lip locked at the end of the table, and his hands were all over her, to the point of obviously being up her skirt and under her bra.

When I gave my seat to a watching player, I was roundly chastised by the GM for not reading the PEL and knowing what I was getting into.

No, but I would have walked out of that one too.

Thought about it, never have.

At least once. I don't recall who it was, but it was a good game and a good GM, but it took an hour to get around the table to get back to my turn. Sorry, I didn't drive ten hours to watch everybody else play a game.

A buddy talked me into one of Joe Swartz's Classical Hack games a few years ago. I don't particularly like Ancients, and I figured Classical Hack was an old ruleset and probably no fun, so when Joe pulled out an 18x11 spreadsheet covered in numbers, I was ready to tell him to stuff it and leave! Glad I didn't, as the game played quite easily, despite all the numbers. Played Joe Hack at Historicon this year and had a ball!

I've left a couple early when my command was defunct.
I've been in a couple I should have walked away from but didn't. In one my command was facing a swamp and couldn't advance, it just sat the whole game. In another it was a roster system for firing and casualties but the GM had the only copy of the roster. No one could do anything without him. In four hours my troops almost got into volley range.
These are the extreme examples I remember very well. I've also played in about 100 good convention games.

In four hours my troops almost got into volley range.

Yeah, I had one like that too. Three hours to set up because the GMs A) packed a couple thousand figures into a 12 x 12 table and B) stopped to talk to each other a lot. Then 30 minutes to explain the rules. Then 30 minutes for side A to move, and then time was called. Side B never moved and neither side ever fired.

And yes, I have had a ton of good games also!

I agree with redbanner. I have played in some games that I should have walked away from and didn't, a few I did walk away and never regretted and a few I GM's that I wish a few players had left to help the game for the others. I look at games like any type of entertainment such as movies, you don't know what you are in for until you are in it. Most times if you know the GM and he has run a good game, you will be happy (just like movies). Other times you take a chance and it might or might not work out. I think in general I pick games that I know the GM or at least the rules if I can. Walk up, or trying to fill some dead time games that are sometimes hit or miss (but also sometimes really surprise me). I will relate one experience I had years ago in game that was absolutely beautiful (the GM rightfully won an award for it), but in the 6 hours of the game I moved 4 times – I should have walked away. It was just brutal for everyone but 2 players that were engaged from turn one. It has put me off from the rules from then on. Live and learn, at least I was gaming.

I have on at least two occasions. Both we great looking games with well painted figures.
First one was a nice WAB. GM was letting his young son play a command and I was ending up just baby sitting mostly. I couldn't really focus so just gave my spot to another on turn two and politely apologized.
The second was as colonial game and I was waiting for it to begin and the older GM showed up as Ms. Doubtfire. I immaturely just drifted away during the rules explanation. Probably missed a good game.

Yes..One ,guy was arguing everything w/GM…another the game ran over time still only half over ,had another game to play.

All the time.

I go to conventions to be entertained, if the game isn't entertaining I don't waste my time.

No, but thought about it.

I base many convention decisions on what to play based on experience with the rules and/or GM.

Virtual, that is pretty outrageous. I can't believe no one said anything or tried to break up the "activity".

I have not, but I WOULD have walked out of that one!

I played in one that I should have walked away from. I think one of the 8 players did and the rest of looked like we all wanted to. GM on the defensive, even about basic "how do I…" questions on their "home modified" rules to a commercially available set. Then being chastised by the same GM because we didn't do, to the letter, what historically was done. You know it's good when the opposing players roll their eyes in the "oh here we go" fashion when one of your team asks a question and gets bit by the GM.

Yes. A game of pirates where the GM snapped and chewed out the players during the first two minutes because we weren't standing at parade rest when start time rolled around. He asked "okay now, who is playing?" and I walked away. Good decision.

I was at a big US con and a well known/liked club was putting on a VSF game that had I dreamt of playing in for years. The GM had a brother that was helping co-GM. He spent a large amount of time chastising his brother in front of strangers. Newcomers were mostly ingored during the game. Then they brought in beer for the club members. Having seen their behavior sober I decide it was time to call it. Tagged out with a bystander. Doubt they noticed I had grown a foot…slimmed down…and was now wearing a hat.

Virtual, that is pretty outrageous. I can't believe no one said anything or tried to break up the "activity".

I cannot believe GM/Dad let it go on. Course maybe they were there to put us in the mood to be sex slaves.

Played one game where I didn't move for 45 minutes, It took another 45 minutes to move again. I could easily estimate I wouldn't make contact for at least 1 1/2 hrs. I quietly slipped away…

I thought about it once, when I was playing a demonstration game and it became obvious that it was thinly veiled excuse for the presenters to play all day with all their mates. I only hung around because I was generally interested in learning the rules, but they made me feel unwelcome.

