Thompson Declines PAX Debate, Blames Penny Arcade

GamePolitics is reporting that Jack Thompson, who was invited to debate at this year's Penny Arcade Expo is now blaming the PA gents because he turned down the debate. Essentially, PAX organizers were aiming to keep the debate a secret until the event actually happened. When Thompson declined the invitation, he did so in a public forum, revealing their intentions. He now claims that he turned it down because PAX wanted to use the event as a publicity stunt ... somehow. From Jack's letter to GP: "What GamePolitics or others need to do is get to the bottom of why they really wanted to announce the debate one hour before it occurs. Now THAT would cause a stampede that would not allow them to have passes in the hands of those who want to go. I'm surprised, Dennis, frankly, that you have so naively taking this dodge. I believe what happened is that they thought I would never accept the debate offer, and they planned to use that for p.r. purposes."

Comments

Fun

[MeanderingMind]

If I were attempting to make as unbiased an environment as possible for such a debate, as held at a games expo, keeping it secret would be the first idea coming to mind. Announcing months before hand is just asked people passionately for/against Thompson to buy up tickets and otherwise destroy the levelheadedness of the crowds. Waiting until the last minute is perfectly understandable.

Unless you're Jack Thompson apparently.

Re:Fun

[eln]

Except the attendees at a games expo (especially one hosted by the guys who write a comic that has been merciless in their criticism of Jack Thompson) are going to be overwhelmingly and passionately against Jack Thompson anyway.

PA wanted to get Jack Thompson in front of their crowd so they could knock him down and make themselves look like heroes in front of their adoring fans. The correct action for Thompson to take would have been to either privately (and politely) turn down the request, or simply ignore it. However, Thompson is apparently not capable of doing anything privately, so he turns them down publicly, hence giving them exactly the publicity he criticizes them for seeking.

The debate was a trap, Thompson was right about that, but the way he handled it was just stupid.

Possible Reasons - Free of Charge

[Johnny_Law]

I assume there are a few reasons PAX wanted to hold off the announcement.

The first reason would be security, Jack Thompson is a "polarizing" individual, to put it mildly. It would only take one crazy gamer to take any kind of shot at Thompson to make him a martyr. Making the announcement onsite would allow the PAX crew to avoid anyone planning in advance to engage Thompson either with hostility or protest.

Secondly, this would be the huge surprise for the audience. PAX has made it sort of a staple to have some kind of surprise for the show.

Thirdly, pick a smaller reason, but with Jack any reason could balloon overnight. Between now and PAX Jack could go further off the deep end with some of his crusages. Perhaps he would decide to sue PA for something outside the scope of his PAX committments. In either case, PAX would lose the ability to quietly remove Jack.

Any of the three would be enough for me to want to keep Jack on a short lease. However, this could still happen, but I would expect PAX to have greater security at the actual venue.

consummate pro

[syle]

You can tell he's a skilled litigator by the way he manages to look less professional than two dudes who draw a webcomic featuring dirty jokes about video games.

It is worth noticing that...

[Anonymous Coward]

...not of word of this can be found on Penny Arcade's site. This tells volumes about the real media whore in this story, i.e Thompson.

I always found PA to be upright about things and there again. Besides these guys are involved in more than just games thru the likes of their annual toy drive.