This is for the older con goers. How does it feel to go to cons? Do you feel out of place? What is the average age at cons do you feel, and when do you feel like you've aged out of the con scene? I'm early 30s myself and I'm starting to notice the age difference, and have been interacting with people a lot less at cons
>>10959877I feel like I've seen this same thread about 10 times
>>10959878I've just been to this place before
>>10959878No that's just you
>This shit again
I just- im finally in a decent grown up place finacially where i can afford to cosplay and buy shit without going broke- its just apparently i look way younger than i am ? I was at a con thisweekend ,had the time of my life met some chill people who all gave me thousand yard stares as they all seemed to be in the early to mid 20s and im 38. Its the first time ive felt too old for this shit.
>>10959878It's a topic that comes up a lot, and things move slowly on this board. You've seen the previous thread 10 times where this was one of the things mentioned.>>10959877I'm the same age range as you, but contrary to what you've seen I'm instead noticing the average age of con goers going up because millennials never ended up filing out of the scene due to having kids like what usually happened with scenes back in the day. You're seeing cons posting record attendance numbers because new blood through zoomers and genalphaers is coming in but the old charge of millennials isn't leaving.>have been interacting with people a lot less at consThis is another topic that's been discussed on this board a lot lately. My take is that anime cons are no longer the place to meet weebs because everyone everywhere is now a weeb with how popular anime has gotten, so cons have changed from being a place to meet weebs to being a place for you to go to to hang out with weebs you met outside the con somewhere. There's simply less reason for people to interact at cons now unless you're at a meetup or some panel where you have to interact with people (speed "friending", some game panel, etc.).
>>10959898>My take is that anime cons are no longer the place to meet weebs because everyone everywhere is now a weeb with how popular anime has gotten, so cons have changed from being a place to meet weebs to being a place for you to go to to hang out with weebs you met outside the con somewhere.you hit the nail on the head, it's for your existing group to hangout for a weekend. also a lot of people are asocial nowadays so trying to befriend strangers is considered kind of weird nowadays
>>10959940I disagree about meeting people. Simply by wearing my cosplay and socializing with others of the same fandom and getting instas swapped, in the last year I've met so many new people. Its always interesting and fun to see the process going from strangers who met at 10pm with nothing to do, to discord chats, to rooming together at cons like AX, to being close enough that I'm happy to have them in my life.Cons are genuinely SO good for that and just meeting like minded autists who share your passions
>>10959942I genuinely have no clue how to text people, like I'll vibe perfectly fine with people irl, people approach me, I get invited to room parties and all that jazz, except that when it comes to texts, I feel like I'm talking to a brick wall, literally nobody reciprocates my effort and I inevitably end up left on read or delivered, my messages not even read at all
>>10959945The thing is everyone texts different, and people don't realize this, so everyone expects people to text like them. And if they don't they think something is offSome people just text like they talk, so they do short statements and answers for the most part. That might be the issue you're encountering, where there's a lot of people like us who see talking online like it's a separate thing, and develop a unique way of speaking
How to know when you are too old;>When the 2 inches of hotel space for free isn't worth it anymore, because you actually can afford a room for yourself.This is the kiss of death; once you can actually afford it comfortably then you only have a few years left of enjoyment.>Free Hotel AND Free Pass in exchange for being an unpaid con gopher no longer sounds like a great trade-offThe day you WANT to pay, when you know it can all be covered, marks the fatigue setting in; in less then ten years you will stop going all together.>You are over 25, but you haven't made an impression with your cosplays yetIf people have recognized your talent by now, you are safe but if you still haven't started yet then it's too late (not about physicality; just saying by now it should have amounted to some small notoriety)>You hit 30 and you're not a professional with a product to market at the con.You're at an age now where the question becomes "what are you adding to the con experience?" for everyone else. If you aren't somehow involved by now in the showrunning process, or aren't selling a product then likely your time is drying up simply because you have better things to put your time into.
