#PAX Unplugged 2022

[highshelfcollective]

😮 Want to learn how to play #CyberpunkRED or #TheWitcherttrpg this weekend at #PAXunplugged? HSC is honored to be running some beginner games for R.Talsorian Games in Room 119 on the 1st Floor! Stop by to sign up; @potay-tayto @highshelfrich , & @highshelfdavid be waiting for you!

[canadian-moose]

🎉 We've made it to Philly! PAX Unplugged, here we come! (📸: @potay-tayto)

[gamermomluna]

Today is our recap of PAX Unplugged over on http://shadomain.com! Stop over to see what we had to say, and leave us any questions or comments you have, or tell us some cool stuff you experienced if you were there in the comments!

[gamesunbound]

Click here for full details, or see our previous post.

[theedoctorb]

Dungeons & Dragons Content Creators Summit and Being a Corporate "Shill"

I was invited to attend the Dungeon & Dragons (D&D) Creator Summit in early April, and I happily accepted. I initially wasn’t going to publicly say anything about attending because I didn’t see any need. However, in the last week, numerous conversations on various internet platforms have both tacitly and overtly accused anyone in attendance of being a Wizards of the Coast (WotC) “shill” or “clout chaser” who will agree with anything WotC says because they:

Paid for attendees’ travel.

Included a per diem to cover meals and incidentals while traveling.

Have given past promotional materials to many of the people in attendance.

May offer us further financial opportunities in exchange for refusing to challenge currently proposed ideas and materials.  

This is not only reductive, but further divides a community still reeling in the wake of the recent uproar over the leaked, proposed Open Gaming License (OGL) revisions which resulted in targeted harassment of individual studio employees and content creators, especially those of marginalized identities, despite the fact that most of those who were harassed had no authority over the business decisions which caused the initial uproar.

What is a Summit?

Summits are opportunities to have open dialogues and share opinions towards a common goal. They’re common in academia and politics. Good summits are about synthesizing new ideas and challenging old ones. They’re often heavily structured and moderated with specific strategic goals, and the good ones deliberately invite people with vastly different perspectives on a topic.

To put it mildly, summits aren’t something to organize if you want people to pat you on the head and tell you that you’re doing just great! They’re often extremely heated because people passionately and vehemently advocate for their perspectives and priorities which may be in direct opposition to others’.  

What’s different about this summit is that it ostensibly possesses a level of transparency which I haven’t experienced before. Summits are often closed-door conversations, so that the people in attendance can speak candidly about topics or strategies currently in the planning stages. 

My invitation email specifically stated that the goals of the D&D Content Creator Summit are:

To gather feedback on how the D&D team can improve the experience of making D&D content.

To gather feedback on upcoming products such as the D&D Rules Update and D&D VTT.

For content creators to have more opportunities to interact with D&D staff in-person.

The email invitation specifically stated that this summit is based on consistent feedback WotC has gathered since PAX Unplugged 2022, and that this is a “first step.” Additionally, no one in attendance will be expected to create any content regarding the summit, WotC will not be taking any footage, photos, or recordings of the summit for any purpose, and any information shared with attendees may be shared with the community. That last part is notable, because it means that people in attendance – all of whom have platforms of varying sizes – can frankly offer feedback now and in the future on what is discussed, as well as how D&D incorporates the feedback.

Who is Going? Why Were They Invited?

I don’t fully know who is going.  I also don’t know why certain people were invited and others weren’t. No one I know of – outside the organizers and those who helped them – does, and anyone else is likely acting on various degrees of speculation. I strongly suspect questions about inclusion and exclusion criteria will be some of the first things asked at the summit. I’m especially curious about this criteria, given that content creation isn’t my primary job – consultation and education on mental health are, though that role sometimes extends to matters of content creation.  

Some creators announced their attendance publicly out of excitement at being included or with the intent of gathering questions from their communities. Some creators kept their attendance privately known only among industry members and friends. Of those I know who have kept their attendance private, the fear of being the target of harassment is a commonly cited reason, but an even more common reason was a desire to attend and push for change. 

Many of the people I know who plan on attending are staunch advocates for various topics such as inclusion, accessibility, and representation of marginalized individuals in D&D and other tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs). Some of them have directly consulted with WotC before and offered frank feedback as part of their consultant role. Other attendees built their platforms on advocacy and haven’t been shy about calling out perceived missteps. In short, they’re not people who are afraid to voice their opinions.

