Disclaimer I: I Am Not a Lawyer (I do happen to read a load of legal briefs and other materials in my day job, and tell them what to do, but I know that doesn’t count.)

Disclaimer II: Before I wrote this, I didn’t know I was a grognard. Now I know that I’ve crossed the line from progressive to grumbly. So be it. I wish Gen Con was still a place where a guy could go to run a few D&D games for his friends. How much longer before RPGs get shoved out entirely? Computer games make more money….

I’m not trying to antagonize anyone or offend. I am trying to make some points in an off the cuff, late at night sort of way. I did not post my immediate reaction, which was truly vitriolic. Good luck to Gen Con in the future. I’m still going to attend, but I’m not going to collect event tickets that fellow gamers paid good money for to get smacked down like this.

From the 2007 Event Host Policy document

You indemnify, defend and hold harmless Gen Con LLC.

Categorically, no. Any hope I had of running “official” games at the con is quashed utterly and forever. Despite the fact that this is against public policy in the state of Indiana, and would be found null and void after a lengthy court battle, I’m not going to take the risk. I do this for fun, not because I’m made of money to pay lawyer’s fees.

You have researched all appropriate statutes and have determined your events fulfill all legal requirements as defined in the state in which the convention takes place.

Again, no I haven’t. I’m one guy who ran four games the past three years. I could get a lawyer I know to do this, but at the hourly rates, why should I bother? (This is targeted at gaming companies, but how many of them read this? It doesn’t distinguish between the company and the independent.)

Running an event at Gen Con does not make you an employee of Gen Con LLC.

Agreed. But wait. See my comments on During the Event below.

There is a limited amount of space available. Once filled, further events will not be accepted. This can happen before the event submission deadline. Events are placed based on a variety of criteria, including submission date, success of previous events, convention sponsorships, and GM Reward Points.

“Success of previous events?” Hold on here. This was discussed on the boards, but no firm point was ever made. I had to turn players away the past three years. I accepted generics all the time, above the “official” number of players. I had people “carpet-bombing” ticketing to make sure that they got into my games. They never got the change to rate me, but they all went away saying that they had a grat time.

“GM Reward points?” Huh? Not defined in this document.

“Sponsorships”? So if I get some company to back me, I get priority? Okay. Never mind. Malhavoc’s out of the business pretty much.

DURING THE EVENT

You are required to check that your players are wearing valid badges during all of your events.

· A badge is required for participation in all events – if we find players in your game without a badge, they will be asked to leave and get their badge and/or your event may be cancelled.

Now I’m a cop? I have no problem with the bullet point about Gen Con ejecting people without badges. You should pay to get in. It’s worth it. But if you want me to check badges, then I’m an employee. Plain and simple. Because I’m enforcing your requirements for entrance to the space – that the attendee pay a fee and wear a badge. Worse yet, I’m a volunteer employee. One who has to defend and indemnify the corporation. I think you have that wrong folks. If I’m your employee, you should defend and indemnify me, even if I’m a volunteer. Sorry.

COLLECTING & TURNING IN EVENT TICKETS

Generic tickets can be accepted if your event has not sold out or all of your registered players have not shown up. You are responsible for collecting the correct number of generic tickets from each player to cover the cost of the event. If you do not, that player will not count towards your event. See the Reimbursement section for more information.

Read between the lines: Taking extra generic tickets to allow an extra player or two is No Longer Cool. If your event sold out, you can’t collect generics above that number. (See, this is like reading D&D rules!)

Now here’s where I get away from what truly angers, me, and I just start picking nits.

GENERAL POLICIES

You must get Gen Con LLC approval for any electronic equipment you bring for use in your event space, with the exception of laptops.

Requesting A/V, electrical or Internet needs does not guarantee the request will be granted.

What about digital cameras? They are electronic….

No signs shall be affixed in any manner (ie. tape, tack, nail, staple, gum, etc) to the convention center and hotel walls, except by rigging arranged through Gen Con.

So, if you run a small tournament, and the staff tells you that you can’t post the results near the door, what the heck do you do? Especially when there’s no Hall Captain around for hours at a time….

