GenCon 2014 in Review
Poet22
Explorer
Paizo booth decision
My biggest surprise and disappointment was the decision by Paizo to close off their booth and create a line system to get in. This is the first time they have done this and it marks a shift in their procedure. While I understand the need to manage the onslaught when it comes to purchases, the amount of time I spent standing in line BEFORE I got into the area was too much. There was a line you had to wait in just to get into the line to get into the booth! Once inside, there was PLENTY of space to get around, pick up items, and then head over to...ANOTHER LONG LINE to check out!! I was ready to spend $100 in their booth and when I saw that final check out line, I dropped my items and walked out. It was not welcoming. It was not inviting. And it was not the Paizo Publishing I have enjoyed at GenCon over the past 10 years.
I guess I don't want Paizo to be like Fantasy Flight in this regard. Bummer.
My biggest surprise and disappointment was the decision by Paizo to close off their booth and create a line system to get in. This is the first time they have done this and it marks a shift in their procedure. While I understand the need to manage the onslaught when it comes to purchases, the amount of time I spent standing in line BEFORE I got into the area was too much. There was a line you had to wait in just to get into the line to get into the booth! Once inside, there was PLENTY of space to get around, pick up items, and then head over to...ANOTHER LONG LINE to check out!! I was ready to spend $100 in their booth and when I saw that final check out line, I dropped my items and walked out. It was not welcoming. It was not inviting. And it was not the Paizo Publishing I have enjoyed at GenCon over the past 10 years.
I guess I don't want Paizo to be like Fantasy Flight in this regard. Bummer.
RangerWickett
Legend
I went to their booth on Saturday at 5pm, and there was no line at all. I even got to chit-chat with Paizo folks for a few minutes while checking out (which again had no line).
I don't think there's any feasible way to handle a thousand Pathfinder fans wanting to all shop in the first hour of the convention without enforcing queuing. But you can avoid that if you aren't desperate to be first.
I don't think there's any feasible way to handle a thousand Pathfinder fans wanting to all shop in the first hour of the convention without enforcing queuing. But you can avoid that if you aren't desperate to be first.
We'll be talking a lot in the coming weeks about how to make the line management go better. We actually rang more sales and helped more customers per day than we did in previous years, but a lot of folks were indeed very disappointed with the long lines. Unfortunately, the mad crush to the booth is a public safety hazard, and has been banned by Gen Con, so we've got to do something. We'll continue to try to make it better in future years. The big idea now is to roughly double the number of registers, so we can cycle through the line much faster. I think that will make a huge difference.
Emerikol
Adventurer
Thanks Erik for responding. I am deterred by long lines too but I learned the come later rule and it worked for me. I'm not in that big a hurry. I appreciate you have to handle safety issues.
I enjoyed the convention a lot. I've already booked my room for next year. I missed the movie stars signing though. I really enjoyed that in 2013.
I think that Paizo had a pretty awesome room. I'm in the wilderness over game system these days but I appreciate the quality of Paizo as a company even if I'm daunted to take on Pathfinder as my new game. I did pick up an adventure path recently and I thought the quality and customer service was excellent.
I'm very disillusioned with Wotc to be honest but that doesn't affect my loving of Gen Con.
I always love all the costumes. I also got to have dinner with the author of some books I've read. That was awesome.
I enjoyed the convention a lot. I've already booked my room for next year. I missed the movie stars signing though. I really enjoyed that in 2013.
I think that Paizo had a pretty awesome room. I'm in the wilderness over game system these days but I appreciate the quality of Paizo as a company even if I'm daunted to take on Pathfinder as my new game. I did pick up an adventure path recently and I thought the quality and customer service was excellent.
I'm very disillusioned with Wotc to be honest but that doesn't affect my loving of Gen Con.
I always love all the costumes. I also got to have dinner with the author of some books I've read. That was awesome.
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