TOPIC: Hardcore+ GenCon Listings

I would love to to see TD list a subset of runs as “Hardcore+” for experienced players who would prefer not to play on “normal”. I believe the GenCon format easily supports this and it would be a nice way to cater some portion of runs to the experienced community.

What do you think?

What are your thoughts?

They tried this years ago with runs designated Nightmare only. It was a huge failure.

GenCon tickets sell out so fast and are at such a premium that people try to get any ticket possible - and lots of new players ended up on those Nightmare runs that then turned. Into Normal runs.

Buying out a full run or coordinating on the boards is still the best option for guaranteeing a run is at a higher difficulty

Huh, I had no idea this was tied. Buying out a whole run would take a leprechaun’s magic on top of a ridiculously good lottery number, though.

I mean realistically how to you coordinate one? Do people of the forums have success with this?

Scott Kwiker wrote: Huh, I had no idea this was tied. Buying out a whole run would take a leprechaun’s magic on top of a ridiculously good lottery number, though.

I mean realistically how to you coordinate one? Do people of the forums have success with this?

Every year my group buys all the tickets for one run of each dungeon. Basically you fill all 50 slots of your wishlist with 10 tickets each, and see if you get any. If you don’t, you keep refreshing the event list looking for runs released by people earlier in the queue that dropped some.

Scott Kwiker wrote: Huh, I had no idea this was tied. Buying out a whole run would take a leprechaun’s magic on top of a ridiculously good lottery number, though.

I mean realistically how to you coordinate one? Do people of the forums have success with this?

Not really - TD uniquely among Gen Con events allows a single buyer to buy entire runs, so as long as a single person in your group gets in early enough you can snag a whole run.

There are hundreds of runs at GenCon - they sell out fast but not
Within seconds. Also, lots of groups get entire runs and then return / release then so if you sit at your computer and refresh all day you can snag one even with a bad lottery slot.

Maybe TD could try listing a few VIP runs at substantial premiums, and have those be hc+ only - that might fix the problem of random people buying slots.

E.g. set aside 5% of runs as “VIP” runs, tickets cost $300 each, difficulty is nightmare, each ticket gets a random UR, and a special photo op in room 7 or something.

My understanding of the reason the higher difficulty-only runs didn’t work at Gen Con was that People Don’t Read. Some players would be so desperate to get tickets that they’d sign up for a run they were not ready for, and then both that player and the people who deliberately chose higher difficulty had a bad time.

Buying a whole run at GC can be challenging, but it is definitely not impossible. My group tries to get 10 tickets to one of each run at GC. (That way, we control the difficulty and can run at NM/Epic with our preferred classes.) We have everyone who has a GC badge create a wishlist, and then frantically text each other to find out who has the lowest numbers in the queue and what each person with a decent number gets. We coordinate and drop any runs we don’t need. From time to time, we’ve missed out on a run in the initial scramble, but there are usually folks here or on the TD Discord who get an extra run that works for our schedule.

Is this why there don't seem to be True Grind events any longer?

Robert Rosenthal wrote: Is this why there don't seem to be True Grind events any longer?

It's part of the reason: people didn't read what the event was about and assumed it was just another True Dungeon event.

The other half is that the long-term DMs for Grind retired from the game. Two new DMs have taken over, but can only commit to Gamehole Con.

BeLinda Mathie wrote: the reason the higher difficulty-only runs didn’t work at Gen Con was that People Don’t Read.

This! 1000× this! 👿

Druegar wrote:

BeLinda Mathie wrote: the reason the higher difficulty-only runs didn’t work at Gen Con was that People Don’t Read.

This! 1000× this! 👿

I learned this lesson more than a decade ago volunteering for the boards of several young professionals groups. I am sad but not surprised that it applies universally. If you are facing a problem and think “Oh, we’ll fix it by putting a notice in the program/on the website/in our newsletter,” just keep in mind that People Don’t Read!

BeLinda Mathie wrote: I learned this lesson more than a decade ago volunteering for the boards of several young professionals groups. I am sad but not surprised that it applies universally. If you are facing a problem and think “Oh, we’ll fix it by putting a notice in the program/on the website/in our newsletter,” just keep in mind that People Don’t Read!

If you see me in person, ask me to tell you my People Don't Read story. You'll be rolling your eyes for days.