Next digital convention is The ACDC, 12-14 January 2024
What is a “digital convention”?
It’s just like any other game convention, except in your pajamas!
Seriously, though, it’s an organized weekend of gaming and game events that takes place online, where GMs lead their game sessions through online gaming tools like Tabletop Simulator, Roll20, VASSAL, Discord, Tabletopia, Virtual Tabletop, and others. Players register for events just like any other convention, but rather than taking a seat at a specific table at the appointed time, they log into a virtual table with their GM at the appointed time.
The Armchair Dragoons use Discord as our central organizing hub. Think of this as our central lobby at the convention site, where everyone gathers, chats, hangs out, and finds their way to their game.
The Armchair Dragoons use Discord as our central organizing hub. Think of this as our central lobby at the convention site, where everyone gathers, chats, hangs out, and finds their way to their game. From our central Discord hub, we have channels for each ‘room’ and ‘table’ where you can find your game events. GMs will normally use the voice channels in Discord to help guide the players to appropriate sessions in the digital game platform, and most GMs will use Discord vote throughout their game sessions. Please do not give out the link to the Discord server to anyone; participants registered for the convention will have the link sent to them.
Panels & talk shows will take place using YouTube, with unlisted links that are shared only with convention-goers. As with the Discord server, please do not share these links. After the convention is over, the links will be made public for others to watch the recordings, but only registered participants will have access to the live chat as the panels are ongoing.
During the convention, different impromptu activities will pop up in the Discord server, from polls, to chat sessions, to door-prize giveaways. These are unscheduled and unscripted, so stick around even when your games aren’t ongoing.
The Armchair Dragoons convention staff, GMs, and tech support are all volunteers, so with that in mind, please keep interactions with everyone calm and polite. Tone of voice doesn’t always come through online in an obvious way, and without facial cues, some social interaction is bound to get lost. Everyone is here for a fun time of gaming, so let’s not get overly-heated with anyone in our online channels. Please refer to the code of conduct for all of our conventions to help guide that behavior.
Armchair Dragoons Convention Lineup
Since pioneering the online wargame convention back in the Summer of 20201, the Armchair Dragoons have established several recurring online conventions:
- The Armchair Dragoons Assembly – Brand new! Our Fall Assembly 2023 was held in October, and plans are underway for the next one in 2024. This is a gameplay-focused in-person convention with a mixture of wargames: big & small, 2- & 3- & 4-player and more, un/published, and everything in between.
- The ACDC – The ArmChair Dragoons (D)igital Convention – a gameplay-focused weekend to play great games with their designers, showcase some unheralded gems that need a wider signal boost, and check out some interesting talks & panels with folks in the wargaming industry; held annually on MLK weekend in January, and occasionally when we feel like another one
- Connections Online – a practitioner-focused conference that emphasizes professional information exchange ahead of gameplay, with a themed focus on developing the professional & academic worlds of wargaming; held annually in the Spring during the work week over several “core” event days, with a wider spread of “extended” events on either side
- MystaraCon – devoted to the older BECMI D&D game world of Mystara, the Armchair Dragoons are helping MystaraCon get off the ground with their initial ramp-up before handing the reins over to a more formal organization for their long-term care & feeding. We’ll come back around with another one when we can.
Armchair Dragoons Digital Convention Archives
The Armchair Dragoons were one of the trailblazers of the digital convention in the wargaming space, and have since expanded that footprint to include professional conferences and role-playing conventions.
In chronological order:
- The Virtual Dragoons Assembly, July-August 2020
- The Inaugural ACDC, January 2021
- Connections Online, April 2021
- The Summer ACDC, June 2021
- MystaraCon, November 2021
- The 3rd ACDC, January 2022
- Connections Online, April 2022
- Connections Online Showcase, October 2023
- The 4th ACDC, January 2023
- Connections Online, April 2023
- Fall Assembly, October 2023 (photos / AAR)