It’s worth noting that – of the attendees I know – nearly every single one is marginalized in one or multiple ways, whether it’s ethnicity, gender identity, orientation, neurotype, medical/disability status, or a variety of other identities. Nevertheless, who is and who isn’t in attendance is absolutely worth noting, once we have all the facts. Who has a seat at the table is always poignant and important feedback.  

Isn’t Your Objectivity Compromised by Receiving Compensation for Attendance? Coercive Rewards and Role Clarity

Some of the online discourse supposes that those of us in attendance will kowtow to WotC’s efforts because they paid for travel, offered a per diem, and many of us have received promotional materials in the past on which we’ve built content. Is that true? Is our objectivity compromised? Probably not, and here’s why. In the psychology field, there are two concepts we talk about frequently: coercive rewards and role clarity. Coercive rewards are often discussed in terms of psychology research. Participants in research are generally compensated in some way for their participation, but the compensation cannot be so great as to compel or coerce them into saying yes when they might otherwise refuse. To give some perspective on the level of compensation, I live in the same geographical region as WotC headquarters, so travel costs aren’t covered for me. I am still receiving a per diem for food and incidentals during the summit. However, I’m taking two days away from both my day job and my private practice. While I can reschedule some of my clients, I won’t be able to reschedule all of them, so I’m going to end up losing money by attending, and I’ll have to make up other work at my day job. To put it bluntly, per diem and travel costs (if I were traveling), and occasional promotional material are not enough to coerce an endorsement from me, especially if I think something is actively harmful and the goal of the summit is to offer critical feedback. 

Instead, my attendance is driven by my love of the D&D community, what it’s meant to me, and my desire to help improve that community and help it thrive by bringing as many people to the table as possible. Most of the people I know planning to attend are in similar situations and of similar mindsets – taking time off from work and essentially losing money because the goals of this summit are important to them. The travel compensation and per diem simply help to minimize losses for some people.

One summit attendee I spoke with noted that there is also an equity issue at play. Without offering compensation for travel and a per diem, it limits attendance to those of a certain socioeconomic level. That negates the possibility of wider community feedback. Also, how many memes and Twitter threads exist about creators being “paid” in exposure? Offering compensation hints to me that WotC takes this feedback seriously and is willing to treat everyone in attendance like a professional.  

Beyond pure dollars and cents, many of the summit attendees are either immunocompromised or have family members who are. They are literally taking health risks to attend because they believe in the purpose of this summit and improving the D&D community as a whole. If that’s not a sign of how dedicated some of the attendees are to improving the community, then I don’t know what is. Now let’s talk about role clarity. There are a lot of different jobs in psychology, just like there are in games and content creation. In psychology, a person might be a therapist, evaluator, expert witness, consultant, teacher, researcher, or any number of other roles. To perform any of these roles effectively, they must be crystal clear on what that role entails and what is outside its scope. It’s the same thing here with the summit. Based on the invitation email, it seems that the role is similar to one of a consultant – to critically evaluate what is presented and offer feedback based on one’s experience and expertise. Thankfully, this is a role in which many of the attendees I know have a wealth of experience.

Some readers might retort with, “But you might get other jobs by being there!” Yes. Yes, we might. This is a professional invitation with an expected, professional role, and if we perform that role well, we might get future professional opportunities. That’s what should happen when one performs their job well, and it should be true regardless of the industry and context. However, the reality is that those jobs are both hypothetical and not likely to happen overnight. It's more likely that these jobs would be one-off consultations, collaborations, or the like. 

While jobs like that are appreciated and welcome, they are not steady employment. Summits are not generally real-life versions of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory whereby the one attendee who is most skilled and virtuous will be given control of WotC. Anyone who plans on attending with the fantasy that they will be instantly rewarded with their dream job is probably going to be disappointed.    

Is This Summit Solely to Do Public Relations Damage Control?

Ignoring the fact that a lot of the people attending this summit are generous with their opinions, for good or ill, some in the community have asserted that the D&D Content Creator Summit is simply WotC’s attempt to repair damage to the D&D brand in the wake of the bad business decisions during the recent OGL controversy. Events like this summit take a long time to organize, so I actually believe the email I received when they said that this is based on feedback they’ve received from as far back as late November/early December 2022.

