WotC's 2017 Convention Schedule Includes New Hascon, No GenCon

tangleknot · Jan 19, 2017

Fort Wayne, IN
Lake Geneva, WI
Madison, WI
Columbus, OH

Half of these cons are in the north Midwest... within driving distance of each other, and 2 of them are only an hour apart.

Plaguescarred · Jan 19, 2017

I'm surprised WoTC decided to not be there for GENCON 50

Yan
D&D Playtester

Vampyr3 · Jan 19, 2017

I'm SHOCKED they are not going to Gen Con 50... WOW...

I figured at least they have some sort of presence there for the 50th...

Will be interesting to see if Pathfinder has a big presence this year, as they did last at Gen Con

Kabouter Games · Jan 19, 2017

Jer said:
Meh. GenCon is huge and expensive to go to. Last year Wizards decided to go to a number of smaller cons instead of putting all of their eggs in the Gen*Con basket and it seems like it worked for them. (I don't claim to know the backstory behind this but as a business decision the idea to go to a lot of conventions around the country instead of one convention in the middle of the country seems sound).

Let's remember that the RPG group in Wizards is basically as small as a tiny company as far as staff size goes. And as far as the money they bring in from RPGs (not incidental licensing, but the games themselves) they're probably doing allright but not in the moneymaking area they were in, say, 2001. It makes some sense that their budget for travel to cons would be limited and that there would be a higher perceived benefit in going to a lot of smaller cons instead of one giant one.

While that's true in terms of budgeting and hard numbers, there are intangibles surrounding attendance at events which cannot be easily quantified. My wife and I have a small business which used to do events. We never made any money at them. Ever. We spent a TON on inventory, getting to and from, and staying at, and at best broke even. And we caught a lot of flak from people on the Left Coast because we didn't go farther west than Chicago.

The good will from attending these events was phenomenal. The chance to connect with people was invaluable. There is a certain amount of celebrity involved with this sort of thing, and cult of personality equals sales. So it's perfectly understandable why the D&D team are diversifying their event attendance.

What I don't understand is why they'd not do the biggest gaming con on the planet. As noted, I recognize more than most the financial reasons not to do an event like Gen*Con. But the negative feedback - the intangible - is going to bite them in the ass. I'm with others in this thread who have posted their head-scratching at the decision. WizKids bought TSR, which started the whole godd*mn thing. If it wasn't for D&D, Gen*Con wouldn't exist.

Makes me wonder if there's something else at play about which we know nothing. 'Cause I'd be working that angle with the con committee - "Your con is massively expensive to attend. We're still the world's most popular roleplaying game, after establishing the industry which made your con possible in the first place. If you give us X, Y, and Z, we'll attend." Maybe the con said "No."

I mean, it's not like Gen*Con is dependent on D&D to exist. It's waaaaaay beyond that now. But it's stupid to pretend that D&D has no impact on attendance.

Of course, the brand is pretty heavily aligned with PAX now, isn't it? Hm. That must be deliberate. Hmmmmmm. Wheels within wheels.

DEFCON 1 · Jan 19, 2017

Well, D&D *will* be at GenCon, because Baldman Games will be running Adventurer's League games all weekend as usual. The thing they won't have are any D&D-specific panels from D&D employees, because the D&D employees won't be there (at least not on the company's dime.)

So the question then becomes... what does having D&D panels at GenCon get you (as a company)? Goodwill? Sure. We can all buy that. The word out on D&D? That I'm not so sure. At least, no more so than having the large Baldman gaming space available for people to play. I mean... if you have 100,000 people attending this convention and you get like what... 200 people attending a panel (IF you were lucky, seeing as how every slot has like what, six to 10 panels happening simultaneously)... are those 200 people really getting any word out? Or are those people already in and just want to hear the people they look up to talk?

At this point, I think there probably is a "Big fish in a smaller pond" aspect to it, as to their reasons for going to other conventions. If they're going to be one of thousands of fish in the GenCon pond all fighting for attention all weekend... it probably doesn't make as much financial sense as going to something like GaryCon where they definitely WOULD be the Big Fish in the small pond.