GAME MASTER

A Game Master, as defined by Gen Con, is a person who runs games or events at Gen Con. A judge, running a campaign for the RPGA would be an example of a GM. Game Masters are also referred to as GM’s. There are two categories of GM’s, Independent and Sponsored.

Wait, I thought we were the police?

INDEPENDENT GMS

Independent GMs are Game Masters that are not affiliated with, sponsored by, and are not being paid by an organization or company to run events. Also see Sponsored Gaming Groups and Sponsored GMs, and Un-Sponsored Gaming Groups.

Right. There’s one less of these this year.

Un-Sponsored Gaming Groups

The guys running games for these events are what, Un-GMs? They don’t meet the definitions of a Game Master as defined by Gen Con.

Final nitpick – why does this forum’s header say it’s for 2006?

Varianor,

Thanks for the comments.  We put this out for people to give feedback.  We take it all in and try to be as objective as possible.  My team spent several hundred 'man' hours rewriting the policy to make it succinct and clearer.  Undoubtedly there will be issues and questions.  So thanks for taking the time to respond. 

 Now allow me to provide a little feedback and comment on a couple of items.  I don't want to create dialogue at this point.  My responses are meant solely at establishing rationale and hopefully provide clarity.  If what I say doesn't truly address your point, or my point needs to be better fleshed out in the Event Host Policy, please let me know.

varianor:

How much longer before RPGs get shoved out entirely?

Actually, never... at least while I'm directing events.  Peter Adkison love's RPG's.  That's why he bougth TSR.  That's why, until recently, we played every Thursday, and that's why we're hoping to build out specialy RPG rooms to limit noise.  If we gave the impression that we don't want RPG's, then we'll need to be clearer.

varianor:

Computer games make more money….

Well, this is something that Derek and I debate a lot.  Within the existing Gen Con framework, they do not make more money.  The cost of our eGames arena is horribly expensive and, in it's current form of existence, does not make sense financially.  That being said, the electronic game industry has LOTS of money, and compared to the hobby game industry, has much deeper pockets and makes a lot more money.  As a business, we don't want to alienate the core market, nor do we want to ignore the growing electronic gaming industry.  It will be tricky to find a balance between the two, but we're willing to try.

Wow!  Thanks to Varianor for posting his comments and questions on this and thanks to Rennie for the response.  I have been debating about running an official game for a while now and this answers several of the questions I had.

Thanks.

I started reading the initial post, and said, "Here we go again..." until I read who had posted it.

I have been in Varianor's games, and he has a dedicated following, including me.  It would be a shame to lose him as a GM at GenCon for a lot of reasons, not just my own list of "must do's."  I know for a fact that he has gone above and beyond the call of duty, such as when a tournament was low on GM's for other reasons, he has stepped in and run one heckuva game.  (Manifold2 still needs his bottle...long story...you had to be there.)  No threats of a boycott or not attending GenCon by me for this, but it would be a great loss to GC and a commited groups of gamers / attenders.

I can respect his difficulties with the document from the eyes of an independent GM, and I appreciate the fact that he aired them here.

That said, Thank you to Rennie for responding quickly and thoroughly to the comments and concerns. 

I am hoping that this kind of feedback helps GenCon clarify the policies and writes them with an eye for  both companies and independents and keeps GM's like Varianor coming back year after year.

[edited for spelling by Vallan] 

Vallan:

I can respect his difficulties with the document from the eyes of an independent GM, and I appreciate the fact that he aired them here.

I am hoping that this kind of feedback helps GenCon clarify the policies and writes them with an eye for  both companies and inependents and keeps GM's like Varianor coming back year after year.

I guess we weren't really clear in the EHP on the following point:

Independent GM's are important to Gen Con.  Their contribution to Gen Con is different than a gaming company or Gen Con Sponsor.

Whereas Gaming Companies run a lot of events (at last count 85% of events) and often bring a type of buzz and national interest in getting people to attend Gen Con because of major tournaments (such as the Vs. System Championships, World of Warcraft TCG release, Dreamblade 50K,and some other major announcements from the industry), Independent GM's bring a passion, heart and dedication that ground the convention and help to diversify the types of events, 'de-homogenizing' it, if you will.  Gaming Companies and Gen Con sponsors will most likely not resurrect some long-out-of-print RPG to run an event at Gen Con... So the Independents step up and do it. 

