Warhorn and the State of Gaming Convention Software
Since the announcement that gaming event site Warhorn was to be shut down, many offers have been made to take it over from Brian Moseley, its original maintainer. Moseley has lately confirmed on Warhorn’s Discord server that negotiations are still in progress, but if no agreement can be reached, Warhorn will be shut down on June 15.
With the clock ticking, gaming conventions and local groups have been scrambling to evaluate other options and finding that all of them are bad fits for nearly all cases.
Most software for fan conventions in general chooses to ignore events with limited signups. Games, workshops, kaffeeklatsches, and other events with similar use cases are still handled with paper signups at the convention itself. Sometimes a convention with a robust gaming track will add a free event on Warhorn as a workaround for handling signups, putting conventions that want to keep doing this in the same boat as local gaming groups.
Tabletop.Events is a commercial platform for gaming conventions. It is free for organizers to use, instead taking a percentage of the fee every time someone registers for an event. Tabletop.Events is only intended for use within the United States, has no provision for completely free events, and lacks some Warhorn features such as waitlists and a discussion thread for every game.
Meetup is the alternative being most widely looked at. It also lacks features compared to Warhorn or any other convention-oriented site and is coy about its cost, although other sites report that an organizer account starts at $15.99.
Discord bots are free, and nearly all game conventions and local gaming groups already have Discord servers, but bots lack the discoverability of web-based listings.
In short, the only good alternative to Warhorn that has been identified so far is Warhorn under new management.
In Brief
Longtime conrunner Wim van de Bospoort died May 5.
ConFiction 1990 • Worldcon in MemoriamAnime Ohio (Cincinnati, Ohio, June 21-23) has added Shannon Chan-Kent, Brian Drummond, and Brad Swaile as guests.
Tampa Bay Comic Convention (Tampa, Florida, August 23-25) has added Robert Patrick and Katie Cassidy as guests.
Tucson Comic-Con (Tucson, Arizona, August 30-September 1) has added Kayla Ballesteros as a guest.
FanX Salt Lake (Salt Lake City, Utah, September 26-28) has added Jonathan Frakes, Nolan North, Ryan Bartley, Sean Chiplock, Robert Patrick, and TC Carson as guests.
Cincinnati Comic Expo (Cincinnati, Ohio, October 18-20) has added Mira Sorvina, Ray Chase, Alan Davis, and Larry Houston as guests.
Event Calendar
Weekend of May 17-19
Marcon 59, Columbus, Ohio, USA
Keycon 40: Choose Your Own Adventure!, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Mephit Mini Con 25: Dia de Muertos (anthropomorphic), Kirchen/Sieg, Germany
Furpile (anthropomorphic), Łódź, Poland
Furry Weekend Holland: In the Deep Forest, Baarlo, Netherlands
ZodiaCon 2024: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (anthropomorphic), Horní Bradlo, Czechia
Chupacabracon X (gaming), San Marcos, Texas, USA
CanGames, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Play (gaming), Modena, Italy
Geekway to the West 2024: Geekway to the 7 Seas (gaming), St. Charles, Missouri, USA
Sioux City Game Con Spring 2024, Sioux City, Iowa, USA
Drums at the Rapids (historical miniatures), Perrysburg, Ohio, USA
Huzzah! Con 2024: Huzzah Goes Hollywood (miniatures gaming), Portland, Maine, USA
Sand Wars 2024 (historical miniatures), Mesa, Arizona, USA
Air Con 2024 (air-themed gaming), Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Tokyo Alley 12: Adventure (anime), Perth, Australia
Anime Central, Rosemont, Illinois, USA
CloverCon (anime), Bridgewater, New Jersey, USA
Beta Quest (anime), Kingsland, Georgia, USA
Metrotham Con Episode V: The Magical World of Metrotham (media), Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA
Tidewater Comicon, Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA
Comic Con Revolution, Ontario, California, USA
CradleCon (media), Garden City, New York, USA
Geek Days Lille (media), Lille, France
East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Great Mills Comicon, Great Mills, Maryland, USA
Spooky Empire (horror media), Orlando, Florida, USA
Seaquestria Fest (My Little Pony), Ocean City, Maryland, USA
Weekend of May 24-26
Balticon 58, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
MisCon 38: The Dark Forest, Missoula, Montana, USA
Na meji nevidnega, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Fargo CoreCon: Echoes of the Past, Fargo, North Dakota, USA
IceCon 2024, Rejkjavik, Iceland
ConFuzzled (anthropomorphic), Birmingham, UK
AnthrOhio: Purranormal (anthropomorphic), Columbus, Ohio, USA
PrairieCon 43 (gaming), Brandon, Manitoba, Canada
KublaCon (gaming), Burlingame, California, USA
ReCon (gaming), Kernersville, North Carolina, USA
Rocky Top Game Con, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
Gamex 2024 (gaming), Los Angeles, California, USA
