GenCon "vs" WorldCon
Companies and where they will be Aug 6-8
Compiled and accurate as of Feb 10, 1998
The issue is that some major companies are chosing not to attend
GenCon '98 this August. In the past, not attending GenCon has
generally been thought of as "your company is about to go belly-up".
The pullouts this year, however, are different-- healthy companies
are chosing not to go for a variety of philosophical and business
reasons. And, at the same time, other companies are planning to
attend, again for philosophical and business reasons.
There is a lot of heat on all sides of this issue. The best way
to get the real scoop is to read what the different companies
have posted as statements on their web pages, and make your own
judgement. The split is largely between
attending GenCon, and attending WorldCon. Below is our current account
of which companies are where, as of Feb 10, 1998. We'll happily
accept updates at press@rpg.net.
-
Key:
- Attending WorldCon instead of GenCon (o)
- Not Attending either, as of yet
- Attending GenCon (x)
* = WotC or WotC affiliate, or has card game produced by WotC affiliate
Who's Where?
Our Story
Our own take is, when it comes down to it, it's important that GenCon
be a choice, not a burden that each company must endure to remain viable.
So, our own stance is that we support both the companies attending
and those not attending (i.e. we're apolitical). We do not support
companies that claim "you MUST attend GenCon" (of which Andon's ill-phrased
early remarks and the famous Usenet
"GenCon non-attending wussies" thread coming to mind here). You would
think that standing against peer pressure would be a
good thing, but as I said, it's a heated matter to some.
The two most visible entities for each side are Steve Jackson Games
and Andon Unlimited. Dwarven Tavern Cyberzine has
interviews with both, and we recommended you read their statements.
We (RPG Web Services)
fall into the side of "not attending for business reasons"-- WorldCon
and Pennsic are concurrent, and we decided some weeks ago (well before
the crisis) that we'd be skipping GenCon (though we may have a
volunteer rep or two).
