There was a free branded D20 you could get with a coupon from the coupon book, though you had to scan a code, sign up to their newsletter, and then be given the password to actually get the thing. They were quite happy for you to do that on the spot, but did seem to delight in making people say “Looty Looty Loot” out loud, and I can’t fault them for that.

The Stink is a social gathering, named for the idea that the collective noun for a group of gamers is a ‘stink’, because smelly unwashed unhygienic gamer jokes are funny. Apparently.

As someone commented on a Reddit post when an Indianapolis local complained; “Have you smelled your own city in summer? That ain’t the gamers you’re smelling, it’s the downtown drains”

I’ve got the Stink most years, and I’m still very hazy about who organises it, but it seems like it’s slowly diminishing over time. The idea is that it’s a place for people to meet, for groups to promote themselves, that kind of thing, but it seems like it’s more sparsely attended every year, and has less energy every year.

In full disclosure, it’s the sort of event that’s always going to be challenging for me. In its more energetic days, I thought it was working against its own goals by putting people in a place where they could meet new folks, having a fun+prizes passport/bingo game where you tried to find people fitting particular categories (travelled more than 500 miles, is their first Gen Con, …), having tables for people to play games at, and the blotting out conversation every five minutes or so with loudspeaker announcements so that everything got interrupted. Now? It’s not even annoying, just kind of … flat.

Had dinner with friends (Tom/Frank/Stephanie) afterwards, and was given some entirely unexpected swag from The Stink that Stephanie had saved.