Ropecon is a role-playing

Role-playing game

A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...

 convention held annually in Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

. The convention is one of the largest non-commercial annual event of its kind, having reached a record of 3946 attendees in 2007. The current venue is the Dipoli

Dipoli

Dipoli is a conference center located in Otaniemi, Espoo, Finland as a part of the campus of the Helsinki University of Technology ....

 convention centre and surrounding buildings in Espoo

Espoo

Espoo is the second largest city and municipality in Finland. The population of the city of Espoo is . It is part of the Helsinki Metropolitan Area along with the cities of Helsinki, Vantaa, and Kauniainen. Espoo shares its eastern border with Helsinki and Vantaa, while enclosing Kauniainen....

 (close to Helsinki

Helsinki

Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...

, the capital city of Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

). Ropecon 2010 was held July 23-25.

Ropecon hosts a wide variety of different types of games, including role-playing game

Role-playing game

A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...

s, live action role-playing game

Live action role-playing game

A live action role-playing game is a form of role-playing game where the participants physically act out their characters' actions. The players pursue goals within a fictional setting represented by the real world, while interacting with each other in character. The outcome of player actions may...

s, collectible card game

Collectible card game

thumb|Players and their decksA collectible card game , also called a trading card game or customizable card game, is a game played using specially designed sets of playing cards...

s, miniature wargames

Miniature wargaming

Miniature wargaming is a form of wargaming that incorporates miniature figures, miniature armor and modeled terrain as the main components of play...

 and strategy game

Strategy game

A strategy game or strategic game is a game in which the players' uncoerced, and often autonomous decision-making skills have a high significance in determining the outcome...

s. The event also has a range of lectures, panel discussions and other presentations covering different aspects of gaming. The guests of honour include several prominent game designers, such as Steve Jackson

Steve Jackson (US)

Steve Jackson is an American game designer. After working for many years at Metagaming Concepts designing such games as Ogre and The Fantasy Trip, he left to found Steve Jackson Games in the early 1980s...

.

Ropecon is organised by the Ropecon Society, a joint venture of several Finnish role-playing associations. The practical arrangements are made by the unpaid members of an organising committee and hundreds of voluntary workers at the convention. Any profits are used to support various other role-playing activities.

The name "Ropecon" comes from the Finnish language

Finnish language

Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...

 word "roolipeli", meaning role-playing game, not from the English language

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 word "rope

Rope

A rope is a length of fibres, twisted or braided together to improve strength for pulling and connecting. It has tensile strength but is too flexible to provide compressive strength...

".

