BGG.con runs from Thursday to Sunday at the Westin hotel at DFW airport. Setup and unofficial gaming took place today, Wednesday. Like all previous years, the number of attendees is up (900 this year), and many hopefuls had to be turned away. BGG.con is organized by Aldie, Derk, and co of Board Game Geek, the Internet’s largest social site for table top gaming, as well as the largest database of table top game information.

BGG.con offers a few scheduled gaming events and tournaments, as well as vendor sales and giveaways. There is an area dedicated to designers and their prototypes. It’s primary focus is on open gaming. Aldie has amassed a vast library of games – in the thousands – that he makes available, and many other people bring games they want to play or trade. Finding a group to play with is easy; finding a group to play a specific game is somewhat harder, unless it’s a fresh copy of a newly-released game.

This is my third BGG.con; I also attended years 1 and 3. My travel adventures are often beset with trials and tales; this year was relatively smooth until I hit DFW airport: I waited nearly two hours for the courtesy van from Days Inn. They claimed that they sent a guy twice and he couldn’t find me, but I can assure you that the person was not looking in the right place. They finally sent a different driver who had no trouble finding me (the designated courtesy van pickup spot in terminal B, and no one else was anywhere near me).

This year, like year three, a game I created for the con will be included in the goody bag handed out to all participants. Similar to the previous effort, it’s a 900 player simultaneous social trading game: players trade and collect cards, and hand in up to five of them to me before a certain time on Saturday night. The highest score(s) will win some as yet unnamed prizes. This year’s game is wizard-themed and essentially one big information puzzle. I’m expecting it to be somewhat easier than the last game (I’m afraid it might be too easy).

I’m looking forward to playing a bunch of newer games to decide if I want to buy them, playing a bunch of older games that I don’t often get to play at my game group, and meeting a whole lot of great people, many of whom I’ve met previously.

I arrived early and help set up, and then I played a number of games.

Here are some pictures from prep day.

Games I played

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Shane Senter of New Hampshire has been sentenced to 5 years of probation for one count of felony theft and four misdemeanor counts of unfair or deceptive business practices. Mr. Senter racked up $8 million in debts but failed to deliver on JumpCon, a series of science fiction conventions he planned to launch in Boston. Celebrities under contract were never paid and attendees were never refunded for ticket purchases. This is not the first time Mr. Senter has run afoul of the law. In 2004, he claimed to be raising money to purchase computers for Manchester public schools by selling advertising space on a board game featuring local businesses. Unfortunately, he had never registered as a charity or spoken to school officials.

(source)

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Wizards of the Coast has announced a new master set for Heroscape set in the Dungeons & Dragons universe. Battle for the Underdark will be released January 4th, 2010, and will contain many staple D&D characters and monsters.

The new master set will contain a rulebook, 10 figures, 50 configurable terrain pieces, and customizable game scenarios.

I don’t know about any of you, but this new master set has me salivating. I’ve always dreamed of a D&D Heroscape, and now it’s on its way! I’m hoping Wizards plans on supporting the D&D side of things with some great boosters and large expansions.

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Draconomicon 2 Metallic Dragons releases on Tuesday, picking up where the previous Draconomicon last left off. Other than providing useful details about the new concept of the metallic dragons in 4E, the book also introduces new dragons such as the Orium Dragons. Dragonlance fans may be delighted to find they have included the 4E manifestations of the Draconians.

Wizards has also released a special holiday bundle that contains the Player’s Handbook I and II. In addition, purchasers will get a $12 discount for a year-long subscription of D&D Insider which makes it a great incentive for new players.

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