>>10959978Hmm, according to your logic rich kids never get to enjoy cons, and Im pretty sure they actually can
>>10959978I don't think this person is very fun at cons
>>10959978Dude you just legit sound like a brokefag who weasels any kind of BS that "paid for the con" just to say they attended them.>f you aren't somehow involved by now in the showrunning process, or aren't selling a product then likely your time is drying up simply because you have better things to put your time into.Anon, I work my ass for 40hrs a week and sometimes I want to plop my ass down to a con in the area or a city over and forget all that. You must be the life of a party
>>10959979>>10959984>>10959986>You CANNOT do X unless it's done with very specific criteria that I decidedCan we agree this type of poster is the biggest faggot of all, and unworthy of a (You) unless it's to call them the biggest faggot of all?>>10959978t. biggest faggot of all
You will feel old and out of place when you see less of what you grew up with and dont connect with the current anime landscape. it is bad with mid to small sized cons where mostly teenagers to giggle wearing their aliexpress MHA, Chainsaw man cosplay.
>>10959889when you're old enough to buy all the candy and nobody can tell you not to eat it but you don't want to any more...
I read about senior con goers experience that they have arrived to the point where they don’t even go inside the convention hall and just go out for drinks at a bar outside.
>>10960327You only have to connect with one recent thing to fit in at a con. You don't need to wear more than one cosplay at a time.
30
>>1095987714
>>1095987742 here, I mostly do joke cosplays, like this Bondrewd one. (with a high-end commissioned helmet, althoughbeit)
I regularly see older folks at my (admittedly large) older conventions. No one cares. People care a lot less about you and what you're doing when you're in a public space than you might think. Remember that one day you'll die, so you need to stop sacrificing things that you enjoy for some arbitrary standard only you are holding yourself to.
>>10959976or don't have universal participation on all the socials.or some don't use any beyond this and email.>>10959986>Dude you just legit sound like a brokefag who weasels any kind of BS that "paid for the con" just to say they attended them.just to be fair to them if thats the case: most cons are not cheap anymore. Especially ones scraping 5 digit attendance.
>>10959978Guys like this anon will have thebiggest crisis once they hit 30
>>10959878At this point just do what /fit/ does and have a 30+ general
>>10959877I'm 38 and I don't ever plan to set foot on a con again unless it's to buy merch or stuff like that. For a guy at my age, interacting with female cosplayers always irks me the fuck out as creepy as hell, more so given that even chicks in their mid 20s have the mental age of literal 16 yr old teenagers.
>>10959878We're getting increasingly more efficient at making it.
>>10965950>hes not sleezemaxxing and fucking said mid 20s girls
>>10965950soi post
>>1095987718. don't be a pedophile.
>>10965988I hope this is bait
>>10965988Lose weight, hole!
>>10965989>>109659901. I'm a man.2. if you attend anime conventions in your adulthood, you're a stunted adult, a pedophile, or both. anime conventions are for children and there's literally no good reason for children to be around adults unsupervised.3. check the other thread regarding Comic-con.
>>10965992Why are you even on this board? lmao
>>10966001>t. pedophileto out terrible people like you.
>>10966003Holy projection...
>>10965988God damn it I am gonna take the bait. What do you think should happen to 18+ events with bars?
>>10966003Zoomershits cannot be noosed fast enough
>>10966090they obviously should be removed. there's no justification for them aside from luring pedophiles to the convention. you literally have no idea what happens at anime conventions do you? people don't actually go to the 18+ events. they leave the convention grounds to party in hotels. what do you imagine happens?
>>10966093I'm retarded can you please explain what happens?
>>10966094>feigning ignorancegrooming.
>>10966097I don't get it
>>10966093>luring pedophiles to the conventionwhy do con organizers want to do this?
>>10964739There was that old guy doing BarbenHeimer at Katsucon a few years ago. Maybe one day i'll be cool enough to be that guy. Probably not.
>>10966093I think you're a pedophile
>>10966108NTA Impossible, zoomers don't socialize IRL thus it is nearly impossible there will be underage b& at the con.This is an irrefutable fact.
