same here, brah. I was actually gonna start a topic like this myself.
I don't think con's and cosplays are in decline. Acen hit 20k this year, when it was only like 15k last year, and 14k the year before. I think they're just getting a little bit more boring for myself. I've gone to Acen for the past 5 years now, so the scene itself is getting boring. Then again I never went to the room parties. I'll try it next year and see if it's any better.
What really upset me about Acen this year was there was no Otaku Quest :/ for those unfamiliar with the event: it's a photo/video scavenger hunt game throughout the con. The hosts give you a list of things they want to see on video/pictures (ie a FMA cosplayer drinking milk and saying that it tastes bad, a lost parent amidst all the cosplayers, a Luffy cosplayer running away screaming "THE BRITISH ARE COMING", etc) The team that comes back with the most hilarious videos/pictures wins. First place=free badges for the next year.
Well they didn't have Otaku Quest this year at Acen for some reason :/ I was super-bummed. It was a really great way to have fun with cosplayers you might normally have a hard time talking to.

>>3072062
Just wanna say that sounds like an awesome fun game. The Luffy example made me chuckle.

You're getting older, that's what.

There are even more people attending cons these days, like it or not.

>I'm 24 male if that makes a difference.
>cosplays

Makes a huge difference because men at your age are either shooting guns are working on cars

>>3072062
You should recommend it on the forums, they're asking everyone for suggestions right now. It will be my first year at ACEN in 2011 (first time in Chicago actually) and that sounds like something I'd like to do. Either way, I'll mention it on the forums.

Cons and cosplay becoming stale?

No, not to me. As long as there are fresh and new cosplay I can take photographs of, I will never stop coming to cons. As long as there are random shit going on in cons, I will never stop coming to cons. The same for panels or any thing that makes a one particular convention unique from one another.

cosplaying is for losers and whores anyway.

Cons are like chasing the dragon - you're always looking again for that first time novelty. It generally doesn't happen. You get jaded and stop coming or you learn to find your place of contentment and keep going.

Been going for 9 years now. Big cons, small cons, doesn't matter. But I go to hang with friends, not to actually do much of the con events.

>>3073259

>>3073330 is correct
So is >>3073195

You're also growing up. The novelty wears off for several reasons. When you are young you don't do anything by yourself without parents. Once you get to that point in life where you do just about everything on your own it stops being this huge deal.
I stopped going to all but one con for a couple of years cause it was getting old.
Now I go to hang out with friends and I rarely attend any of the convention happenings because once you get old enough you realize how repetitive and poorly done the majority of them are. I also go to see costumes in the halls.

I suggest graduating to scifi / comic cons. They have an older crowd, better costumes, better manners, & interesting panels on occasion.

>>3073600
>>3073330
>>3073195
>>3073153
>>3073144
Yeah. I think I agree about me getting older and jaded. I used to be a very curious get out there and adventure kinda guy. I even hopped a plane last year (I was mortally scared of heights and never been to a stateside con before either, as I live in Canada atm) to fly to a con by myself to meet up with stateside friends.
I used to really enjoy going to cons and taking pics or getting my picture taken and then getting to know people and making friends at cons too! My last couple have been quite dull. I've made no new friends and it's been very bland. Even my biggest and most recent con that I was looking forward to for an entire year was meh.
/cgl/, what are some of the things that you had to change in order to make your cosplay and con experiences better and more enjoyable? I fear that within a year from now, I'm gonna hang up my con robes and stop going to cons, and effectively fade out of all the social circles and aspects related to them.

You're getting older, getting used to them, or growing out of it. Con around here and everywhere, as far as I know, are only getting bigger, and I'm only having more and more fun at them.

for me it's the people that are getting worse. too many /b/tards nowadays running around screaming "the game" and making awkward passes at fat girls

I kinda agree.
I'm only sixteen, and I feel as if I get bored of cosplaying or cons so easily, sometimes.
Of course that doesnt stop me from still doing cosplays or going to cons because someone as young as me gets excited about it again the next day.
But just thinking about it is depressing.
I do agree with what everyone says, you're getting older and the hobby dies down for you.
I remember the first time I went to a con or cosplayed, those were the most exciting times of my life and I wish to re-live part of it.
Though, I dont think cons are declining, more new people go every year, and some new activities at cons are made, sometimes.
You're older then I am, maybe you just need a new hobby or something exciting to happen at a con or while you are cosplaying to make you feel that excitement you did when you first cosplayed or went to a con.

>>3073600
>I suggest graduating to scifi / comic cons. They have an older crowd, better costumes, better manners, & interesting panels on occasion.
Older crowd? Yes.
Everything else? Highly, highly subjective.

Every sci-fi/comic convention that I've been to has been like you took all the super-elitist anime nerds and changed their genres, but left the unwarranted superiority and general lack of hygiene.

I don't go to anime conventions anymore, but it baffles me that people think that moving to sci-fi/comic cons is a step up. They're all just different types of the same thing, people.

>>3075556
I think I know who you are! Was the stateside con AWA?

Anyway, I hardly go to the cons for the con stuff anymore, I go to hang out with my friends (when there isn't pointless bullshit drama in the group because one of your friends has an irrational dislike for another friend, and makes the entire con awkward for everyone because she can't put that shit aside for a few days), and that's what makes the con fun for me. I just went to a tiny con last month that had almost literally nothing going on, and I still had a blast just because I was with my friends and we found ways to enjoy ourselves.

That's how all my cons are these days; we still hit a panel or two that look interesting, but on the whole, hanging out with each other, taking pics of cosplay, playing Mario Kart on DS, and playing drunken Apples to Apples in your hotel room with friends you rarely get to see are what make the con special. It all depends on what YOU make it, and you can have fun if you really want to.

And maybe you just need to find better con friends, people you can have fun with no matter what and who will find a way to have fun if there's nothing else to do.

Probably because you're growing out of it.

>>3073166
one of my friends asked in Programming/events suggestion forum already, but never got a reply, so if you want go right ahead. I'll pop in as a support or something, lol.

>>3076339
This. I am getting too old for this shit. I don't even like anime that much anymore. What is PAX like?

You guys who are "getting out of anime" should check out CostumeCon when it's near you. Better costumes, technical panels on constructing a variety of things, no retards doing the hare hare dance in the middle of the hall, generally an older crowd, and a completely different atmosphere than an anime convention. Admission is likely to be more than what most people spend for anime con admission, but if you're looking for a more serious environment and want something different from fan panels, it's an option.

>>3075987
Sci-fi cons are an extreme, really. Either you get the decent, smart people who are there to enjoy the con and not to defend their fandom or you get those obese basement dwellers who can fill a pool with their sweat and will maul you to death if you mention even a slightest hint of an inconsistency.

Basically, a hit-or-miss.

>>3076473
Is it international, or just US?