Halloween always makes for an interesting time on social media: you get to see an endless amount of costumes, with some obviously sticking out more than others. This past weekend, however, we also saw a bunch of posts from SummonersCon, the self-described first convention for League of Legends fans.

Admittedly, when the convention was first announced I was a bit skeptical of its ability to deliver on its promises. I’ve seen more than a few projects that emerge with a lot of fanfare and depend too much on being the “first ______ for _______”, capitalizing on their ability to get people excited rather than execute an idea. This seems to be especially bad in gaming/eSports, where the ability to get hype is (sadly) not indicative of the potential for success.

Thankfully, SummonersCon seems to have gone off without a hitch, as we saw plenty of happy con-goers without any reports of people being set on fire, hotel weirdness or extra hours in the ball pit. Instead, it provided a place where artists, players, fans and cosplayers could convene, listen to panels, ask questions of their favourite personalities, and engage with audiences.

This is important, particularly because of a couple reasons.

League of Legends’ Crossover Appeal

I thought about SummonersCon a lot yesterday, and the key thing that stuck in my brain was that I had trouble picturing an equivalent event for a similar game. While Dota 2, Starcraft, Hearthstone or World of Warcraft all have similar fanbases (or did at one time), only the latter feels like it could harness the people needed to pull off a full-fledged convention.

Blizzard, of course, has BlizzCon for fans of their titles, but the fact that SummonersCon was able to remain an independent (while heavily community-supported) effort is a testament to the reach and appeal of League of Legends.

Speaking personally, I find that LoL is able to capture a diverse audience through a number of factors:

Aesthetically, the game plays to a number of different niches. You’ve got “cute” champions, “badass” champions, “funny” champions and enough playstyles between them to enable a player to find one they can stick with. Characters also have defined interactions and relationships between one another, allowing for an expansion of canon beyond the game itself.

The above point makes it extremely easy for fans to create fanworks based on the setting. These allow people to influence their own experience — not a good player, but still like a character? Make some fanart, cosplay or fanfiction and you can still find a place in the community.

These allow people to influence their own experience — not a good player, but still like a character? Make some fanart, cosplay or fanfiction and you can still find a place in the community. The game refrains from over-the-top violence that could dissuade people that aren’t into it. The cartoony setting tries to be inviting.

Advertising and marketing shies away from “gamer” stereotypes, which can feel exclusionary to casuals and people who might not normally invest time into a game of its type.

The game is made for playing with friends and groups, bringing in people who want to keep in touch with people they’ve met.

Low access barrier through free-to-play and low computer specifications.

This opens up the convention to a broader audience than “good at the game, or likes watching it played by pros.” The cast of characters allows for cosplayers, artists, video creators and craftspeople to thrive within it.

In theory, there are few who will find nothing for them in the League community, and this means a convention easy to program. Panels, guests and attractions can be as diverse as the needs of the community — also, with show co-founder Cat “Catrific” Valdes being particularly connected to the pros-and-personalities scene, it would be easier to convince them this was worth their time. It also doesn’t hurt that many people are centralized in Los Angeles already, giving them a relatively short transit to the convention in Burbank.

Finally, SummonersCon had the added allure of being the first of its kind, which meant that the people who had something to gain from being there would make concessions to attend. If there were competing events (which could offer better incentives, such as paid travel and accommodations) it would keep SummonersCon from having such a “stacked” lineup.

Judging by the list of sponsors, enough people realized that it was to their advantage to support this fledgling event and potentially win through increased visibility and networking.

The Riot Control Issue

Playing into that last point, Riot seemed to be amused by the convention, if anything — they sent a few Rioters to participate in a panel and to attend as guests, but it seems as their involvement with SummonersCon beyond that was minimal.

This is refreshing, as the ability to stay independent allows SummonersCon to become a valuable venue for non-Riot-affiliated creators to flourish. It also lets the convention pivot to its evolving needs without being leashed to a greater entity that would control its funding, location and infrastructure.

The above paragraph reads a little dark-and-ominous, but I wouldn’t want SummonersCon2 to run into problems with pro player attendance because Riot’s interest in the convention didn’t align with what it wanted for its LCS players. Similar to comic book creators and their convention travels, SummonersCon lets people have a secondary venue to grow their community — while we aren’t at the “paying for photos and autographs” point yet, the ability to remain neutral is important.

Hypothetically, if Riot took a controlling stake in the convention, or had a major financial interest, they would be able to dictate who would be going, when/where it would be held or how it would operate. While they have done an immense amount for the fostering of their community so far, I’m pretty content to see them hanging back and letting someone else have a piece of the pie, so to speak.

It lets people who aren’t necessarily in the biggest spotlight still have a chance to shine. It lets League of Legends’ fans reward hard work.

Growing Experience

That last line is important, because as the League community grows larger, it will need people who have experience running events that Riot itself does not have the bandwidth to do themselves. It requires people who understand the different needs of cosplayers, gamers, creators and fans; sadly this experience is both really difficult and expensive to acquire.

As we’ve seen, trust seems to be a very fluid resource, especially when speedbumps can hit the front of Reddit in less than an hour. It’s important that SummonersCon did well because it both sets a precedent that these events can run smoothly, and that a number of people, teams and personalities can work in concert in order to pull it off.

I’m sure many of us have been to gaming events in the past where we didn’t feel welcome. We’re instantly able to tell that the person running the event had no idea how fans of the game operated outside their small bubble — they assume that’s how all fans are, and everyone who likes the same game will have fun in the same way.

Sadly, this isn’t the case, and depending on the extent of the backlash, it can be enough to “kill” events (at least in that region) or the trust in them to be done well. Ask /r/StarCraft about Kickstarters — they’ve seen way too many hyped, funded and fail to deliver. Because of those bad experiences, they’re really hesitant to fund more in the future, which makes it hard when people with genuinely good ideas need crowdfunding help to make them a reality.

In short, SummmonersCon’s success means that others who are interested in running events themselves now have a possible role model from which to build on. The pile of collective experience to draw from is now larger than it once was — as Catrific approached Kevin Khandjian (SummonersCon co-founder) about running a large-scale event because she didn’t have experience, someone else can (hopefully) ask her about her experiences so they can learn.

It also has the secondary benefit of letting creators get experience in conducting their fanworks and personalities like a business. Being able to manage, run and promote a booth takes time and effort, and ultimately for it to be rewarding you need to hustle.

Having somewhere (anywhere!) you can take your niche product is great because you have the added advantage of a common interest with the people at the convention — it’s easier to sell your League crafts or artwork if everyone there is a fan of the game already.