CAR-PGa NEWSLETTER, Vol. 28, No. 12, December 2019

CAR-PGa Chair

David Millians, Editor

Paideia School, 1509 Ponce de Leon Avenue, Atlanta, Georgia 30307 USA

millians.david@paideiaschool.org

LETTER FROM THE CHAIR

Hi All,

For those in the U.S., the Thanksgiving holiday is now past and the holidays are ahead. There’s quite a bit to be thankful for, so I thought I’d take a moment to focus on two charities that can help gamers in need.

Extra Life unites gamers around the world to play games in support of their local Children’s Miracle Network Hospital. Since its inception in 2008, Extra Life has raised over $50 million USD for sick and injured kids. In that regard Extra Life works a lot like walk-a-thons and other fundraising activities in that the fundraiser commits to play games of their choosing on a particular day (a 24-hour span), and then they select which hospital they would like to support. Extra Life’s painless set up makes it particularly easy for livestreamers to participate. The top three teams who contributed so far are Rooster Teeth ($800K), Magic: The Gathering ($734K), and Dungeons & Dragons ($228K). Wizards of the Coast regularly supports Extra Life by releasing products on DMs Guild (like the recent Adventure with Muk) with 100 percent of the proceeds going to Extra Life. You can join the Extra Life D&D team here.

As I mentioned in previous letters, many of our early designers achieved legendary status without making enough money to retire on. Unlike other creative industries, tabletop role-playing doesn’t yet have the cross-cultural marketing muscle to support a creator with royalties. The Roleplaying Game Creators Relief Fund (RCRF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charitable organization founded to provide financial assistance to tabletop roleplaying game creators suffering hardship due to medical emergencies, natural disasters, and other catastrophic situations. If you’re an RPG creator in need, you can apply here. If you would like to help out the RPG Relief Fund, consider making a donation.

The very fact we have a CAR-PGA at all is proof that our members care. These two charities are another way our members can show that the CAR-PGA doesn’t just care about games, it cares about gamers too.

Have a wonderful holiday!

Mike

Chair

NEW MATERIAL

FROM DAVID MILLIANS

FROM M. ALAN THOMAS

FROM MIKE TRESCA

FROM TED SKIRVIN

CONVENTIONS

New listings this month were provided by Paul Cardwell and Lou Zocchi. Others are urged to submit information. If you attend a convention, be sure and check the conventions table and let us have a copy of the fliers (or at very least the when, what, where, and contact information) for upcoming conventions available there. CAR-PGa is international, so this includes anywhere in the world.  

Dates, precise venue, contacts’ URLs or phone numbers, and other information, where missing from this list, would be particularly appreciated.  If we have missed any, send the information to plcardwell@gmail.com  Convention reviews should be sent to millians.david@paideiaschool.org

“[LARP]” means only LARP events as many RPG cons include at least some LARP, as likewise applies to the mention of specific game systems. The same bracketed information applies as well to game systems when the con will have only those games present.

In an attempt to get more face-to-face meetings of the membership, we list who will be going to what convention, if they will tell us.  Get this type of information in at least two months before the convention itself, so we can run it at least once.  Support your local cons by helping in the staff. It is a good way to promote RPG and you generally get in free for the brief time spent helping.  

A review of any attended convention afterwards for the Newsletter would be appreciated too. These reviews should include demographic data such as attendance, percentage male/female, white/ethnic minorities (or whatever is the majority/white/others), games in addition to tabletop RPG, and more subjective matters such as unusual events, quality of games and dealers’ room, encouragement of new gamers, and whatever seems worth reporting. We need to work to restore CAR-PGa’s reputation as the media’s go-to on gamer demographics, especially since the media are still citing a study that cut off all those over 35 – at a time when that was the median age of gamers – it is closer to 40 now – which indicates we also need to work on recruiting younger players, although some increase in college age players at conventions has been noted.

December 2019

January 2020

February 2020

March 2020

© Copyright 2019 by the Committee for the Advancement of Role-Playing Games (CAR-PGa), ISSN 1071 7129. The CAR-PGa Newsletter is a monthly publication. For more information contact David Millians, Editor, Paideia School, 1509 Ponce de Leon Avenue, Atlanta, Georgia 30307 USA, phone (404) 808-1070, fax (404) 377-3491, e-mail millians.david@paideiaschool.org. Back issues are available. Contributions of material from the membership are urged, and the byline is responsible for content. Deadline is the last weekday of the month, email preferred. Permission is granted to copy anything in the Newsletter, provided we get a credit line in the publication copying it, and it doesn’t have someone else’s copyright on it. Information, including details on joining CAR-PGa, can be obtained on the Internet at car-pga.org.