GuJiaXian
Explorer
I DM'd the DMG2 Game Day this afternoon. Usually the store has three or more concurrent Game Day sessions going on, but today virtually no one showed up. In fact, even after pulling in the one other DM that showed up, my game only had four players (one guy doubled up on characters). So, why the disparity in attendance?
Turns out that the hosting store made the players (not me, as the DM) buy at least $20 worth of D&D products as an "entrance fee" to participate in the Game Day adventure I'd prepared. I'd never heard such nonsense before. The store clerk said it was something mandated by WotC, and that every other store running Game Day would be doing the same thing. He claimed that WotC needed the sales to justify the cost of printing the character sheets and maps and such.
I came home after the session and did some searching online. Nowhere can I find any mention of an associated cost or fee for Game Day participants, so I'm tempted to say that the game store just fed me a line. If that's the case, I won't be back (disappointing, because they're about the best game store in the area). If they were, in fact, telling the truth and WotC has decided to charge, as it were, for Game Day participation, well, I have no idea what to think of that. All I can say is that the last three Game Days at this particular store have drawn large crowds, but today, in five hours, only five people showed up, myself included.
This is especially frustrating because past Game Days have always boiled down to me teaching 4e to new players. Do you think someone who'd potentially interested in 4e D&D is going to buy $20 of product of a game that he or she doesn't even know how to play yet (much less know whether he or she will even like the game) simply to participate in what amounts to a demo? I think not. Either the store is shooting itself in the foot, or WotC is.
So, did anyone else experience this economic setback?
Turns out that the hosting store made the players (not me, as the DM) buy at least $20 worth of D&D products as an "entrance fee" to participate in the Game Day adventure I'd prepared. I'd never heard such nonsense before. The store clerk said it was something mandated by WotC, and that every other store running Game Day would be doing the same thing. He claimed that WotC needed the sales to justify the cost of printing the character sheets and maps and such.
I came home after the session and did some searching online. Nowhere can I find any mention of an associated cost or fee for Game Day participants, so I'm tempted to say that the game store just fed me a line. If that's the case, I won't be back (disappointing, because they're about the best game store in the area). If they were, in fact, telling the truth and WotC has decided to charge, as it were, for Game Day participation, well, I have no idea what to think of that. All I can say is that the last three Game Days at this particular store have drawn large crowds, but today, in five hours, only five people showed up, myself included.
This is especially frustrating because past Game Days have always boiled down to me teaching 4e to new players. Do you think someone who'd potentially interested in 4e D&D is going to buy $20 of product of a game that he or she doesn't even know how to play yet (much less know whether he or she will even like the game) simply to participate in what amounts to a demo? I think not. Either the store is shooting itself in the foot, or WotC is.
So, did anyone else experience this economic setback?
