"What Makes for a Bad Convention Game (Final Round)" Topic

Wow! Y'all are more troubled by a slow game than by being cheated?

At a convention? Yes.

All of the above.

Wow! Y'all are more troubled by a slow game than by being cheated?

I can have fun losing a game. I can't have fun not playing a game.

Painfully slow is really frustrating. I had a game where there were too many players. I activated twice in 4 hours. Beautiful table and I learned about the game mechanics but I would have preferred playing.

Wow! Y'all are more troubled by a slow game than by being cheated?

Yeah, sure. And I worry more about traffic accidents than I do about being struck by lightning. You can go years without being cheated. But you can't play many games at random without hitting
1. It's activation phase--and you didn't activate.
2. Your troops move 6" a turn. Your objective is 54" away. You have seven turns.
3. (After two hours of play) "Is everyone ready now for Turn Two general movement?"
4. (First serious combat of game) "Oh. Your die was low, and his was high. Game over. Everyone want to help me put stuff away?"

In fact, you can hit all four of those on a single convention. Cheaters at wargaming? Slightly more common than chucacabras--but only slightly.

You know, all those final things can make a bad convention game. If a combo of two or three occurs, then it is downright unplayable. If all occur, then it makes people hate the game, the Gamemaster, the era and conventions in general.

There's no 'all of the above option' which is what I would have picked. I went with game cannot be completed in time allotted, though it's really a symptom of game is painfully slow, so I'd add the results of those two together.

More factors-

GM's buddies take up more than 50% of available slots (which is usually tied to- GM gives buddies best units on table)

Players who leave the table without notice (I can't believe how many games I've played where there's one guy who just wanders off to talk to people or look at other tables, leaving everyone else who is into the game to either wait for them or guess their intentions until they return after their whims are fulfilled).

Late GM.

I agree, but what is worst is when the GM wonders off to talk to friends. Watch or even worse play in another game!

I had one game where the GM just said hey here are the rules. Just figure them out. I will be over here playing in this other game. Oh and don't bother me. I actually had this happen to me and everyone else. We just walked off.