At the same time, WotC would be foolish to avoid using this as a step towards what they pledged they would do at the tail-end of the OGL controversy: obtain and incorporate direct, community feedback. After all, the ability to follow through on proposed behavior changes is what we want when we have problems with people and companies, right? If the goal is to simply do damage control after a public relations nightmare, inviting a bunch of opinionated people with platforms to give feedback isn’t great if one doesn’t intend to actually listen. 

No one attending has forgotten the OGL situation, regardless of where they stood on it. If WotC is doing things well, they’ll learn that from the feedback. If WotC is going in a direction that irks folks at the summit, they’re going to learn that too, and if it’s the latter, that’s not going to help WotC, because the folks in attendance have platforms and haven’t signed any non-disclosure agreements.

Final Thoughts

All in all, what is the D&D Content Creator Summit going to be, and what is going to come out of it? I don’t know. I don’t think anyone does. 

Much like in D&D, we can’t know the outcome of things before the action. That said, there are going to be a lot of talented, caring, observant, insightful content creators present asking hard questions and offering critical feedback. Content creators, especially advocates like those I know are going, work damn hard to produce what they do, and it cheapens their hard work, especially the advocacy work, to call them corporate shills and assume that they’re going to agree with anything presented. Agreement isn’t the assignment. Neither is the assignment for us to listen to WotC. The assignment is for WotC to listen to us.

If we want to see change from people and companies, we have to be willing to note when they take steps to change, even if it’s just the first step. That’s not to say we can’t be critical at the same time. We should be critical, in fact, but critical isn’t the same as unyielding vitriol, universal condemnation, and us-versus-them. Critical means noting both mistakes and successes and pushing for constant improvement. No person or company is going to go from badly messing up to doing everything perfectly. 

As far as I know, WotC is trying something new with this summit, and it represents a shift in how they produce their products. I don’t know if it’s going to lead to sustained changes, but I’m willing to see if it does. I hope it does. More than that, I hope it’s exactly what they said it is: the “first step” in a new strategy of involving the community. My biggest fear is that if they see overwhelming, unflinching condemnation of anything they attempt, especially when it’s violence and threats from the community they’re trying to get input from, then they may stop trying to engage at all, and then we’re left with only anger and unfulfilled hopes. 

[lisartino]

Hey @mossy-covered-bones ! This is Mama Lisartino and I'm your gifter from the 2022 Holiday Truce led by @phandomholidaytruce !

Haven't seen that much fan art of any of the cast hanging out in a PAX unplugged-like convention since the road trip episode. Plus, you wanted them to hang out after a break so here we go! This is why the Danno cousins get to cosplay by day (and are total jerks to by night).

For those who wonder who they're cosplaying, Dani/Ellie is Niko from Oneshot(with the blob as the light) and Danny is Tim/Red Hood (did I get his name right? I'm not into the DP/DC as you can tell)

Also, here's a bonus sketch and the reason why I took this one prompt:

[leonstamatis]

Art & Attribution Issues In Blaseball: The Card Game. An FAQ covering common misconceptions and concerns.

I am not a visual artist and am not personally being impacted by the card game. But I’ve seen a lot of the same questions (and arguments against criticisms) pop up, and I’ve decided to compile some of the information into one place for the purpose of easily sharing it.

Specific questions regarding artists’ experiences probably shouldn’t go to me! I’m just following along.. A text-only version is available below the cut further down.

Sources:

Goblin’s post comparing Blaseball: TCG player designs with fanmade designs

TGB Reddit AMA (includes Tillman’s original designer, Marn @/charaznablescanontoyota, confirming she was never contacted.)

Mentions of whitewashing concerns from @/hadestigers

DMs with Wayfinder regarding credit for a stolen design and accreditation (via Goblin)

Also, adding here that Gob has posted a couple asks with specific desires and concerns as an artist affected by this.

Additional Links:

Cancel your preorder (originally found by @/waveridden)

Wayfinder contact form (or email at info@wayfinder-games.com)

Art & Attribution Issues In Blaseball: The Card Game. An FAQ covering common misconceptions and concerns.

1. What is Blaseball: TCG?

Blaseball: The Card Game is an upcoming game from Wayfinder, which aims to recreate some of the experiences of Blaseball.com in a card game format. A pledge campaign was launched in early 2022 to fund the project. The game itself was unveiled at PAX Unplugged this month.

2. So... Why are people mad about it?

The current iteration of the card game, from what we've seen, includes recognizable fan favorite players from Blaseball. Some of that art bears significant resemblance to design elements made popular by fandom creators. People working on the game have said they made an effort to avoid this and, when a fanon design was used, asked artists for permission. But as more designs were unveiled, artists have said they continued to see popular fanon ideas without acknowledgement of where it came from.

