40 YEARS OF 40 YEARS It started in 1967, with a gathering of about a dozen 40 YEARS OF people at Gary Gygaxs house in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Some 40 years later, Gen Con is now as large as a small city. ��obin D. Laws Robin D. Laws Robin ��G2702 ISBN 1-58978-097-3 $29.95 CREDITS AUTHOR & INTERVIEWER: Robin D. Laws COVER ILLUSTRATOR: EDITOR, GRAPHIC DESIGNER, & COORDINATOR: Eliane Lilith Bettocchi Michelle Nephew, PhD BACK COVER PHOTO: Randy Porter PUBLISHER & PROOFREADER: John Nephew PUBLISHER’S SPECIAL THANKS: RESEARCHER & PHOTOS: Randy Porter To Jerry Corrick and the gang at ADDITIONAL PHOTOS: Wendy Wyman the Source. INTERVIEW SUBJECTS: Peter Adkison, Dave Arneson, Len Nicole Lindroos, Ian Livingstone, Rick Loomis, Bland, Marc Blumberg, Anne K. Brown, Jeff Carey, Wes James Lowder, Jeff Martin, Dan McDonagh, Carpenter, Mike Carr, Alesia Clardy, Christopher Clark, Anne Merritt, James Mishler, Brian Misiaszek, Douglas Ernest Cline, Luke Crane, Paul Czege, Ryan S. Dancey, Niles, Terry O’Brien, Mark E. Olson, Mike Pondsmith, Andrea Dietrich, Chris Dietrich, Cindy Donovan, Ron Randy Porter, Chris Pramas, Kevin Preece, Jeff Ranger, Edwards, Larry Elmore, Douglas J. Equils, Zen Faulkes, Denise Robinson, Brian Rogers, Mark Rosewater, Todd Kaja Foglio, Phil Foglio, Matt Forbeck, Ed Greenwood, Rowland, R. A. Salvatore, Duke Seifried, Janice M. E. Gary Gygax, Bruce Harlick, Tracy Hickman, Kenneth Sellers, Andrew Shockney, Paul J. Siddens, Greg Stafford, Hite, Mike Holmes, Ian Houlihan, Bill Hoyer, Steve Ed Stark, Lisa Stevens, John Tynes, James Wallis, James Jackson, Harold Johnson, Judd Karlman, Tim Kask, Mary M. Ward, Margaret Weis, Jordan Weisman, John Wick, Kirchoff, Charlie Krank, Robert Kuntz, Phil Lacefield, Jr., Steve Wieck, Skip Williams PHOTO & IMAGE CONTRIBUTORS: Kelley Barnes-Herman Marc Miller for Far Future Enterprises, Bryce Nakagawa, for White Wolf, Jenny Berg for WizKids, Jason Brown, Bob Michelle Nephew for Atlas Games, Terry O’Brien, Mark Brynildson, Jeff Carey, Mike Carr, Ernest Cline, Stephen Painter for Gen Con LLC, Don Perrin, Mike Pondsmith for Cole for Star Fleet Games, Michael Cox, Paul Czege for R. Talsorian Games, Bryon Petrie, Half Meme Press, Robert Derme, Robert Peter Derme II, Kevin Preece, Martin Ralya, Rich Andrea Dietrich, Les Edwards, Ron Edwards for Adept Redman for Wizards of the Coast, Press, Zen Faulkes, Anthony Gallela, Cynthia Hart, Jessica Phil Reed for Steve Jackson Games, Denise Hashman, Mike Hawkins, Tracy Hickman, Natalie Jaran, Robinson for EN World, Todd Rowland for AEG, Duke Erica King, Rick Loomis for Flying Buffalo, Simon Lucas for Seifried, Greg Stafford for Chaosium, Lisa Stevens, Adrian Pinnacle Entertainment Group, Hal Mangold for Green Swartout for Gen Con LLC, Ryan Tackett, Jae Walker, James Ronin, Jeff Martin for True Dungeon, Marian McBrine, Wallis for the Diana Jones Award Committee, Tom Wesley, Emma Mears for Ian Livingstone, Jeff Menges, Bart Miller, Dustin Wright for Chaosium, Michael Yates, Burl Zorn STORY CONTRIBUTORS: Ian Carter, Richard Carter, © 2011 Trident, Inc. d/b/a Atlas Games. 40 Years of Gen Con is a trademark of Trident, Inc. Atlas Games is a trademark of John Nephew, used under license. The Bill Dunn, Leah Hand, Patrick Seymour, Eric Sterns, Jae Atlas Games logo is a trademark of John Nephew and Trident, Inc. Gen Con is a Walker, Michael Yates trademark of Gen Con LLC, used under license. Wizards of the Coast, Magic: The Gathering, and Dungeons & Dragons are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. Avalon Hill is a trademark of Hasbro, Inc. Product images used with permission of DIGITAL VERSION 1.0 Wizards of the Coast, Inc. The use of other trademarks is not intended as a chal- lenge. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this work by any means without written permission from the publisher, except short excerpts for the purpose of reviews, is expressly prohibited. CONTENTS FOREWORD 04 INTRODUCTION 06 THE EARLY YEARS 1967 — 1970 08 THE DAWN OF D&D 1971 — 1974 16 THE LAST OF THE LAKE GENEVA YEARS 1975 — 1977 24 UW-PARKSIDE 1978 — 1984 38 HELLO MILWAUKEE 1985 — 1992 72 THE GATHERING 1993 — 1997 104 MILWAUKEE GOODBYE 1998 — 2002 130 GEN CON INDY 2003 — Present 148 NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 167 4 • 40 YEARS OF GEN CON FOREWORD BY PETER ADKISON How ironic, to write a “forward” for a book about history. On the other hand, this is perhaps the best place to talk about the future of Gen Con, and of games in particular, given that the rest of this book does such an excellent job of creating a context for such a discussion. CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE existed before Gen Con, a new breed of “gamer” was arriving on the scene through the growing interest in games based on But, first things first, time to pay props. First props go, of historical conflict, “miniatures” games played with small “toy course, to Gary Gygax for starting Gen Con in the first place