Thinking of dressing up? Updates to the weapons policy
19 January 2018
We've made some small updates to the weapons policy, which will hopefully make life more fun without making things more Interesting for the Watch.
The short version is this: Hurty things are still Right Out. Things designed to be costume versions with no hurty bits, are probably going to be fine.
After feedback from our members, pondering from the Watch, and some fading of memories1, we realised that the previous version of the weapons policy was not balanced the way any of us wanted it, and was reducing the enjoyment of people with costumes in ways that weren't making the convention safer. Our main goal is to make the convention a safe environment to have enjoyable weekend, and we have to find the right balance.
When you come to the Convention we would still like you to bring things that might be considered dangerous to Ops2. Ops will take a long sip of coffee, and then either say "We will look after that until the Maskerade and any organised photo shoots, thank you very much for your cooperation" or will say "Even I, a barely awake primate, can not hurt myself with that. Here, let us attach a tag so that no one looks at you funny3 when you're walking around." In either case, a nice non-damaging tag will be attached to the item using either cable ties or string, and it'll have your details on so we know whose it is. In some cases we may use those cable ties to prevent a weapon being drawn, known as peace-bonding. We want to do this in such a way that doesn't damage the item, and is removable after the convention.
If you're planning a costume and want to check with us before arriving, please email info@dwcon.org with a description of what you'd want to bring. You'll still need to visit Ops at the Convention to get the final check and tag.
1People waving metal katanas about in the corridor springs far too easily to mind, even now.
2Except razor-sharp wit
3Or funny for that specific reason.