Countdown to Total Confusion 2012

[Black Jack Rackham]

Six months away, I haven't sent in my list of games yet but heck why not let people know Year Two is on it's way...

The Holiday Inn (http://www.totalcon.com)
31 Hampshire Street
Mansfield, MA 02048
508-339-2200
February 23-26, 2012

[Black Jack Rackham]

Sept. 15th is the first date on the road to Year Two. On that Thurs. I'll be able to put HoA events in the TotalCon system.

[Black Jack Rackham]

UPDATE: A little bit of basic math and I realized its not 6 months until TotalCon but only 5. I'm really looking forward to this

Mark

[Sister Sonya]

So, are there going to be any PAs at Total Confusion 2012?

[Black Jack Rackham]

Oh heck yea

EDIT: There will be one Personal Agenda at all the Big Three (TotalCon, Origins, GenCon) cause I have several players at each who don't attend any of the rest.

And before anyone goes crazy making plans to get to all three, remember if overwhelmed with individual stuff I will give priority to any who attend only one con.

Mark

[Sister Sonya]

And before anyone goes crazy making plans to get to all three, remember if overwhelmed with individual stuff I will give priority to any who attend only one con.

Hmmm... What's the weather like in Mass. in Feb.!?

[salamanca]

The weather is just like Indiana's at that time of year but crappy.

[Black Jack Rackham]

S a l is, in fact, correct. If past experience is any indicator it will be rainy and snowy, cold and wet.

[Sister Sonya]

I've never been to Boston, in crappy weather or otherwise. It might be a time to pay my first visit.

[Lady Grace]

I probably will not be able to come, so cue me missing all the restaurants I used to go to.

[Black Jack Rackham]

What restaurants out in Mansfield? I mean sure, you might miss Durgen Park or any of the North End Italian places, but that's quite a drive from TotalCon. Course you could come in a couple of days early...

Markalicious

[Sister Sonya]

the old guy

"Mark-alicious"?

[Black Jack Rackham]

So, my events go into the system tomorrow. Here is the tenative schedule just in case you're curious.

Thursday
1pm-5pm – Heroes of Altamira, Ep. 1
7pm-11pm – Heroes of Altamira, Ep. 3

Friday
1pm-5pm – Heroes of Altamira, Ep. 2
7pm-11pm – Heroes of Altamira, Ep. 4

Saturday
8am-12pm – Heroes of Altamira, Ep. 3
1pm-5pm – Heroes of Altamira, Ep. 4
7pm-11pm – Heroes of Altamira, Personal Agendas

EDITED to fix the start time for Saturday's Episode 3

[Black Jack Rackham]

And the events have been submitted.

Mark

[Black Jack Rackham]

Just over 4 months until TC 26! They haven't opened registration yet but event submission is still open. For those of you who don't know TC is the largest RPG Con in New England and has been consistently setting new records for its attendance for the last 4 years straight (it may be more I may be mis-remembering).

Oh and slightly off-topic. For those of you going who have younger ones, I will be running the classic module, "B2 - Keep on the Borderlands" for the kiddos on Sunday morning. I will be bringing truckloads of miniatures so the kids can see/watch in addition to playing and I may even be persuaded to break out the Dwarven Forge for a bit more fun... Parents are welcome as long as they realize they'll be playing the minions of their children.

[Sister Sonya]

Checked out Holiday Inn costs on Hotels.com and they are listed as $144.00 per night. Talk about disincentives!

[Black Jack Rackham]

If you go directly to the TC Website, they normally have a convention code* that gives you a big discount (don't remember the cost cause I just drive over there) but the number that keeps coming to mind is around $80 a night.

*code isn't up yet unless the code is TBA...

Mark

[Black Jack Rackham]

Oh and btw less than 4 months to go...

[Sister Sonya]

If I were to stay in Boston so I could sightsee, is there a bus or train to get me nearby to the hotel?

[Black Jack Rackham]

MBTA (http://www.mbta.com/schedules_and_maps/rail/lines/?route=PROVSTOU&direction=O&timing=W&RedisplayTime=Redisplay+Time) has trains that go back and forth to Mansfield, but from the train station, you'd probably have to use a taxi because it's about 2 miles from the station to the Holiday Inn, and Mansfield has no public transport that I know of.

I'm betting though that it'd be easiest/cheapest to do your sightseeing either before or after and stay at the the HI for the con (I'm almost positive Boston hotels will be more expensive).

And that doesn't even include the commute time (around 35-40 minutes each way for the train alone)

Mark

[Sister Sonya]

MBTA has trains that go back and forth to Mansfield, but it's about 2 miles from the station to the Holiday Inn, and Mansfield has no public transport that I know of. And that doesn't even include the commute time (around 35-40 minutes each way for the train alone) Mark

Mark, Mark, Mark... That's part of the adventure!

Two years ago I stayed in Mestre for E50 a night and commuted across the bay to Venice each way for a week. The usual way to visit NY, NY is to stay in NJ and commute to the Port Authority Terminal each day. In Washington DC, one stays in the deep boonies at around $50 per and commutes on the METRO. 30-40 minutes is just a free Bus Tour.

When GenCon moved to Indy, I walked 2 miles back to my hotel at 2:00 AM each morning until they tore the Econolodge down.

[Rebecca Iavelli]

Well, Mike could get a purple line to Natick, and drive in with me daily, but would have to be here by at least 6:30am, as it takes me about an hour to get to the con, and I need to be there by 8am.

It's the getting back to your hotel that may be the problem, as I don't leave averagely til 11pm at night, so getting a train back to Boston, would not be an option, from what I can tell from the MBTA listing.
(here is a link to the MBTA)
http://www.mbta.com/

Check "out bound" Framingham/Worcester line to get to Natick, and "Inbound" to see how to get back to Boston. From what I saw on the inbound line, there is no train that goes into Boston that late.

I don't know the line that will get you closer to Medfield, if you took it straight there, but maybe Mark does, as it is closer out to where he lives. It should be one of the ones listed on the main page though (I hope, as I rarely ride the T).

[Sister Sonya]

Yeah, Laura, public transportation is a bit lacking later in the evening here too. The last train leaves LaSalle Street Station for the 'burbs at 12:30 AM, so I'm always covered leaving, but it's a different story trying to go the other way. And, the trains from most of the other stations aren't so friendly.

Let's hold off for now. There are likely many more hotels/motels to play around.

Fortunately, there's plenty of time to request info. Maybe it will all work out, maybe it won't. The conplicating factor next year if that the yearly trip to Italy is back to the Memorial Day week instead of October, and I'll be short of vacation time again.

[Sister Sonya]

I won't have enough time off work to come to Total Confusion in 2012 after all.

I should be retired in 2013, so will try for the year after next.

[Black Jack Rackham]

Thanksgiving Update for TC!

Hotel Update! - Angelia from the TC folks updated the Hotel stuff, room rate is $91 a night and the code to get that rate is TT6

Registration Opens in January! - you can register for the con and for events at the same time

TC Countdown! - 13 weeks from today exactly, 8 lucky players will be playing in Year 2's inaugural events (EP 1 and 3)!