I scored tickets to my first Worlds and I gotta say, am I the only one that is wholly unimpressed with the location? The Radisson is overpriced for what it is and there aren't many options nearby. They boast about being able to host 150 gamers in their center but that doesn't strike me as much considering how many stores in Texas (and California, and other states) that are larger and more centrally located to a larger population. What is the big deal about MN? Why would they want Worlds to be as far away from the US population as possible? They could easily host a larger event closer to more people but chose to do it in MN. Anyone know why?
Roseville? Roseville??!
...Because that's where FFG's head office is located...? : )
Edited by IndyPendantAnd the event center can host well over 150 gamers. Not sure where you pulled that number from.
Literally the location of the company HQ... and the tournament / retail space they own. So... yeah, that would be why.
And to answer your 'question': No, you're probably not the only person who is "unimpressed", but that just shows that you know basically nothing about the twin city area. There's more theatre, art, and excellent food in the cities than you can shake a stick at in Minneapolis (about 10-15 minutes away from Roseville).
For November, pack a warm coat.
Don't limit yourself just to Roseville- the whole Minneapolis-St. Paul area has good lodging and transportation infrastructure to support a tournament of this magnitude.
As for "why Roseville?" It's sort of like, "Eh, come over to my place so I don't have to take off my slippers."
don't be sad youngling, buy some cheese curds from the state next door and remember that many of us slackers can only dream of making it to worlds
Edited by CubanboyLiterally the location of the company HQ... and the tournament / retail space they own.
In fact FFG's offices are on the other side of the parking lot of the Event Center.
Also as others have pointed out, if all you're looking at is Roseville itself, you're looking at one suburb of two major cities and are missing a ton.
don't be sad youngling, buy some cheese curds from the state next door and remember that many of us slackers can only dream of making it to worlds
So i googled these "cheese curds". They look delicious!!!
Haha, Roseville is just a few minutes from Downtown Minneapolis if you want high end accommodations. Just grab an uber out to the gaming center.
So i googled these "cheese curds". They look delicious!!!
There's actually two kinds, both are great. There's the deep fried kind, because up here we apparently believe you can dip anything in batter and deep fry it... that includes things like snicker bars or even just sticks of butter. I'm guessing this comes from all the years we battered and fried fish.
Then there's non-fried version which is also great, plus it squeaks.
And while it is Roseville, the ffg event center is probably the best game store/ gaming area I've ever played in. Get one of their fantasy flight grilled cheese sandwiches.
It's way better than any large convention hall. Plus after I'm out of contention by round 5, x-wing becomes loser buys beer for the table.
Edited by Shenannigan
So i googled these "cheese curds". They look delicious!!!
There's actually two kinds, both are great. There's the deep fried kind, because up here we apparently believe you can dip anything in batter and deep fry it... that includes things like snicker bars or even just sticks of butter . I'm guessing this comes from all the years we battered and fried fish.
Then there's non-fried version which is also great, plus it squeaks.
You just blew my mind
You just blew my mind
And clogged your arteries most likely.
And while it is Roseville, the ffg event center is probably the best game store/ gaming area I've ever played in.
I agree, anyone who wanted to set up a new game store would do very well to try and pattern it after the event center.
What's wrong with MN? They have an INTERNATIONAL Airport there even if it isn't a hub for many of the big national carriers.
It IS in the center of the country. Sorry that all of you East/West Coast elitists have to put down in the "wasteland" that you consider flyover country.
I know the weather can be a bit unpredictable but I like it more than I'd like Texas weather.
Wisconsin Cheese Curds are AWESOME and from MN you still get them fresh. The best ones squeak when you bite into them. My farm used to ship milk to the plant in Ellsworth that makes them!
What's wrong with MN? They have an INTERNATIONAL Airport there even if it isn't a hub for many of the big national carriers.
It IS in the center of the country. Sorry that all of you East/West Coast elitists have to put down in the "wasteland" that you consider flyover country.