soldiers,” and board wargames produced by companies like and for managing it directly, or through TSR, for many years Avalon Hill and SPI. These early gamers were often military thereafter. Second props go to TSR and Wizards of the Coast for professionals or devotees of military history. Since this interest managing Gen Con for most of the other 40 years — particu- was far removed from the mainstream of society, Gen Con and larly to those who were most directly involved, like Skip Williams other, similar gatherings played an important role of bringing and Harold Johnson — and to Hasbro, for having the foresight these gamers together, creating a sense of community. to sell Gen Con to me! And I offer an arms-wide, heartfelt Throughout the ‘70s this community flourished. Not only thanks to everyone who contributed to this book — especially did board wargaming increase in popularity — with compa- to Robin Laws, Michelle Nephew, and Randy Porter for writing, nies like SPI producing new games on a monthly basis — the editing, and providing historical research — but above all to invention of Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) led to an explosion of the numerous fans and industry professionals who contributed gamers by the late ‘70s, and Gen Con grew right along with it. stories, interviews, and photographs. These contributions are D&D also brought something else to the gaming community: what really bring this book to life, and I thank you for helping us recognition. Not all of this recognition was positive, however, as document history. D&D carried with it a strong stigma of geekiness. Fortunately, gamers didn’t seem to mind much, and gaming catapulted in A JOURNEY TO COMMUNITY, popularity throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s, fueled further by the RECOGNITION, AND ACCEPTANCE publication of Magic: The Gathering and the creation of the As Robin Laws points out early in his narrative, the history trading card game category. of Gen Con is in many ways a history of the hobby games In recent years there has been a societal shift, in that hob- industry. I would like to build on this thought and muse about by games have now reached a level of acceptance and impact the tremendous impact our games have had on mainstream in mainstream culture that can’t be ignored; this is something international gaming culture, and our quest for community, we should all be proud of. Perhaps one of the earliest signs of recognition, and acceptance. this change was when roleplaying books became a mainstay Early Gen Con gatherings were clearly about creating com- of book trade distribution through chains like Barnes & Noble. munity. While communities around mainstream games obviously When Magic: The Gathering hit the scene one of the first big 40 YEARS OF GEN CON • 5 retail chains to carry it was Electronics Boutique, and chains like sters, collecting treasure, going up levels, and increasing hit points. Target, Wal*Mart, and Toys “R” Us weren’t far behind. Games It might be called World of Warcraft, or Guild Wars, but it sounds like Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh! proved that trading card games to me pretty close to what Gygax and Arneson were up to back were here to stay, and these chains now have permanent real in the early ‘70s, minus the electricity. And many of these gamers estate dedicated to hobby games. wouldn’t stand out as gamers in “real life.” They’re teachers, house- Hobby games are so accepted now that mainstream wives and househusbands, accountants, welders, lawyers, farmers celebrities like Vin Diesel and Robin Williams have publicly … and, yes, soldiers and students are still in this group as well. talked about their love of these games in interviews and Once you consider the world of interactive entertainment and blogs. Stephen Colbert recently declared on Late Night with Internet games, the impact our hobby has had on popular culture Conan O’Brien, “I’ve even been to Gen Con!” is nothing short of astounding. And this influence is felt not just in With the growth of hobby games, the US, but internationally as well. our industry has also come to the Ask anyone on the development side attention of mainstream businesses of computer games and chances trying to get into the action. Publicly are they played D&D back in high traded companies like Hasbro and school. They might not have stayed Topps have accomplished this by ac- with it, but they never lost the dream quiring Wizards of the Coast and Wiz- that “this would be so cool on a Kids. Upper Deck entered the market computer!” And I know from personal by creating an entertainment division, experience that the idea of Internet licensing Yu-Gi-Oh!, and raising the games with “digital objects” that can bar on marketing, while companies like be bought, sold, or traded owes some Bandai, Nintendo, and others have ABOVE of its roots to games like Magic: The taken leadership positions in hobby Peter and Melissa Reis Adkison, Owners of Gen Con LLC.