There is nothing wrong for something to draw you into Gencon. Just don't ignore the full experience. There is a LOT of stuff going on, with a ton of variety. I'm sure you can find something entertaining.

Last time I went, I did a few seminars when I wasn't running some games. They were nice because they were free. But, there are a ton of other things to do. I have a friend who likes the crafts in the workshops. My friend's step daughter was big into the anime stuff. You will be amazed what you can find in the dealer hall, once you get past the big companies.

I love Gencon. Wish I could go. (Just avoid the Magic area. Gencon was where I learned gamer funk was very real)

LOL about the Magic area. I will avoid it them then. Glad I got out of Magic years ago. ;-)

For sure, we have a much smaller scale "KublaCon" here this Memorial Day weekend that pretty much has all the things GenCon has, but at a MUCH smaller scale. It's still super fun to do some painting demos, watch some LARPing, learn new board games, and spend too much money in the dealer's room when you demo new game designers' games.

I'm sure I'll have a blast there, after the X-Wing stressfulness is done. ;-)

Does it make it clear if I restate the first one as "If you are going to Gen Con and only doing X-Wing, you are missing out."?

Yes, and I stated that with the assumption of being able to go there for just 1 (or 2) days and going home, I can see how they're different.

I secured my ticket for nationals (I got it at 19 remaining, so I think I know who was clicking BUY frantically at the same time I was ).

I am wondering how this is going to impact the competition level for upcoming regionals. The last two I attended were fierce, but I suspect many will lose heart if they did not get a ticket for nationals.

Given the number of regionals events vs the player cap for Nationals, which is to say that in total Regionals events have massively higher total attendance when you add them all up, I highly doubt limited Nationals spots will have any impact on Regionals attendance; The vast majority of people attending Regionals events have no plans on attending Nationals, and those that do would have already been making plans months ago and would have been camping for tickets. And besides, even if you can't make it to Nationals you can still play to be named top in your Region.