BayCon 2011
Mar. 29th, 2011 12:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gridloreI have been asked to be a program participant, and have accepted. Because Kirsten is no longer a staff member, she's my Guest of Guest this year.
The Old School Revolution - The last few years have seen the release of several RPG systems that harken back to the earliest days of the industry. Simple rules, straight forward monster-bashing, and none of the baggage encumbering more modern systems. Is this a Renaissance for paper and dice RPGs or a sign of the end? (Panelist, would moderate.)
Is Secrecy Dead? - Wikileaks, Google Street View, and what we willingly put on the net about ourselves has ushered in an age when almost anything will be found in time. How much transparency is too much for a government? For a company? For you? How do you protect secrets in this modern age? (Panelist)
DADT, Women in Combat, and the Dreyfuss Affair. Military discrimination, past and future - Military organizations are conservative and resistant to change. We will examine how social change has affected modern military organizations and speculate on what the future holds for soldiers. Will there be bias against genetically modified service members? How do you integrate aliens into the Marines? (Panelist, would moderate. If this is used please try to get veterans on the panel!)
Religion in RPGS - Clerics in traditional fantasy role-playing games serve mainly as healers and back-up combatants, with a vaguely defined god they theoretically serve. Religion was a vital part of medieval life, and game settings should reflect that. We will explore how historical churches worked and how to run a more vibrant religious setting in a game. (Panelist, would moderate)
Fantasy Economics - In fantasy stories, dragons sleep on mountains of gold coins. In reality, a German baron feed several hundred crusaders for eight pieces of gold coin. How do we find a happy medium between the two? Also what happens after the dragon is slain and all that gold hits the local economy? How did economics work in the Middle Ages and other periods? (Panelist, would moderate)
My Phone is Dumb - In a world of ever-accelerating product revisions and increased functionality; what of the people who don't need the latest gadget? There are many who just want a cell phone to make calls, and rarely use a tenth of the functions on even the most basic phones. Is there an untapped "bare-bones" market out there? (Panelist)
The Ten Biggest Errors Made In Military SF That Drive Veterans Nuts - From grossly unrealistic descriptions of how rank and discipline are handled to films that complete get uniforms and equipment wrong, the things civilians don't notice but we do. (Panelist, would moderate. Panelists should be veterans, obviously.)
Need to re-do the con bio. 250 words, any suggestions?
Obviously, we won't be staying on site. Money is too tight to justify paying for a room in a hotel that's ten minutes from home.
The Old School Revolution - The last few years have seen the release of several RPG systems that harken back to the earliest days of the industry. Simple rules, straight forward monster-bashing, and none of the baggage encumbering more modern systems. Is this a Renaissance for paper and dice RPGs or a sign of the end? (Panelist, would moderate.)
Is Secrecy Dead? - Wikileaks, Google Street View, and what we willingly put on the net about ourselves has ushered in an age when almost anything will be found in time. How much transparency is too much for a government? For a company? For you? How do you protect secrets in this modern age? (Panelist)
DADT, Women in Combat, and the Dreyfuss Affair. Military discrimination, past and future - Military organizations are conservative and resistant to change. We will examine how social change has affected modern military organizations and speculate on what the future holds for soldiers. Will there be bias against genetically modified service members? How do you integrate aliens into the Marines? (Panelist, would moderate. If this is used please try to get veterans on the panel!)
Religion in RPGS - Clerics in traditional fantasy role-playing games serve mainly as healers and back-up combatants, with a vaguely defined god they theoretically serve. Religion was a vital part of medieval life, and game settings should reflect that. We will explore how historical churches worked and how to run a more vibrant religious setting in a game. (Panelist, would moderate)
Fantasy Economics - In fantasy stories, dragons sleep on mountains of gold coins. In reality, a German baron feed several hundred crusaders for eight pieces of gold coin. How do we find a happy medium between the two? Also what happens after the dragon is slain and all that gold hits the local economy? How did economics work in the Middle Ages and other periods? (Panelist, would moderate)
My Phone is Dumb - In a world of ever-accelerating product revisions and increased functionality; what of the people who don't need the latest gadget? There are many who just want a cell phone to make calls, and rarely use a tenth of the functions on even the most basic phones. Is there an untapped "bare-bones" market out there? (Panelist)
The Ten Biggest Errors Made In Military SF That Drive Veterans Nuts - From grossly unrealistic descriptions of how rank and discipline are handled to films that complete get uniforms and equipment wrong, the things civilians don't notice but we do. (Panelist, would moderate. Panelists should be veterans, obviously.)
Need to re-do the con bio. 250 words, any suggestions?
Obviously, we won't be staying on site. Money is too tight to justify paying for a room in a hotel that's ten minutes from home.
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no subject
Date: 29 Mar 2011 22:12 (UTC)Money is looser for us (see death of mom), so we are staying there this year. If you really need to get away from stuff, but can't go home yet, let us know. If nothing else, we have electricity for charging of machines and O2 or whatever.
no subject
Date: 29 Mar 2011 22:44 (UTC)no subject
Date: 29 Mar 2011 23:57 (UTC)For Fantasy Economics, the results of the influx of gold from the New World on Spain's economy is quite instructive (short version: it wrecked their economy and they are still feeling some of the effects)
Dumb Phones? It's like calculators. It essentially costs the same to make a dumb phone as a somewhat smart phone. And you can sell the somewhat smart phone to more people.
Military SF? Heck even non-military SF and "mainstream" portrayals of the military as a story element are screwed up, and I'm 4F!
Classic examples from the last few episodes of The Event.
We have the head of some government department at a military run internment center for the aliens issuing orders to the commander.
Sorry, he's *not* in their chain of command. And the commander should have politely told him so.
Likewise, in the most recent one, a high militaryt officer (one of the Joint Chiefs?) pointed out to the President that the Posse Commitatus law said he couldn't just order a bunch of troops to go in to grab this person. The president essentially told him "I don't care, this is too important".
In realty I can't see an officer *not* telling the President that the order isn't a lawful order and as such it won't be obeyed.
Even if the first officer caved, I'd expect *somebody* farther down the chain of command to raise the same objection. Though likely not the company commander or lower.
Basicaly, they don't seem at all clear on chain of command and don't seem to know that there are such things as unlawful orders.
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Date: 30 Mar 2011 00:35 (UTC)no subject
Date: 30 Mar 2011 01:43 (UTC)no subject
Date: 3 Apr 2011 16:52 (UTC)no subject
Date: 3 Apr 2011 17:21 (UTC)