I know the weather can be a bit unpredictable but I like it more than I'd like Texas weather.
Wisconsin Cheese Curds are AWESOME and from MN you still get them fresh. The best ones squeak when you bite into them. My farm used to ship milk to the plant in Ellsworth that makes them!
Don't forget our beer! Wisconsin has a love affair with beer as well as cheese (try our beer cheese soup!).
The cheese curd squeak is real, and is an indication that they are fresh. If you can't find them fresh, get them deep fried.
What's wrong with MN? They have an INTERNATIONAL Airport there even if it isn't a hub for many of the big national carriers.
It IS in the center of the country. Sorry that all of you East/West Coast elitists have to put down in the "wasteland" that you consider flyover country.
I know the weather can be a bit unpredictable but I like it more than I'd like Texas weather.
Wisconsin Cheese Curds are AWESOME and from MN you still get them fresh. The best ones squeak when you bite into them. My farm used to ship milk to the plant in Ellsworth that makes them!
Come on now. I'm a West Coaster, and I think the Twin Cities are awesome. I was there last year for NerdCon.
I wanted to take a pilgrimage out to FFG, but decided to attend a little tournament at a little hole-in-the-wall game store down in the Lyndale neighborhood instead (it was close to where my wife and I were AirB&Bing). It also seemed to me that Roseville was not the most accessible by way of public transit.
Weather as compared to TX... We're talking November, right?
I've lived in TX. If we were talking summertime, I'd agree. But we're not.
Also, Minneapolis/St. Paulthe is the third largest hub airport for Delta Air Lines.
I'm flying (directly) there from Vancouver in November. I know a local, who has helped me check transit, and the route is just over an hour by bus with two transfers. That's not bad, for transit in a large city in the later evening. For those of you going, this website would likely help if you want to use transit:
Also, if you're booking any hotels nearby, don't forget to mention that you're part of FFG's event. $109 USD for a night seems a reasonable price for the Radisson.
Be careful with the other hotels though; at least one of them allows smoking, like, everywhere . In that respect at least, the Twin Cities falls a bit behind. (It's still reasonably good there--no smoking in most public places, for example. But I almost forgot to ask that question when I started booking my room...; )
Edited by IndyPendant
What's wrong with MN? ...
Come on now. I'm a West Coaster, and I think the Twin Cities are awesome. I was there last year for NerdCon.
I wanted to take a pilgrimage out to FFG, but decided to attend a little tournament at a little hole-in-the-wall game store down in the Lyndale neighborhood instead (it was close to where my wife and I were AirB&Bing). It also seemed to me that Roseville was not the most accessible by way of public transit.
Weather as compared to TX... We're talking November, right?
I've lived in TX. If we were talking summertime, I'd agree. But we're not.
Also, Minneapolis/St. Paulthe is the third largest hub airport for Delta Air Lines.
Sorry for the generalization about the coasters but it certainly seems like many of them forget about the American heartland when it comes to many things.
The weather in November is still fine although I'll admit it can change quickly. Considering some of the crazy weather patterns we've seen there have been times when it's warmer in MN than it is in Texas even in November.
Third largest hub doesn't always count. I know that looking at flights out of MSP the only "cheap" flights are to places like KS, Chicago, and sometimes Denver. I'm thinking it's not a good discount flight spot.
When it comes to Worlds if you throw Canada in with the USA MN gets a lot closer to the population "center" of game playing. Apologies in advance to anyone from Mexico and the smaller North American countries. I'm sure those folks from NZ will find travelling to Worlds a long haul no matter where it is.
Mass transit from other parts of the cities is a bit better now that the A-Line express bus is running. It means walking a few blocks (through Rosedale mall and across the parking lot to FFG), but it opens up more flexible transportation options than were present even just last year.
As IndyPendant points out, metrotransit.org is the site to keep bookmarked. If you'll be taking more than a couple of trips by bus to FFG and around the city, you may be able to save a few bucks by picking up a prepaid bus card as well.