I almost walked out of a demonstration game _I_ was presenting when one guy sat down and then immediatly started to tell everyone playing how bad the rules were. The rules were DBA.

Cheers,
JohnG

Only once that I recall. It was a computer moderated Battle of the Coral Sea. About 3 strategic turns in,…(each turn was taking 20 with data entry) somebody misentered the movement for the Shoho group. Instead of entering 20 knots, it got typed in 200 kts. For the next half hour the GMs were debating how to get Shoho out of NE Australia. I didn't so much leave as sort of melt away. I don't think I was the only one.

I left a very well known pulp game a few years ago, as it didn't seem to be a game. Just seemed to be about 20 patrons all screaming at the same time. No rules that I could discern.
I left a vsf game where the GM seemed to be almost completely deaf and the game moved so slowly my opponents were napping during our turn.
Mike D

I don't remember. I don't think so. I know my brother has. It was one of those wait an hour to do your five minute turn, then repeat games. He just walked away. I stuck it out because I knew the guy who was running it.

Two things: I would say that the scene is very different in the UK (I don't understand/recognise the "I view conventions as entertainment and no different from going to the movies" kind of comment at all and I have no idea what a PEL is.

Other than that, no I haven't.

John T

Given the "Vikings" were captured to be sex slaves, and the GM's daughter's boyfriend was having his way with her in full view of the entire convention, what everyone was watching was father forcing his sex slave to act out in public. It is part of sex slavery rituals. Lest all think ole "hocklermp5" has "outed" himself it just happens I read all about it on the Web last week while searching for info on slavery in general. Or, given the "Vikings" were captured by nude minis, GM's daughter may have been forcing her slave to display in public. Any way you look at it something sick was taking place.

Yes, a long time ago I walked away from a huge pirate game after having stood around for more than an hour waiting for the first turn to start. A friend who stayed told me that the first turn began "approximately 90 minutes" after the official start time. I think he said they managed to play 2 or 3 turns in 5 hours. I had no regrets.

A few times. Some minis events that (similar to the above) went on a couple of hours without troops in contact, a game (new version of CAV) with pointless rules that dragged out the conflict to no effect (time-consuming scatter rules for every missed shot that NEVER ONCE resulted in damage), a couple of LARPs that were confused train wrecks…

We used to stick things out, but now we realize that our convention time is at a premium, and worth at least as much as everyone else's. No time for bad gaming.

Came close once, Pat Condray running Spanish Civil War. Nice scenario, interesting rules, enjoyed the first few turns. They Pat started moving my troops to provide a better photograph and then wouldn't let me put them back on the flank I had placed them on. Next turn we were hit on that flank and I watched my command get rolled up. Stuck it out for the rest of the game out of respect but probably shouldn't have.

Twice I have walked out on a game.

The first one was an American Civil war battle and the judge was a big fan of the South. When we were about to hit the south in the flank a small stream suddenly became unfordable. Then when we were able to ambush a southern unit defending the bridge we now "must" cross we were told that the unit we were shooting in the front even though we were physically behind the unit (river curved). Walked out on game.

Second game was a Japanese vs Chinese pre dreadnought game where our fleet was outgunned and low to hit chance(we shot at a -2 and the Japanese shot at a +1). I did the calculation and we couldn't shoot at long range, at medium range we had 10% chance of hitting and at short range we had a 30% chance of hitting. The Japanese had hit 20% at long range, 40% at medium range and 60% at short range. The Japanese had bigger (more guns and heavier armor) ships then us and only one less ship then us. I asked the judge why he didn't cut the number of Japanese ships or combine 2 Chinese fleets for numbers and he said it was a "historical" battle.

I seem to remember the very bad games and the very good games over time.

Yes

Yes,

A Thirty Year's War game where the GM was a rabid Swede-o-file and his buddies were playing as Swedes. My friend and I were Imperialists.

From our setup onwards, we were subjected to a stream of bombast from the GM extolling the excellence of the Swedes, and if we so much as reached to move a unit we were treated to a blast of criticism from the GM and his pals playing the Swede for wasting their time by indulging in futile resistance. Then when the Swedes moved, it got really thick, with the GM and his pals going off on tangents and having a grand time. Needless to say, the rules reflected this bias, as did the scenario.

Two turns in, during the Swede turn, we just walked away from the "game"--they didn't even notice.

I might have tolerated that, but through the whole setup and into the game, the GM's teen daughter and her octopus armed boyfriend were permanently lip locked at the end of the table, and his hands were all over her, to the point of obviously being up her skirt and under her bra.

When I gave my seat to a watching player, I was roundly chastised by the GM for not reading the PEL and knowing what I was getting into.

