This is a much shortened version of the emails, because the guys asked me to remove them from it. So I'm just
including Greg's initial emails up to the bomb he dropped and my replies to him.
I posted a link to this on the Ancient Empires Yahoo group where Greg had posted the same message about us,
but he deleted it and removed my membership.
Thursday, June 5th, 2008
First Email from Greg Pitts received 9:21 AM
Subject: Skirmish '08
Allen,
Did I say something wrong? I have sent you two emails regarding the game day and have not received a response.
Perhaps your email is down, so I am ccing Clay and Steve on this as well.
I wanted to know that if I wanted to put on an AE2 game, were there any slots open for the 2 PM session.
Regards,
Greg Pitts
Reply All from Clay, 9:24 AM
Subject: Re: Skirmish '08
I would like to have Greg's game on the schedule. This is the type of game that I would gladly move to 7 PM to accommodate.
Clay
Reply All from Greg, 9:32 AM
Subject: Re: Skirmish '08
If the schedule is full, it’s full. I don’t want to bump anyone. If 2 PM is not available, let me know what time slots are available and I will see what I can do.
Greg Pitts
Reply All from Clay, 12:30 PM
Subject: Re: Skirmish '08
Greg, we will do well to have 75 people. The two tournies may account for 20 players, so the way I see it we are at player capacity at 2 PM. If we get more games that could change
Subject: Are we really so stupid?
My friends and fellow gamers,
This is just a note to say that I for one will not be attending Skirmish ’08. It was brought to my attention that one of our fellow gamers wanted to put on an event at Skirmish ’08,
but was told no, once the organizers found out that the game was a RPG game; specifically called “Occult Wars”. I know nothing about the game itself, so I looked online:
“Occult Wars is a set of rules that allow you to fight battles of good versus evil. You can recreate many of your favourite horror
characters portrayed in books, film and TV. Be they blade wielding day walkers, or Muffy slaying vampires with the aid of her crew. If
you wish, you can even choose to fight on the side of darkness; have your own werewolf clan or vampire coven. Be a warlock or witch.
You choose the legends and background to Occult Wars. If your vampires laugh at crosses and silver then make them that way. If a
silver bullet should send them back to hell then build that in to your background. The choice of what traits and vulnerabilities your
characters have is up to you. These rules are designed for flexibility and will not tie you to one person’s view of what a monster should
be like”.
OK, so I went a bit further and asked some others about the game:
http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=144357
From the responses, I don’t see a problem.
The American Heritage Dictionary defines “Occult” as:
“Of, relating to, or dealing with supernatural influences, agencies, or phenomena.
Beyond the realm of human comprehension; inscrutable.
Available only to the initiate; secret: occult lore. See Synonyms at mysterious.
Hidden from view; concealed
I respect the right of any event organizer to restrict the events that will take place to those they deem are within the scope of the event. These restrictions must however be
disclosed, and the Skirmish ’08 website mentions nothing about any game type restrictions:
http://www.dfwirregulars.com/
The menu of games includes “Sci-Fi”; WWII “Sci-Fi”; and God forbid, “Pulp Fiction: “Dancing girls! Zombies! Nazis! …” …
Dancing girls? Zombies? Nazis?... But no; sorry, nothing that includes the work “Occult”.
I for one, find an inconsistency here.
The event which was not allowed was:
“Allen;
You'll have to excuse the format, as I cannot use Adobe Acrobat on this computer. I hope this format works. Here's the synopsis of the event I'd like to run:
Game Master - Mark Mahan
Session - 2 P. M. (Preferred, if possible. Got a thing for Steve's gladiator games)
Event Name - Something Rotten in Mesquite
Era - Modern Fantasy
Figures - 25mm
No. of Players - 6
Rules - Occult Wars
Event Description -
Something is not quite right in Old Mesquite, TX. Sightings of strange creatures roaming at night are prevalent. Strange happenings at the full moon
have been occuring for months and have ranchers flumoxed. Missing persons reports are on the rise. A cable worker's chance encounter with an agressive dog in
an alley leads to the discovery of a vampire's nest. Too bad for the Undead: the cable guy is a member of an elite vampire-slaying consortium dedicated to
eradicating the Undead and their ilk. The Watchers within the group report the Reborn have been congregating throughout DFW; to what purpose remains
unclear. Under cover of a staged cable outage, the group prepares to assault the compound and methodically eradicate all within. Providing backup are some
-intentioned rednecks from the surrounding area, bent on payback for livestock mutilation, and a few urban thugs whose stables have been thinned by
thirsty Reborn. Will the stalwart vampire hunters complete their mission? Or will the creatures of the night repel the forces of righteousness? Come find out...”
The response that Mark received was;
“Mark,
Thanks for offering to run a game at Skirmish. This event was always intended to be more-or-less historical games only. We have strayed off of this requirement to some
extent (possibly more than we should have). I have discussed your game proposal with the other guys who run the Skirmish show and we don't feel like Occult Wars is a game
system that is appropriate for what we are trying to do.
Also, our 2pm time slot is full; we do not need any more games in that session. If you possibly have another game you might be able to run, 9am would be the best time.
Again, thanks for the effort and we hope you understand our position.
thanks,
Allen Eldridge”
Curious, I enquired about running an AE2 game in the 2PM time slot. After sending two emails to Allen and receiving no response, I sent him a third, copying Clay Smith and
Steve Miller. Amazingly, I received a response:
“Greg,
No idea what happened to other emails, I did not ever see them, oh well! I got your emails from today.
We certainly welcome your game.
It is not so much that 2pm is "full" as far as table space (although I have not laid out the room, I am sure we are OK), it is more a matter of "game slots" vs. "number of people to
plug into game slots". Right now we have:
9am - 7 events - 40 slots
2pm - 8 events - 56 slots
7pm - 7 events - 38 slots
So, as you can see 2pm is already pretty heavy as far as events and slots. (these numbers don't count the 2 tourneys). There is not a whole lot of point in having events with no
players to play them.
If you really need to do 2pm, you can, but I think 9am would be my first choice and 7pm my second choice as far as our needs.
thanks!
Allen”
As we can plainly see, the 2PM time slot was/is not full as Mark was told, and it seems that the convention organizers decided to censure his event simply because it was what
they deem a “Role Playing Game”.
In a time where miniature gaming is on the wane, and the simple fact that fantasy games and not historical games attract the most people, I cannot for the life of me understand
anyone holding an event that would preclude a certain audience from the event, particularly when the event site does not specifically state what will and what will not be allowed.
This is the epitome of stupidity, in my opinion.
Good luck guys! Continue to think small!
It appears to me you have a severe case of “Lone Star Historical Miniatures-itus”.
Get your shots.
Regards,
Greg Pitts
shhh...here is the super-secret complete email chain.