CAR-PGa NEWSLETTER
Vol. 26, No. 10
An international network of researchers into all
aspects of role-playing games
October 2017
David Millians, Editor
Paideia School, 1509 Ponce de Leon Avenue,
Atlanta, Georgia 30307 USA
ARTICLES
By M. Alan Thomas II, Chairman
Happy Banned Books Week!
As a present, I got you the case of a
federal prisoner, Gregory S. Dreher (21889047), who is the only federal
prisoner in his district (and anywhere ever, as far as I know) with a
restriction on roleplaying games. He is attempting to get that changed.
Details are somewhat scarce at this
point, but I have requested more information. He's in Minnesota, so the 7th
Circuit's decision in Singer v. Raemisch is persuasive but non-binding on
local courts, should it come to that.
The facility in question is FCI Sandstone in
Sandstone, Minnesota. I am told that it is the only prison in the region to
impose such a restriction, but it's a little unclear from what I've been told
if the restriction is on the inmate specifically (and simply not used
elsewhere) or if it's prison-wide (and this is the only prisoner who cares),
and if the region in question is a Bureau of Prisons region (North Central) or
the federal circuit (8th). I might file some paperwork to engage in further
research, but the federal government is notoriously nonresponsive to many
federal FOIA requests.
Please let me know if you know anyone
else I should be contacting about this.
Dragon Con 2017 Report
By David Millians
Dragon
Con continues to grow and grow, this completely occupying five mega-hotels and
a huge wholesale market in downtown Atlanta over Labor Day weekend. Over 80,000
people were in attendance, and the convention generated more than $70 million
dollars for businesses in the downtown area and food and lodging providers in
the wider city. I live in Atlanta and spent most of my time in a small part of
this vast fan gathering, so my report is admittedly lopsided.
Saturday,
Sunday, and Monday, I ran games in the Non-Campaign section of Dragon Con Gaming.
Some did not make the minimum of players, so I did have a few opportunities to
explore the convention in my immediate area, but I only made it to one of the
five main hotels. What I saw showed the steadily increasing variety of the Nerd
Universe. People of all ages, appearances, and backgrounds flocked the
conference spaces I visited. Many families were in attendance, and the Saturday
morning parade is now a Labor Day event for parents and their children not
otherwise visiting the con. Former students of mine went to the convention and
spend the entire time in their area(s) of interest. One was glued to the
robotics track and Robot Battles the whole weekend, and another visited various
author talks and writing workshops. It is an incredible collection of talent
and creativity in one place!
There
were a couple of Christian fundamentalists of unclear denomination or
affiliation calling on all passers-by to beware the fate of our souls. I tried
to engage them in conversation to find out more about them and their goals in
speaking out, but the refused to talk and continued to speak continuously
through megaphones the whole hour I was within sight or hearing of them. Pretty
impressive determination.
Non-Campaign
Gaming at Dragon Con has become a bit ossified, the same players playing the
same games with the same game masters each convention weekend. Some come to
mine, but it’s a challenge to draw attendees into anything new. As a result, I
am evaluating my plans for Dragon Con gaming in the future. That said, the
convention is a blast!
GENCON
by Louis Zocchi
Gencon
2017 was completely sold out. They rented the Lukas Oil stadium two blocks away
and used every inch of it, in addition to filling the convention center. Peter Adkinson
told me that they had sold 60,000 admission tickets, and they had none left to
sell. Their turnstile count of attenders was 208,000. If one person buys
a 4-day ticket, he counts as 4 attenders when using the turnstile count. He
estimated that 30% of the attenders were females. Dungeons & Dragons was
the most popular role playing game. As of this moment, I think my next
convention will be Gary Con in Lake Geneva, in March of 2018.
NEW MATERIAL
FROM
DAVID MILLIANS
Antunes,
Sandy (2017 August 15) The Desperate Mixing of Games & Education. www.rpg.net/columns/soap/soap237.phtml. Critique of
applicability of RPG games to classroom settings.
Bullock,
Kate (2017 September 15) Finding Impact: Empathy and Exploring Lives. www.bluestockings.ca/2017/09/finding-impact-empathy-and-exploring.html. Social privilege and
building empathy.
cypheroftyr
(2017 September 16) We Make and Ideas United team up with Google to support
inclusivity in Game Design. ineeddiversegames.org/2017/09/16/we-make-and-ideas-united-team-up-with-google-to-support-inclusivity-in-game-design. Infinite Deviation:
Games is a program to include designers of all backgrounds in game development.
CALENDAR
New listings this
month were provided by Paul Cardwell. Others are urged to submit information.
If you attend a convention, be sure and check the conventions table and let us
have a copy of the fliers (or at very least the when, what, where, and contact information)
for upcoming conventions available there. CAR-PGa is international, so this
includes anywhere in the world.
Dates, precise venue,
contacts' URLs or phone numbers, and other information, where missing from this
list, would be particularly appreciated.
"[LARP]"
means only LARP events as many RPG cons include at least some LARP, as likewise
applies to the mention of specific game systems. The same bracketed information
applies as well to game systems when the con will have only those games present.
In an attempt to get
more face-to-face meetings of the membership, we list who will be going to what
convention, if they will tell us. Get this type of information in at least two
months before the convention itself, so we can run it at least once. Support
your local cons by helping in the staff. It is a good way to promote RPG and
you generally get in free for the brief time spent helping.
A review of any
attended convention afterwards for the Newsletter would be appreciated too.
