Holy Cow! Wizards delegates...

[Ghostwind]

Well, yeah. It's volunteer work -- volunteering to help a for-profit company make more profit off the backs of free labor.

It's also a way to help keep your favorite publisher in business. With the exception of the bigger publishers like Wotc, White Wolf, and maybe Steve Jackson Games, most of the rest of the industry needs all the help it can get in order to succeed. Remember, very few publishers are getting rich, in fact most are either just breaking even or losing money at this point. There is very little profit to be had in gaming for the smaller guy unless he finds a successful niche.

Instead of being so condescending about demo teams, look at it from the perspective of the good it does for the hobby in general. If your FLGS has someone willing to donate a small portion of their own time to educate gamers about product X, then it is a good thing for the store (because they get the sales), the manufacturer (more sales and a few dollars profit) is happy, and the consumer is now enjoying something they may not have tried before and is spending more money towards that game or publisher.

I run games for 12 hours every Saturday at the gaming store where I work. We have three beginning D&D tables (run by 3 different GMs) that average no less than 7-9 people at a time, a weekly D&D league, an intermediate level group, a group for people more comfortable with the advanced style d20 rules, and a modern horror game. In addition, we have a guy who comes in twice a month and runs a D&D Miniature Skirmish game. All of these volunteers plus the work I put in has resulted in a 34% increase in games sales over the prevous year's sales. That is the kind of result that shows why it is helpful to have people willing to donate their time for the good of the hobby.

It all boils down to whether a person wants to volunteer their time and serve as an unofficial voice of a company. No one is holding a gun to anyone's head and saying "Do this or else." If you don't want to do it, fine. But there are others who are willing to do it and they should be supported and encouraged rather than grumbled at. It's all in the perspective after all.

 

[Desdichado]

I think this is an excellent opportunity for energetic and enthusiastic gamers to broaden their horizons. Just the contacts and experience alone will open doors for someone who would otherwise not have had access to such opportunities.

Opportunities for what? You lookin' to make a career for yourself at the local game store?

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

snip

Exactly what he said.

At this point, for the smaller publishers, just being in this business at all is practically volunteer work, done for the love of the hobby.

 

[Driddle]

If you don't want to do it, fine. But there are others who are willing to do it and they should be supported and encouraged rather than grumbled at.

Should be supported? I don't think so. Quite the contrary, I think it's socially responsible to remind my fellow gamers that they're worth more than free labor. To teach the next generation that they have to look out for themselves and not be taken for granted. To remind people in general that the phrase, "You get what you pay for," is true on the other side of the coin as well.

So, yeah, I'll keep grumbling, thank you very much.

 

[Ghostwind]

Oh, I agree they are worth more than free labor. But if the person makes an informed and consenting decision on their own to do it for free, does that mean they don't deserve our support and even respect for trying to ensure that this hobby continues to grow? That's what I was trying to say. Demo work isn't for everyone, nor is it expected to be.

 

[jester47]

WotC seems to be working off the misconception found in these hobbies that the game development is democratic and that the fans/players have a say in what they do. While there is truth to the fact that customer reaction is somthing they need to pay attention to, this in no way resembles a democracy. This rep program seems to be based off of this misconception: That WotC cant do it alone and they need your help.

It sure is odd.

Aaron.

 

[reveal]

Here are my concerns regarding this venture.

1) Will I need to sign a non-disclosure agreement?

2) Will I need to sign a contract of any sort?

3) Will the hours/days required to volunteer ever be increased/decreased?

4) How often do reports need to be sent in? What if I don't send them in on time?

5) Can I only go to one FLGS in my city/surrounding area or must I hit every single one in a month/week/year?

6) What if I decide to quit?

In a perfect world, I would hope that WotC would tell me that the hours required will always be the same, I only need to get them reports semi-monthly, I can go to any game shop I want, I sign no contract or NDA and I can quit anytime I want to.

What I forsee, in my own cynical way, is:

- WotC making you sign an NDA to protect their intellectual property (this would effectively stop anyone from selling the free stuff they get).

- A contract must be signed even though you're a "volunteer" (again, to protect their intellectual property).

- The hours/days mandated are subject to change and I am required to fulfill my obligation otherwise I must surrender all free merchandise back to WotC.

- Reports must be sent in weekly, otherwise forfeiture of the contract will occur (resulting in me sending back my stuff).

- I must go to as many FLGS' as there are in my city/surrounding area to give demos. I will provide my own gas/meals/etc and will not be reimbursed since I am a "volunteer."

- I've signed a contract; I can't quit.

Yes, this can be a great program for those who have the time to invest in it. If you are a person, like Ghostwind, who already spends a lot of time in a game shop.

But, Ghostwind, what if you were forced to go to other game shops? Would you be as keen to jump forward and volunteer?

And for those of you who are chomping at the bit on this one; how long do you think you can do this? What if you decide it's not for you? What if the hours are not worth it or you just get bored doing it? What if they make you send everything back? So the hours you already spent are pointless because you get nothing out of it (When I say nothing, I mean nothing tangible. I honestly don't see WotC giving you all this free stuff and then letting you keep it if you decide not to participate anymore)

These are the questions I asked myself when I read this. True, it would be cool to hang out and run demos and answer questions. But will I want to do this forever, for one company? I don't get to do anything with anything "non-WotC" anymore in this case.

Too many things could go wrong to discourage me to do this. I just don't like it...

 

[Mystery Man]

Here are my concerns regarding this venture.

1) Will I need to sign a non-disclaimer agreement?

Non-disclosure?

I wouldn't sign anything and if I had to, assuming I'd have the time to do this I wouldn't bother.

 

[reveal]

Non-disclosure?

I figured someone would catch that. I was in the process if editing it too.

 

[wingsandsword]

It all boils down to whether a person wants to volunteer their time and serve as an unofficial voice of a company.

"So, do you work for WotC?"
"Well, Unofficially. . ."
(Yeah, those Wendys ads were pretty weak, but I just imagined a D&D version of them for this with that line)

But anyway, if people want to devote lots of their time and effort to representing a major corporation without meaningful pay (board games and minor CCG swag isn't much compensation) it's their decision. I like D&D, a lot, but I woudn't devote so much of my free time to helping a major company make even more money without some payment (or at least gaming stuff that I would be genuinely interested in).