Ropecon AAR

[Eero Tuovinen]

How are these things funded?

AFAIK the three main methods of funding are the tickets, voluntary work and different kinds of subsidies. That is, most participants pay 20€ for entrance, nobody is paid for any work they do, and both local and national institutions tend to support these kinds of endeavour.

[Merten]

AFAIK the three main methods of funding are the tickets, voluntary work and different kinds of subsidies. That is, most participants pay 20€ for entrance, nobody is paid for any work they do, and both local and national institutions tend to support these kinds of endeavour.

Not to mention that the convention finances are in capable hands. I'm not aware of any funds that Ropecon would have received, though. Might be that I've just missed such thing, though.

[M. J. Young]

That kind of financial support for a guest of honor would certainly make a difference. I'm not saying that you could have your pick of indie designers with that offer, but you'd probably have a pretty good selection.

--M. J. Young

[Erick Wujcik]

... Continuing that line of thought, I wouldn't mind having an indie game publisher and/or roleplaying theorist with attitude and opinions (preferably different ones than people representing major publishers have) being invited as a Guest of Honor in Ropecon 2005...

Um...

Erick Wujcik here, Gaming Guest of Honor at the recent Ropecon 2004.

Since I'm "an indie game publisher and/or roleplaying theorist with attitude and opinions... different.. than people representing major publishers..." It seems you got your wish.

By the by, I had a terrific time, ran eight diceless/experimental role-playing events, and met a whole bunch of people who had some very progressive ideas about role-playing.

I'd recommend Ropecon to one and all!

Erick

[Erick Wujcik]

I also "met" Erick Wujcik when he browsed our table. He picked up kpfs and asked how much it cost. No sale, probably because we'd had to price it at 15€ to cover shipping and buy-in. I'd have said something if I'd known how to pronounce his name (laugh all you want, and then try to pronounce my name correctly on your first try).

By the time I got to your table I'd already bought two copies of "Beyond Role and Play," all my pocket money at the time...

Erick

[Merten]

Since I'm "an indie game publisher and/or roleplaying theorist with attitude and opinions... different.. than people representing major publishers..." It seems you got your wish.

In a sense, yes - though while I enjoyed your Guest of Honor speech, I have to say that it was more of intrest to the small computer journalist inside me than the small roleplayer inside me. Personally, I would have been eager to hear more about, say, design principles behind Amber, why  it hasn't become a mainstream (and how it differs from mainstream games) and issues connected to that. But then again, I might have been a minority with that wish.

I wouldn't exactly call Amber an Indie game, though. ;)

Still, that mentioned computer journalist was quite happy, indeed.

[Erick Wujcik]

In a sense, yes - though while I enjoyed your Guest of Honor speech, I have to say that it was more of intrest to the small computer journalist inside me than the small roleplayer inside me. Personally, I would have been eager to hear more about, say, design principles behind Amber, why  it hasn't become a mainstream (and how it differs from mainstream games) and issues connected to that. But then again, I might have been a minority with that wish.

I sent the convention a very full list of my seminars (doing only one at a convention is odd for me), but they only wanted me to put on the one.

Here's a more complete list:

http://www.47rpg.com/resume/Seminars.html

I wouldn't exactly call Amber an Indie game, though. ;)

Why not?

1. I started Phage Press exclusively to publish my old role-playing game design... a design that I couldn't get published by 'mainstream' publishers.

2. It was, from the very first, my own company, so it was definitely 'designer owned and operated.'

Does Amber Diceless fail the 'Indie' test simply because it was successful?

Erick

[Ron Edwards]

Hiya,

By Forge criteria, Amber has been an independent game throughout most of its history.

Best,
Ron

[Merten]

I sent the convention a very full list of my seminars (doing only one at a convention is odd for me), but they only wanted me to put on the one.

Which suprises me; for some reason, almost all of the GOH-speeches given by roleplaying game designers are titled "the future of roleplaying games". I wouldn't mind that, if we had a change of getting another lecture  on, say, game design.

The problem with one speech per GOH is that the speeches are all quite similar and follow the same lines. Even more so, as a good number of long-time game designers have moved to the computer games sector and tend to have a habit of including lot's of views concerning the future of roleplaying and computers.

Which is fine, and usually quite intresting (though, as I said, more so for me as a computer game columnist than as a roleplayer) - but I wouldn't mind getting something else as well. There seem to be plenty of good picks in your seminar list, especially on game design. I think I'll have to point this out to the organising committee.

I wouldn't exactly call Amber an Indie game, though. ;)

Why not?

Originally, I was thinking along the lines that it's based on quite well known  series of books, which sort of lifts it from the indie-category with sheer amount of publicity aquired. Then again, I realize this is somewhat limited viewpoint, and I'll have to re-examine it. (And/or buy the game).

Wouldn't those criterias make Vampire: The Masquerade an indie game as well?

[Ron Edwards]

Hello,

Merten, the discussion of "independence" is off-topic for this thread. See the Discussion of the term "independent" and search for similar threads in Site Discussion. The definition at the Forge is extremely simple and clear, and many people try to make it more complex in order to object to it. Contact me if you have any questions.

Best,
Ron