[Blog] ArneCon: Should Dave Arneson Get His Own Convention?

[Havard]

This came up the other day when I was writing my article on David Megarry's important message about fans of Gary Gygax and fans of Dave Arneson uniting to preserve the memory of both D&D creatoLrs and also honoring the other creatives who worked to bring us this wonderful game.


"Luke is trying to keep his father's name alive with Gary Con and understands what contribution Arneson had to the collective effort. [..] maybe the Minnesota crowd needs to start an Arnecon (or whatever...don't worry, Luke, I will guarantee that it will be six months different"



GaryCon is indeed a great achievement and Luke and Ernie Gygax have worked hard to keep this convention going in order to keep the memory of Gary alive. So should Dave Arneson's friends and family get together and start their own convention? I don't know how serious David Megarry was about this, but it is an interesting idea. The most important thing I think is to get away from the idea that support for Dave Arneson is some kind of attack on Gary. The Dave vs. Gary concept is a distraction from the main goal which should be to unite both groups. From what I have been told, the organizers of GaryCon have been very welcoming towards David Wesely, David Megarry and the rest of the Minnesota Gamers. Creating an event which could be seen as a kind of competition would help light the flames of those who would seek to keep the fandom divided. This would be a step in the wrong direction.


On the other hand, Megarry's comments about keeping the convention many months apart from GaryCon is probably a good idea. Also, it is not the first time Dave Arneson's legacy has been memorialized by a live event. Dave Arneson Day is spearheaded by the people of the Comeback Inn as an online event, but the Minnesota Gamers and others have also held various live meetups and game events on October 1st. See a full list of known activies since 2010 here. If an event like this could be given some kind of endorsement from the organizers of GaryCon, that would be a fantastic thing.


It should be kept in mind though, that organizing a convention at the level of GaryCon requires a lot of hard work. Are there enough people out there willing to help the Original Blackmoor Players set something like that up? It might be wise to start a bit smaller and then see where things might lead.








-Havard


Full version (with logo!) https://blackmoormystara.blogspot.com/2 ... s-own.html

[aldarron]

I'll offer an opinion, though I don't have particularly strong feelings about it.

I think the idea of a "Dave Arneson Game day" like we have been doing is a good one and worth promoting.

However, I think any attempt at an ArneCon is liable to stir up tribalism and the old us vs them crap.

You know, what might be a really cool thing though - and hopefully not devisive - would be a Twin Cities (Midwest Millatary Association?) old school convention. So something that celebrates all the early gamers there, including Barker and the Tekumel crowd and isn't focused on the Arneson name.

[RobJN]

Cons are a huge thing to put together. If anything, "growing" an annual meetup into something resembling a con until you have to expand is the way to go (similar to how GameHoleCon got started and took off.)

Till then, the rest of the world has Dave Arneson Game Day.... 8)

(now to figure out what to do for said Game Day.....)

[finarvyn]

I think the idea of a "Dave Arneson Game day" like we have been doing is a good one and worth promoting.

Agreed. We need something more for this, however. Maybe a special module that folks might run, or something like that. If there was a special module, say in OD&D format, I might be able to convince my local store to let me run it there. (Tricky, as they prefer to have games run pertain to product they can also sell. That would make a 5E module better for them, but OD&D is more fitting for the day. Hmmm.)

[Yaztromo]

Agreed. We need something more for this, however. Maybe a special module that folks might run, or something like that. If there was a special module, say in OD&D format, I might be able to convince my local store to let me run it there.

There will be more than one (amateur) module set in Blackmoor and published on the 1st of October (there is more or less one every month), but you'll have to convert it to the ruleset that you prefer.

[Havard]

There will be more than one (amateur) module set in Blackmoor and published on the 1st of October (there is more or less one every month), but you'll have to convert it to the ruleset that you prefer.

Looking forward to that!

-Havard

[Yaztromo]

There will be more than one (amateur) module set in Blackmoor and published on the 1st of October (there is more or less one every month), but you'll have to convert it to the ruleset that you prefer.

Looking forward to that!

-Havard

We'll see if somebody will actually play Blackmoor adventures on the day... of course there will be many downloads, but I'm sure that DA would prefer if somebody played with his legacy, rather than just saving it in a hard disc. :roll: