Origins: Why no Wizards????

[Gallo22]

Does anyone know why Wizards does not go to Origins anymore? It's kind of a bummer!

 

[Holy Bovine]

I thought they dropped it from their schedule to devote more resources to Winter Fantasy (now the D&D Experience) and GenCon. I could be wrong though and they are actually mustache twirling villains tying damsels to railroad tracks...

 

[pedr]

I think they had a bit of a falling out. Origins is run by GAMA, right? Wizards and GAMA have a slightly strained relationship I believe.

Wizards might be back next year. They're sending the RPGA again this year after not being there last year. Things I've heard suggest that the relationship between the two improved slightly recently but not soon enough for Origins to get back onto the main Wizards convention schedule (I imagine that it's a pretty big thing to get everything organised to get a Wizards-scale convention presence anywhere).

 

[kenobi65]

Origins is run by GAMA, right?

Correct.

Wizards might be back next year. They're sending the RPGA again this year after not being there last year. Things I've heard suggest that the relationship between the two improved slightly recently but not soon enough for Origins to get back onto the main Wizards convention schedule (I imagine that it's a pretty big thing to get everything organised to get a Wizards-scale convention presence anywhere).

And, the decision to send RPGA HQ was made fairly late in the game (IIRC, they didn't announce that until March or April).

I've heard much the same as what you've heard...that GAMA and WotC haven't always seen eye-to-eye of late.

 

[Brown Jenkin]

Wizards was at the GAMA Trade Show this year. Not sure though whether that means they are getting along or that the GTS is too important to miss even if they are on bad terms.

 

[CharlesRyan]

A couple years ago WotC decided to attend a much larger number of events, including a lot of things--like Comic Con in SD and NY, and the Wizard World shows--where they might attract new people to the hobby of gaming. To make that happen, they had to cut resources from the core hobby shows they supported. At the end of the day, they decided that Origins was redundant in its proximity to Gen Con, and it was one of the cuts.

I'm not aware of any falling out with GAMA, or any mustache twirling, or anything like that. Simply a case of deciding to put resources elsewhere for more benefit. One may or may not agree with that decision, but either way there really wasn't more to it than that.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Given how many people now attend Comic-Con -- it's sort of appalling for those of us who remember being able to walk around the floor, once upon a time -- it's hard to argue it's not a better value for the dollar.

 

[Crothian]

Does anyone know why Wizards does not go to Origins anymore? It's kind of a bummer!

Actually, I like it more without them. Their booth always took up a lot of space and was hugely crowded. Because of the crowd doing the demos was rarely worth the time and they never offered deals to con goers. Without them the dealer hall is a lot more balanced and spread out.

 

[JiffyPopTart]

What kind of good decision is it to not go to a major con?

Or am I on crack and Origins isn't the 2nd biggest game con anymore?

D "Going to Origins all 4 days this year" S

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

If you can reach the same audience at Comic-Con, and hundreds of thousands more people otherwise, Origins is a bad decision.

"Second biggest game con" is like bragging you're the largest mammal sitting at your desk. Big fish, small, small, small pond.