List of Ropecons

Year	Venue	Guests of honour
2011	Dipoli Dipoli Dipoli is a conference center located in Otaniemi, Espoo, Finland as a part of the campus of the Helsinki University of Technology .... , Espoo	Frank Mentzer Frank Mentzer Jacob Franklin "Frank" Mentzer III , is an American fantasy author and game designer best known for his work on early materials for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. He was a performing folk musician from 1968 to 1975, and played one concert at the White House during the... , Erik Mona Erik Mona -Career:Erik Mona served as the editor-in-chief of Dragon magazine since 2004 and Dungeon magazine from 2004 to 2006; at the time, both magazines were published by Paizo Publishing, until the license through Wizards of the Coast expired in September 2007...
2010	Dipoli	Keith Baker, Friedemann Friese Friedemann Friese Friedemann Friese is a German board game designer, currently residing and working in Bremen. His trademarks are his green-colored hair and games whose titles begin with the letter "F". The majority of his games, self-published by his company 2F-Spiele, also sport a green color scheme...
2009	Dipoli	L. Scott Johnson, Suzi Yee, Malik Hyltoft and Antti Malin Antti Malin Antti Malin is a Finnish player of fantasy card-game Magic: The Gathering. Malin won the World Championship of the game in December 2008 in Memphis, United States. He is from the capital of Finland, Helsinki....
2008	Dipoli	Greg Stolze Greg Stolze Greg Stolze is an American novelist and writer, whose work has mainly focused on properties derived from role-playing games.Stolze has contributed to numerous role-playing game books for White Wolf Game Studio and Atlas Games, including Demon: the Fallen... , Chris Pramas Chris Pramas -Career:His works for Dungeons & Dragons include: Slavers , Guide to Hell , Apocalypse Stone , Vortex of Madness , as well as some work on the third edition Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide .He has also done work for Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay.He quit Wizards of the Coast in 2000 to...  and Peter S. Andreasen
2007	Dipoli	Robin D. Laws Robin Laws Robin D. Laws is a writer and game designer who lives in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He is the author of a number of role-playing games and related products.-Works:Robin D... , Emily Care Boss and Jakob Rune Nielsen
2006	Dipoli	Kenneth Hite Kenneth Hite Kenneth Hite is a writer and role-playing game designer. He holds an M.A. in International Relations from the University of Chicago and a Bachelor's degree in Cartography from East Central University. He has been writing games since 1981 and full-time since 1995... , Bruno Faidutti Bruno Faidutti Bruno Faidutti is an historian and sociologist, living in France, who is best known as an author of board games. His best known games include Knightmare Chess , Mystery of the Abbey and Citadels . He is also involved in the boardgaming community with his "Ideal Games Library" website and... , Olle Jonsson and Tobias Wrigstad
2005	Dipoli	Greg Stafford Greg Stafford Francis Gregory Stafford , usually known as Greg Stafford, is an American game designer, publisher and shaman.-Glorantha and gaming:... , Bill Bridges and Claus Raasted
2004	Dipoli	John Kovalic John Kovalic John Kovalic is a cartoonist, illustrator, and writer.Kovalic is best known for his Dork Tower comic book, comic strip and webcomic, and other humorous work set in and about the fantasy role-playing game genre, such as The Unspeakable Oaf... , Erick Wujcik Erick Wujcik Erick Wujcik was an American designer of both pen-and-paper and computer role-playing games, and co-founder of Palladium Books.- Gaming career :...  and Emma Wieslander
2003	Dipoli	Jonathan Tweet Jonathan Tweet Jonathan Tweet is a game designer who has been involved in the development of the role-playing games Ars Magica, Everway, Over the Edge, Talislanta and the third edition of Dungeons & Dragons, as well as the Collectible Miniatures Game Dreamblade.-Early life:Jonathan Tweet started playing D&D in... , Ramon Laan and Martin Ericsson
2002	Dipoli	Justin Achilli and Eirik Fatland
2001	Dipoli	N. Robin Crossby N. Robin Crossby N. Robin Crossby was the creator of the Hârn fantasy setting and the HârnMaster role-playing game system, as well as dozens of other related works describing the world of Hârn.-Early life:...  and Tuomas Pirinen
2000	Dipoli	Steve Jackson Steve Jackson (US) Steve Jackson is an American game designer. After working for many years at Metagaming Concepts designing such games as Ogre and The Fantasy Trip, he left to found Steve Jackson Games in the early 1980s...  and Richard Dansky Richard Dansky Richard "Rich" Dansky is a writer and a designer of both computer games and role-playing games. He is a former game developer for White Wolf, Inc. where he worked as developer on the Wraith: The Oblivion, Mind's Eye Theatre, Vampire: The Dark Ages, Kindred of the East, and Orpheus game lines...
1999	Dipoli	Mike Pondsmith Mike Pondsmith Michael Alyn Pondsmith is a roleplaying game and video game designer.He is best known for his work with R. Talsorian Games, where he developed most role-playing game lines from the company's beginning to the present: Mekton , Cyberpunk , Cybergeneration, Teenagers from Outer Space, Castle...  and Rick Priestley Rick Priestley Rick Priestley is a miniature wargaming designer and author who lives near Nottingham, England.Priestley worked extensively for Games Workshop...
1998	Dipoli	Ray Greer and Mark Rosewater Mark Rosewater Mark Rosewater is a Magic: The Gathering card designer. He is currently Magics head designer.-Biography:Rosewater grew up in Pepper Pike, Ohio, where he attended the Orange High School. Rosewater has a Jewish background. Rosewater has described himself in his youth as a "social outcast", who did...
1997	Paasitorni, Helsinki	Greg Costikyan Greg Costikyan Greg Costikyan, sometimes known under the pseudonym "Designer X" , is an American game designer and science fiction writer.Costikyan's career spans nearly all extant genres of gaming, including hex-based wargames, role-playing games, boardgames, card games, computer games, online games and mobile...
1996	Paasitorni	Tom Dowd and Andy Chambers Andy Chambers Andy Chambers is a British author and game designer, best known for his work for Games Workshop. He worked extensively on various Warhammer 40,000 rulebooks and sourcebooks, and also authored at least one fiction novel set in the same universe....
1995	Helsinki Fair Centre Helsinki Fair Centre The Helsinki Exhibition & Convention Centre is the biggest and most famous fair centre in Finland. It is located in the capital city of Helsinki....	Sandy Petersen Sandy Petersen Carl Sanford Joslyn Petersen is a game designer.Petersen was born in St. Louis, Missouri and attended University of California, Berkeley, majoring in zoology....
1994	Paasitorni	Steve Jackson Steve Jackson (US) Steve Jackson is an American game designer. After working for many years at Metagaming Concepts designing such games as Ogre and The Fantasy Trip, he left to found Steve Jackson Games in the early 1980s...