If you don't want to pay 90-150$ for it then don't. But someone might be willing, and there's nothing wrong with that. Its not a crucial piece of the game material, its just one adventure. WOTC can give away whatever they want to at their cons. Some of you people have an entitlement problem...
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D&D 5E Ebay: Ghosts of Dragonspear
- Thread starter Warbringer
- Start date
I really doubt it. Giving the Lair Assault and Encounters modules to the DM was part of the DM reward/incentive to run those. Aside from being a lot of effort with little benefit for WotC, it would also probably generate a fair portion of consumer backlash from those who wish to spend outrageous (IMO) amounts of cash on it. When the DMs are given the modules, it's implied that it's for them to do with as they please. If WotC were to come in a couple of years later and begin to put stipulations on what they could do with it, it would likely create some animosity between the volunteer DMs and WotC, which I would venture to say they don't want.
frankthedm
First Post
What's a one day ticket to gen con Saturday? Cause plenty of folks work M-F and will need Sunday to get ready for work. Then travel expenses? Wotc decides to make a product limited venue, that adds value to the product. If an entrepreneur has the sense to cash that value in, more power to them!
Got mine for $70 off ebay. I bought it because its the first printed product of a game I love. It sucks it was a GenCon exclusive but whatever. I'll pay a few extra bucks so I can have it. My question to the people complaining products are on ebay: are you poor, cheap or just grumpy that people use ebay to get products they can't in person? Why would you not want people to have a chance at these products?
Warbringer
Explorer
More power to people for making a market and a few bucks... Shame on WoTC for not making it available for purchase to the other 45,000 playtesters that didn't go to GenCon 
I think its this false entitlement mentality that everything a company sells should be made as widely available for an expected cost. On one hand companies love these sort of behaviors because they're fostered by customers that will buy almost anything the company puts out. On the other hand, they can't come out and just say 'its our company, we can run it how we want, that's really how capitalism works" because it would alienate said costumers, although they'd probably get a lot less hate mail.
Con exclusives are a fun way to make the event special to those who make the trip and show up, I totally see why WOTC thinks its a good idea. Attendance selling out every year is directly tied to them making the event feel exciting, fun and unique. Its unfortunate that ebay and such exits, but its just a necessary evil in our world. Specifically eliminating the packet because you're afraid of resales on ebay is focusing on the wrong costumer. Most people will keep them in their collection as a collectible as well as a reminder of how much fun they had at gencon.
I think there's also a bit of a hive mind mentality that there MUST be something evil in every decision and product WOTC releases...
3catcircus
Adventurer
Has nothing to do with sense of entitlement and everything to do with business strategy. Making it a "Gencon Exclusive" really means they were testing the waters on potential customer-base sales once they release the next version of D&D. They could have made it more widely available and risked having a bunch of stock that they can't move.
As to Gencon attendance - that makes less difference to WotC's bottom line than general word-of-mouth about a product, especially since WotC doesn't own Gencon. If their product is garbage, no amount of hype will make any dent in lackluster sales.
As to ebay - why do you say it is unfortunate that they exist or that it is a necessary evil? Ebay fills a much-needed role in transferring stuff from people who own it and no longer want it to people who don't own it but want it. And they do so in a manner that is actually (in the aggregate) less expensive. That Gencon Exclusive being re-sold on ebay for $70? That is far less than the cost of travel, lodging, meals/incidentals, entrance to Gencon, plus the original sale cost for the book.
What you should be asking is why there are so many copies for sale on ebay. Is it because a bunch of people bought a bunch of copies with the intent to resell them to those who couldn't otherwise obtain a copy, or is it because they thumbed through the book and thought it was a POS and decided to get rid of it?
Jester David
Hero
As I've said elsewhere, if TSR had never reprinted their "Convention Exclusives" we wouldn't have the A-series (Slavers), Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan, Ghost Tower of Inverness, Tomb of Horrors, and the Giants series. (And likely a couple more.)
I don't mind the idea of convention exclusive products. Paizo does this well with buttons, alternate covers, repainted minis, and fun things like goblin masks. I'd love to have the minis and mask but it's not going to impact my game one way or another. Beta tests of rules are also fine. The market for untested products is small and having "the first product" is a nice perk. But it's not going to be a hole in your collection if you don't have the alternate rules.
However, I don't like missing content. Which is half of this product. I dislike missing out on an adventure. And I can only imagine how Realms fans feel losing this piece of world lore and a bit of the Sundering. I imagine that's what irks people the most. Yet another adventure that will be forgotten in a couple years, another piece of the game's heritage that will survive for a short time via eBay before becoming the domain of pirates.
In many ways, that's the legacy of WotC's 4e adventures: badly scanned copies being torrented around.
I don't mind the idea of convention exclusive products. Paizo does this well with buttons, alternate covers, repainted minis, and fun things like goblin masks. I'd love to have the minis and mask but it's not going to impact my game one way or another. Beta tests of rules are also fine. The market for untested products is small and having "the first product" is a nice perk. But it's not going to be a hole in your collection if you don't have the alternate rules.
However, I don't like missing content. Which is half of this product. I dislike missing out on an adventure. And I can only imagine how Realms fans feel losing this piece of world lore and a bit of the Sundering. I imagine that's what irks people the most. Yet another adventure that will be forgotten in a couple years, another piece of the game's heritage that will survive for a short time via eBay before becoming the domain of pirates.
In many ways, that's the legacy of WotC's 4e adventures: badly scanned copies being torrented around.
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Well said, +Jester Canuck.
Erm, could you give me a source saying that these adventures were ever "Convention Exclusives". Were used as tournament adventures? Absolutely. Were marketed as being "This is the only place you'll ever get it/be able to play it?" I'm not seeing that.
There's a huge difference between the two.
I don't *like* that Ghosts was only available at GenCon, and I really hope the PDF is released (at least), but I think it's marketed very, very differently than the original tournament modules which, as far as I'm aware, were never said to be "exclusive to GenCon".
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