For example, WotC will not run an AD&D adventure.  But there are many of them.  At this point, Guardians of Order will run an Amber RPG or LARP, so I'm hoping an independent will step up and run one!!!

There's also the many Historical Mini's GM's (and players) who help keep the events alive.  I could even say that it's the Independent GM's that are bringing Warhammer 40K to Gen Con - The company shure isn't!  (Which is sort of a sore spot on my radar)

Robo-rally?  Cheapass Games (in business, but relies on independents to run events).  Mega-scale Battlestar Galactica. Lego Pirate Ships.

You get the point.

When we were putting together the EHP, we were not intending to homogenize the two categories (I'm not including gaming groups because they could consist of one or the other or both). We wanted to help clarify policies that apply to both groups and clarify policies that apply to one or the other.  Independents will most likely not be able to contract tables or room space.  It would be too expensive.  But they probably wouldn't want to anyway.  And when we're assigning space, we consider the request and who is requesting it and if they are an independent or a company and we try to be fair. 

When I first started, Peter was very clear on a point - "Rennie, I am more than happy to reimburse independent GM's for a part of their hotel room.  I am not interested in pay for Gaming Companies hotel rooms.  If they want to promote one of their games, then they need to pay for their own rooms." 

Independent GM's can run games that gaming companies do not.  It makes a well rounded convention. Gen Con provides variety.  That's one reason people like coming to our convention.  And why we offer badge reimbursement and partial hotel reimbursement to Independent GM's.

The EHP is not a philosophical document meant to justify our position.  It's just a series of policies meant to clarify what someone can and can't do.  Maybe it might be a good idea for Gen Con Events to put together an "Events Mission Statement" or some other philosophical document outlineing what I just stated.

Hopefully our EHP becomes  document that is clearer on these points.  I certainly appreciate your concerns, and I hope this post clears up our position on independent GM's.

In summary - if our EHP gives the impression that we are clamping down on Indie GM's, then we need to find a way to alter that impression.  Our rules still apply (generally), but we want Indy GM's to perceive that Gen Con does not consider them 2nd class GM's. 

I know, for a fact, that that isn't the case and we're continuing to work to provide the fair and consistent service to all GM's, Indie or company-based.

Thanks for posting!

Rennie Araucto, Director of Event Programming, Gen Con LLC  206-957-3810

Rennie already posted a very long and detailed statement to try to address most of the points you raised, so I just wanted to reply to comment on the style and general tone of the your post and to try to provide further clarification on the points you raised.

You state that you are "not trying to antagonize anyone or offend" but just because the message you put up is less flippant or vitriolic than your initial reaction does not mean that it’s an even and balanced response. Most of your points are very nitpicky criticisms of the wording of a rule based on a worst-cast, totalitarian interpretation, ignoring previous precedents as well as the spirit and intent. As a result, you’ve drawn what unreasonable conclusions that in no way reflect what will actually happen.

I apologize for the confusion and anger you’ve felt, but I don’t think that it is entirely due to problems with rules or phrasing within the EHP.

Few of the issues you raise are new. Most of them are existing policies (that perhaps you weren’t aware of) or are common-sense assumptions that have now been explicitly stated:

·         Gen Con cannot be expected to research all potential legal ramifications of your event. That’s your job as the EO.

·         You’re not an employee of Gen Con, so don’t act like one.

·         If we don’t have space for everything, then we’re going to pick based on popularity, how well you work with us, and sponsorships.

·         Everyone needs a badge to play games at Gen Con – don’t let someone into your game if they don’t have a badge.

·         Run your games the way you submitted them in the program guide so that people know what to expect.

·         You need approval if you’re going to bring any big or noisy electronics to your game.

·         You can’t put signs up on the walls or doors or anywhere else (aside from your booth) without checking with us first.

None of those things are new. In many cases, the phrasing isn’t really that new. Neither are any of those rules unreasonable, they’re all either courtesy considerations for other attendees or games or basic operational requirements. Further, none of these points favor companies or video games specifically, as you seem to imply at the beginning of your post (aside from the “if there’s not space, we favor sponsors” rule).

