This year marks my 30th Gen Con. As I sit back and think about my years going to the granddaddy of all gaming conventions, I am awed by the many big moments that I got to experience while attending the show, first as a fan and later as part of the adventure game publishing industry.
When I was a kid, there was a series of books for young readers, We Were There, with titles such as We Were There at the Battle of Gettysburg and We Were There at the Battle of the Bulge. Each book covered an important moment in world history from a child's point of view; you read a fun story but also learned a bit of history in the process. I ate these books up when I was in grade school. As I think across the 30 Gen Cons I have attended, I think about some of the important pieces of adventure game history that I have had the privilege of experiencing firsthand at Gen Con. I was there!
I was there to meet TSR's legendary artists
At my first Gen Con in 1984, TSR brought in the all-star cast of artists they had working full time on D&D: Clyde Caldwell, Jeff Easley, Larry Elmore, and Keith Parkinson. Each took turns doing sketches of people's characters for $10 a sketch—a bargain even then—and answering questions. These four artists created the visuals for Dragonlance, the Forgotten Realms, and other settings, essentially defining the look of D&D for the future, and earning them places among the most famous artists in adventure gaming history. Not only did I get to meet them, but Clyde Caldwell drew a sketch of my character, Erwyle, that hangs on my office wall today.
I was there for the release of the AD&D Battlesystem
In 1985, the year Gen Con moved to Milwaukee, I was walking through the new convention center when my friend Rich and I were asked to play in one of the first public games of the new AD&D Battlesystem. As neophytes at Gen Con, we jumped at the chance to experience this important AD&D product first hand. But that wasn't what made this experience awesome: our two opponents in the battle were none other than Ed Greenwood (of Forgotten Realms fame) and Mike Nystul (of Nystul's Magic Aura fame). Where else but Gen Con could two young Minnesota gamers cross paths with two icons of D&D, and be the first to play a major new AD&D release?
I was there for the launch of Dungeon Magazine
One of the most seminal Gen Con moments in my mind is the launch of Dungeon in 1986. As a fan of D&D and TSR, I began every Gen Con by running to the TSR booth and buying whatever cool new D&D product was being launched at the show. In 1986, that product was Dungeon Magazine. I ran to the booth and eagerly filled out my subscription form and gave it to Kim Mohan. He informed me that I was the very first subscriber and handed me my copy of the first issue. I couldn't believe it, so I had him autograph it and inscribe "Congrats on being the first subscriber" on the title page. To think, twenty-one years later, my own company would release the last print issue of Dungeon at Gen Con 2007.
I was there for the launch of Magic: The Gathering
Probably one of the biggest events in the history of gaming happened at Gen Con 1993, and it was one that I had a big hand in. The introduction of Magic: The Gathering to the teeming crowds of gamers was a big part of my master plan for launching Magic into the marketplace. We didn't have much money at Wizards of the Coast. We didn't have many employees—and we couldn't afford to actually pay the few we did have. But Gen Con had the world's most dedicated gamers coming together for four days in Milwaukee, and I figured that if we couldn't convince them to play Magic, then the game probably didn't have a chance. I put my tiny marketing budget into making the biggest splash we could manage at Gen Con. We packed up every employee and volunteer we could find and headed from Seattle to Milwaukee. We were ready for the world to see our baby… but our baby almost didn't show up! Shenanigans in US Customs threatened to cause our shipment from our card printer in Belgium to miss the convention! Only after many phone calls and an overnight plane flight for our Magic boxes were we able to unleash Magic on the world as I had hoped. And boy, did my plan work! We sold decks and boosters and displays of Magic as fast as people could hand over their money. By the end of the show, we were out of cards, Magic was a phenomenon, and Wizards of the Coast had arrived!
I was there for the announcement of D&D Third Edition
Gen Con 1999 was a big one for us at Wizards. We had purchased TSR less than two years prior. And now we were going to announce that we were working on a new edition of Dungeons & Dragons, and there was no better venue than at the "Best Four Days in Gaming!" We knew there would be a lot of consternation over the announcement, and if we didn't do it well, we would garner a lot of ill will. So we decided to make the announcement to a thousand hardcore gamers in the form of a talk show. The D&D team spent weeks plotting and planning, lining up special guests including Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and getting the design team geared up with such speakers as Monte Cook, Jonathan Tweet, Bill Slavicsek, and others. The announcement went off without a hitch, and there were even several standing ovations. At the end of the event, we handed out T-shirts listing various things about Third Edition that we thought would tantalize the crowd:
- Half-orc barbarian sorcerer = Yes
- Demihuman level limits = No
- Monks & Assassins = Yes
- Universal Skill System = Yes
- Evil gnoll rangers = Yes
- THAC0 = No
- Rules you never used anyway = No
- Demons & Devils = Yes
- Critical Hits = Yes
- 9th-level clerical spells = Yes
- Ability score improvements = Yes
- Strength 48 = Yes
I was there for the launch of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game
As Gen Con 2009 approached, there was a lot of trepidation in my heart. Paizo would be launching the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, and the reception would either save the company or doom it. I could see no other outcome. Wizards had launched 4th Edition at the previous Gen Con, and we had decided to forge our own path. The pile of Core Rulebooks sitting on the floor of our booth was our wager in this game; we'd put everything we had into making them. We were "all in." As the doors to the exhibit hall opened, we amazed by the waves of gamers that poured into our booth to buy the Core Rulebook. The crowd quickly overwhelmed our modest booth, and we had to route the line through the art show! That Gen Con launch fueled the growth of both Paizo and Pathfinder.
And that's just the tip of the iceberg! Every Gen Con, history is made somewhere. Events happen that will be fodder for stories for years to come. "The Best Four Days in Gaming" are the crucible where our hobby is forged and reforged, and when you go, you too will be able to say you were there! I look forward to seeing you all at Gen Con in just a few short weeks!
Lisa Stevens
CEO
