Baldman Games & WotC On All Access Issues At Gen Con

There were a lot of complaints about the D&D All Access gaming at Gen Con this year. Charles Akins over at Dyvers Campaign has a great summary, so I won't repeat it here - but if you're interested, check that out. WotC and Baldman Games (who run the D&D events at Gen Con) appear to have heard those complaints, because they are taking action to address them - to the extent that they're giving All Access badge holders a free copy of the upcoming hardcover Out of the Abyss, and a free copy of Sword Coast Legends video game!

You need to fill out a form to get your goodies.

"I first want to thank everyone for the excellent feedback so far. We are gathering comments and discussing ways to improve all Baldman Games’ offerings going forward. We will have further posts this Fall asking for more specific feedback.

Baldman Games and Wizards of the Coast realize that we did not meet your expectations with our All-Access Program at Gen Con this year. The way production schedules lined up, it was difficult for us to provide the new products that had been offered in previous years. But have no fear! We want to make things right. We value your support of D&D and our programs at Gen Con and other shows. To that end, we have some stuff to offer to everyone who played in the All-Access program at Gen Con 2015.

Here’s what you’ll get:

One hard copy of Out of the Abyss, the TRPG adventure in the Rage of Demons story, before it hits store shelves, mailed directly to you
One code for a digital copy of Sword Coast Legends, the party-based RPG coming out on PC, Mac and Linux, on September 29th, sent to the email you provide.

If you are an All-Access player from Gen Con, please make sure to fill in the form below completely. The information provided will only be used to ship the book to you, send the code, and/or contact you if we have a problem doing so. It will be destroyed once shipping is completed.

Once again, we apologize for not meeting the expectations of the program this year, and we will work hard in the coming months to build a bigger, stronger, and more transparent program in 2016 and beyond.

David Christ
Baldman Games"

 

[EternalDungeonMaster]

I don't understand why anyone is cutting them the slightest ounce of slack. As someone who was at Gen Con and who went there specifically to play Adventurer's League games, I don't find their response to be in the slightest bit satisfying. I'm not talking about WotC, I'm specifically talking about Baldman Games. They have been running these events for years, this is not even close to their first time at the rodeo. And yet they seem to be showing no signs whatsoever of improving. In fact, it's getting worse. My game group travels to either Gen Con or Origins (depending on the year) to play these games, and we're quickly getting to the point where we are going to find something else to do with our time and money.

132 people bought $150 low-level track all-access passes, 132 people bought $150 mid-level track all-access passes, and 12 people bought $140 Epic VIP Experience passes. I am very pleased for those 276 people that WotC and nSpace (NOT Baldman Games) are stepping up and giving them well-deserved swag, but the many hundreds of other players like myself who bought their events a la carte are stuck with our bad experiences and forced to watch our beloved RPGA swirl down the drain.

At $10 an event (or $14 for the EXTREMELY poorly run Epics), this is one of the most expensive ways to spend your time at Gen Con or Origins. Time was you got a solid 3.5 hours of play: 15 minutes of administration, 3.25 hours of play. Now you BARELY get 3 hours at the table including 20+ minutes of administration. I had GMs reading the scenarios as they went along, with very poor knowledge of the adventure. And that bull&$%# statement from Baldman Games as quoted on the Dyvers Campaign page linked at the top of this article just shows Dave Christ's personal hubris and arrogance. He's a rampaging egomaniac who needs to be replaced.

I've been playing RPGA events in their various incarnations since the 80s, and I am upset and saddened that I may have to find something else to do with my convention time because of this colossal mismanagement at the convention level (not at the campaign administration level; the Adventurer's League administrators seem to be doing a very nice job of setting up the infrastructure of the campaign).

So yeah, the fact that Wizards of the Coast is comping 276 copies of Out of the Abyss, and nSpace is comping 276 copies of Sword Coast Legends should in no way divert people's attention from the bigger picture that Baldman Games is getting worse and worse by the year and many hundreds of other players had to endure it (and pay good money for it) with no compensation.

 

[Midknightsun]

Rampaging egomaniac? Dave is nothing of the sort, that kind of overly dramatic ranting is just as inaccurate as saying things went "awesomely smooth and peachy keen". They didn't. I agree there. There was a lot of confusion and poorly organized leadership. I DMed several sessions and have DMed for several years with Baldman Games. While I was certainly not impressed with the level of chaos that seemed to be going on this year, at no point was it an egomaniacal rampage induced spiral of doom. Seriously, the drama! Yes, it sucked this year. Yes, they need to regroup and get their crap together. Totally agreed. No, I don't think its been "swirling down the drain", though I do agree that its been at a similar level of disorganization for years and years. I do think its awesome that Wizards is giving out books to the All Access folks, they deserve it. Dave doesn't have a whole lot of say over what they get to give out, though (he can beg and plead), so lets just call it what it was: a lackluster year for the AL. I do hope next year improves or I agree I might find myself bowing out of DMing for the AL, but I know better than to finger Dave as some kind of power mad psycho. He probably wishes he had some of that power, but sadly, it is not the case.

 

[Coredump]

I'm really just hoping that this turns into an eye-opener for WotC in regards to their convention policies. I was a judge for Baldman this year, and being in Hall D with the board games and everything else - it was just a mess. I don't think we'll ever return to the days of the TSR Castle, but it would be nice to have the flagship product of the industry (right, wrong, or other, depending on your feelings) stood up proud for all to see and experience at GenCon. I'm excited for the future!

The castle belongs to WotC, not Baldman. So it will not be back unless WotC starts running the games at the Cons again.

 

[Coredump]

Interesting. I wonder if next year the All Access Badge will still be sold or if WotC will give swag to Baldman again.

