What Products I liked at Gen Con- A Publishers Perspective
- Thread starter JTyranny
- Start date
Twin Rose
First Post
I ran my first game in the Forge (Oathbound) this weekend. I must say, I am very impressed - my players loved it! They did try to attack the Feathered who came to 'get them' though, which was kind of funny, as they started rolling initiative etc. Then I took them right into the middle of a battle where a couple of Chromithians were slaughtering Ogres. While the party waited until the sickness was over, the Ogres overwealmed the Chromithians. I was giving them a 'feel' for how they fought, and of coure, the group started to liken them to Draconians.
The group finished off the Ogres, but were surprised, impressed, and scared by the way the creatures fought. Then it was off to town, where the group explored the brothels, inns, taverns, etc. We only had a 5 hour game, so the role-play in the town took most of the time, but none the less - we had a blast.
I'm saying all this because I want an official stamp that says I'm the first Industry persona to run an Oathbound game
Bastion - Great job I'm more than impressed and the 5 hours of fun is already worth the price!
The group finished off the Ogres, but were surprised, impressed, and scared by the way the creatures fought. Then it was off to town, where the group explored the brothels, inns, taverns, etc. We only had a 5 hour game, so the role-play in the town took most of the time, but none the less - we had a blast.
I'm saying all this because I want an official stamp that says I'm the first Industry persona to run an Oathbound game
Bastion - Great job I'm more than impressed and the 5 hours of fun is already worth the price!
The best booths go to:
- Twin Rose software - they sold me on CC. I really hope the comunity will surport this software. I think computer DM aids are the one thing that the D20 game badly needs.
- Green Ronin and Bastion Press - the concept of two companies working together to put out a product (ie the Dwarves and Giants) is great. I cant wait until the elves and orc books are out. Also the Mutants and masterminds look great.
- Oathbound was by far the best book I bought at the con
- I wish Traveller had been there but I like the fact that they are working to get it right
- Godlike was also a good both too bad they only had the original book I would have bought others from them.
- Steve Jackson Games - all the folks there were very friendly. I enjoyed talking to D. Pulzner.
- Reaper having the artists there creating mini's before your eyes was a great idea. Sandra G. was an interesting person
The things I did not like
- Some of the booths were maned by folks who had obviously stayed out too late and the people were cranky. I realize it is a con and folks are there to have fun but come on. If you are a dealer, you are there to sell stuff and behave in a professonal manor. Some of the other booths were maned by people whom I am sure are very talanted but have zero salesmanship skills.
- If you have a product why do you charge full price for it. You are compeating with other companies. Make me want to buy your product over someone else's.
What I would like
- something to carry massive mini's (dragons and such) with out damaging it. The only thing I saw at Gen Con was the Battlechest. But I would have had to buy the $50 case and then $20 for the larger foam. The case came with foam for smaller mini's but the foam for large mini's is only sold seperately. All the salesman had to do was take out the foam which came with the case and replace it with the larger foam and he would have had a sale.
- A D20 mass combat system.
- Twin Rose software - they sold me on CC. I really hope the comunity will surport this software. I think computer DM aids are the one thing that the D20 game badly needs.
- Green Ronin and Bastion Press - the concept of two companies working together to put out a product (ie the Dwarves and Giants) is great. I cant wait until the elves and orc books are out. Also the Mutants and masterminds look great.
- Oathbound was by far the best book I bought at the con
- I wish Traveller had been there but I like the fact that they are working to get it right
- Godlike was also a good both too bad they only had the original book I would have bought others from them.
- Steve Jackson Games - all the folks there were very friendly. I enjoyed talking to D. Pulzner.
- Reaper having the artists there creating mini's before your eyes was a great idea. Sandra G. was an interesting person
The things I did not like
- Some of the booths were maned by folks who had obviously stayed out too late and the people were cranky. I realize it is a con and folks are there to have fun but come on. If you are a dealer, you are there to sell stuff and behave in a professonal manor. Some of the other booths were maned by people whom I am sure are very talanted but have zero salesmanship skills.
- If you have a product why do you charge full price for it. You are compeating with other companies. Make me want to buy your product over someone else's.
What I would like
- something to carry massive mini's (dragons and such) with out damaging it. The only thing I saw at Gen Con was the Battlechest. But I would have had to buy the $50 case and then $20 for the larger foam. The case came with foam for smaller mini's but the foam for large mini's is only sold seperately. All the salesman had to do was take out the foam which came with the case and replace it with the larger foam and he would have had a sale.
- A D20 mass combat system.
JohnNephew
First Post
bolen said:
There are a couple of reasons why manufacturers don't discount at a show like Gen Con.
First is that it is expensive to be there, and while they make a higher profit per item sold, they have a lot of bills to pay (thousands of dollars on airplane tickets, freight bills, booth fees, meals, etc.). They need all the money; even so, many publishers lose money at conventions (even Gen Con).