Finally, I want to make clear that Gen Con is not a totalitarian or draconian convention. As anyone who has spoken to me about their questions or problems knows (and the thread about GM badge points clearly proves), we don’t blindly cleave to policies and rules, enforcing them without consideration for circumstances, nor are we adamantly against changes or updates when necessary. These rules are here not to make anyone’s life miserable, but so that if/when there is a problem, there is a clear framework of rules that, as an EO/GM, you agree that you have at least read and understood. They’re not tools we use to smack down your fellow gamers, they’re a statement of basic operating assumptions so that everyone is on the same page and understands what is expected of you.

To directly address your two most salient points:

·         Checking Badges

Confirming that your players have badges does not make you an employee. How is checking for a badge any different from collecting tickets from all players? I totally understand the criticism that events shouldn’t have fees, but I’ve never heard anyone rail against the very idea of a ticket or construe that collecting them makes them an employee of Gen Con.

·         Collecting tickets for players beyond your stated maximum

The text you quoted actually relates to something completely different, as Rennie explained – but yes, technically that’s a no-no – and it’s actually always been. Check the old rules and you’ll find several different points about “running events as submitted” etc.

This was brought up in other threads and I spoke at greater length about it there. I know that lots of people accept more players beyond their maximum – I did it myself all the time when I ran popular games at Gen Con. I’d submit the game for 6 people but always show up with 8 pre-gen characters. What’s the harm in that? Nothing, really. Are we going to police every game, checking against what was originally submitted? No. But we have gotten complaints about some games where the GM let in far more players than was listed for the game so the actual experience was vastly different from what the attendees were led to expect. Plenty of people register for a small board game specifically because there’s a low limit on the maximum number of players. If you let in a ton more people that can very easily change the way the game will play – it might go from each player getting a lot of turns to everyone only getting a handful. So what I’d told everyone is just keep your pre-registered players in mind before letting anyone else in. If you’re running a 6-player RPG and no one minds letting in 2 more people, great. If you’re running a 4-person boardgame and the pre-reg players don’t want another 4 people hopping in, don’t do it.

I’d also like to ask when you read this and were clearly so passionately inflamed, why did you not email or even just call us directly? I’m not saying that it’s you responsibility or that you need to talk to us first before posting something negative in the forums, but all of this could have very easily been a misunderstanding or miscommunication that could have easily been cleared up by direct communication. This was clearly very important to you and I just want to remind you that you (and everyone else) is more than welcome to contact us directly about any kind of events questions like this.

My number is clearly and prominently posted – if you can provide me with yours, I would be more than happy to call you and go over any and all of your issues with the EHP in more detail to see if we can come to some kind of accord. Your events are clearly popular – I don’t want you to throw up your hands in frustration and walk away from Gen Con, but neither am I entirely clear what we can do to prevent that.

Rennie:

Independent GM's are important to Gen Con.  Their contribution to Gen Con is different than a gaming company or Gen Con Sponsor.....[long edit]....You get the point.

Point well taken. 

From your and Derek's posts, it is clear that you are trying to head off certain problems over a wide spectrum of game types run by a wide spectrum of GM's and types of GM's. I do not run events, so I do not see that side of the Con. 

I was simply offering my support to the process of clarifying things so that such responses by independent GM's (especially those whose games I play) would be headed off in the future.

I'm all for a healthy GenCon with plenty of company, group and indie GM's to go around, AND I want Varianor around to attempt to kill off my characters for years to come.

I am also grateful for quick responses by those in authority to answer questions.  Thanks guys. 

Based on both Derek and my very different posts, it's very clera to me that my 15 year old mantra is still true:

 Electronic messaging is evil.

I read the very first post pretty late at night and didn't perceive a lot of vitriole, though there was certainly a level of sarcasm that I could preceive from the writing.  Derek's response reads to me that he read it slightly different.

Which just goes to show that we need to be mindful the words we select when posting.  Too often I've seen flame wars erupt because people misread a post.  I'm not sure what the original posts mindset was, but clearly there was a need for Gen Con to clarify some points.  That being said, hopefully we've cleared up the concerns and will address them in future version of the EHP.

Thanks, everyone.

 And please contact me directly if there are any concerns or questions. 

