From The RTG Blog
Quote
After considerable internal discussion, R. Talsorian Games has decided to exit Gen Con 2021. We don't do this lightly. We had planned on our biggest Gen Con yet this year, with more events than ever, more booth space than ever, and a larger crew than ever.
And that's why, in good conscience, we cannot attend the convention. The health and safety of our crew comes first and the numbers in Indiana are abysmal. The vaccination rates are too low, the positivity rates and new case rates too high, and the social mandates designed to protect people too few. If even one member of our crew caught COVID-19 while attending Gen Con or carried it home to their loved ones and their local community, that would be one too many.
At R. Talsorian Games, we write about Dark Futures for fun, but we also believe we have a responsibility to try and prevent them from happening.
We want to make it clear, we do not blame the staff of Gen Con 2021 or the Indiana Convention Center in any way. We honestly believe they have done everything they legally and contractually can to make the convention as safe an experience as possible. Unfortunately, conventions never happen just inside the convention center. With airports, hotels, open spaces, and places to eat at play, the risk of infection is just too high.
If you were coming to Gen Con to sit down at our tables and play games with us, we're sorry. Please contact Gen Con and see about getting a refund for your event tickets. If you were coming to Gen Con to visit our booth and buy from us, we're sorry. We heartily suggest purchasing our games through your local game store if at all possible.
If you are attending Gen Con, please be safe. Get vaccinated if you can and aren't already. Wear your mask, and wear it properly. Don't touch your face. Social distance as much as possible. Wash and/or sanitize your hands regularly. Be a responsible member of the gaming community.
We will miss being at Gen Con this year. It honestly broke our hearts to make this decision but feel it was the right call for us and our crew and it is our sincere desire to see you all at Gen Con 2022.
Let's all do what we can to make that happen.
https://rtalsoriangames.com/2021/09/01/rtg-exiting-gen-con-2021/
I wonder who else is going to sit GenCon 2021 out and what effect it will have on GenCon itself?
Social distance at Gen Con? LOL. I think attendance would have to be waaaay down from the one I attended to do any sort of social distancing. I laugh at that a bit, more or less trying to blame the State, when there are going to be people from all over the Nation, and possibly the world at that Con. I guess my point is, if you have ANY concerns at all around Covid, no way in hell should you go any where near ANY Con, much less an enormous one.
Quote from: oggsmash on September 02, 2021, 05:39:44 AM
Social distance at Gen Con? LOL. I think attendance would have to be waaaay down from the one I attended to do any sort of social distancing. I laugh at that a bit, more or less trying to blame the State, when there are going to be people from all over the Nation, and possibly the world at that Con. I guess my point is, if you have ANY concerns at all around Covid, no way in hell should you go any where near ANY Con, much less an enormous one.
On that note......
https://www.reddit.com/r/gencon/comments/pbzud3/gencon_is_irresponsible_this_year/
Quote
GenCon is irresponsible this year
I was really excited for GenCon. I've been looking forward to it all year. In June, it looked reasonable. Now? COVID is worse in Indianapolis than it was a year ago.
On 8/25/21, Indy had 531 new cases and a 7 day average of 450.
Compare this to 97 and 118 in 2020, when GenCon was cancelled.
Over 88,000 people in the US are currently hospitalized with COVID, with nearly 23,000 in the ICU as of 8/23/21.
A year ago this was 37,000 and 11,300 in the ICU.
These numbers are 4x as bad in Indianapolis, and 2x as bad nationally as when the world was shut down.
GenCon has said that they cannot require vaccinations or mandatory testing.
In June, when there was a rollover option, COVID numbers were trending down. Seven times as many people are hospitalized now, compared to June. June 30th showed 30 new cases in Indianapolis, with a seven day average of just 22. COVID is twenty times as bad in the host city as it was when we all had to make a decision on whether to attend.
And by not offering an option to roll over badges, GenCon has now created a scenario where people are incentivized to attend when asymptomatic, with mild symptoms, or close-contacts.
There is no reason to expect that this will not be a super spreader event.
Stay home. Live out your lives in isolation. This is going to go on for years.
Personally, I'm waiting for the first annual PunditCon.