Second is that it looks really bad for a publisher to discount. Retailers are understandably upset when they visit a booth, and see "40% off everything!" or the like. The retailer then wonders, well, if the product isn't worth the retail price that the publisher suggests -- if the publisher himself has to sell it at a discount in order to make sales -- then why am I expected to sell it at full price in my store? Because if the retailer can't sell it at full price, they may as well not carry it at all, and instead sell something that CAN be sold at the manufacturer's suggested retail price.
I think it's very important for publishers to charge the same price that they expect retailers to charge for their goods. If they see that no one wants to buy at that price, then they might consider whether their prices are too high (or maybe if it's a product that just doesn't appeal to gamers).
One exception is that it may be a good idea to have a damaged/closeout items area with cheap goods. I know Chaosium always has a big pile of Cthulhu novels (dinged-up returns from the book trade) that they sell for a straight $5 each. Then you're offering some cheap deals, but it's "as-is" merchandise (just like a game store's used section or discounted close-outs or whatnot), not discounting the pristine brand new items.
Twin Rose
First Post
bolen said:
You have touched on the number one reason we DID make it to GenCon despite having to scrape. We wanted to be able to show people - consumers and publishers, that we were serious, professional, and had a product that matched any others. The support received from both groups has made me very proud. The publishers have been great in wanting to support us by working with us to see their great products added to the ever-growing databases... The consumers by telling us what they want to see in the product. We're building up a trust, that people know if they make a request of us we'll come through and make it happen for them - even for the smallest individual.
I'm also very proud you put me on your list of winners, and at the top to boot. Thank you, Bolen.
I spent most of Gen Con as a booth monkey at the Green Ronin booth, which was the first time I had worked a booth since 1996...
Some things sure have changed in 6 years!
1) There was not a massive herd of gamers running into the hall from the moment the door opened to go get their Magic cards.
2) The industry and its consumers have grown up considerably. I saw far more jokes between exhibitors and consumers about the dreaded "let me tell you about my character" than actual conversations of that sort. Six years ago, I noticed that the industry had very little respect for its consumers and its consumers had very little respect for themselves (about the 500th person walking by your booth on their way to the WotC booth, smacking their arm and saying "Gamer Smack... I'm such a loser" will make you start to think gamers don't respect themselves so much). This Gen Con I had countless really nice conversations about all kinds of interesting stuff from religion (I was shilling a book on religions after all), to politics, to the economy in Brazil. I had a really good time working a booth and talking to people; six years ago, working a booth at Gen Con was likened by most to one of the lower circles of hell.
3) The industry is nicer now. It may not seem that way to many, but people sure weren't as cordial with their competitors six years ago as they are now. That was very nice to see.
4) The products sure do look better. Most of the books I saw on my brief excursions to other booths were really pretty. I'm particularly chuffed about Oathbound, though I have no copy.
5) What happened to FASA? (No, I'm kidding)
6) I know d20 has its strenuous critics, but I enjoy what it's done (perhaps temporarily) for the industry. There's a lot of good stuff out there that no longer has to get over that first hurdle of convincing people to adopt a new system. There's a lot of clever ideas seeing the light of day that might not have before.
Just a few thoughts from someone who's not a publisher but was chained to a booth anyway...
Aaron
---------
Aaron Loeb
Author, The Book of the Righteous
Published by Green Ronin Publishing
botr@greenronin.com
Some things sure have changed in 6 years!
1) There was not a massive herd of gamers running into the hall from the moment the door opened to go get their Magic cards.
2) The industry and its consumers have grown up considerably. I saw far more jokes between exhibitors and consumers about the dreaded "let me tell you about my character" than actual conversations of that sort. Six years ago, I noticed that the industry had very little respect for its consumers and its consumers had very little respect for themselves (about the 500th person walking by your booth on their way to the WotC booth, smacking their arm and saying "Gamer Smack... I'm such a loser" will make you start to think gamers don't respect themselves so much). This Gen Con I had countless really nice conversations about all kinds of interesting stuff from religion (I was shilling a book on religions after all), to politics, to the economy in Brazil. I had a really good time working a booth and talking to people; six years ago, working a booth at Gen Con was likened by most to one of the lower circles of hell.
3) The industry is nicer now. It may not seem that way to many, but people sure weren't as cordial with their competitors six years ago as they are now. That was very nice to see.
4) The products sure do look better. Most of the books I saw on my brief excursions to other booths were really pretty. I'm particularly chuffed about Oathbound, though I have no copy.
5) What happened to FASA? (No, I'm kidding)
6) I know d20 has its strenuous critics, but I enjoy what it's done (perhaps temporarily) for the industry. There's a lot of good stuff out there that no longer has to get over that first hurdle of convincing people to adopt a new system. There's a lot of clever ideas seeing the light of day that might not have before.
Just a few thoughts from someone who's not a publisher but was chained to a booth anyway...
Aaron
---------
Aaron Loeb
Author, The Book of the Righteous
Published by Green Ronin Publishing
botr@greenronin.com
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ValAssante
First Post
bolen said:
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