GenCon 2017 Industry Insider Program

Well, it's May, and I just realized last May I had done one of my top posts for the year: the GenCon Industry Insider program, the guests and their work.  Once again, I'll be using RPGGeek and BoardgameGeek to examine their credentials as "industry insiders".

John Adamus- He's done some work with GumShoe, Fate Core, Night's Black Agents, and is one of the designers behind Noir World.

Jake Alley- His bio states he's worked on several board, card, RPGs, MUDs, and more. The only thing I can find on either 'Geek is The Massive vs. The Masses: Gamorzilla the Giant vs. the Army.

Aljernon Bolden- Apparently he's a video game designer, with interests in bridging the gap between digital and tabletop games. Um, WHAT GAMES?

Ed Bolme- Hey, we've got a real designer here. Castle Falkenstein, Cyberpunk 2013, D&D 3rd ed., Paranoia 2nd, Cybergeneration, MIB, Shatterzone, Legend of the Five Rings RPG, Masterbook, Star Trek: TNG (ICON), and Thnderstone Advance. There might be some more, but that's the bulk of his listings.

Joseph Carriker- Another real designer? Yep. Blue Rose, Mutants and Masterminds, Exalted, Changeling, Vampire, Scion, A Song of Ice and Fire RPG, , Pathfinder, Chronicle, Mage, Fantasy AGE, Promethean, D&D 3.5, Werewolf, Scarred Lands, and various OGL d20 projects.

Elizabeth Courts- She's done a LOT of work for Paizo, and doesn't have any non-Pathfinder credits. Not an insult, but she's insulated.

Katherine Cross- She's a gaming critic, who's supposedly got more work published, but the only credit on RPGG is for Pigsmoke. She writes for Wired, Polygon, Rolling Stone, and more. Take that for what you will; I'm dismissive of all those houses of journalism.

Tanya DePass- Um, no game credits listed. Even on the GenCon bio. Nope, she's a diversity advocate and politicizer of games as needing to be inclusive. I see no way in which she's an insider.

 Crystal Frasier- Labels herself a polymath(not impressed), but she actually has some credits: Pathfinder, GameMastery cards, Blue Rose, Mutants and Masterminds, Kobold Quarterly, The Rifter, and Wayfinder.

Jaym Gates- Producer credit on Blue Rose, designer on Firefly: Smuggler's Guide to the Rim are all that RPGG listed. There's other stuff, but not game related.

BJ Hensley- Apparently an advocate for family gaming, she has design credits that go along with this conviction. HeroKids, Pathfinder compatible, and Medusa's Guide for Gamer Girls: Gaming with Kids. There's not a lot of credits, but I'll grant she appears to back her bio for family gaming.

Kat Kuhl- A diversity podcaster that does have one credit for a Fiasco book, and something called Noisy Person Cards on BGG.

Lyz Liddell- A progressive activist who recently went to work full time for Paizo, on both Pathfinder and Starfinder. ProgActivism must not have been paying the bills.

James Lowder- A game designer and editor, with credits for Feng Shui, AD&D 2nd, GURPS, Deadlands d20,  Vampire, Call of Cthulu 7th, All Flesh Must be Eaten, and some general gaming books. In addition, he's done editing work at some level for several game fiction lines.

Anna Meade- She has two production credits for Fate Core, and supposedly cowrote an upcoming RPG based on The Resistance (from Indie Board and Cards).  Her bio claims more, but I've no  independent verification.

Carol Monahan- While she has no actual credits on BGG, she's been working with Cheapass Games in both incarnations. She also has done some work for WoTC in sales and information systems.

Paul Peterson- Somebody with BGG credits! Guillotine, Clout Fantasy, Harry Potter TCG,  The Ninth World, Apocrypha, Smash Up, Unexploded Cow, and a LOT of Pathfinder ACG.

Harrison Pink- Video game guy.

Marie Poole-Apparently an inclusive environmentalist running the business office at Lone Shark Games.

 Jessica Price- She has some few Pathfinder credits and supposedly worked for Microsoft on the Kinect launch portfolio.

Darcy Ross- She's a podcaster with four odd RPG creditis including a "transhuman dating show LARP".  While she likes snails and other such critters, doesn't believe chromosomes determine human gender, and has promoted "women-identified folks in gaming".

Amber E. Scott-Pathfinder 13th Age, d20, and Chronicles of Darkness. There's a lot of Pathfinder credits.

Liz Spain- Apocrypha, Incredible Expeditions, Pathfinder ACG, and lead on that SocJus trainwreck the Betrayal at the House on the Hill expansion.

Paul Stefko- Fate Core, Dungeon World, Full Moon, GumShoe, and Feng Shui 2.

C.A. Suleiman- Pathfinder, Mummy, I Am Zombie, Vampire, D&D 3.5, Blood and Honor, Dark Ages, Orpheus, Werewolf, and Changeling.


Elisa Teague- A return from last year, she's got credits for Apocrypha, the Betrayal expansion, and Geek Out!

James Wallis- Credits include Earthdawn, Dragon Warriors, Nobilis, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying, Call of Cthulu, The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen, GoblinQuest, Palladium, Mythic Mortals, Puppetland, and Sonic the Hedgehog Adventure.

Industry Insider Guest of Honor- Margaret Weiss- Mostly she's known for the Dragonlance and Deathgate novels. Her game credits include her own production company, Firefly, D&D of lots of editions,  Serenity, and some d20/Pathfinder compatible material.

Notes: I know that Pathfinder is the second largest RPG, but this looks more like a Paizo insider than an industry insider track. Why not have more that are in the boardgame/wargame side? Where's the OSR, they've got some good stuff. There's more Paizo connections than WotC connections. This is disturbing in the lack of diversity of game philosophy.

When you play Social Justice, the world loses.