This stuns and shocks me. What convention was this?

My own personal. The guys who own and run Steam & Sail Navies. Fun system. Beautiful board. TERRIBLE BATTLE. Seriously, forcing the Mississippi, with boats COMING ON THE BOARD in a line on a river with little room to maneuver.

My ships never got into the battle. Hell, they didn't even get onto the board until the last turn. In a 4+ hour game. I walked away several times and came back to check on one of my local group's members who was playing. I didn't show it, but I was really ed. Waste of a prime time slot and ticket pick during Historicon back at VFCC.

What a horrible, horrible way to sell your system. And they got an award for it too.

John Treadaway

(I don't understand/recognise the "I view conventions as entertainment and no different from going to the movies" kind of comment at all

Conventions and games are supposed to be entertainment and enjoyable are they not? A hobby is something you do for fun.

In the early 1990's I went to my first regional convention, in Michigan. I played in a great Franco-Prussian game, took a break for dinner, then read the options for the evening.

One sounded interesting -- Custer Last Strand skirmish style game. 8 Players. Well 20 people showed up. The GM was very accommodating, and said he would try to work everyone in. He showed the nicely painted 7th Cavalry figures and then said that he did not finish the "Indians" but we would just use pennies to represent them. Like playing with bases having no figure on them. Most of us looked at each other, and murmured that we had another game to do. I think 3-4 stayed.

I got into a Matrix game with the developer. Just plastic figures and not really my idea of a war-game but more fun than playing with pennies:)

A couple of times where it was spend 5 minutes moving my troops/ships/whatever and the next 1.5 hours waiting while various charts, dice, software and goat entrails were consulted to find out that I could move again before the game ended.

I recognize and salute the term 'quietly drifted away".

Fortunately this has happened maybe twice in 20 or so years worth of Cons.

my rule for my convention games that i run is that in the first 15 minutes folks will be firing at each other/ i give most everybody some front line troop and they are given a second more remote command -- creates "realistic " chaos where meaningful communication goes out the window and folks have fun.

That is why I don't waste time going to Historicon any more. The number of bad games and bad GMs was so high it was tough to find the hidden gem of a game worth playing. I can think of better ways to waste money on the hobby. The funny thing is I can go to the local cons and the GMs know how to put on a fun entertaining game where everyone is right in the thick of it right away.

That is why I don't waste time going to Historicon any more.

I've gotten into some stinkers at Historicon but I once had a really bad Cold Wars where every game was bad and culminated in a June 1941 Eastern Front game where the Russians had all KV-1 tanks (seriously?). The Russians were played by two older women who argued endlessly with one of the guys on my side about anything and everything and the game just dragged, and the GM didn't put his foot down until 3 hours in, at which point it was too late.

I almost bailed on the following Historicon because of it.

I have not walked out of a game.
However i am upset by people who do my moving for me and games where my actions make no difference to the outcome. Have you ever noticed that wiser /experienced war gamers will council new players about not taking a foolish course of action. then the new player succeeds against all odds and routs the enemy. very frustrating!

martin

I haven't walked out of a game, but there were a few where I "merged" with the crowd when the GM started to explain the rules. The only one I came close was when a well-known rules writer had all his buddies on one side which he obviously and outrageously favored The game was a typical "All French are +3" Napoleonic game (they were the French of course) and I was in it only because a buddy of mine was playing and I didn't want to leave him alone. My own troops, (British) never got to move ONCE because they didn't make their command roll or some sort of foolishness, and they had to stand there and be fired upon and melleed and could not roll one die in their defence. Still, by the end of the game we had held the French off (barely) but the GM declared it an overwhelming French Victory.

Why I never normally do Napoleonics. Too many Napoleons playing.

I walked away from a game one time, and I still feel bad about it. The game was fun, the rules good, and the scenario interesting. Half way through the game, someone I hadn't seen in a LONG time came up and invited me to dinner. I had to make a choice, and in the long run, it was probably the right choice, but I felt bad about leaving the GM in a lurch like that.

Regarding the posts about how Historicon has a high percentage of bad games and regional cons have a low percentage, I don't think one convention or another has a corner on bad or good games. i think as a convention goer, you need to be an informed consumer. Over time, I have learned that there are some GMs I really like and some rules I like. There are rules that might be good at home, but I don't think are suited to large convention participation games unless everyone has a lot of experience with them. There are rules that work okay for two to four players but not for eight player games at a convention. There are GMs using good rules but are habitually late or unprepared. There are games with awful rules that a good GM can make work anyway. I refrain from games with a single point of failure, such as many computer moderated games. There are GMs whose games I won't play and rules I won't play.

Often when I drag someone to a convention or the first time, I can go through the PEL with them and cross out all the ones I know won't be fun so that their experience at the convention is both positive and memorable.