I love how they go from Indiana cases (which the CDC has admitted can't be told apart from the common cold) to national hospitalizations as part of their justification. Because cases automatically mean death in Leftieland... versus, say, the annual sniffles that always go around right after school starts back up.
More likely I suspect the real "virus" they're trying to avoid is un-woke thought. The Seattle crowd can no longer tolerate being in even the most left-leaning parts of a Red State anymore (our Left is mostly of the pre-2016 variety... so basically far right extremists by Seattle standards).
GenCon got moved to Indianapolis in the first place because it was fairly central to the biggest consumers of RPG products (and Origins is in Columbus, OH for similar reasons), but this is what happens when the primary producers aren't actually located in the market region... a complete disconnect between the producers and consumers.
GenCon is barely a 90 minute drive from me and I have family who live 10 minutes from the venue so I wouldn't have to pay squat for accommodations and I still wouldn't attend the wokefest if they paid me.
Hmmm... interesting thought (which I'll crosspost); on the woke company list, where are they headquartered? I suspect a pattern will emerge of the red/yellow companies being in concentric circles of hell that surround Seattle and other woke bastions while the green are mostly elsewhere.
Quote from: Oddend on September 02, 2021, 10:14:56 AM
Personally, I'm waiting for the first annual PunditCon.
Be serious. What living game writer would be arrogant and pretentious enough to create a con and name it after himself?!?
Oh. Right. I forgot ;)
Quote from: jeff37923 on September 02, 2021, 02:29:20 AM
From The RTG Blog
Quote
After considerable internal discussion, R. Talsorian Games has decided to exit Gen Con 2021. We don't do this lightly. We had planned on our biggest Gen Con yet this year, with more events than ever, more booth space than ever, and a larger crew than ever.
And that's why, in good conscience, we cannot attend the convention. The health and safety of our crew comes first and the numbers in Indiana are abysmal. The vaccination rates are too low, the positivity rates and new case rates too high, and the social mandates designed to protect people too few. If even one member of our crew caught COVID-19 while attending Gen Con or carried it home to their loved ones and their local community, that would be one too many.
At R. Talsorian Games, we write about Dark Futures for fun, but we also believe we have a responsibility to try and prevent them from happening.
We want to make it clear, we do not blame the staff of Gen Con 2021 or the Indiana Convention Center in any way. We honestly believe they have done everything they legally and contractually can to make the convention as safe an experience as possible. Unfortunately, conventions never happen just inside the convention center. With airports, hotels, open spaces, and places to eat at play, the risk of infection is just too high.
If you were coming to Gen Con to sit down at our tables and play games with us, we're sorry. Please contact Gen Con and see about getting a refund for your event tickets. If you were coming to Gen Con to visit our booth and buy from us, we're sorry. We heartily suggest purchasing our games through your local game store if at all possible.
If you are attending Gen Con, please be safe. Get vaccinated if you can and aren't already. Wear your mask, and wear it properly. Don't touch your face. Social distance as much as possible. Wash and/or sanitize your hands regularly. Be a responsible member of the gaming community.
We will miss being at Gen Con this year. It honestly broke our hearts to make this decision but feel it was the right call for us and our crew and it is our sincere desire to see you all at Gen Con 2022.
Let's all do what we can to make that happen.
https://rtalsoriangames.com/2021/09/01/rtg-exiting-gen-con-2021/
I wonder who else is going to sit GenCon 2021 out and what effect it will have on GenCon itself?
Is this potentially a double dose of "get woke, go broke?" if it hurts both RTG and GenCon?
One can hope. I'm a fan of RTG products, but not if they continue to to go down the woke path.
I'm in Florida, where this sort of attitude is almost completely absent outside of power tripping middle managers and school teachers. Reading something so fearful feels like a time machine into last year (especially given their outdated advice).
There seems to be a serious overlap between the hopeless woke and those terrified their own shadows will give them COVID-19. I can't quite figure out where the overlap occurs, though you see the same rhetorical flourishes being used.
Quote from: Squidi on September 02, 2021, 01:13:30 PM
I'm in Florida, where this sort of attitude is almost completely absent outside of power tripping middle managers and school teachers. Reading something so fearful feels like a time machine into last year (especially given their outdated advice).
