This is Part Two, you can get the context over in Part One.

Much like in Part One, I’m going to start with a couple of points that, if they make you mad (because you disagree, not because you should rightfully be mad at our capitalist trash fire), the rest of this and probably Part One are going to piss you right off.

1. Despite its “we’re just a simple country gamer” marketing overall, Gen Con is Gen Con LLC, a corporation, firmly in the business of doing what all corporations do: make money. it does this by positioning itself as the hub around which the industry and community spin.
2. The TTRPG Community needs to find other ways of celebrating our hobby that don’t rely on corporate events, sponsored by gaming corporations, marketed towards us.

Okay, so what Gen Con did to the CRIT Awards is shitty, no question. But was anyone truly surprised? Gen Con has consistently shown itself as a supporter of bottom line over community. Remember all the years that disabled gamers begged Gen Con for accommodations that would allow them to attend virtually, so they could also take part in “the best four days in gaming”? It took a global pandemic and the threat of losing all attendance for them to suddenly decide that a virtual component was possible actually, pulling together previously “impossible” infrastructure in a shockingly short time. But not as shockingly short as the time it took them to dismantle everything at the first whiff of pandemic restrictions ending, leaving disabled TTRPG hobbyists and creators once again out of the picture.

And remember how, even though we all knew the pandemic wasn’t really over, and the responsible thing to do would have been to enforce a strict masking policy at what is pretty much a textbook super spreader event, Gen Con didn’t do that?

And remember how Gen Con continues to platform people like Mike Mearls and other “missing stairs” in the TTRPG space?

Of course the common denominator in all of this is money, the making of. Gen Con LLC will do the Right Thing(TM) if it makes them money somehow, or if not doing it will cost them too much. They are a corporation, and they care about the health and safety of the TTRPG community to the same extent a remora cares about its shark. A nick or a cut here or there, even the loss of a fin, is all fine as long as they can keep drinking. (Yes I compared the community to a shark. Sharks are cool.) What’s surprising is not that they cut CRIT loose, it’s that it took them so long.

If all that is true, why does the community keep, never mind celebrate, Gen Con? A fine balancing of convenience and nostalgia. Gen Con is currently the longest running gaming convention in North America, with all that soft-focus gaming nostalgia fueling the grognards, and promising a connection to the “grand old traditions” of tabletop games to everyone else. Weren’t blessed by proximity and birth year to be in at the start? That’s okay, says Gen Con, we got you. That’s its base of Old Gamer attendees, creators, and companies.

As for convenience; remember when were were all pretty much on a couple of social media sites and connecting with other folks in the TTRPG space was relatively easy? Now, if you don’t multi-post between four to six different sites it’s can feel like shouting into an empty room. For hobbyists Gen Con has positioned itself as the only place to properly Have Fun; for creators it has become the industry’s connection point, the place you have to be in order to get anywhere. This has led us to a point where folks trying to break in and grow in the space are forced to attend an event that in no way prioritizes them or cares for their well-being, if they want to progress.

The thing of it is, Gen Con needs us way more, oceans more, galaxies more, than we need them. Like a skeleton without muscles, if you stripped away every event at Gen Con that wasn’t directly run or managed by the LLC itself the whole structure would collapse. Gen Con is a high functioning rube goldberg machine of events run by various companies, fan groups, and individual volunteers. As with any convention, take away those volunteers and things get real small real quick. That’s why behind the big smiles and the “hey, we’re all just gamers together” performance, there is a hint of desperation. Gen Con has your attention and now they need to keep it. And they will do whatever it takes, discard whatever and whoever they need to, in that pursuit. The best four days in gaming, or else.

“Okay Brent, you’re so smart, what do we do about it?” Fair question, and I usually try not to talk about a problem unless I can bring a possible solution. The truth is, though, this problem spent fifty plus years growing and it won’t be fixed overnight. Gen Con is going to be around for a while, because a great number of companies and gamers are invested in it. And where those two groups go, creators in our space are forced to follow.

So we need alternatives. While Gen Con focuses on getting bigger, events like Big Bad Con show us it’s possible for a con to grow. With that growth comes sustainable opportunities for marginalized creators in our space and an honest to gourd community of gamers. No community is perfect, but the one surrounding BBC is certainly giving it a good try.

Right now, though, BBC is a beautiful outlier. We need more outliers, more folks organizing events locally, regionally, virtually. We need more ugly outliers working towards beauty, imperfect to start but willing to learn. We need to actually ask marginalized creators and hobbyists how they want to be included, and make that the beating heart of every TTRPG event. But if we’re going to combat the friendly FOMO (feeling of missing out) that is Gen Con’s business model there have to be alternatives. That means more folks stepping up wherever they are and putting on a game day, or a playtest event for local creators. And if you are lucky  enough to have a local event run reasonably well, throw them your support, help them get better.

The point is, it isn’t enough to say Gen Con needs us more. We have to prove it. We have to prove it. Gen Con wants to grow an audience, we have to show them that growing a community is the better path.

(On a side note, I’ve seen a lot of folks slamming Gen Con in the same breathe they shout “other [Insert Large Corporate Con] is better, support them!” I’m sorry to say, corporations going to corporate, and better is relative. A sprain is better than a fracture but I would rather have neither.)

Go show the CRIT Awards and everyone involved with it some love, they could surely use it. If you can afford to skip Gen Con this year, consider funneling that money to independent or local TTRPG creators instead. Hit up Itch and look for some creator bundles to buy, or swing by Indie Press Revolution and go on a shopping spree, I promise your money will be better spent there. Importantly, don’t spend time shouting at marginalized creators who can’t afford to skip Gen Con. Instead, shout at Gen Con about what they’ve done. Make sure to CC Paizo, Monte Cook Games, Chaosium, and any other game companies you care to include, so they know you’re angry and why. It’s what I’m doing tomorrow after work and I invite you to join me.

Let’s not forget what sparked all this. Support charities supporting Palestine right now. Donate to Palestine Children’s Relief Fund if you can, maybe pick up the TTRPGs for Palestine bundle organized by my pal Jes (@JestheHuman); it’s closing in on its $200K goal raising funds for Medical Aid for Palestinians. Even if you can’t afford the $10 for the bundle, there are links there to plenty of ways you can help Palestine right now. And Free Palestine, today and every day.

That’s all I got. Feel free to drop comments here or on Twitter (not X, never X) if you want to talk about any of it. And feel free to drop Zionist or bigoted comments if you want to be sent to the block party. You’ll like it, we serve warm diet Fanta and potato salad with raisins that I keep at room temperature just for you.