Local view: Video-gaming convention not a good idea for Duluth
December 17, 2012 at 6:00 pm in Duluth News Tribune
A proposal to bring a Gen Con-like gaming convention to Duluth has some business owners fluttering with excitement (Local View: “DECC needs a gaming convention,” Dec. 4). But the violence accompanied with role-playing video games poses too high a risk for Duluth, despite the prospective economic profits.
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If you are going to write an article about something, you should do your research. GenCon is NOT a video game convention. In recent years video games have been added to the convention, but they are a very small part of it. The primary focus is tabletop gaming. Board games, card games, miniatures games, etc. The games played at GenCon are used by educators around the world through Games in Education programs. Many of the games enjoyed at GenCon and other events like it are historically based and are used by History teachers. Many of the games use mathematics and critical thinking. Do a Google search for Games in Education and you will see that the interest in game-based learning has increased. Tabletop games actually take gamers away from the computer or TV and put them face to face in a social setting. Search Google for family game night and you will see how many families are having weekly game nights playing games like the games featured at GenCon. At the end of the day it’s about responsible journalism and you haven’t done your research on this topic at all.
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Please show us how violence escalates in Indianapolis during the days of the GenCon convention. Do you have any statistics from the last few years for those days? The police records should be easily available if you were inclined to actually do some research. Specifically, I’d like to know about the “shooting violence” by “medieval-clad, game-playing enthusiasts” during those days.
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If you continue this kind of opinion piece, you will not long be a communications major. Things like research and fact checking are clearly lacking from this post.
Nor is there any kind of historical perspective, either.
Research what Gen-Con actually is before you try and drop a name.
Your arguments are ridiculously similar to the very arguments made in the early 80s against RPGs like Dungeons and Dragons and hold about as much weight.
And finally, this seems like a feeble attempt by you to benefit in print from the shootings in CT. You should be ashamed.
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Rob is quite correct. I have personally attended GenCon for many years and it has very little to do with Video games. Here is the list of last years events: http://gencon.highprogrammer.com/gencon-indy-2012.cgi/ Of the 8700+ events from last years Con, only 239 of those events were video game related and of those events maybe 20 of them are violent. My favorite events at this convention are the seminars which range from talking to your favorite author to how to publish a game without going broke to how to deal with writers block. This article (while an opinion) feels like a scare tactic directed at the uninformed (i.e. trying to put aspirin in the same category as Cocaine (as an example) because taking too much of either will kill you). Bottom line: Please do your research. There is so much more to a convention like this and is an even that is very family friendly.
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I actually thought that the writer was some sort of “Onion News” implant…
That was probably among the most un-researched, biased, opinionated, and INCORRECT pieces of ‘letters to the editor’ that I’ve read recently on here.
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Someone please remove this trite from the website.
There was no research done as Gencon is a “traditional gaming convention” based around board/card game/miniatures with next to nothing to do about Video Games.
Further more Indianapolis doesn’t experience some sort of “Nerd Crime Rage” during this time and the author has presented not a single iota of studies or statistics to prove otherwise.
By continuing to host this piece you make this site look like uninformed garbage.
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This person has no idea what they are talking about. First, this is not about video games which he would know if he know anything about Gencon. Second, to quote another post that can be easily found on-line,
“Gamers are the least violent people I know. I don’t know a single gamer who ever stuffed a jock into a locker.
I don’t know a single gamer who ever tossed a jock out of the locker room into a hallway naked.
I have never seen two gamers come to blows over a game.
I have never seen a riot at a professional gaming event.
I have never seen a gamer run out and burn a car when his “team” won a championship.
I have never seen a fight break out at a gaming convention. ”
This guy should do his research instead of engaging in yellow journalism to score points against a group that is already the subject of bullying.
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There are numerous conventions run throughout Wisconsin and Minnesota with a large video game presence, but apparently doing the research on any of these is far beyond a “communications major.” But hey, I just spent over ten years running one of them – so what do I know? We’ve had such a terrible rash of crime in Eau Claire, WI, really.
First off, there has been no credible study that shows a causation of real world violence from video games. Secondly, the average age of a video gamer is late twenties, so apparently you’re against adults gathering to participate in their completely legal hobby.
Thirdly, your inability to differentiate between table-top, board and video games is amazing. Seriously. This is something five seconds on Wikipedia could have corrected you on.
But congratulations – you’ve officially written the worst thing I’ve read all day. You get a gold star.