There seems to be a serious overlap between the hopeless woke and those terrified their own shadows will give them COVID-19. I can't quite figure out where the overlap occurs, though you see the same rhetorical flourishes being used.
I would hardly call the patients I've seen the "hopeless woke," but then some of them are still denying they have Covid (some even deny Covid exists) even as they are hospitalized for SOB, activity intolerance, and associated pneumonia.
Quote from: HappyDaze on September 02, 2021, 01:34:41 PM
I would hardly call the patients I've seen the "hopeless woke," but then some of them are still denying they have Covid (some even deny Covid exists) even as they are hospitalized for SOB, activity intolerance, and associated pneumonia.
I didn't say the patients. I said the ones scared of their own shadow. There's a big difference between actually getting COVID and cancelling a Gen Con appearance because there aren't enough government mandates.
Actually, this works in my favor as would not be able to make the trip from Canada otherwise: they'll improve the online portion of the event.
The US seems to be sketchy and changing their boarder policies on those coming from Canada double vaccinated still getting flak, so not worth the hassle attempting at this point really.
Feel bad for those close enough to attend to have to mull it over as it's an easy choice for me and likely others entering who would be flying/driving to the US for this.
Not a big Con guy, myself. I've been to a few X-Wing Miniatures tournaments. I hadn't planned on attending any this year, since restrictions and travel and vaccines and masks and fuckit.
Considering Con Crud is a common side effect from going to a Con, I don't blame anyone who wants to skip a big event during a Pandemic.
Quote from: Squidi on September 02, 2021, 01:13:30 PM
I'm in Florida, where this sort of attitude is almost completely absent outside of power tripping middle managers and school teachers. Reading something so fearful feels like a time machine into last year (especially given their outdated advice).
There seems to be a serious overlap between the hopeless woke and those terrified their own shadows will give them COVID-19. I can't quite figure out where the overlap occurs, though you see the same rhetorical flourishes being used.
As a fellow Floridan, Welcome!
We do things differently down here for the most part. And FTR, I'd like to have a non-woke Con come down here, and gain traction.
Of course RTG wont be there since they are scared of the More contagious but less deadly form of Covid.
Orlando OSR Con would rock.
Quote from: Godsmonkey on September 02, 2021, 03:22:55 PM
Quote from: Squidi on September 02, 2021, 01:13:30 PM
I'm in Florida, where this sort of attitude is almost completely absent outside of power tripping middle managers and school teachers. Reading something so fearful feels like a time machine into last year (especially given their outdated advice).
There seems to be a serious overlap between the hopeless woke and those terrified their own shadows will give them COVID-19. I can't quite figure out where the overlap occurs, though you see the same rhetorical flourishes being used.
As a fellow Floridan, Welcome!
We do things differently down here for the most part. And FTR, I'd like to have a non-woke Con come down here, and gain traction.
Of course RTG wont be there since they are scared of the More contagious but less deadly form of Covid.
Orlando OSR Con would rock.
Just came from Florida a couple of weeks ago. Dropped a ton of cash into your economy over 10 days. Not only is Florida not the ICU wasteland it is made out to be, but it was packed full of people from all over the world having a lot of fun and being very kind to one another.
A convention in Orlando would be an amazing time.
Quote from: Ratman_tf on September 02, 2021, 03:21:44 PMConsidering Con Crud is a common side effect from going to a Con, I don't blame anyone who wants to skip a big event during a Pandemic.
My theory is that con crud is caused by a disruption in routine mixed with a lack of fluids and sleep. I've gotten sick on vacations where it was just me and my family, none of whom were sick. Every time I've been to a con, I don't think I managed to get more than 3 hours of sleep at night. I could've survived it in my twenties, but not these days.
Quote from: Godsmonkey on September 02, 2021, 03:22:55 PMAnd FTR, I'd like to have a non-woke Con come down here, and gain traction.
Orlando has MegaCon. I don't know how woke it is, but when I went a few years ago, I don't remember anything that was too off putting - other than the many girls failing spectacularly to pull off the same skintight Spider-Gwen leotard. Let me tell you. You can paint on all the abs you want, but you ain't fooling anybody.