>>10959877A post that hits close to home! And a problem I was not able to think though untill just recently coming back from Holiday Matsuri. So much so, I declared that I was sure this was the last con I was going too, that I had grown out of it. The space was way too crowded with Netflix warriors, they are all the same con just in different places ect. But luckily I had an amazing time, and it changed my perspective on alot. I'm 29 and have been con going since I was 14. I've met aton of people at cons and I've met up with people from MMO's and other online shit at cons. Made and lost friends. But good memories all things considered. And to just out right answer your question, too old is when you are dead imo. Enjoy yourself always, if you're struggling with finding people to conversate with one thing I noticed that gives me good hit rates for conversations are panels, especially on things I like a lot, Monster hunter, MMO's, "con survival guides". And what I'll do is once the panel ends generally there are a few people still lingering around spark up something with them. Or the panelist, generally people are a HELL OF A LOT more talkative at this point seeing out you both just sat through hour of listening to someone rambling, so the topic is pretty much already set just kinda add your view on it.
>be me>35 yo>cosplaying a character from a phone game thats like half my age>zero fucks given>40 something yo woman wants a picture with me>she knows the name of the character>she is with her two teen children>she looks very happy>the kids are kinda cringinglmao, nobody gives a flying fuck
>>10966307based
>>10966307you shouldve seduced her
What are you, a ghoul? Put that rubber mask on, kid.Oh, you pass as human? Wear some fucking makeup then if you're older than lollipop chainsaw
36yo here. I went to a con some time ago. Mostly because they had a number of guests from Japan I was interested in seeing. I bought merch from them. I'd say half of the people there were like 25-30, lots of 30 somethings, and some 40 somethings. Including cosplayers. Lots of families, and by this I mean weeb couples with their kids, doing cosplay too (like the Spy x Family deal). I had fun making a tier list of animes with some zoomers and to be fair it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I'd go again, but most of the stores were the ones I regularly shop and had their physical stores like 5 blocks away from the convention center anyways.
>>10959877I go to cons to look for merch from my favorite shows, about 60% is children and teenagers, rest goes from young adults to grannies, I usually don’t interact much with people because of the language barrier but as far as age goes no one seems to give a fuck.
I think I'm done with conventions. I've been going to them for fifteen years and the crowd I don't care for absolutely eclipses the people I do, and those people aren't looking for new friends. It sucks because I think cosplaying and selling dojinshi merch could be fun, but the people make it not worth the effort. I have complete anime exhaustion; call me when everyone moves onto something else.>>10964740>or some don't use any beyond this and email.Hi :-) (I'm also on Rizon)
Nobody cares and the ones who do care aren't doing any better in life.Work on your insecurities instead of projecting them.
26 here and been going since I was 16 (missed like 2 prime years due to covid unfortunately)Personally I can see myself going to cons forever, it's a good excuse to meet up with friends that you might not see a lot and just party and have a good time.
I'm 39, and not sure if I'm gonna go to a con again. Last one was AX 2024 but I lived locally and always just hung out with the same friends I'd known at cons for 10+ years. (Nearly 20 in some cases.) I moved to a new region last year and I miss cons but I'd be a nearly 40 year old guy there on my own and idk if that'd be much fun. I might just start going to sci-fi and gaming cons, there are more costumes in those that fit my age anyway, but weeb cons will always be my roots and to some degree my people.
28 here. First time going to a con alone and the last time I went was at 16 or something.My strat was to be a gopher and help out. That helped a lot with connecting with older folks at the con and also getting some people to be with instead of aimlessly walking around alone. It's tedious to work but shifts usually only last 2 - 4 hours a day.I'd say that cons are boring as shit if you go alone cause then you can get through the whole experience in like 30 minutes. It's all about connecting with new people.Oh and if you are "the wrong type of autistic" then it's basically over before it even begun. They say that cons are open for autist but that's a fucking lie and they can shove that shit right up their peehole. NOBODY LIKES REAL AUTISTIC PEOPLE! the ones that can't form a sentence, has difficulty with body language or try to interact but throws all their spaghetti out. They are still shamed like any other human social gatherin'. Your fucked.