Rennie Araucto, Director of Event Programming, Gen Con LLC

It always comes back to the fact that you can please some of the people, some of the time, but you can never please all of the people all the time.

With that said, I still think you guys do a great job trying to please everyone, even if I disagree with some things, it doesn't matter, because you still want to here it so you can try to improve it.

Kudos.

Rennie - thank you for a thoughtful response. As it's not up for further discussion, I'll leave out all but a few comments here since I take your point that you'd prefer to address these matters privately. I agree, electronic communication is evil. Your point here is also well taken:

When we were putting together the EHP, we were not intending to homogenize the two categories (I'm not including gaming groups because they could consist of one or the other or both). We wanted to help clarify policies that apply to both groups and clarify policies that apply to one or the other.

I appreciate anyone putting hard work into a document to establish a set of clear, consistent policies that strive to be fair. I think the EHP succeeds on the macro scale. On the microscale, i.e. for myself, I question some of its wording and assumptions because of my personal experiences. However, this isn't the forum to debate it. That it is available and readable is appreciated, as is all the effort that goes into Gen Con.

Derek - I apologize for not waiting to post until today, since it's clear that you've put in a lot of effort to clarify these policies with extensive input from fans. (I should know better too. I've been around the Internet for a long, long time.) It's not my intent to provoke a flame war. It was my intent to air some of these issues. That's been accomplished. I'll look for your email and send you my number. To answer your question about why I didn't call you personally, it's because emails to Gen Con (not you) in the past on a couple topics have gone unanswered. (Might I also observe that the document doesn't have an author's name, a contact person, or any "management contact" in it. If you're now inviting me to call you - which I appreciate - it was not clear to me before that there was a channel. My apologies if I missed it in there.)

I've been coming to Gen Con for several years. I've read the policy every year to be certain that I stay within the spirit and letter of the law. This year saw some big, big changes. Changes that frankly concern me because they aren't my operating style and because they are demands framed by lawyers. Changes with significant monetary and personal consequences to me if they are enforced (in my opinion). Reading this document with essentially a fresh set of eyes results in an impression, no? If I've "drawn ...unreasonable conclusions that in no way reflect what will actually happen", where do I go to understand what will actually happen please? That probably sounds sarcastic, but it isn't meant that way. I'd genuinely like to know.

Regarding the generic overticketing policy to prevent problems (i.e. stop complaints), if I put "The GM may accept up to X extra players." in the blurb, I've got it covered? It also seems like it's designed to address a board game situation that isn't found in RPGs. RPGs are social, and many times a friend would like to join with other friends, and the generic, extra ticket covers it. It also bailed me out more than once when someone bailed on a one game so I only had five players. Taking generics above the stated number meant I (barely) got my refund. When you're running four games, it's not like you can just slap another one down on the schedule at the convention. My plans have always included time to step in to help out tournaments. (Vallan - I ran an entire tournament in 2005 and had to run two slots. On top of running four slots.)

To make one point clear - I'm not boycotting Gen Con as an attendee. I'm paying my money and getting a badge. I gave out advice last night to someone who wanted to be an independant GM for Gen Con and encouraged him. (Links available if you want them.) While reading the EHP I realized that I disagreed. The result is here. Thanks for reading, responding and trying to do something!

I'll give you a call as soon as I have a chance to chat, but I wanted to respond to your post as well to clarify the generic ticket thing.

You can include a note in the description that more people people beyond the maximum can join in, but my advice is to just increase the maximum number of players.

This came up in another thread in the forum and different GMs mentioned why they plan for more players than they submit for and the most common reason was "so that people who miss registration can join in." I understand why people like to do that but my answer would be "Why are they special? Why give them special consideration over someone who did register ahead of time?" I recommend that you just increase your maximum players to about where you want it to be. You can accept generics if people don't show up and if you have one or two more people in on the game (and no one minds) then it shouldn't be any problem.

Also, I wanted to remind everyone that badge & hotel reimbursements are based solely upon submitted durations and maximum number of players. If you submit a game for 8 people and only 2 show up, we won't deny you your badge & hotel reimbursements. The only thing that is based entirely on the tickets you turn in is partial event ticket reimbursement (if you ask for Special Pricing and need to get paid for that).