[Mongoose] what were you doing at Euro-GenCon?

[Bagpuss]

Erm why were you there?

No Slaine demo games
No Judge Dredd demo games
No major discounts (certainly not advertised anyway).

Why didn't you just let the traders there sell your stuff at a discount (like many did) and just stay at home.

Seemed like a wasted opportunity to me.

 

[HellHound]

There are almost never any real discounts from the manufacturers at Cons, since they use those direct sales to pay for their table and overhead expenses at the Con.

As for the other points, who knows.

But never go to a Con expecting good deals, Cons are where the newest material can be found, but almost never at a discount.

 

[Bagpuss]

Yeah but what were the new releases at Euro-GenCon?

Buffy: Monster Smackdown was about the only one I saw. Got it at 10% off, from Impact Games stand (who are my LRPGS anyway).

I admit Mongoose were doing some deals on buying a bundle of stuff, but no demo games? Their display consisted of just lying things flat on the tables, not exactly inspiring.

 

[AerosAtar]

Yeah but what were the new releases at Euro-GenCon?

Well, from what I can remember, the new releases from Mongoose were:

• Slayer's Guide to Kobolds
• Armageddon 2089 - Total War
• The Quintessential Barbarian
• Sláine - Way of the Horned God
• Sláine - The Falians
• Encyclopaedia Arcane - Crossbreeding
• Encyclopaedia Arcane - Dragon Magic
• ...

At least the Mongoose booth had stuff out for sale, if you really wanted a pathetic booth, you should have looked at the WotC one...

As for demo games, there were only, I think, three Mongoose staffers at the con at any one time, and I believe you will find that there were very few demo games run at all - for some reason there just didn't seem to be the provision for it.

 

[Bagpuss]

Armageddon 2089 - Total War?

I saw the flyers (for some reason at the Wizkids booth) but I didn't spot the game anywhere.

You are right about the lack of demo games, Eden Studios pushed Buffy. It was one of the few games (besides Living XXX, CoC and Feng Shui) to have more than one slot.

Oh yeah second that on the WotC booth, I wonder why they even turned up. Nothing for sale, only a few of their plastic minatures on display and that Dungeons and Dragons, Heroquest clone. Didn't even seem to have many of their card games on display.

 

[Mystic Eye]

What product to bring to a con is always a big debate. Dryage (storing of products at the site) is very costly to do and shipping adds to that. We publishers have to be very careful not to send to much or to spend a great deal in this area unless we know the ability to recover it all plus is there.

Becuase of the high profile of Gen Con (at least here in the US, not sure about UK) the dryage costs are high but in the US we also can sell tons of product potentially so we take more risks. I have not been to Gen Con Europe so I have no clue what sales are like there but if you only stand a chance to sell a few copies of a title it would cost more to bring it then to leave it behind.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Mongoose_Matt]

Hi guys,

I don't think that anyone, gamer or exhibitor, who went to UK Gen Con this year would have argued that it could not have been better. Ther are various reasons for this and they have been rehashed elsewhere.

I would have _loved_ to do some demo games. The thing is, we were told that there were no tables available for demo games. . .

As for discounts, as I told one gentleman at some length, I would love iut if you bought our books at a retailer instead of us. Really, we are just looking to make our costs and show our face - retailers are the guys to support (they have a hard enough time in this industry as it is). So no, we will never undercut a retailer. We can offer signed books and, possibly, 'job lots' if you buy an entire set or something but discounts, no.

I will say this - if you did not enjoy Gen Con so much this year, please, please do not let that put you off Dragonmeet. It is going to be a cracker this year. . .

Yes, Gen Con could have been better. But we were playing with the hand we were dealt - believe me, it is no joke to say we were lucky to actually get tables. . .

Bagpuss: Armageddon 2089 was about, but we had very limited stocks - inevitably, they disappeared Friday morning. Still, good news from the US - it seems that the books are rattling along and will be available to distributors next week, all things willing. You should be able to get your mitts on it a week after. . .

 

[Bagpuss]

No tables? Seem like another case of the left hand not know what the right hand was doing. There was plenty of spare space on the trade floor and about a 3rd to half the tables upstairs were never in use.

As for the discounts, fair enough its a good stance to take.

I suppose things can only get better?