These reviews should include demographic data such as attendance, percentage
male/female, white/ethnic minorities (or what- ever is the
majority/white/others), games in addition to tabletop RPG, and more subjective
matters such as unusual events, quality of games and dealers' room,
encouragement of new gamers, and whatever seems worth reporting. We need to
work to restore CAR-PGa's reputation as the media's go-to on gamer
demographics, especially since the media are still citing a study that cut off
all those over 35 - at a time when that was the median age of gamers - it is
closer to 40 now - which indicates we also need to work on recruiting younger
players, although some increase in college age players at conventions has been
noted.
Conventions are
currently being compiled by archivist Paul Cardwell, 1127 Cedar, Bonham, TX
75418 or plcardwell@gmail.com so please send them there.
October 2017
4-8: NordlichtCon,
Evangelischer Jugendhof Sachsenhain, Am Jugendhof 17, Verden an der Aller; nordlichtcon.de
6-8: OctoGones,
l'Espace Tête d'Or, 103 boulevard Stalingrad, Lyon/Villeurbanne. France; octogones.org
7-8: Nor'easter
Gaming Expo, Black Bear Inn, 4 Godfrey Dr, Orono, ME;eventbrite.com/e/noreaster-gaming- expo
11-15: Festivalinternacionaldejuegascordoba.es,
Palacio de los Merced, Cordoba; festivaldejuegascordoba.es
13-15: Texas
Broadside, USS Texas, La Porte, TX;texasbroadside.webs.com [primarily historical wargaming]
13-15:
Con-Stellation, Four Points, Huntsville Airport, 1000 Glenn Hearn Blvd SW,
Huntsville, AL; con- stellation
13-15: Snap-Con, Snap
Keep Gaming, 1749 Independence St, Cape Girardeau,
MO; warhorn.net/snap-con [mostly Pathfinder]
l4-15: Oddmall:
Hallowondrous, Seagate Center, Toledo, OH;hallowondrous.oddmall.info [Free admission]
14-16:
NEWGamepalooza, Gruenhagen Conference Center, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh,
Oshkosh, WI; newgamepalooza.com
21: Spaghetti
Conjunction, Geek Retreat, Priory Queensway, Birmingham;spaghetticonjunction.wordpress.com
21-23: Milwaukee
Summer Revel, Sheraton Milwaukee Brookfield, 375 S. Moorland Rd, Brookfield,
WI; coldiron.roseocon.net
27-29: Atlanta Game
Fest, Atlanta Marriott Alpharetta, 5750 Windward Pkwy, Alpharetta, GA;
atlantagamefest. com
27-29: Oklahoma City
Comic Con, Cox Convention Center, 1 Myriad Gardens, Oklahoma City, OK; wizardworld.com/comiccon/oklahomacity
27-29: PAX Aus,
Melbourne Convention Centre, 1 Convention Centre Pl, South Wharf, Vic; paxaustralia.com.au
November 2017
2-5: AmberCon NW,
McMehamins Edgefield Bed & Breakfast Resort, Troutsdale, OR; amberconnw.org [Amber diceless and indie games]
3: Underground Comic
Con, Delaware Contemporary, 200 S Masdison, Wilmington, DE; undergroundcomixxx.
com
3-5: Unpub Midwest,
Doubletree Grand Rapids, 4747 28th St SE, Grand Rapids, MI; migeekscene.com [playtesting]
3-5: Warmachine
Weekend, Sheraton Westport Chalet, 191 Westport Plaza, St. Louis, MO;
warmachineweekend. com
10-12: PentaCon,
Grand Wayne Convention Center, 120 W Jefferson Blvd, Fort Wayne, IN; pentacongames.com
17-19: PAX
Unplougged, Pennsylvania Convention Center, 1101 Arch St,. Philadelphia, PA;
18-19: Dreieich Con,
Bürgerhaus, Dreieich-Sperndingen, Fichtestr. 50, Dreieich, Germany; dreieichcon.de
23-27: Kaleidoscopic
Consequences, Naish Holiday Village, Christchurch, Dorset; conquences.org.uk [freeform LARP]
24-26: Stuffed COWS,
College of Du Page Student Resource Center, 425 Fawell Blvd, Glen Ellyn,
IL; coldironconventions.com
December 2017
1-3: Meeplecon,
Darebin Arts & Entertainment Centre, Ball St & St George Rd, Preston,
Vic; meeples.org.au
9-10: HobbyCon,
Badminton Hall, Likas Sports Complex, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malasia;
hobbycon.my
9-10: Oddmall
Chrishanukwanzmadan, Cultural Center for the Arts, Canton, OH;
chrishanukwanzmadan. oddmall.info [free Admission]
11-13: Geekonomicon,
Mississippi Coast Convention Center, 2350 Beach Blvd, Biloxi, MS; whynotgeek.com/ geeknomicon
©
Copyright 2017 by the Committee for the Advancement of Role-Playing Games
(CAR-PGa), ISSN 1071 7129. The CAR-PGa Newsletter is a monthly publication. For
more information contact David Millians, Editor, Paideia School, 1509 Ponce de
Leon Avenue, Atlanta, Georgia 30307 USA, phone (404) 808-1070, fax (404)
377-3491, e-mail millians.david@paideiaschool.org. Back issues are
available. Contributions of material from the membership are urged, and the
byline is responsible for content. Deadline is the last weekday of the month,
email preferred. Permission is granted to copy anything in the Newsletter,
provided we get a credit line in the publication copying it, and it doesn't
have someone else's copyright on it. Information, including details on joining
CAR-PGa, can be obtained on the Internet at car-pga.org.
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