Quote from: Squidi on September 02, 2021, 04:00:56 PMMy theory is that con crud is caused by a disruption in routine mixed with a lack of fluids and sleep. I've gotten sick on vacations where it was just me and my family, none of whom were sick. Every time I've been to a con, I don't think I managed to get more than 3 hours of sleep at night. I could've survived it in my twenties, but not these days.
Even if I were inclined to go to a con, this is what puts me off to the big ones. I could go on a trip by myself, book a room that had been sterilized by experts, bring pre-packaged food, and still manage to get the sniffles merely from the changes in allergens and air pressure. If I went to something like GenGon, it would take me 2 weeks to recover. It's why I've never been to Dragon Con even though it is only about a 4 hour drive. (Well, that and Atlanta ain't my favorite place.)
I'd love a small con in St. Augustine, Florida. The sea air does wonders for "travel crud".
Quote from: Steven Mitchell on September 02, 2021, 04:07:26 PM
I'd love a small con in St. Augustine, Florida.
I went to GenCon South in St. Augustine back in 1984 iirc. It was pretty small by today's standards.
I might have gone to GenCon or Origins this year, but not with all this hysteria going on. I'm not really scared of covid, but having to wear a mask for 3 or 4 days straight is not my idea of fun.
Quote from: jeff37923 on September 02, 2021, 02:29:20 AM
I wonder who else is going to sit GenCon 2021 out and what effect it will have on GenCon itself?
Who still goes to democrat conventions?
Well when it's your only nearby option...
My nearest con was cancelled this year though. It went online, but, well, no thanks.
Quote from: Shawn Driscoll on September 03, 2021, 09:06:05 PM
Quote from: jeff37923 on September 02, 2021, 02:29:20 AM
I wonder who else is going to sit GenCon 2021 out and what effect it will have on GenCon itself?
Who still goes to democrat conventions?
People that don't view the world in black & white (or, in this case blue & red). Not everyone is a political zealot.
Quote from: HappyDaze on September 03, 2021, 09:47:37 PM
People that don't view the world in black & white (or, in this case blue & red). Not everyone is a political zealot.
You make it sound like people have a choice. The people who used to go to GenCon, but now don't, didn't stop gaming or loving games. I'll bet you anything, they'd LOVE to go to GenCon... but the GenCon from before 2013.
If you are standing under the (ever shrinking) blue umbrella, you have a choice. You are the only one who gets to have a choice. Everybody else, encompassing every other belief or opinion, gets shoved beneath the massive, but still crowded red umbrella - whether they want to or not.
Quote from: Shawn Driscoll on September 03, 2021, 09:06:05 PM
Quote from: jeff37923 on September 02, 2021, 02:29:20 AM
I wonder who else is going to sit GenCon 2021 out and what effect it will have on GenCon itself?
Who still goes to democrat conventions?
Dude, I'm talking gaming while you are talking politics. While there is overlap, it is still an apples and oranges comparison.
After a very bad experience with GenCon I stopped caring about it. Being physically disabled and nearly trampled tends to make one reconsider attending especially when staff told me you don't have to attend. In response I did not attend again. I have no ill will for them but I have no love for them either. I wonder if the reasons given are just a polite way of bowing out.
GenCon advocates censorship and political violence.
I don't think it's rational or reasonable to limit your personal activities based on a series of completely-beyond-your-control potential probabilistic events that might/might-not arise out of those actions.
However, I do think the mature response for RTG is simply not to attend, rather than to say, demand unreasonable and discriminatory policies. So that's a positive.
Quote from: FingerRod on September 02, 2021, 03:41:41 PM
Quote from: Godsmonkey on September 02, 2021, 03:22:55 PM
Quote from: Squidi on September 02, 2021, 01:13:30 PM
I'm in Florida, where this sort of attitude is almost completely absent outside of power tripping middle managers and school teachers. Reading something so fearful feels like a time machine into last year (especially given their outdated advice).
There seems to be a serious overlap between the hopeless woke and those terrified their own shadows will give them COVID-19. I can't quite figure out where the overlap occurs, though you see the same rhetorical flourishes being used.
As a fellow Floridan, Welcome!