3. How do you know the ideas came from fanon?

Blaseball doesn't have player designs. All we know about the players from the site itself is coffee preference, blood type, some stats, and the name/team. That means almost everything about the player is created from the ground up by fans. Wayfinder (and The Game Band, who operate Blaseball.com) have confirmed they specifically sought out artists who weren't in the fandom for the game in order to prevent copying. But according to a Reddit AMA with TGB, those artists were then given descriptions of gender, race, and specific features of the players. Those aspects were created by fans, and often a specific fan who cared a lot. They deserve credit for that.

4. Did anyone talk to them about it?

Yes. Extensively. Goblin has spoken at length about efforts to contact Wayfinder privately about accreditation and acknowledging fan artists. They tracked down the original artists for every design being stolen and sent it to Wayfinder, despite not being involved in the game or receiving compensation. Specific examples are available on their Tumblr, @stainedglassgoblin, where they've been speaking about this process.

5. Is it possible it was accidental?

Some of it could be due to coincidence, sure. But the number of similarities has prompted concerns. Goblin has a post with about a dozen examples of overlap between fanon and Blaseball: TCG designs. Again, TGB confirmed during their recent Reddit AMA that card game artists were given specific summaries for characters appearing in the card game. Here are a few:

Nagomi Mcdaniel is an Asian woman who has undergone carcinization and developed crab attributes.

Chorby Short is a frog who plays blaseball.

Specific designs were also used for popular players like Wyatt Quitter, Tillman Henderson, etc.

There are a few issues here:

Carcinization is not implied to change a character's appearance in game. That is a fanmade interpretation. While Nagomi is a name with Asian roots, gender is always up to interpretation with names -- so why does the summary specify? That's fanmade lore, too.

Where on Blaseball.com does it say Chorby Short is a frog? (It doesn't. That's fanmade.)

While creators have confirmed one artist was asked for permission to use their Tillman Henderson design, two other artists also had huge influences on the common design -- and at least one, who initially drew the design, says she was not asked.

6. I preordered the game and now I feel weird. What do I do?

Great news! If your order hasn't shipped yet, you can cancel it. The best way to make clear your disappointment about this issue is to revoke your financial support. Visit the GameFound page for the game to find details on cancellations and refunds.

7. How do I voice my concerns?

Wayfinder Games has a general email listed on their website at info@wayfinder-games.com. There's also a contact form there that you can fill out. I recommend telling them you won't purchase the game, and will be telling others not to purchase it, either. Money goes a long way. And so does public scrutiny! Talk openly about your concerns on social media. Tag them. Put pressure on them, publicly.

8. What are artists asking for?

Credit for their work. It's also worth noting that this is a for-profit game! Wayfinder is making money off of it, while the people who came up with these players' lore aren't being compensated at all. It's a shame that the people who have made art out of genuine love for the game now have to see someone else get paid for it.

9. If people didn't recognize the player designs, they wouldn't buy the game. This is stupid.

I’ve seen this sentiment a few times, and I'm a little tired of it. I understand the need to bring people in and sell the game, but there were plenty of ways to go about it that didn't involve art theft. Here's just a couple:

Make new characters. Seriously. The fans love to make up new players, and this would not have been the business failure you think it would be. It's better than having artists call you out for plagiarism, anyway.

Don't provide character details to the artists you specifically hired because they were unfamiliar with fanon. I really don't understand why they did that. I can't figure it out.

Work with fandom artists from the beginning in order to give them credit for their designs from the start, avoiding this whole debacle. Checking for permission is the bare minimum; providing compensation is even better. This could have been a collaborative thing, instead of leaving fanartists out despite their obvious sway in fandom spaces.

Make a game without character art. This is the boring answer, I guess, but... Blaseball.com doesn't have any pictures of the players! It still has plenty of fans! If the card game were just the same player cards we already know, I'm sure it would have been fine.

10. Is there anything else?

Yeah. I don't have specific examples of this handy, having not seen all the art, but some artists have expressed concerns about the whitewashing of certain players in the current designs. While the designs may riff on art concepts from fandom artists, there are cases where artists say the skintone is lighter or facial features and other details have been scrubbed of their racial/ethnic ties. I didn't want to leave that out. Some cards have been redesigned since they were unveiled. But artists say they had to reach out to Wayfinder with concerns to make that happen, and it resulted in the artists they did hire having to do more work to completely redo cards -- instead of only doing the work once. That's unfair to everyone, and also unnecessary.

