The more people post on this, the more it proves Gencon made the correct decision.

If we want to return to normal encourage everyone to get the vaccine with facts; I don't see the best way to do this as more mask mandates and lockdowns.

I'm out.  GenCon does what it needs to do and must make it's own decisions.  We will see how it all works out in the end.

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Sheesh, first the Reddit thread, and now here?

I don't see why this is so hard to grasp.

Vaccinations are good. Super good. Super Duper Double Plus Tournament Edition Alpha ++ Good. Masks are also good. Masked vaccinated people take those really small odds of infection (let alone serious infection) and make them even smaller.

Many of the games that we play at Gencon reward (or are outright reliant upon) having multiple lines of defense. One Counterspell in my Magic deck is good, more of them is better. Even if some of the others aren't as good as the OG Counter, having more of them is better than not.

It's a small piece of fabric. I don't understand why some so vehemently act like they're forced to wear a barney themed ball gag covered in ghost pepper sauce. It's... a mask. We've been wearing them for the last year and a half. Is it ideal? No. Hopefully 2022 will be something more closely resembling business as usual, but if the current evidence is that it will help, even just a little bit, then let's do that, shall we?

What's the over/under of this thread being locked by Friday? 

You can take your half empty glass and do what you have to do, go or not go.
Or take the half full glass and make the best of it. These are the choices
when it all comes down to it.

How do we determine that when there is no score? If you know how to, please also let me know the over/under for the OP's main goal of starting this thread being to stir the pot for entertainment. 

I was looking forward to digging through some dice bins, personally, and really hope it is not cancelled. I am fully vaxxed and have been wearing N95s from my work since covid started.

There is still plenty of entertainment to be had in the "Refund Info" thread. 

Personally, I do not think they will cancel, and I think the likelihood of Marion County re-instituting any kind of restrictions to the point where they would force GenCon to cancel is very low. If Gencon cancels, it will be on their own heads, and not because Marion County made them. Gencon aside, people have bought way too many Colts tickets to start emptying venues again.

Here the deal though. To get past this, truly get past it, we need strong otherwise healthy people to get sick so that the virus stops spreading. People that have natural antibody responses fight infection off. Vaccines mitigate symptoms. Which is a good thing because while we are waiting for people to get sick and recover we don't want to overwhelm hospitals. But we need to stop looking at infection numbers as they are largely irrelevant now with half the country vaxxed. The only numbers that really matter are hospitalizations and deaths.

The reason to not where a mask is to breath comfortably. They may not bother one person as much as another, but we need to stop vilifying people who are just sick of it. They suck.

The best course of action is to get highly vaxxed percentages then lose the masks so that healthy people get it and get over it. Then transmission will largely stop. If one is worried about catching or spreading the virus to vulnerable loved ones, what in the world are you doing coming to a gathering with 30-60k people???

https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/05/health/us-coronavirus-thursday/index.html?fbclid=IwAR2_bdqizrT1_RXZtio7W7t1RKhRssP-EjNbw5a09O0FrXwOGkruHMLylJo

https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/227713/coronavirus-infections-three-times-lower-double/?fbclid=IwAR3ti8aNSumpJP2-X2JQ-lwV0oaVOcho20tKd5goyEn9GBh1rrhMyFhMgQw

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/07/29/cdc-mask-guidance/?fbclid=IwAR0h91areyIxhNSHlZvKeQIXB3y7BIrOV9KpEIOj9wfoeA7RGlFzst5qeyg

We're all trying to walk the tightrope of managing COVID-19 risk while going back to some of the things that we missed so much over the past few years. And it's really tough to make those calls - you're right that the safest option would be to not go to mass gatherings at all. Of our group of 10 that usually goes to GenCon, only 3 are going this year. We're mitigating our risk with vaccines, testing before and afterwards, and wearing masks properly the entire time. I want to do what I can to ensure that I don't put others at risk for my decision.

I'm not saying everyone needs to do what we're doing, but I think GenCon made a good decision about requiring masks again. I don't think anyone particularly enjoys them, but they're a small thing we can all do to help mitigate a risky environment.

Yet, the Colts just announced on WTHR that it is full 100% capacity, mask optional. Status Quo Antebellum, just with more cleaning. Feels like an uphill battle.

Not to get political, but the US does not have a vaccine passport system at all like the EU has.  So requiring people to show proof of vaccine would be utter chaos.  There just isn't a way Gencon could manage this unless the United States had a nation wide vaccine passport.  The logistics of this just aren't otherwise possible.  

Gencon has chosen masks for all instead, which is just as valid and easier to police. 

I'll wear a mask if they require it.  I'll wear a speedo if they require it.  Just don't cancel! 

And, as a manager of a busy public building, I would argue that masks are a lot LESS easy to police.  Many people don't wear them correctly. And others who do wear them correctly point out thr 'offenders' to staff so there can be lot of friction over that as you keep having to nag people to put it over their nose or whatever.