Is it disheartening to a certain extent? Sure. But in the long run does it matter? I don't really think so. The number of people who would be missing some panels at GenCon is infinitesimally small compared to the number of people across the globe who are playing the game.

Morrus · Jan 19, 2017

DEFCON 1 said:
Well, D&D *will* be at GenCon, because Baldman Games will be running Adventurer's League games all weekend as usual. .

It doesn't say "D&D", it says "WotC".

Sent from my iPhone using EN World mobile app

DEFCON 1 · Jan 19, 2017

Morrus said:
It doesn't say "D&D", it says "WotC".

Well, the page on their website is that it's the "D&D Team" at Wizards of the Coast, so my point is essentially correct. It doesn't say WotC on the whole wouldn't be there (at least not in the article on the website talking about the cons they were going to.) Does it say on the Magic: The Gathering side of the website that WotC won't be there for that either?

Brodie · Jan 19, 2017

DEFCON 1 said:
At this point, I think there probably is a "Big fish in a smaller pond" aspect to it, as to their reasons for going to other conventions. If they're going to be one of thousands of fish in the GenCon pond all fighting for attention all weekend... it probably doesn't make as much financial sense as going to something like GaryCon where they definitely WOULD be the Big Fish in the small pond.

More like the only shark in the pond. That sounds harsh, but what I mean is that they - as well as every other game company is looking for customers. With Paizo being such a powerhouse now (and a big shark of their own), WotC is swimming to smaller ponds.

Do I like it? Hell no. I'm with those that think WotC should be putting in an official presence (doesn't have to be big and flashy with lots of props) for the simple fact this is the 50th GenCon. Fifty years is a huge milestone for anything. The least they could do is be there and recognize the milestone of a convention they helped make popular.

Mad_Jack · Jan 19, 2017

Vyvyan Basterd said:
Rhode Island!? Yeah, most of us will see you there Hasbro <\sarcasm>

Actually... Providence, RI is the biggest "event" city between Boston and New York, and punches well above it's weight class as far as culture, arts, music and conventions of all kinds go.
The RI Convention Center is regularly booked for huge national-level events - the RI ComicCon has gotten to be just as much of a monster as the others. Outside of the Convention Center, Providence is also home to the yearly NecronomiCon for H.P. Lovecraft fans (Lovecraft lived there) and has twice hosted the national Rocky Horror Picture Show convention.

It's a wise financial move to hold HasCon there since it's the hometown of Hasbro itself. (Hasbro has major mojo with the city - the Hasbro Children's Hospital is internationally known.) Since it's going to be drawing fans from not just D&D but also all the other Hasbro properties - most of which are much bigger than D&D, it's quite likely it'll draw people from all over the upper eastern quadrant of the US and maybe some eastern Canadians as well.
Since you live in the Midwest, one thing you might not realize is that the Interstate Highway system connects basically every major city all up and down the east coast from Canada to Florida, and city-to-city flights out here are relatively cheap - even somewhat long-distance travel is fairly fast, easy and inexpensive, and most folks don't have much of a problem traveling out-of-state since a three or four hour drive might well bring you through three different states.

I fully expect them to underestimate the number of people showing up, and as usual when there's something big going on in Providence, parking anywhere in the city will be a nightmare.

Morrus · Jan 19, 2017

DEFCON 1 said:
Well, the page on their website is that it's the "D&D Team" at Wizards of the Coast, so my point is essentially correct. It doesn't say WotC on the whole wouldn't be there (at least not in the article on the website talking about the cons they were going to.) Does it say on the Magic: The Gathering side of the website that WotC won't be there for that either?

I'm not sure I understand your post then. You replied "Well, D&D *will* be at GenCon", as though I'd said it wouldn't be.

Ah well. Never mind. Nothing to see here!

WotC's 2017 Convention Schedule Includes New Hascon, No GenCon

tangleknot

Explorer

Plaguescarred

D&D Playtester for WoTC since 2012

Vampyr3

Explorer

Kabouter Games

Explorer

DEFCON 1

Legend

Morrus

Well, that was fun

DEFCON 1

Legend

Brodie

Explorer

Mad_Jack

Legend

Morrus

Well, that was fun

Similar Threads

Related Articles