TableTopCon 2024 (gaming), Southport, Australia
BGG.Spring (boardgames), Dallas, Texas, USA
Enfilade 2024 (miniatures gaming), Tacomaington, USA
PaizoCon Online 2024 (Pathfinder/Starfinder RPGs), online
FanimeCon: Fan Prix (anime), San Jose, California, USA
Thy Geekdom Con (anime), Oaks, Pennsylvania, USA
Animazement (anime), Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
Mizucon (anime), Miami, Florida, USA
AniMinneapolis (anime), Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
ExpOtaku A Coruña (anime), A Coruña, Spain
Animefest 2024, Brno, Czechia
MomoCon 2024 (anime), Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Sabaku Con 2024 (anime), Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
Naka-Kon 2024 (anime), Overland Park, Kansas, USA
MCM London Comic Con, London, UK
Cherry Capital Comic Con, Acme, Michigan, USA
Austria Comic Con, Wels, Austria
Phoenix Fan Fusion (media), Phoenix, Arizona, USA
Argentina Comic Con, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Austria Comic Con, Wels, Austria
Southernerds Festival (media), Biloxi, Mississippi, USA
Weekend of May 31-June 2
FunCon One, Buxton, UK
Tremendicon, Springfield, Missouri, USA
ConCarolinas 2024, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA
Fantasticon 2024: Immortality, Copenhagen, Denmark
StokerCon 2024 (horror), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Oz-Stravaganza 2024: Technicolor Oz (Wizard of Oz), Chittenango, New York, USA
Cymera 2024 (sf writing), Edinburgh, UK and online
Airikas Traum XVIII (music), Erbach, Germany
StratosFur (anthropomorphic), Houston, Texas, USA
Steampunk Alchemy Fest, Budd Lake, New Jersey, USA
FlaMinGoCon (gaming), Delray Beach, Florida, USA
UK Games Expo (gaming), Birmingham, UK
Wellycon (gaming), Wellington, New Zealand
Evergreen Tabletop Expo (gaming), Renton, Washington, USA
Diversão Offline (gaming), São Paulo, Brazil
Mega XP (gaming), Mexico City, Mexico
Diecon 2024 (gaming), Collinsville, Illinois, USA
Y-Con 2024 (gaming), Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada
64 Bits or Less (retro video games), Corvallis, Oregon, USA
CORGSCon (retro video games), Columbus, Ohio, USA
KimoKawaii 3 (anime), Conroe, Texas, USA
Bak-Anime, Bakersfield, California, USA
Chibi-Con (anime), Winterthur, Switzerland
Anime Riverside 2024, Riverside, California, USA
3 Rivers Comicon, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
ColossalCon (media), Sandusky, Ohio, USA
The NeverEnding Fantasy Con (1980s fantasy films), London, UK
Trek Long Island (Star Trek), Hauppauge, New York, USA
Weekend of June 7-9
Robert E. Howard Days, Cross Plains, Texas, USA
Cogs & Corsets (steampunk), Bloomington, Illinois, USA
OttoCon III (gaming), Pleasant Valley, New York, USA
SaltCON Summer (gaming), Layton, Utah, USA
Be Excellent Festival of Games, Sylvania, Ohio, USA
Bayou Wars 2024 (miniatures gaming), D’Iberville, Mississippi, USA
SoCal Gaming Expo (video games), Ontario, California, USA
North Texas RPG Con (vintage tabletop RPGs), Irving, Texas, USA
Winsome Choose Some (Winsome boardgames), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
YUMiCON (anime), San Antonio, Texas, USA
Anime Blues Con, Memphis, Tennessee, USA
AnimeCon 2024: The Future is Cow, Rijswijk, Netherlands
Metropolis Superman Celebration, Metropolis, Illinois, USA
Kauai Comic Con 3, Lihue, Hawaii, USA
Oz Comic-Con: Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
SWFL SpaceCon (media), Cape Coral, Florida, USA
Sci-Fi Valley Con (media), Altoona, Pennsylvania, USA
Fan Expo Dallas (media), Dallas, Texas, USA
EM-Con (media), Nottingham, UK
North Country Comic Con, Watertown, New York, USA
Etna Comics 2024 (media), Catania, Italy
Whinny City Pony Con 2024: Summer Camp (My Little Pony), Schaumburg, Illinois, USA
Weekend of June 14-16
YetiCon, The Blue Mountains, Ontario, Canada
Pyrkon, Poznań, Poland
4th Street Fantasy, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
CastleCon 13 (anthropomorphic), Horb, Germany
Arcon 40 (gaming), Oslo, Norway
Game Con Canada, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Spielfest Wien (gaming), Vienna, Austria
Board Game Fest, Chavdar, Bulgaria
NordCon (gaming), Hamburg, Germany
Q-Con 2024 (gaming), Belfast, UK
Gameloops 2024 (boardgames), Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada
Medway Gaming Festival (video games), Chatham, UK
Card Party 2 (Pokémon CCG), Orlando, Florida, USA
Wie.MAI.KAI (anime), Flörsheim am Main, Germany
Anime Marathon, Königslutter am Elm, Germany
AnimeCon UK, Birmingham, UK
Finn-Con@MDC (anime), Miami, Florida, USA
Indonesia Anime Con, BSD City, Indonesia
Desucon 2024 (anime), Lahti, Finland
OMG!con 2024 (anime), Owensboro, Kentucky, USA
Heroes Convention (comics), Charlotte, North Carolina, USA
Space Coast Comic Con, Cocoa, Florida, USA
Forest City Comicon, London, Ontario, Canada
Fan Expo Boston (media), Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Coda
We tried to pet all 200 breeds at the Westminster Dog Show (Washington Post)
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