We do things differently down here for the most part. And FTR, I'd like to have a non-woke Con come down here, and gain traction.
Of course RTG wont be there since they are scared of the More contagious but less deadly form of Covid.
Orlando OSR Con would rock.
Just came from Florida a couple of weeks ago. Dropped a ton of cash into your economy over 10 days. Not only is Florida not the ICU wasteland it is made out to be, but it was packed full of people from all over the world having a lot of fun and being very kind to one another.
A convention in Orlando would be an amazing time.
And I'd bet that over half the people there didn't wear a mask.
I, for one, am still waiting for proof of Covid. Sure the news can fear monger it, produce numbers, and instill through massive propaganda that this so called virus exists but the way people have reacted you'd think our world turned into The Stand, where over 99% of the population does die.
But not only is our world not The Stand, our world population during this pandemic has grown from 7.7 Billion in 2019 to 7.9 Billion people in summer 2021.
If our population can still GROW 200,000,000 people during a 'Pandemic' then where is the pandemic?
Another stat... If you compare undertaker stats of total deaths from all causes from 2019 to 2020 then you'd see that 2020 had 20% total fewer deaths than in 2019, at least here in the U.S. These are the numbers from the people that actually work with the dead bodies after the hospitals are done with them.
The most amazing thing about Covid is how it cured us from the flu. Flu deaths, which averaged about 250k a year dropped over 90%. Death from old age, practically 0%. Dr malpractice deaths, another significant drop. But gun violence... In certain woke filled cities, spiked. But you don't see anybody arguing against that.
Just because you see something on television does not make it real or true. Remember, Television is an entertainment medium. It is classified as entertainment. So why do so many people believe what they see on the news is honest? The news does not have to tell the truth. All it has to do is Tell A Vision. Also know that everything you see on tv is a program... And what do programs do... They Program. Watch enough of it, you get programmed.
If you know how the human brain works neurologically you can control people. All it took to cause the Toilet Paper Apocalypse of 2020 was a video of two guys fighting over the 'last' package of TP with empty shelves behind them and BAM.
All it takes to convince most people today is someone in a perceived position of authority with some some letters next to his or her name and the many will believe it. Even if there is no proof.
Idk about any of you, but I haven't seen any dead bodies lining up the streets. I have never seen any report that says "This person died because of Covid." No, what they say is "This person died after being diagnosed with Covid." Those are NOT the same. Most do treat it the same though, but being diagnosed with something does not, in and of itself, cause someone to die. Even the CDC has shared the numbers that about 94% of those that died after being diagnosed with C had an average of 2.6 comorbidities. That means 94% of those death numbers had another contributing factor. So if that's true, then only 6% of them died only from Covid. Covid is nothing. The common flu is worse.
Just because they say that 'cases are on the rise' doesn't mean anything. Oh, Indiana has 400 new cases... In a population of Millions, 400 cases is way less than 1% of the state population. Yeah, let's force people to wear face filters that clogs up your breathing so you can breathe back your own carbon dioxide because the news says that only 400 people have this flu. Let's just shut down and force Millions (and millions) of people's lives... For what purpose? To be safe? Safe from what?
All it took for Hitler to convince the German people that Jews were bad was a little bit of Propaganda. It didn't take much either. Look how that turned out for the world.
Considering that our medical industry has not been able to create a vaccine for the flu, and they have been trying for decades... What makes you think these vaccines for C are good with less than a year of development? And if you ask to see the ingredients for it, guess what... You can't. They won't show them.
I wonder if this would make for a good conspiracy in an rpg. Or is the real Conspiracy the manipulation of the people by a big tech Technocracy that wants to push humanity into living a different kind of lifestyle, one Big Tech (that includes Big Pharma) is in control of. And along the way they can see just how many human rights they can strip away, all in the name of 'being safe.'
Quote from: RebelSky on September 04, 2021, 05:49:42 PM
I, for one, am still waiting for proof of Covid. Sure the news can fear monger it, produce numbers, and instill through massive propaganda that this so called virus exists but the way people have reacted you'd think our world turned into The Stand, where over 99% of the population does die.