What's wrong with MN? ...
Come on now. I'm a West Coaster, and I think the Twin Cities are awesome. I was there last year for NerdCon.
I wanted to take a pilgrimage out to FFG, but decided to attend a little tournament at a little hole-in-the-wall game store down in the Lyndale neighborhood instead (it was close to where my wife and I were AirB&Bing). It also seemed to me that Roseville was not the most accessible by way of public transit.
Weather as compared to TX... We're talking November, right?
I've lived in TX. If we were talking summertime, I'd agree. But we're not.
Also, Minneapolis/St. Paulthe is the third largest hub airport for Delta Air Lines.
Sorry for the generalization about the coasters but it certainly seems like many of them forget about the American heartland when it comes to many things.
The weather in November is still fine although I'll admit it can change quickly. Considering some of the crazy weather patterns we've seen there have been times when it's warmer in MN than it is in Texas even in November.
It's really not the weather that is a problem, but the insistence the mid-west folks have of driving everywhere. Totally boggles the mind, for real. My brother drives to the grocery store at the end of his street - it can't be more than a quarter mile!
"Walkability" just isn't a word you guys seem to use, and it's terrifying how poorly your cities are laid out, as a result.
(And then there is the issue with food - you put way too much salt on things, deep-fry basically everything else, skip most exotic seasonings unless you are going to an 'ethnic restaurant', the menus are INCREDIBLY meat-heavy, etc.)
What's wrong with MN? ...
Come on now. I'm a West Coaster, and I think the Twin Cities are awesome. I was there last year for NerdCon.
I wanted to take a pilgrimage out to FFG, but decided to attend a little tournament at a little hole-in-the-wall game store down in the Lyndale neighborhood instead (it was close to where my wife and I were AirB&Bing). It also seemed to me that Roseville was not the most accessible by way of public transit.
Weather as compared to TX... We're talking November, right?
I've lived in TX. If we were talking summertime, I'd agree. But we're not.
Sorry for the generalization about the coasters but it certainly seems like many of them forget about the American heartland when it comes to many things.
It's[...] the insistence the mid-west folks have of driving everywhere. Totally boggles the mind, for real. My brother drives to the grocery store at the end of his street - it can't be more than a quarter mile!
"Walkability" just isn't a word you guys seem to use, and it's terrifying how poorly your cities are laid out, as a result.
(And then there is the issue with food - you put way too much salt on things, deep-fry basically everything else, skip most exotic seasonings unless you are going to an 'ethnic restaurant', the menus are INCREDIBLY meat-heavy, etc.)
Xanderf , I think you'd be surprised at what you might find there these days. When I was there, I found Minneapolis to be just about as gentrified/hipsterified as our own city. (Okay, well maybe not that much, but still more so than stereotypes would have you believe.) While I did not find Roseville to be the most accessible, I thought the public transit in Minneapolis/St. Paul overall was pretty decent.
The way urban areas seem to be developing overall - in the midwest as well as our own left coast - seems to be following a general pattern. Is Roseville really all that different from our own suburbs in that respect?
So i googled these "cheese curds". They look delicious!!!don't be sad youngling, buy some cheese curds from the state next door and remember that many of us slackers can only dream of making it to worlds
https://www.wacheese-gifts.com/P/226/CheeseCurds-Cheddar10oz
Dill and jalapeño are my fav type to eat. Just order them in the fall or winter.
I scored tickets to my first Worlds and I gotta say, am I the only one that is wholly unimpressed with the location? The Radisson is overpriced for what it is and there aren't many options nearby. They boast about being able to host 150 gamers in their center but that doesn't strike me as much considering how many stores in Texas (and California, and other states) that are larger and more centrally located to a larger population. What is the big deal about MN? Why would they want Worlds to be as far away from the US population as possible? They could easily host a larger event closer to more people but chose to do it in MN. Anyone know why?
Remember to state your opinion while playing, I'm sure you will make many friends this Worlds.