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“The violence accompanied with Role Playing video games”? Did we suddenly have an uptick in sword and magic related violence?
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You cast one Flaming Hand of Firey Doom at one level 1 NPC and you get tagged for life. It’s just not faire!
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Ahhh, Dorkness Rising… Awesome movie!
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Downvotes? Someone’s not getting waffles!
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[drily] Because every year, the news is bloody flooded with the spree killings, mass murders, violent public outbursts, and high death tolls of GenCon, ComiCon, PAX (East and West), Anime Weekend Atlanta, and … oh, hey, DragonCon, right?
All of which deal in great depth with media and properties some reactionary git thinks is a spur to violence.
DragonCon is on the author’s back step and just the video game track alone is larger than most national video game conventions in toto. Could Cooley be bothered to look up any actual evidence of the position? No.
At this point, I suspect we have a larger basis for believing that barely competent reporting is a graver threat to the fabric of society than video game geeks.
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This Cooley clown is on a fast track to nowhere!
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Even as an editorial this is one of the most slanted articles I have ever read. Even though there is some evidence suggesting video games can cause increased aggression, it’s far from conclusive. Added to this is the fact that increased aggression does not always lead to increased violence. In addition, the author seems confused on the type of convention this is. The proposed convention is a role-playing convention, not a video game convention. Despite what some people stuck in the 80′s will tell you, there is no link to role-playing games and violence either.
As has been said above, there was a serious lack of research and responsible journalism placed into this article by the author. If you really are a journalism student I would suggest showing this article to one of your professors and discussing with them how to write an effective article in the future.
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Let me guess, Jo Cooley is a spoiled little Twin Cities kid who’s never experienced life outside her pampered little bubble.
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I was not happy with opinion piece and was going to write a strong comment, but it is good to see many sensible people already have it covered.
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Wow, what a poorly written article. Doesn’t the DNT have any standards left for the garbage they publish? This is a new low.
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This is priceless, Jo Cooley needs to change her major from communications to Computer Science. She will then have the opportunity to attend some serious D&D sessions and learn what RPG is all about. “I think I will read about how videogames are tied to violence and paint a broad brush about a conference on all gaming.” Uninformed ignorance, especially considering the economic impact a national convention would have on the area.
However, Duluthians may get painted in a negative light due to “Micro-Agressions” against Gaming Conference Attendees – Business owners and workers may not make eye contact or directly hand money back to nerdy 20 something men with allergies wearing chain mail.
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Opinion pieces that get published with no fact-checking not only make the author look uneducated, but they also serve to create divisions where none are warranted. Nothing the author asserts has any validity. As someone else pointed out, there is NO research that has shown any significant connection between playing video games with violence in them and actually committing criminal acts of violence, much less any that has shown causation, which is NOT the same as correlation.
Furthermore, GenCon has so few video games featured it’s laughable to even mention it as a significant source of video gamers invading its host city. A scaled-down version of GenCon would have a lot more people who are involved in face-to-face gaming, not that there is anything wrong with video gaming – there isn’t. You would have some cross-over, too. Just because someone largely plays games at a table doesn’t mean they won’t engage in online activity or vice versa.
So what would happen in a city welcoming a mini-GenCon? It’d probably have skepticism the first year or two as a lot of gamers enjoy dressing up in character and will walk into area restaurants and shops while in costume. Locals might think there are a bunch of weirdos running around their town. A lot of pictures will get snapped because, well, wow, some of those “weirdos” have some pretty incredible costumes. Then after that initial year or two, the businesses realize that gamers bring them a lot of money, aren’t any worse behaved than their typical weekend crowd (and perhaps they’re even better behaved), really enjoy having fun, and will come back to the places that make them feel welcome. Those who are really interested might even discover we (yes, I’m a gamer) are (gasp) normal people who happen to enjoy a hobby that isn’t quite main stream. Unless you’re in Indianapolis or any other city where there’s a major convention of similar nature. We’re quite mainstream for a week every single year in those locations.
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Even if the video game/violence thing were true, the entire article reads like “We shouldn’t let people play Baseball because Football players can get severely injured!”
It’s just laughable.
