(no subject)

[cyrano]

I'm strongly considering attending AmberCon, despite knowing very little about Amber. If anyone has advice, information, accomodations to share, or the like, feel free to let me know.

EDIT:
I should have been more clear. I meant advice about attending the Con.

Comments

[technocowboy.livejournal.com]

Well, a good place to start is to read the omnibus....

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

Either that or stick to the 'non-Amber' games. Sorry, I should have been more specific about that--I was looking for Con advice. I'll fix the entry.

[evilmagnus]

It is the best gaming convention I've ever been to - this will be our fourth year. It's about 100 really cool people in an awesome location with good food and drink just hanging out and playing a bunch of neat games.

There's plenty of non-Amber games running there. And Amber itself is pretty easy to get into - the first series of books are pure pulp, and you can read the lot in a wet weekend.

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

Plus, it gets me back to Oregon in the fall. I'm hoping for rain. (:

[evilmagnus]

I suspect you will have your wish. It often rains. :)

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

So what are the dormers like? Or the game rooms? Is the saving worth it? Or should I pony up for a big people room?

[evilmagnus]

You know, I've never actually *seen* the dormers, but I'm led to believe they're like a (nice) youth hostel. The Edgefield is a fantastic place - old, but clean. Lots of mission furniture.

As for Big People Rooms, well, the advantage there is you don't have to worry about waking folks up at 1am. ;) They all have a sink in them, with bathrooms down the hall. The smaller games happen in the 'suites', which are really just big normal guestrooms, that have ensuite baths. There's usually a sofa and some chairs, or folks sit on the bed. When folks talk about the Winery Wing, those are the ones most commonly used as gaming suites.

For bigger games the Con uses some of the meeting rooms (with tables and chairs), or the Library (which has both sofas and a really big dining table in it), or the Lodge (which is a house), or the function room of the Power Station pub ( probably a 40' x 30' space).

The entire place just reeks atmosphere, the food's anywhere from decent to excellent (Power Station pub food is, well, pub food. It is what it is. The Black Rabbit restaurant is tasty). Breakfast is usually very good, if rushed. The alcohol and deserts are also excellent.

[mnarra.livejournal.com]

Come. I've been once, yearn to go again, and believe that you will not only love the con but I'll get Coyote-time, so everyone wins!

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

I remember dropping you off there on the way to OryCon. Did you stay in the dorms, or a gaming room? Did you see them? Is the money saved worth it, do you think?

[mnarra.livejournal.com]

I have stayed in the rooms, I have stayed in the hostel dorms. I've never been crowded, had to wait for the bathroom, or been disturbed. If Shannon were with me, I'd take a room. If it was nearly anyone else, a hostel dorm would be fine for most purposes.

YMM, of course, V.

Staying anywhere at Edgefield is simply cool beyond words. Going for Ambercon is icing on the cake.

[zdashamber.livejournal.com]

I've stayed in the hostel! Though admittedly, it was the women's hostel. I'm pretty sure the men's hostel is a mirror image. Anyway, I think it's fine. You walk in and you're at the end of the short arm of an L-shaped room. In front of you is a small sitting area by the window, with a couple lamps and a few chairs and a table, and you can get wireless internet there, which isn't possible in every room. To your right will be two bunk beds on the short arm of the L and then around the corner, four more bunk beds. Scattered between the beds are a couple chairs and lamps. The lockers are along the inside wall, wooden cabinets about 1.5'x6', with a shelf at the top and a hang bar below; they lock with a key.

The beds are solid wood, twin sized mattress resting on solid plywood, reasonably comfortable. They have a lower sheet and upper sheet on them, I think, with the blanket folded up along with folded towels/washcloths/bathmats. If you get there Thursday there are is usually maybe only one other person there, also probably with the convention, so you can check out every single pillow to steal the one you like best. The busiest night is Saturday; in the women's hostel the most people I saw then was I think 11, and the least perhaps 4.

The two big annoyances: on a busy night, it happened that I came in early and made up a bed for myself on a lower bunk (because you do have to put the blanket on and arrange it just so), and draped my dressing gown over it and everything, and then came back at 1 in the morning after gaming and drinking to find some fucking jackass rotting in my bed, so I had to make up another bed on an upper bunk while trying to wake as few people as possible. The second annoyance: some people are fucking idiots who don't know how to hostel, and they come in at 1 in the morning and flip on the lights and chat drunkenly with their buddy while making the bed they should have made earlier. And then they talk to you in the morning about how they could have scored if they had their own room. When you just want to fucking get the hell away from them. GRRRA! But most of the people who make it all the way out to the Edgefield are dedicated and smart enough to find the place, so those idiots are less likely to appear.

Tips: get an upper bunk in the dark back area, and then you can rely on its location, and also no one will wake you by climbing up it. Bring a LED headlamp so you don't have to turn on the lights. Have your evening shaving stuff/morning dressing stuff/etc encapsulated the previous afternoon so that you can be in and out of the hostel room once, in a few minutes.

Also, you should totally come. You'd fit right in, and everyone would love you, and you'd love everyone.

[kiras.livejournal.com]

Know nothing about the con, but LOVE LOVE LOVE Edgefield. One of our very favorite places. They just added a soaking pool & spa. The soaking pool is open to overnight guests (free) without needing to have an appt at the spa. Looks fantastic, tho it wasn't open yet the last time we were there. Bring yer bathing costume. Oh, and make time to lunch on the patio outside the Power Station if the outdoor grill is going when you're there. Fantabulous. If you're near the winery on a Friday night, they've got the best super-low cost ($2?) wine tasting around. Go and say Hi to Julia behind the bar for us. She's a kick!

[denyse.livejournal.com]

It's an amazing Con - the best I've ever attended. The gaming is great, the hotel is very atmospheric and the food and drink is tasty. I get a little tired of western/english food for so many days in a row, but that's just me. I could eat chinese food 5 days in a row without noticing it, of course.
You can share a room with someone (I think Bernie often does that) or offset your cost if you host gaming in your room/suite. if you can afford it, staying sunday night rocks - we didn't the first year, but have ever since.