For three days last weekend gamers of all kinds, roleplaying enthusiasts, comic book connoisseurs, anime addicts, fantasy and sci-fi junkies, and cosplay cognoscente converged on the West Plains Civic Center for Oz-Con 2024.
The convention is in its 10th year and staffed by volunteers, it had a little bit of everything, including massive displays of detailed miniatures typically used during games like Dungeons and Dragons and Warhammer, and playing sessions to go along with it.
Hosted by Always a Future for Kids, a not-for-profit organization established in 2013 by Missouri State University-West Plains staff, students, and faculty that raises funds for local programs that benefit youth like Bridges, the Child Advocacy Center, Samaritan Outreach Center, and Christos House.
Other outside vendors are affiliated with youth charities like Make-A-Wish Foundation, and it was also attended by the Missouri Ghostbusters, based in Springfield, who make the convention rounds with their Ectomobile, demon dog, proton packs, and other replica movie memorabilia.
Their members also make appearances at charity events with the goal of promoting fundraising efforts and bringing a dash of fun and nostalgia to fans. They have been on the job for 15 years.
The connection is fitting as a space for creatives, keyboard warriors, and defenders (and sometimes villains) of just about any universe that can be imagined. To the uninitiated, it might take some sorting out as a gathering that is very inclusive and welcoming to a mix of formerly fringe groups interested in formerly fringe hobbies.
Such conventions have been around since the 1970s. Comic-Con in San Diego, perhaps the most famous, held its first event in 1970 and has since grown to hold events worldwide. It has also spawned smaller conventions in larger cities and small for those that can't wait an entire year or afford to make the trip to indulge their interest.
Roleplaying game Dungeons and Dragons creators Gary Gygax and David Arneson published their first guidebook in 1974 under Gygax's company TSR, bought out by Wizards of the Coast in the late 90s, a subsidiary of the toy giant Hasbro.
Since then, the community interested in invented worlds and gained traction, beyond a printed manual, photocopied character sheets, and specialized dice. It has expanded into countless roleplaying themes usually related to or based on popular science fiction, futurism, horror, and superhero comics.
Though initially controversial, the acquisition of gaming materials by corporate giants hasn't ruined the genre but added traction to the inevitable popularity of tabletop roleplaying and card games like Magic:The Gathering and Pokemon and their later intermingling with other platforms like video games.
Add to that the explosion of internet technology and online gaming, and participants may now collaborate and compete with like-minded individuals around the world. There are about 170 participating schools and about 5,000 esports athletes, according to the National Association of Collegiate Esports.
At MSU-WP, for example, there is now an Esports team that competes with other college teams within a network that can offer not only camaraderie but scholarships and trophies. Oz-Con included gaming competitions in Minecraft and Mario Cart.
Finding a niche within such a widely varied group, and the various levels of dedication and involvement has encouraged the continuation and growth of the hobby, which seems to attract the young and young-at-heart, and meshes well with those that identify as geeks or nerds, no longer the derisive terms of the 1980s but badges of honor.
And there is a difference between geeks and nerds, by the way. Geeks are classified as those that have an intense interest in a particular subject or genre and are usually memorabilia collectors and trivia experts on their chosen fandom while nerds are described as those that also have a focused interest on the intellectual aspects of their interest, like the science behind a cloaking device or warp speed space travel, for example.
A geek will likely be able to tell you about a specific storyline in a Superman comic or a rare action figure while a nerd will explain the theoretical science behind time travel or the likelihood that long-extinct dinosaurs can be revived with cloning. But again, within the community, it's all good.
And let's not forget the cosplayers. The term was coined in Japan in the late 1970s or early 1980s to refer in general to fans of fictional anime and maga comic book characters that dressed as them as a hobby.
The hobby took hold in the United States and elsewhere, again in the 1990s, with the popularity and spread of printed materials and animated shows like "Avatar: The Last Airbender." That still generally applies, but true to the inclusive nature of such fandoms it has expanded to include classic superheroes, video game characters, and even invented characters sprung from the creator's imagination, who often spend huge amounts of time and sometimes money on bringing their elaborate visions to life.
At Oz-Con the costumes ranged from plague doctors to movie, comic book, and video game characters.
In short, and again in the spirit of Oz-Con, there's a little bit of something for everyone and a place at the (gaming) table for everyone.
