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Let the Games Begin: PSC Gaming Holds Event

by Erin Plummer

To most of the students, Spring Fling was a week away. To the members of the PSC Gaming Club and its many guests, their own Spring Fling was right on time: on April 26 game enthusiasts gathered in the HUB to take part in EconoCon VII, a gaming convention organized and run by the club and its members. If there was an interesting game in existence, it was probably being run. If there was a fun time to be had on a raw, rainy Saturday, it was probably here and the PSC Gaming Club worked hard to make it happen.

EconoCon VII marks the club’s tenth anniversary. Originally founded as the Role-Playing Club in 1993, the club changed its name to focus on more types of games than role-playing. If one can name a type of game, at least one member of the club probably plays it. If it is not played already, introductions to new types of fun are always welcome. Such is the case for the club’s convention. Advertisements around the HUB and the pre-registration booklet listed tournaments for chess, miniature games such as

Mage Knight, and a Local Area Network (LAN) computer tournament of Unreal run by Randy Szbadics from Business Services, as well as board games, card games such as Magic: The Gathering, and a wide array of role-playing games including a few systems made by club members and a LARP, or Live Action Role Play, a game where players dress and act as their characters as both a game and a form of acting.

This year’s EconoCon was the seventh convention organized and held by the club. Planning and organization started as soon last year’s con was in the bag. By September, there was a date and arrangements were already made to contact vendors, get people to run games, and reserve rooms in the HUB. Despite a few arrangement difficulties and the unfortunate crash of the club computer’s hard drive, information was pieced together and all of the necessary arrangements were made so that everything would be prepped and ready for April 26. As the date loomed, efforts went into high gear. Game masters were getting their games together, prize packages were bought, and the HUB was set up for the big event. As members put final touches on ID badges and character sheets, they celebrated the occasion with a pot-luck supper, in which members provided nachos, pie, and all other kinds of goodies.

The event officially began at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday. Members set up the registration table and people poured into the HUB to peruse the pre-reg book and sign up for their favorite games. The convention was divided into three, four hour blocks where attendees would choose one game for each block. General admission into the con and playing one game was $5.00, while it was $1.00 for every other game the attendant wanted to play. This price is a far cry from the $30 one might spend to get into some other gaming conventions, hence the name EconoCon. This gave the players more money to hit local restaurants for food and patronize the vendor, Nashua based gaming store The Wizard’s Tower, who set up a stand in the MPR and sold game books, dice, game cards, and a few unique games such as

Zombie!, where the players compete to kill the most zombies in their city block.

All of the major rooms on the second floor of the HUB were used for EconoCon. The LAN party was in 119, other games were in 123 and 109. The MPR was for vendors and where people could drop off their tickets for the raffle, which awarded different game prize packages, including game books, miniatures, and even an assortment of DVD’s of Japanese Anime. The MPR was also a place where people could play any game they wanted that wasn’t being run in the con as well as an area where one could get out of the way and just chat. The Fireplace Lounge was also set up for the con as the location for the chess tournament.

EconoCon attracted the attention of people from all over the area. Club members came as well as club alumni, who ran games and caught up on old times. Many gamers from all over New England came to play and check out the gaming scene at PSC. Many games also attracted students who were not club members, but would go to the registration table and ask about how to get into the chess tournament, the LAN party, or others. Convention attendees were also given the added bonus of being able to take part in the PSC Day barbeque. Tickets to this all-you-can-eat dinner were $6.75 each, a welcome price for hungry gamers. After the barbeque, convention goers assembled in the MPR as tickets were drawn for the prize packages. Then the final block of games began and ran until 10:30. By 11:00, people were still gathering to talk and play other games as members cleaned up. At midnight, the building closed and another EconoCon was officially a wrap.

EconoCon VII was well attended and well organized by its members and supporters. What’s in store for next year’s convention? The members are already brainstorming ideas. For now, though, it is time to rest and relax knowing that another year of hard work has paid off and gaming at PSC has been given another boost by the convention’s success and the members’ commitment to their club’s cause.