I run a bunch of convention games, because I enjoy doing it. When I get to PLAY a game, I use the conventions as a chance to try a set of rules before purchasing them or try a historical period that sounds interesting. I think you must PLAY a game three times (not just skim them a look at the pictures like a lot of the magazine reviewers or just wander by the table like a lot of TMP posters) before forming a valid opinion about a set of rules. Still, playing them at a convention at least once is a good way to get an initial impression. This method is not foolproof, but it is a good starting point. I have played games at conventions that were great, but when I bought the rules, I decided they were awful -- and vice versa.

My son and I played in a Wild West game put on by the designer at an evening session. There were 20 players. He took 5 minutes to explain the rules. We each had 2 or 3 players. He allowed a player to "oh wait. I didn't mean to put that figure in the doorway that you just shot. I meant to put this peon there."
AT THE SAME TIME he was "running" a pre Dreadnought game of the same size, while he ate his dinner.
Need I mention he sold figures, models and rules for both? That each game had no assistant GMs? He even disappeared for a while.

That's one game I should have walked away from.

What the heck is a PEL? The convention program?

I walked away from an American Civil War game once.

I don't recall a lot but I do know we were doing the third day and Pickett's Charge.

So I was on the Union side and it was still early trying to figure out things so at one point I needed a bathroom brake and told the GM where I was going and said that another person would take over for me.

So I went to do my business and came back and I don't know what happened/took place and was trying to figure out things and then I heard the GM say that I screwed up(he said another worked which began with an F)and upon hearing that and since I did nothing wrong I got up and walked away and to this day I've never played with that gaming group again.

A PEL is the Preliminary Event Listing. It is put out a couple of weeks (a month?) before the convention so that one might know many of the games occurring.

I have before the fist turn on a few. At Historicon this year, the GM had listed the game utilizing a set of rules that I was interested in learning. At the table he stated that we would be using another set of rules, one that I was already very familiar with and am not that fond of. Fortunately there were an odd number of players, so I graciously backed out without any issues.

There happens to be another gamer that I will not play with or against. He argues about everything and is constantly muttering and complaining. As a result, if he sits down at a game I want to play, I will walk away. Once, we had already divided up commands and made preliminary plans and were ready to go. He then showed up at the last minutes and demonstrated that he was registered for the game and took his place opposite me. I quietly informed my fellow gamers that I had something better to do, (which was anything rather than play with the guy), found someone to step in for me and recused myself from the game with apologies. Later one of the gentlemen I on my side ran into me. He said that he completely understood why I walked away, and how he would never play with that SOB ever again. That guy made the game miserable for everyone.

I put on an Isandlwana game at Historicon a few years ago and during the game a guy that played a few times with our group arrived at the table about six times over the limit. You could have been intoxicated just breathing near him. If that was not bad enough, he started using the N word over and over again. I almost walked away from my own game! He disappeared to get another drink and I guess got lost. We never saw or heard from him again during the game or at our locale games.He could still be at the Host looking for games to wreak!

You know that the OP counted as a "historic" game that year (just saying :) I always try to play one of Joe Swartz's games at the cons always a lot of fun.

twice. the first, when a game ran over time and I had signed up for another one. the second, having to leave the convention due to time constraints. felt terrible both times, since they were good games. at least the second time, i had given the GM notice of when i had to leave and was able to transfer my command to another player whose command was drastically reduced by casualties. still feel as if i should have just stayed instead of leaving early on that first instance.

Glad to hear that I am not the only one who has walked away.
I have walked away twice.

The first was a ACW game. The GM was roughly an hour late getting the game started because she hadn't finished the units for the game. Then she asked "Who has played rule set X before" everyone had but me. She said "Oh, great so lets start." I didn't know anything about the rules. Not how far to move, shot ect. She made no effort to explain the rules and there were no guide sheets ect. so I left.

The second was a game where in two hours I had moved once. I did nicely inform the GM that this wasn't my type of game. Thanked him and left.

No, but I have been at one where the GM disappeared for 20 minutes between turns. (apparently it was the Hall Pig)

Twice.

First time was due to a game that simulated the ultra tactical level and had the forces moving every half hour or so simulating the last ten seconds of action. Luckily my friend showed up and I used him as a smoke screen (or was it "scream"?) to depart. Plus the ultra competitive players on my (?) side who couldn't resist telling me how to move my units and even moving them for me, telling me how stupid I was for moving them the way I did. It was very painful.

Second time was due to my unit being obliterated by a low probability artillery strike on the second turn. Not the GM's fault here but it did put a huge damper on my willingness to stick around. Especially when another friend showed up to see me.

I kind of feel bad about the second game. The first one, not so much.