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Wow, I bet these people haven’t even realized how many gamers are in their town and how many of them are actually upstanding members of their community. Surprise, pal, we’re every where. And you couldn’t even find a better group to invite to your town. Indianapolis bends over backwards for GenCon and all the local businesses downtown love us. When we show up, we funnel MILLIONS OF DOLLARS into the local economy between hotel rooms, restaurants, travel services, and multiple other local businesses. Law Enforcement welcomes us, as well, as the crime rates compared to large spectator sports events held in the same town are minimal. But, hey, it’s easy to make judgement calls on individuals who you can’t relate to and find “scary”. Hey, I’ll tell you what, keep your Tour of Lights, and we’ll keep saving our MILLIONS OF FLEXIBLE INCOME to spend in Indianapolis in August of next year. We’ll be sure to tell the fine businesses of Indianapolis to send you a “Thank You” card for making sure you didn’t funnel any money away from their economy.
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I think they’re confusing role-playing games with first-person shooters.
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I created an account specifically to respond to this article.
I’m with pretty much every poster that said this article was poorly researched and full of crap. I’ve been attending Gen Con for 17 years now, it is not a video game convention. Even if it was, the claims of causation that this article makes are complete crap and demonstrate a clear lack of comprehension of scientific principles.
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Wow, yet another baseless smear on the tabletop and boardgame community. I’m used to baseless attacks at this point, but they usually trot out the same tired old cliches about “witchcraft” or whatever. I must admit I’ve never been accused of being a violent video game murderer for playing boardgames. Kudos to the author for at least finding an interesting and new way to express his/her fearmongering xenophobia! If anybody wants to read a well-researched piece on the bias against tabletop games I recommend Paul Cardwell’s Piece from the Skeptical Inquirer ( http://www.rpgstudies.net/cardwell/attacks.html ). Cardwell’s article contains many examples of exactly this kind of biased and yellow journalism used solely to generate shock and outrage in the public.
At the very best, Jo Cooley does not know the difference between a “video game” and a “tabletop game”, which would show shockingly bad research. At worst he or she is simply playing on people’s fears of the unknown to whip up some quick pageviews at the expense of truth, justice, and a few nerds that nobody cares about. I would like to know which it is Jo, is this incompetence or malice?
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Seems like a lot of folks are upset about the slant of this article. I am too. Unfortunately, the convention will not even happen if the kickstarter doesn’t get funded. If you think a gaming convention in Duluth is an awesome idea, commit to buying tickets through the kickstarter http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1947923695/berserkon
Because this won’t happen if we don’t make it happen!
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This is one of the most ridiculous things ever printed in the DNT (and that’s saying a lot), the fact that it was even allowed to be be printed in it’s pages shows just how horrible of a publication the DNT actually is.
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Angry birds makes me want to slingshot birds at pigs. Angrily.
Risk makes me want to conquer other nations.
Battleship makes me want to play bingo, with cannon shells.
Articles written as poorly as this? Makes me angry.
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… and we wonder why our children leave….
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Hello. My name is Mark Knapik. I just started a gaming convention in Buffalo, NY called Queen City Conquest.
I’m happy to report that there were no widespread acts of violence as a result of my convention.
If there is someone in Duluth who is trying to organize a convention and would like to contact me to discuss how I created mine, I’d be happy to make myself available to them.
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“Instead, we’re playing the most popular, cutting-edge video games like Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls: Prepare to Die and the long-anticipated Soul Sacrifice, video games that probably will not make gamers want to volunteer at the Salvation Army. More likely, the games will increase desires to act and behave more violently.”
I sense religious idiocy. No secular critic of “video game violence” would focus on games that I’ve never heard of that happen to sound demonic in their titles and then put forth volunteering at the Salvation Army as an ideal.
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Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
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This article is utterly confusing and misleading in every possible way. I’ll try to keep this comment as civilized as possible because I intend to critique this so that you, Jo Cooley, may someday become an adequate writer (maybe– if you’re not going to freak out over the hard truths laid out by me and any of the previous commenters).
First of all, a nit-picky comment about those three games you mentioned in your article. I never heard of them until a friend of mine had to explain to me that they are “niche hardcore single player action rpgs in the same series.” They’re not exactly widely popular. The Legend of Zelda series, well, everyone’s at least heard of that! And who doesn’t want to play the hero sometimes?
