Guests of Honour for this year have been now confirmed, and we’re proud to present: Kevin Wilson (USA) and D. Vincent Baker.
Kevin Wilson
Wilson is the man behind such popular boardgames like Arkham Horror (2005) and A Game of Thrones (First edition, 2003).
Wilson’s career history hits close to familiar ground for the Ropecon crowd as well; he started off with the D&D Red Box at the age of 8, and worked developing roleplaying games before moving on to board games. His accomplishments in the RPG development include, for example, the 7th Sea-RPG (published by AEG). Wilson is a renowned game designer and works, among other projects, for Fantasy Flight Games publishing.
”Arkham horror is a staple in our deck of cards, and a steadily popular purchase. It’s one of the most sold board game series in Finland, if you account for games published in a foreign language. I can’t quickly think of a stronger brand of games we’ve sold for the last decade or so. Game of Thrones is a board game, which saw a huge increase in sales with the fame brought by the HBO television show of the same series. The game has sold hugely in the US market, but due to it being only published in English the sales in Finland are limited, though we can certainly say its a well-selling board game.”
-Toni Niittymäki, lautapelit.fi
D. Vincent Baker
Baker is one of the most known game designers from the roleplaying indie movement and the founder of Lumpley Games publishing. His achievements count amongst themselves such projects as the award-winning Dogs in the Vineyard (2004) and Apocalypse World (2010). His latest project is Mobile Frame Zero, a strategy-themed roleplaying game played with LEGOs.
”Dogs in the Vineyard is an RPG about the hounds of God, set in the middle of 19th century wild west, and is based loosely in the history of mormon pioneers. The gamers and the GM co-create a story in which only one basic rule applies in practice: say yes or escalate the situation into a conflict. The game provides good frames for taking a look and questioning different world-views, morals and values. This setting creates excellent roleplaying, providing the players with strong sensations and new views to the basic questions of life. Dogs in the Vineyard leaves no one hanging out to dry. Quite the opposite.”
-Outi Putkonen, Ropecon XX-Guest of Honour team.