“The 2025 Las Vegas Open was one of the more exhausting events I’ve been to…Nevertheless, I had an excellent time and made a bunch of new friends whom I cannot wait to see at Adepticon and NoVa this year.”
The Masterclass I took back in January had a Discord Server, from which we have all kept in contact since then. We did use this to chat and keep each other apprised of various events in the hobby space. When a bunch of us (West Coast Greg, Old Man Phil) went to Adepticon, we all wound up in the same class and sharing our work with each other. It created a fairly easy camradere. How often does a convention give you vibes that you carry from one to another? And it promises to carry over to NoVa, as Phil and I are planning on taking another class together there (I think).
So when the second LVO of 2025 in early October was announced, I was somewhat torn – the LVO is great but now it was sandwiched in between NoVa and the 2025 Grand Narrative. It was also a couple of weeks after Maryland Worker’s Compicon.(1). That’s a fair amount of travel and being away from Salsa in a month. So I waited until LVO tickets to go on sale before making the decision.
The decision, of course, was made in conjunction with my LVO roommate and fellow Goonhammer Shihpoo parent, Alice Lirette.
She was bummed because she couldn’t do the Atlantic City Open because of changes they made to their AOS format, so she was keen on both GW Tacoma and ACO. So after a series of conversations, the majority of which constituted swapping pictures of our respective dogs, we decided to hit the LVO. While I do very much enjoy the Grand Narrative from a gaming perspective, I found the Grand Narrative to be a logistical pain in the tuchus last year because of the need to carry both my cosplay gear *and* my army. Plus, the main benefit of the Grand Narrative was seeing and playing with a bunch of my friends which I was then able to do in a less logistically screwy manner via the Goonhammer Open. (2) Furthermore, given the time and location change, this would give the two of us an opportunity to see the new LVO first-hand and report on it to you all in comparison with the changes we observed at both Adepticon and NoVa in 2025 and 2023, respectively.
I have to admit, I do not think I would be as remotely keen to go to the LVO without the friends I made at the January 2025 LVO painting class and absolutely uninterested if I didn’t get to go with one of my Con Besties, but the LVO is a sufficiently easygoing experience that getting those is not all that difficult (Hi, Marchettus). Lastly, I enjoy painting classes and the Grand Narrative does not have painting classes. The Grand Narrative only has either 1) Grand Narrative or 2) The World Championships.
Once the two of us made the decision to go to the LVO, we went about searching for a hotel room. Most of the time, the hotel choice is pretty clear: you want to go where the event is so you don’t have to carry your army or your models or your entire paint bag with you everywhere. However, the LVO has moved away from the Rio and into the Expo at World Market Center. The LVO itself was offering a discount room block at the Golden Nugget, so that’s where we turned our initial attention. We decided against the Golden Nugget for two reasons: the first was that we would have to Uber to and from the hotel if we stayed there, and we could do that just as well from a different hotel. Also upon noting that we would be in Vegas in October (as opposed to our usual January), we would have the ability to go swimming. So I wanted something with a good pool. So I went out and looked at hotels on the Strip that would be cheaper than the Golden Nugget. I was able to find one – the Luxor, a hotel I have always wanted to stay at! What can I say, I like the Ancient Egypt aesthetic.
Furthermore, we would be on the Strip with all of its fine dining and drinking options. Alice very much wants another TITANIC Margarita and it has a Mexican restaurant she’s interested in. Meanwhile, there is a chicken tender restaurant that I am interested in. So because the two of us can go swimming and not shell out a fortune while eating good food, our course was set. (3)
It was only after writing this article that I realized there were two hotels that don’t seem all that expensive right next to the Expo at World Market Center. However, while both hotels do have pools there is not a lot of information as to what those pools are like. Plus, I’m going to be honest: I am not super-keen to fly all the way across the country to Las Vegas just to stay in a jumped-up Marriott. I’ve done that for both GoFests and the Goonhammer Open. If I am going to go across the country for an event, I want something with a bit of pizzazz. And Pokemon Gyms. The Luxor has those, I am less sure of the local hotels.
Next time: We’ve made the decision to go to the LVO. What should I do at the LVO? Stay tuned!
- The Maryland Worker’s Compensation Educational Association Conference is the formal name. My name is better.
- One honestly more delicious, as the chicken tender place I went to on my drive up to the GHO was better than the one I frequent when at the Grand Narrative.
- Having a friend to watch the stuff at the seats, and to *save* the seats, while the other goes gets drinks is an underrated benefit of travel. This presented a problem for me at SDCC 2024 and Workers’ CompiCon 2024.
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