I'm rather glad I didn't pre-buy tickets to steamcon... but only because I would've had to miss it *and* would've wasted the money. Benadryl is not my drug of choice.
Doubtless I will find a future opportunity to steampunk the pimp hat I bought at the swapmeet.
It's nice to have a reminder that a lot of people actually enjoy playing games and there are people out there who really appreciate the time and effort that goes into a well made game.