>>10968208It is so funny how the same community that preaches acceptance just LOVES to isolate, bully, and reject those who don't fit their standards? The scene is fucked and fake as hell.
>>10968209Always has been, sorry. Every community hates autism from my observation. Yeah you can be a bit quirky, hyper focused or adhd like which is the typical con goer but I promise you NOBODY likes true autism and with normies invading cons it's just making it worse for those neurodivergent people.You get ignored or out right shamed with invisible knives to make you leave.
I went to my first con in cosplay this year at 31. Instead of leaving cons all together I just shifted to a new one with another interest.
>>10968208The amount of bullying in the con scene now is obsurd. It's hilarious this thread is even a thing because despite majority of cosplayers being 21 and older, many of them act like middle school queen bees as some form of revenge of the life they never got in real life.
>>10968211I'm not autistic, but I got friends who are and it honestly pisses me off when people mistreat them. The same people who supposed to be leftist liberals accepting of everyone because DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION! Its nothing but cute little vitural signaling for assholes to pretend they're not toxic piece of shit trying to be the bullies who tormented them back in middle and high school.>>10968226Been saying this since 2010 when I first discovered cosplay and /cgl/. Over 98% of the bullies you see in the cosplay community were once bullied by normies and others back in middle and high school. >as some form of revenge of the life they never got in real life.You noticed they only do it to other nerds and not the normies who bullied them?
>>10968227Yeah. Being “nerdy” with an “eccentric hobby” is now what’s popular with normies because you have to be “unique but still normal” aka snowflakes.I’ve sadly also noticed a trend with OG attendees that has become staff that they turn very narcissistic and power hungry. I guess being a fat ugly nerd as a kid and now finally have a small pocket of power because of the popularity of cons has gone to their head. They don’t treat new staff as equal and abuse / assert their power either bullying, harassing or thing they can do “stuff” with the cosplayers.Nothing new under the hood same old corpo ladder climbing.
>>10968232Isn't it amazing that a place that supposed to be for those who felt unwelcomed turned into a community of hurtful people who love to reject others because they felt rejected by society.>I’ve sadly also noticed a trend with OG attendees that has become staff that they turn very narcissistic and power hungry. I guess being a fat ugly nerd as a kid and now finally have a small pocket of power because of the popularity of cons has gone to their head.Its so funny because they want power, but the only power they can get is staffing an anime convention being bullied to their peers who felt unwelcomed and rejected by others. But it's cool because once the weekend is over with, those same power hungry con staff are going to return to their 9-to5 working at a company ran by a CEO with REAL power and influence that can impact thousands of hundreds of thousands of lives. Oh, and those con staff at their normies jobs aren't popular, they lack friends, and they probably getting bullied at work.Since I'm on the topic of power: Notice they never pull that power play shit IRL and notice they never try their little bullshit with normies at cons or IRL.
>>10968227I'm not sure of exactly the level of bullying you're talking about, but while I hate to say this and feel bad, you do have to look at things from the other side. Over 20+ years in the con scene I've dealt with a lot of very autistic people at cons and it can be a tough situation, they can be extremely inappropriate, if they get into a group it basically turns into "babysit the autist" and makes it impossible to do things the rest of the group wants to do, and they're often incapable of understanding or responding to gentler cues to change their behavior or not try and insert themselves into a group. I have quite a bit of sympathy, I wasn't exactly one of the popular kids in school either and I struggle with some social situations others don't as well, but there's a limit to what people can be expected to tolerate and become associated with, and I've personally seen some of the autistic people I've encountered at cons do some really beyond the pale shit.
>>10968243So I guess you got the same mentality as everyone else that isn't autistic. Show the weird person somewhere else and hope they die. Ok great I guess it never was about inclusion but then don't preach it.