It's a real disease, my sister is just getting over it. She got quite sick - should have vaccinated when she had the chance. It's not a very lethal disease to most people, the risks it poses certainly don't warrant the shutting down of society. It is a lot worse than a typical flu, but a lot less lethal than the 1918 flu.
Quote from: S'mon on September 06, 2021, 02:52:44 AM
It is a lot worse than a typical flu, but a lot less lethal than the 1918 flu.
Fun Fact: The Spanish Flu wasn't actually a flu. They exhumed bodies of soldiers who died and found that they had died of bacterial pneumonia. Why did they die from something so benign en masse? The two theories I've heard is overdosing on aspirin (it was a new drug at the time, and they didn't realize the effects of too much was a weakened immune system) and, more interestingly, the use of vaccines (the first recorded case in the US was at the military base they were trialing a new and untested vaccine). Maybe a combination f both. There's some other interesting facts about the 1918 flu, like they could not prove human to human transmission, even after scraping the sick's throats and rubbing in an unsick person's eyes!
I guess my point is, everything we think we know about these massive pandemics is wrong. Even stuff like HIV (see AZT drug) and swine flu (see 60 minutes expose). We are doomed to repeat history because we can't learn from misreported falsities.
Quote from: S'mon on September 06, 2021, 02:52:44 AM
Quote from: RebelSky on September 04, 2021, 05:49:42 PM
I, for one, am still waiting for proof of Covid. Sure the news can fear monger it, produce numbers, and instill through massive propaganda that this so called virus exists but the way people have reacted you'd think our world turned into The Stand, where over 99% of the population does die.
It's a real disease, my sister is just getting over it. She got quite sick - should have vaccinated when she had the chance. It's not a very lethal disease to most people, the risks it poses certainly don't warrant the shutting down of society. It is a lot worse than a typical flu, but a lot less lethal than the 1918 flu.
Everything I have seen from personal IRL experience amongst friends and what I've read from non agenda driven scientific data is that the vaccine is either a placebo at best. Or actively making the virus worse at worse. Vaccinated people are getting more sick, for longer. But the vaccine was supposed to help us goys fight the virus.
Quote from: Oddend on September 02, 2021, 10:14:56 AM
Personally, I'm waiting for the first annual PunditCon.
The drive to Uruguay would be really tough.
Guys please stick the topic to RPGs, the con, and you can talk about Covid in the context of gaming conventions but as soon as you step off from that it is not acceptable. People who insist on posting off-topic about Covid will be banned.
Quote from: King Tyranno on September 06, 2021, 04:10:49 PM
But the vaccine was supposed to help us goys fight the virus.
Stay classy, Tyranno!
The funny part is that with this particular kind of disease if there is going to be proper "social distancing" it has to be at the very least twenty feet, not six.
It's never going to stop. Too many pathetic nobodies suddenly given power over our lives will never let go. This is all the new "normal."
There used to be a nice place not far from where I live that had gaming sessions every month. It is gone. Pretty soon you'll either have to game online or in secret. RPGPundit, soon there may not be any such conventions to discuss at all, at least not here in America. Of course "peaceful protests" can just go right on ahead...
Quote from: RPGPundit on September 06, 2021, 05:24:19 PM
Quote from: Oddend on September 02, 2021, 10:14:56 AM
Personally, I'm waiting for the first annual PunditCon.
The drive to Uruguay would be really tough.
Heh heh. One can google "Darien Gap" to shed some light on this if not familiar with the details.
Quote from: Mishihari on September 07, 2021, 12:06:20 PM
Quote from: RPGPundit on September 06, 2021, 05:24:19 PM
Quote from: Oddend on September 02, 2021, 10:14:56 AM
Personally, I'm waiting for the first annual PunditCon.
The drive to Uruguay would be really tough.
Heh heh. One can google "Darien Gap" to shed some light on this if not familiar with the details.
On the bright side, all the worthy attendees could fit comfortably in Pundit's living room. No need to rent a venue!
I did security for the Garth Brooks concert at Memorial Stadium on August 14th. 90,000 drunken idiots. No one was wearing a mask. Cases have gone up as a result of this and probably a few other factors. I've tested negative twice since then. However, there are a ton of people walking around coughing and not wearing a mask. I'm not going to any event after this, if all possible; especially something indoors like a Con.