Second, people don’t go to conventions to play video games. You paint video games and roleplaying games with the same broad brush without doing any actual in-depth analysis or research. People go to conventions to play board games, miniature games, tabletop rpgs (pen/paper, dice, other game mechanics, etc). They go to LARP as well (it’s basically improv acting– that’s the quick’n'dirty explanation for you since you may not even read this far into my comment). Most importantly… gamers go to conventions to socialize with other gamers! It’s exciting to go, meet new friends, see the friends you only get to see at conventions, show off the costumes you’ve created (if you cosplay), sell things you’ve created yourself for the appreciation of other gamers (if you’re a vendor), and it is fun to travel to new places and see what other towns and cities are like.
Every convention I’ve ever been to has been a wonderful experience. I’ve been to GenCon and Origins Game Fair a few times. GenCon is always a huge event, and I’ve always noticed the ways in which local businesses welcome con-goers. When I was an undergrad at SUNY Geneseo, I was part of the Geneseo Area Gaming Group’s e-board. Every year, we’ve run our own small convention called Running GAGG. Every year, we hold a charity auction, and 100% of the money goes to Ronald McDonald House Charity. This is but one small example of the way gamers create positive changes in their communities.
Games can also have a great impact on learning and literacy. Check out James Paul Gee’s work. Or Ian Bogost’s. Or Noah Wardrip-Fruin’s (he’s a cool guy– he Skyped in on one of my grad classes last year). Check out “Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World” by Jane McGonigal. Try reading some of these and actually gaining some perspective before you go and write another unsupported, biased opinion piece. Heck, you could try gaming with people yourself. Try Pathfinder. Try ADGNEPSEF555, a “TV-Y7″ game made by Windmill Games– it’s silly, great for kids and newbies, and it is one of my favorite games to play when I see the Windmill people at GenCon and Origins (they are all wonderful people).
Don’t scapegoat games for violent behavior. That’s a cop out. That’s another way of saying “Life is too hard, I’m going to blame something because it’s easy to do.” If anything, gaming conventions bring people together to express their joy and their creativity. Any violence that occurs in-game is, well, just that– in-game. We know the difference between fantasy and reality (our parents and our real-life experiences–yes, we have them! like real people!– have taught us this difference), and to assume otherwise is just plain insulting.
PS: Patrick Bateman. You’re the reason why the undercurrent of sexism maintains power in gamer culture AND MAKES US LOOK LIKE TOOLS. STFU.
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Wow, look at all those green posts.
Nice to see a topic we can all agree on.
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I can’t believe what I just read. I saw the high number of likes on the first couple of comments before I read the article and wondered what the heck was going on here.
Holy moly …. someone is out of touch.
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Oh I hope so hard that Jo Cooley is reading these comments. Has this gone viral yet?
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I hope not. We have enough bad stories about UMD with the Racism and all, if this went viral people around the country would start to think that UMD is full of idl0ts.
The schools does not need, nor does it deserve, that publicity.
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The school is not the blame. This article got past the editors desk at the DNT.
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I can’t believe this made it into a newspaper without anyone checking the facts. The rules of this forum include “Keep it civil and stay on topic.” So, all that I will say is this article is mudslinging and fear-mongering.
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It’s good to see so many folks standing up for gaming and game conventions. I’m a bit disappointed, though, that nobody has seen fit to tangle directly with the author’s argument.
The author cites two authorities, neither of whom is deserving of the title. The first is Craig Anderson, who published a study that purports to establish a link between violent video games and violence in youth. The study has numerous methodological problems, though, to the point where, despite being cited as evidence in many court proceedings, the study has never actually been accepted as evidence in any of them. That’s not my observation, either – it was reported by the U.S. Supreme Court in its majority opinion striking down a proposed ban on the sale of violent video games to minors in the state df California. (http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/10pdf/08-1448.pdf)
The second ‘authority’ is even more troubling – Dave Grossman, whose military rank is quoted as if it is relevant, is cited as “proving” that violent video games are training children to associate firing guns with pleasure and therefore implying that games like Grand Theft Auto are turning our nation’s youth into thrill-killers. Oddly enough, though, Grossman’s “research” cannot explain why violent crime rates have been falling in the U.S. since 1992, well before the first GTA or Medal of Honor game. Grossman is just as inaccurate when talking about violent television programs, boldly citing that any culture sees its murder rate double fifteen years after the introduction of television, which flies in the face of FBI statistics showing that the murder rate in the U.S. has never been as high as it was in the 1930s, and as noted above, continues to fall today.
I understand the author’s desire to write a persuasive essay – I only question who the author was trying to persuade, since the cited authorities are unlikely to persuade anyone who isn’t already opposed to gaming in general and video games in particular.
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