Still, at 900$ a table, multiplied by I do not know how many tables, they could have afforded a microphone.

Different issue. To be allowed a microphone, you have to be a higher sponsor level, IIRC another $75K for Baldman.

 

[EternalDungeonMaster]

Rampaging egomaniac? Dave is nothing of the sort, that kind of overly dramatic ranting is just as inaccurate as saying things went "awesomely smooth and peachy keen". They didn't. I agree there. There was a lot of confusion and poorly organized leadership. I DMed several sessions and have DMed for several years with Baldman Games. While I was certainly not impressed with the level of chaos that seemed to be going on this year, at no point was it an egomaniacal rampage induced spiral of doom. Seriously, the drama! Yes, it sucked this year. Yes, they need to regroup and get their crap together. Totally agreed. No, I don't think its been "swirling down the drain", though I do agree that its been at a similar level of disorganization for years and years. I do think its awesome that Wizards is giving out books to the All Access folks, they deserve it. Dave doesn't have a whole lot of say over what they get to give out, though (he can beg and plead), so lets just call it what it was: a lackluster year for the AL. I do hope next year improves or I agree I might find myself bowing out of DMing for the AL, but I know better than to finger Dave as some kind of power mad psycho. He probably wishes he had some of that power, but sadly, it is not the case.

I will agree that I can get dramatic. I'm a very, very passionate hobbyist who has been at this for a long time. So forgive the theatrics, if you will.

But here we have it from an insider (someone who, by his own admission, has been DMing for Baldman Games for years) who is confirming the following (in his words, not mine):

• "There was a lot of confusion and poorly organized leadership."
• He "was certainly not impressed with the level of chaos that seemed to be going on this year"
• "it sucked this year"
• Baldman Games, at the very least, needs "to regroup and get their crap together"
• The problems present at this year's Gen Con have "been at a similar level of disorganization for years and years" (i.e., they're not getting any better)
• It was "a lackluster year for [Adventurer's League]"
• And the problems are so bad he "might find [himself] bowing out of DMing for the AL" (something he has done for years)

That pretty much says it all from someone who is on the inside of this organization. It either needs to be ripped down to the studs and rebuilt, or replaced altogether.

 

[Coredump]

I had to explain to our DM how to pronounce most monster names and explain what they were, he was not familiar with the adventure he was running. He stated he had only played 5th edition, had only been playing D&D for about a year, and didn't DM much.

If you didn't fill out the DM evaluation, you should contact BMG so they know. Otherwise they have no way of knowing which are the good or bad DMs.

 

[Coredump]

Two long time DMs here went to GC, and had similarly bad things to say about BMG organization. Part of it may stem from a new person doing the organizing. Perhaps he will get better, perhaps the other guy will come back...

WotC was not at GenCon. BMG was running the AL gaming at the Con. They are the ones that chose to charge $150 for All Access with no plans of providing much for the extra $110 in cost. They are the ones responsible for the late starts, bad communication, etc etc.

 

[skraig1]

I was there and played the Mid Level Track along with a few of the Low Level "Harried in Hillsfar" games.

The "Harried in Hillsfar" games were up and down. Since they were $4 and easy to get into, I feel like they should get some slack. That said I think they should have a better way of allowing players to jump in and DM if there are physical tables left. The intro quick adventure shouldn't turn people away. I saw more than a few people get told that they were full.

The Mid Level Track and the Epic finally are a different matter. I did enjoy the gaming and my DM was good. I suspect, but don't have proof that he was not allowed a lot of leeway in scaling the adventures. We cruised through them at a very fast pace and the climax encounters were a lot easier than we would have liked. There were serious organizational problems. The Low Level Track suffered more from them than we did though. Still we lost gaming time to waiting and time at Gencon is very expensive.

This book and game perk should be seen as an apology. I am taking it with good will. WotC, nSpace and Baldman Games are giving us a very nice gift as a way of saying sorry.

OK I accept. See everyone next year. Lets try to do it better next time and let the anger go.

Thanks
Skraig (an old bald guy but not the Baldman)

 

[Midknightsun]

I will agree that I can get dramatic. I'm a very, very passionate hobbyist who has been at this for a long time. So forgive the theatrics, if you will.

But here we have it from an insider (someone who, by his own admission, has been DMing for Baldman Games for years) who is confirming the following (in his words, not mine):

• "There was a lot of confusion and poorly organized leadership."
• He "was certainly not impressed with the level of chaos that seemed to be going on this year"
• "it sucked this year"
• Baldman Games, at the very least, needs "to regroup and get their crap together"
• The problems present at this year's Gen Con have "been at a similar level of disorganization for years and years" (i.e., they're not getting any better)
• It was "a lackluster year for [Adventurer's League]"
• And the problems are so bad he "might find [himself] bowing out of DMing for the AL" (something he has done for years)

That pretty much says it all from someone who is on the inside of this organization. It either needs to be ripped down to the studs and rebuilt, or replaced altogether.

Um, no. Really, just no. I will thank you not to cherry pick and rearrange my words to suit your purposes. We all have bad days, this was a bad day(s) for the AL. However, I constantly hear how BG is far more organized than other groups, so take that as you will. If I bow out, its simply because I'm a long time Administrator with terrible OCD. And either I need to be in charge, or things need to be as smooth as ice cream. That's my damage, not his or theirs. So please, just quit it. Yes, improvement is needed, that is not reason to tear things down to the bare bones. Continued hyperbole.


To add: I also heard high praise of many of the Dms from players all during the con.

 

[Queer Venger]

I didn't buy an all access pass and I was disappointed, what do I get??