For years I have grown up with the RPGA being an attached part of the Dungeons & Dragons brand. Monthly, even sometimes weekly, these events at my local gaming hub would be organized, filling the shop with multitudes of role players gathered together for the love of a game. In a sad and unfortunate move, Wizards of the Coast has end the long standing organization of the Role Playing Game Association (RPGA) and replaced with the now known Wizards Player Network or WPN.
Wizards of the Coast attained the rights to the RPGA upon buying out TSR and all of their associated properties in 1997. Since then the RPGA has been the flag ship of nationwide gaming communities throughout the United States until recently when Wizards of the Coast decided to end the RPGA’s existence, only to be replaced by a duplicate organization that could best suit their other intellectual properties such as CCGs and historical war games as well. It is an understatement to say that this change saddens me given the integrated history the RPGA has had with Dungeons & Dragons as well as other properties such as Living Kalamar, Living Spycraft, and Living Rokugan, not to mention their main lines of Living Greyhawk, and Living Forgotten Realms.
This is an unfortunate move by Wizards of the Coast, but given their track record over the past few years I am not surprised. In this way I would like to pay homage to the RPGA for all it has done for the gaming community over the past three decades. Giving my respects to the members who have promoted the RPGA throughout this great nation, and cross the waters, along with those who have made such great gaming memories for all of us. Game on my friends!!!