Ha Ha I get to be the first person to stink up the new forums,  NO NEW FORUMN SMELL FOR YOU!

So much for that nice new smell!

So, where does the line to get to the waiting area to get in the line for the shuttle bus that takes us to the line for the waiting area for the line (choose one: to pick up our badges on Wednesday 7/31; for Star Wars Unlimited in the Dealer's Area) begin?

That sounds more like a PAX experience

Never tell a PAX devotee your thoughts on the issue; I got yelled at about how horribly unfair a lottery is on the PAX Unplugged forums for even mentioning Gen-Con was my favorite convention 

Never been to PAX Unplugged, but somebody who has told me that you sign up for events the day of, in person. Is that true?

This means you've only got a few dozen events per day, and the gaming ones (as opposed to seminars/workshop) tend to be run as a "Turn up at this time and if there's space you can join" with a limited amount of preregistration in the morning. This means that the majority are things like MTG, Adventurer's league, learn to play, social deduction, and so on. 

There's also a sizeable open play area for ad-hoc gaming like the JW Marriott ballroom at Gen Con. 

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I can attest that the ability to find a game, even the one you like to play, at GenCon, is entirely in your control with a little networking and better yet: generic tickets.

I've crashed a couple GenCons with generics, a strategic understanding of what I could possibly get into, and a little luck.  But - the idea of showing up and 'missing out' is dependent on how crucial it is to play in events that are usually high in demand every GenCon.