Cautious Optimism for Gen Con 2021

The last year and a half has been really terrible, though I'm not telling you anything you don't already know. My time was even worse than it was for most, though I'm not going to go into the reasons why as that's not really what this blog post is about.

I have always said that people can always handle big bad events as long as all the little good things in their lives are maintained. It's the little things that make life worth living and help us to make it through tough and dark times. The last year and a half has been full of big bad events and has also been disrupting all of the little things though.

One of those little things for me and possibly many of you if you're reading this, is going to your favorite gaming conventions. 2020 was the year without cons. Don't get me wrong, they were cancelled for a smart and logical reason. It's just that without them it was just another little thing added to a pile already overloaded with lots of big and small terrible things alike that was weighing us down.

The convention organizers at Gen Con have postponed the con for 2021 until September, to a time when hopefully the country will be returning to some kind of normal. The delay makes sense and is smart, but it buries the lead. There's going to be a Gen Con this year!!!

I could not be more excited as attending my favorite con will be a real sign of a return to "business as usual" for me and will definitely go a long way to improving my mental state. It doesn't matter to me that it's late, or that some changes will have to be made, what's important is that it's happening.

Some of the biggest attendees have pulled out. There's going to be no Asmodee or any of its subsidiaries like Fantasy Flight or Z-Man. Paizo isn't going to be there either. Still, lots of other smaller companies have said that they will attend.

There may be limits on the number of people in the exhibit hall, and many people who usually attend may not because of the date change or the uncertainty caused by the big attendees pulling out. Still, that means an easier time walking around without hitting traffic jams while trying to check out the booths.

All signs point to this being a bit of a different Gen Con than normal, though having the con still indicates a return to normalcy to some extent. I'm cautiously optimistic. I don't mind the con being a little smaller and having a bit more personal space at all as long as I still get to go. For me it represents so much more than the sum of its parts.

I'm fully vaxxed and ready to go. I hope that it will be a fun con this year, and that I will see you there. I'm ready to feel a little more like an optimist again. This feels like the light at the end of a tunnel that was on fire.