From Gencon Events - "All D&D games at Gen Con being placed with RPGA"

[billd91]

I'll echo some others. Why exactly is this not cool?

I'm often perplexed by the negative opinions some folks automatically generate regarding anything WotC does or does not do.

Because WotC has given us reason to doubt them on a number of occasions in the last few years. That's enough for people to consider WotC's motives with a move like this. Maybe it's an olive branch, maybe it's an attempt to raise 4e visibility among older edition players, maybe it's both. We don't know. If there's doubt, they brought it on themselves.

But like lrsach01 said up-thread, it would have been nice if WotC had been engaging in this behavior from the get-go. Then we wouldn't see so much questioning of their motives.

 

[Dire Bare]

Because WotC has given us reason to doubt them on a number of occasions in the last few years. That's enough for people to consider WotC's motives with a move like this. Maybe it's an olive branch, maybe it's an attempt to raise 4e visibility among older edition players, maybe it's both. We don't know. If there's doubt, they brought it on themselves.

But like lrsach01 said up-thread, it would have been nice if WotC had been engaging in this behavior from the get-go. Then we wouldn't see so much questioning of their motives.

I've been a D&D fan and collector since I was a kid, and I've been on these boards paying attention to what's going on in the industry since the glory days of 2000. I've seen WotC make poor business decisions, I've seen WotC make mistakes . . . . but I've never seen the company do anything that makes me "doubt their motives" or that makes me feel the company somehow acts underhandedly.

And I've never understood the element of D&D fandom that feels the need to "speak up against the Man" whether it was TSR back in the day or WotC now. I find it tiring.

 

[Gorbacz]

Were you one of those many people who lost the access to their PDFs of WotC products when "the plug" happened ? I was, and I do consider any WotC move from that point on with a hint of paranoia.

 

[dm4hire]

Having seen the open space in their area last year, I can see how some would see this as a ploy to confuse on lookers. If attendance is projected to be down then moving games related to your product into your area is smart business. Also if you've had problems with your clientele due to differences it provides a doorway for them to communicate directly with you. Regardless of WotC's motivations I agree it's a good move on their part, but it will be interesting to see if they segregate within their own area, making a point to distinguish between who is playing what editions.

 

[Nikosandros]

Post above by Lara aaron reported.

 

[Wicht]

Well I'm sure WOTC sees it differently, after all they own the rights to D&D while Paizo owns the rights to the Pathfinder rule system. I wouldn't consider Mutants and Masterminds D&D either, but it uses the d20 system (OGL stuff too right).

Pathfinder is another fantasy RPG similar to D&D, but it can't be D&D as otherwise WOTC would shut it down. They also don't list Pathfinder as one of the "editions" to bring so in other words you would go to pick a fight? Not cool.

Also, I don't think WOTC cares about nobility. It's a corporation, therefore it has 1 goal to increase the value to the shareholders aka make money, not support Paizo's endeavors.

I believe there were podcasts in which the WotC guys included Pathfinder in the D&D family. Which made me feel a little better about WotC.

I most certainly would not go to pick a fight. I'm not that sort of person. But if Gencon set aside this one place as the D&D place and told people, "If you are going to play D&D, regardless of edition, head here - I very well would take my Pathfinder books and see if there was a Pathfinder game going on. And while I would not argue if told that Pathfinder wasn't included, I would subsequently think less of WotC and I think such a line drawn by them would be a mistake. Besides which, its a pretty blurry line - what if I want to play a pick up game of one of Paizo's modules. Are the WotC guys going to check to see whether it was written before July of '09 before they allow me to use it?

Now Ideally, what I would like to see if I went to Gencon, which I'm not this year, is two connected rooms, one held by WotC and one by Paizo and a free-flow of people from one room to the other, with an overlapping of who's playing what. Or better, two pickup games - one where some WotC guy runs Paizo staff through a 4e dungeons and one where a Paizo employee runs the WotC guys through a Paizo dungeon. That would be a great gesture on the part of both. And I say this as someone who doesn't like 4e much.

 

[UniversalMonster]

This doesn't sound like an open gaming area. I think (from the announcement) they are saying that if you have a D&D event, you are going to be assigned placement in the Sagamore ballroom as long as there is room, and unless you request otherwise.

Although I could be wrong.

This year might be the first time in a couple of years that I DM some non-RPGA stuff. I'm still trying to figure out if I can pull that off...

I don't care if Pathfinder isn't there. I'm sure they have some room of their own.

 

[renau1g]

But like lrsach01 said up-thread, it would have been nice if WotC had been engaging in this behavior from the get-go. Then we wouldn't see so much questioning of their motives.

Yes it would have been nice, but they didn't. Maybe if they could go back in a time machine they might do things differently, but they can't. Hell if they could go back they might not have kicked Paizo out the door and created one hell of a competitor. So, I feel that at face value this is a good thing, sure it's likely in their best interests. As I mentioned above, Hasbro/their board of directors is only really concerned with the bottom line (as is Paizo's ownership I'm sure) and therefore every $ they spend on marketing like this has to be backed up by some sort of expected benefit. At least it was that way in any organization I worked for in the past and present.

End of the day you can hate them for what they did (which I still am bummed about virtual table-top ) or you can maybe just look going forward. They've done a pretty good job lately with their DDI content, monster builder has bugs, but overall is the best tool I've ever had as a DM, and this seems like a step in the right direction to maybe try and bring some 4e-haters into the fold.

 

[renau1g]

I believe there were podcasts in which the WotC guys included Pathfinder in the D&D family. Which made me feel a little better about WotC.

I most certainly would not go to pick a fight. I'm not that sort of person.

My apologies Wicht, I shouldn't have characterized you like that. I'm glad the WotC feels that way as maybe, just maybe, they can mend some fences and Paizo can publish a few 4e modules (yeah I know, fat chance, but hey! I can dream right?) Ahhh....I miss the old Dungeon days.

 

[El Mahdi]

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