GenCon Sued by LucasFilm…Chapter 11 Follows

It would seem that the biggest RPG and gaming convention is being sued by the even larger LucasFilm.  This was all due to a charity auction that was held on behalf of Make-A-Wish foundation at the GenCon convention in Los Angeles last year.  The problem?  Well, none of the proceeds from the Star Wars memorabilia sold ever made it to the charity.  One can only speculate that it lined someones pockets.

From The Hollywood Reporter, Esq. blog:

George Lucas is claiming that a “Star Wars” convention has moved over to the dark side. In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in nothern California, LucasFilm says that Gen Con, a company that puts on gaming conventions, failed to uphold a contract to deliver proceeds from a “Star Wars” memorabilia auction to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

According to this complaint, Gen Con owes almost $1 million to the charity and to LucasArts for proceeds from an auction held at last May’s Gen Con convention in Los Angeles. LucasFilm says it undertook expenses to advertise the auction to increase participation.

And now, in a strange twist of fate, the GenCon organization has filed for Chapter 11, relieving it from all debts and financial obligations.  One rumor proposes that GenCon tried in vain to add another convention under its umbrella and didn’t exactly crunch the numbers properly, or the plan just failed outright. 

A much more plausible explanation is that this is a retaliatory (or protective, whatever you prefer) move against LucasFilm and the monies they are seeking.  If that’s the case, I have to say that the practice is shady at best, and it’s a shame that things are working out in this fashion.  If there is a silver lining, it’s a good thing our group went to GenCon last year, just in case it was the last year we’d get to experience it!

You can view GenCon’s press release regarding Chapter 11 here.

Indy Entertainers

Here is the official list of entertainers for GenCon.  I can attest for the Brobdingnagian Bards – they incorporate a lot of cool celtic sounds as well as humor into their songs.  Some of them look to be pretty entertaining!

The Brobdingnagian Bards */‡/+
Different Drummer Belly Dancers */‡
the great Luke Ski */+
Kenny Klein */‡
Marooned ‡
The Muses */‡
Water Street Bridge */‡
Tom Smith */+
Christopher Yates ‡

* Denotes entertainers who have booths located near the Autograph Area in the Exhibit Hall.
‡ Denotes “roving” entertainers.
+ Denotes Friday Night Live participants

You can find most of the bios for the entertainers here:

http://gencon.com/2007/indy/events/events_guests/entertainment/music.aspx

The Badges Are In!

I just received my GenCon badge today, as well as all of my event tickets (everyone’s TD tickets included).  Keep an eye out in the mail for yours.  I’m told that if you don’t have them after the first week in August, start making calls to customer service. 

GenCon DVD Intro

In my spare time, I’ve been messing around with diferrent video editing software, and I’ve managed to come up with a rough draft of the GenCon DVD intro.  It’s a 6.11mb .wmv file that you can stream with a broadband connection or save with a dial-up. 

 Keep in mind, this was just me fooling around, and some of the art will change.  On top of that, the quality of the finished product is much better than the version you will see (for download purposes).  Anyway, take a look and let me know what you think – I still get a chuckle when watching it.   I’ve also completed the main menu and some other sections, but I’m not going to release any of that until the final version.  Enjoy!

GenCon DVD Intro

True Dungeon Tokens

It’s a slow day today, so I passed some of the down time by listing out the tokens we’ve acquired for True Dungeon.  Here’s the list for anyone who’s interested:

Common:
5gp (5)
10gp (4)
15gp (1)
Flourite (2,10gp/per)
Aquamarine (1,15gp/per)
Sardonyx (2,20gp/per)
Leather Armor (2)
Reinforced Leather Armor (5)
Small Shield (1)
Studded Leather Armor (4)
50′ Rope (2)
Bone Map/Scroll Case (3)
Dwarven Rations (1)
Grappling Hook (2)
Hammer & Spike (2)
Small Steel Mirror (3)
Tinder Box (6)
Waterskin (1)
Anti-Toxin (1)
Holy Water (1)
Mortar & Pestle (2)
Potion of Cure Minor Wounds 1 (1)
Potion of Fire Resistance (4)
Scroll of Burning Hands (2)
Scroll of Comprehend Languages (1)
Scroll of Magic Missle (4)
Scroll of Shocking Grasp (4)
Minor Rumor (1)
Battleaxe (3)
Dagger (2)
Hand Axe (1)
Heavy mace (1)
Long Sword (1)
Masterwork Arrow (5)
Short Sword (1)
Shortbow (1)

Rare:
5pp (1)
Jasper (1,50gp/per)
Banded Armor (1)
Large Shield (2)
Masterwork Holy Symbol (1)
Universal Solvent (3)
Potion of Bull’s Strength (1)
Potion of Cat’s Grace (2)
Dwarven Ale (1)
Scroll of Bless (2)
Scroll of Cure Light Wounds 5 (1)
Scroll of Read Magic (1)
Scroll of Speak With Dead (2)
Bastard Sword (2)
Great Axe (1)
Longbow (1)
Dust of Appearance (1)

Very Rare:
Full Plate (1)
Helm of Clear Thought (1)
Oil of Ghost Touch (1)
Oil of Holiness (1)
Ring of Protection +1 (1)
Ring of Reflexes (2)
Scroll of Chain Lightning (1)
Wand of Slow (1)
Great Axe +1 (1)
Cloak of Elvenkind (1)
Ioun Stone – Iridescent Spindle (1)

Ultra Rare:
None

GenCon Page in the Works

As you all know, registration for GenCon started officially today.  The documents are piling up, and we’ll need a place to post trip-related content, so I’ve created a GenCon link on the right-hand site menu.  If you come across anything that might be useful in August, please send it to me and I’ll make sure it gets posted!