Origins: Why no Wizards????

[VictorC]

A "strained" relationship between WotC and GAMA is no secret. I also heard that it's Origin's proximity to Gen Con causes WotC to have to pick between the two. There is also a bit of rivalry between Origins and GenCon. By having them so close together, the cons are forcing people like WotC to choose which place they are going to.

Not to be rude but somebody picking Origins over Gen Con would be a pretty bad busness decision.

 

[francisca]

If you can reach the same audience at Comic-Con, and hundreds of thousands more people otherwise, Origins is a bad decision.

"Second biggest game con" is like bragging you're the largest mammal sitting at your desk. Big fish, small, small, small pond.

Yep. The bottom line is, well, the bottom line. WotC must believe that the resources (staff time and money) needed to do Origins will not bring a good enough return on the investment.

 

[Maldin]

"Second biggest game con" is like bragging you're the largest mammal sitting at your desk. Big fish, small, small, small pond.

But I am the largest mammal sitting at my desk.... oh wait... now I'm not. ("Hi Neil")
I guess things change. ;-)

Denis, aka "Maldin"
Maldin's Greyhawk http://melkot.com

 

[Glyfair]

Not to be rude but somebody picking Origins over Gen Con would be a pretty bad busness decision.

No, I don't think so. If you are a small or new gaming company you are very likely to be overshadowed by the big guys at GenCon. At Origins you have a much better chance to get noticed because the big companies save their big surprises for GenCon (and as we have seen, might even skip it).

 

[VictorC]

No, I don't think so. If you are a small or new gaming company you are very likely to be overshadowed by the big guys at GenCon. At Origins you have a much better chance to get noticed because the big companies save their big surprises for GenCon (and as we have seen, might even skip it).

A chance to be noticed by far less people.

 

[kenobi65]

A chance to be noticed by far less people.

I'm curious if anyone has recent attendance numbers for Indy vs. Origins. I'm pretty sure that Origins has a lower attendance, but I'm not sure that I'd say "far less."

 

[JiffyPopTart]

A chance to be noticed by far less people.

I don't know if you have ever been to Origins....but its not small. It's not even what I would call medium sized. I'd say its a pretty darn big con...and its dedicated mostly to paper/card/tabletop gaming. As opposed to Comicon, which spreads its devotees among gaming/television/comics/anime/etc.

To not have a ginormous booth that takes up half of the vendor floor is probably a great idea. To not have a booth AT ALL is a separate thing altogether. It kind of honks me off that WoTC isn't going to be there (I haven't gone to an Origins in about 5 years, however I had gone 5 years in a row before that) as just about every other gaming company I can name will have at least a small presence at the place.

A company like WoTC isn't going to Origins to rake in cash, they are going to show their presence and promote some goodwill.

Argh...frustrating...

DS

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

The choice isn't between Origins and GenCon. It's between Origins and Comic-Con International in San Diego. And the two aren't remotely comparable in the numbers of folks who come through the doors. If Wizards wanted to chuck every one of their cons but CCI, it'd be a sound decision in terms of manhours and costs.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

A company like WoTC isn't going to Origins to rake in cash, they are going to show their presence and promote some goodwill.

If WotC wants to shell out money for charitable works, I'd rather they sent money to the Red Cross New Orleans fund, personally.

 

[kenobi65]

I'm curious if anyone has recent attendance numbers for Indy vs. Origins. I'm pretty sure that Origins has a lower attendance, but I'm not sure that I'd say "far less."

OK, I found Origins 2006 attendance, from the GAMA newsletter: 12,000. I'm guessing that's "uniques", rather than "turnstile."

Edit: And, I sort of found GenCon 2006, from a press release: 85,000 "turnstile". No reference to uniques, but (assuming everyone went all 4 days, which isn't a good assumption), that makes "uniques" at GenCon at least 21,250.