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Regarding ABC 2025
9 months ago
General
(Info copy + pasted from my announcement channel)
Hey guys—I'm not the one to write letters due to a cancelled con appearance, but the reason behind my non-attendance is highly critical and needs to be brought to attention.
TLDR; After talking it through with my partner, we have both decided that we will NOT be attending Anime Blues Con 2025.
There were two glaring reasons why we decided to cancel so close to the event, an event that I've regularly been going to since 2017 and will no longer attend for the foreseeable future:
The first reason is how the con has been treating their arcade department. For those who were unaware, ABC decided to dramatically reduce the number of imported rhythm games available to con-goers in exchange for a large, VR-headset play area beginning in 2024. Considering how VR can be played at any time, any day at the local Dave and Buster's, and how most of the imported games are usually a 3.5 hour drive away from most Memphians, this was immediately considered to be an attack on the rhythm game community, pushing out the "niche" and "irrelevant" games we've held dear to our hearts in exchange for a quick cash grab. And despite multiple, high-ranking members of the community vocally opposing the VR Zone's return in last year's exit survey, it looks like it'll be returning this year even bigger than before, reducing the number of imported games to almost zero. It's become such a hot topic in the rhythm game community that even Save Point, ABC's arcade sponsor, is starting to bad-mouth the convention within their Discord server and has hinted that after this year they will NOT be returning at all to supply these games to the public. Should this be the case, the absence of Save Point will almost guarantee that the two of us will never be returning.
The second reason, however, is even more dire than a grudge against the rise of VR. This year, instead of paying for an actual musician to host the con's dances, the convention has decided to NOT pay for any musical performances; even worse, what would've been a panel for actual music artists is now a panel that will "explore" and "entertain" the masses by...using generative AI to steal existing work and frame it as if it's all part of a harmless game show. Let me be clear, generative AI is NEVER a victimless crime; in order to generate something, an existing song made by a real, uncompensated person, MUST be stolen in some way. And the fact that a convention with a 6,500+ person attendance is supporting such open theft is a disgrace, full stop. To make matters worse, when the legitimacy of the AI panel was questioned in the con's Discord, a staff member *doubled down* on choosing the panel over panels hosted by actual artists, using the excuse that "We choose panels based on what we think will cater to a broad audience [...] Just like in life and in things like job interviews...Do something to stand out [next time]." Which was basically their way of saying actual artists and musicians don't give enough publicity for them to care.
It seriously hurts to have to do this, to boycott the first convention I attended as a legal adult and the first convention that I cleared a pop'n music chart over a 46 in public. I have so, SO many memories attached to this con. But with where things stand, those memories will now be made somewhere else, at a convention that embraces players of otherwise-obscure rhythm games and supports artists—not thieves—of ALL crafts.
For those who still want to interact with me during ABC weekend, I will still be in the area for Midsouth Pride and so far I do have plans to attend the parade + festival in my partial fursuit on Saturday. My next appearance in fullsuit will now be at Anthrocon (July 3-6), not next week. Apologies towards those who wanted to see my fursuit in June, but it's just not happening anymore with the choices ABC leadership is unfortunately deciding to make.
Hey guys—I'm not the one to write letters due to a cancelled con appearance, but the reason behind my non-attendance is highly critical and needs to be brought to attention.
TLDR; After talking it through with my partner, we have both decided that we will NOT be attending Anime Blues Con 2025.
There were two glaring reasons why we decided to cancel so close to the event, an event that I've regularly been going to since 2017 and will no longer attend for the foreseeable future:
The first reason is how the con has been treating their arcade department. For those who were unaware, ABC decided to dramatically reduce the number of imported rhythm games available to con-goers in exchange for a large, VR-headset play area beginning in 2024. Considering how VR can be played at any time, any day at the local Dave and Buster's, and how most of the imported games are usually a 3.5 hour drive away from most Memphians, this was immediately considered to be an attack on the rhythm game community, pushing out the "niche" and "irrelevant" games we've held dear to our hearts in exchange for a quick cash grab. And despite multiple, high-ranking members of the community vocally opposing the VR Zone's return in last year's exit survey, it looks like it'll be returning this year even bigger than before, reducing the number of imported games to almost zero. It's become such a hot topic in the rhythm game community that even Save Point, ABC's arcade sponsor, is starting to bad-mouth the convention within their Discord server and has hinted that after this year they will NOT be returning at all to supply these games to the public. Should this be the case, the absence of Save Point will almost guarantee that the two of us will never be returning.
The second reason, however, is even more dire than a grudge against the rise of VR. This year, instead of paying for an actual musician to host the con's dances, the convention has decided to NOT pay for any musical performances; even worse, what would've been a panel for actual music artists is now a panel that will "explore" and "entertain" the masses by...using generative AI to steal existing work and frame it as if it's all part of a harmless game show. Let me be clear, generative AI is NEVER a victimless crime; in order to generate something, an existing song made by a real, uncompensated person, MUST be stolen in some way. And the fact that a convention with a 6,500+ person attendance is supporting such open theft is a disgrace, full stop. To make matters worse, when the legitimacy of the AI panel was questioned in the con's Discord, a staff member *doubled down* on choosing the panel over panels hosted by actual artists, using the excuse that "We choose panels based on what we think will cater to a broad audience [...] Just like in life and in things like job interviews...Do something to stand out [next time]." Which was basically their way of saying actual artists and musicians don't give enough publicity for them to care.
It seriously hurts to have to do this, to boycott the first convention I attended as a legal adult and the first convention that I cleared a pop'n music chart over a 46 in public. I have so, SO many memories attached to this con. But with where things stand, those memories will now be made somewhere else, at a convention that embraces players of otherwise-obscure rhythm games and supports artists—not thieves—of ALL crafts.
For those who still want to interact with me during ABC weekend, I will still be in the area for Midsouth Pride and so far I do have plans to attend the parade + festival in my partial fursuit on Saturday. My next appearance in fullsuit will now be at Anthrocon (July 3-6), not next week. Apologies towards those who wanted to see my fursuit in June, but it's just not happening anymore with the choices ABC leadership is unfortunately deciding to make.