11. Stay informed and updated

We've yet to get an official statement from Wayfinder (on Twitter, at least) on this issue since it was brought up. The "blaseball: tcg" tag on Tumblr is full of posts with additional context and information, and Goblin (and other artists!) have made a number of statements regarding their experiences.

Also? Support your fandom artists. Give them a follow.

--

Thanks to Gob and to lofi for reviewing this. Again, if anyone has concerns, additions, or corrections, send them my way.

[legallythemayor]

PAX Unplugged 2022

"I have to see both of my brothers for the show to work!"

[orangerful]

PAX Unplugged 2022 haul (though, to be fair, some of these were just gifts from a friend who also went to PAX...I was bad, but not THAT bad!

[julandran]

It's bad, and you should feel bad.

[The Rivals are being sought by guards in connection to the killing and zombification of a fellow guard by Shaka.]

.

Tanya: Jimmy had friends.

Eugenio: I don't know if that makes me feel better or worse.

Tanya: It should make you feel worse.

Eugenio: (chastened) Okay.

.

Rivals of Waterdeep — season 14, ep.8 'Questions, Questions, and More Questions', live from PAX Unplugged 2022 (youtu.be/N-HiiyiAUIQ)

[ernestotorres]

Pokemon Booth @ Pax Unplugged 2022.

[gamermomluna]

PAX Unplugged day 2, part 2!

[gamesunbound]

PAX Together Intersection Game Library

For those who haven't yet heard, we're partnering with PAX Together to facilitate and support the PAX Together Intersection (PTI) Game Library, next appearing at PAX Unplugged, December 2-4 2022.

The Games Unbound team will be at PAX Unplugged to curate, organize, and facilitate the library. We're working in partnership with the PTI team to collect game submissions and materials for the library, organize playthroughs of games, and be on-site to facilitate games and answer questions.

So how can you participate in the PTI Game Library?

DONATE A GAME

We're accepting donations of tabletop board and roleplaying games. Fill out this Google form to submit a game. You can drop it off at the con, or mail it to the PTI team.

RUN A GAME (as an organization)

Your organization can demo your tabletop board / roleplaying game at the game library. There's open spots available Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Fill out this Google form to sign up.

RUN A GAME (as an individual)

Individuals can run a session of your favorite tabletop board or roleplaying game. This can be a came you created, worked on, or just one you love! Open spots are available Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Fill out this Google form to sign up.

DONATE MONEY

We're accepting donations via Ko-fi to purchase materials for the library and support creators. Full details on our website.

COME PLAY WITH US!

Current schedule of game sessions is available on the PAX website (filter by PAX Together Picks), and more will be added as we get sign-ups.

FRIDAY 11:30am - Kids on Hoverboards 1:00pm - Tidebreaker SATURDAY 12:30 - Emerald Templars 3:00pm - Valor SUNDAY 11:00am - History of a Storied Sky 3:00pm - This Is My Final Recording

[mxjackkelly]

2022 Bucket List

ToyFest and Collectors Mega Show

Jack has been itching to get to both ToyFest and the Collectors Mega Show for a while now. They’ve been trying to get their hands on some stuff they missed out from their childhood as well as grow a few different collections they’ve slowly started over the years. Unfortunately, they’re still debating if they want to skip out on the last day of PAX Unplugged in Philly to be in Syracuse in time for the Collectors Mega Show.

More Holiday Commissions

Jack always sees an uptick in interest when the holiday season rolls around and while they try to get as many done as possible they typically don’t take too many of them to begin with. However, with PAX Unplugged and the Collectors Mega Show both at the beginning of December, and their typical completion deadline being the second week in December, so things ship out in time to beat the holiday mail issue, they want to have the extra money from commissions on hand.

Be more active on OF

As strange as it sometimes is, having an OF, Jack actually enjoys it and it does tend to bring in a nice chunk of extra change. However, they’re not particularly active and want to be so more.

Learn to make dice

It’s an ongoing process that Jack hopes to have down in time to make their entire D&D group dice sets for Christmas. 

[gameosity]

PAX Unplugged 2022 Badges On Sale July 14

PAX Unplugged, the tabletop gaming convention, will be returning to Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, PA, from Friday, December 2,

https://is.gd/tilaGq