D&D 5E Wizards not taking Gencon seriously?

[Zaran]

They didn't have anything to say and don't have the budget to put on a big show with nothing to say. Every decision they are making has to do with money. Have a small staff, put out less books that small amounts of people buy, get others to do the work for them, sell the brand... It's about making a larger profit for less and they just don't have enough RPG stuff in the works to make GenCon a big deal this year.

 

[BrockBallingdark]

I knew something was up when i didn't see the famous drow and his panther statue up at Gen con. I got to play in a 5e game, wait was long and the DM was really bad. My buddies played last year and loved the set up. This year I got in and was like... What happened?! My friends were surprised and reading what happened, makes a lot of sense now. I love 5e, they need to recover from this shoddy presentation at Gen Con 2015.

 

[thalmin]

Wizards has had a decreasing presence at GenCon for years, ever since Hasbro bought them.

 

[Lalato]

Just wanted to add that Baldman Games has been running the games at GenCon and Winter Fantasy for years. I'm surprised to hear there were issues with Baldman running things. I've been to both conventions with games run by Baldman. I gave them good scores all around... so maybe this year was an off year?

As for WotC not having a booth... this has been par for the course for some time now. If I was at GenCon would I want to see a cool D&D booth? Sure! Does it ruin my convention if it's not there. Nope!

 

[Majoru Oakheart]

Just wanted to add that Baldman Games has been running the games at GenCon and Winter Fantasy for years. I'm surprised to hear there were issues with Baldman running things. I've been to both conventions with games run by Baldman. I gave them good scores all around... so maybe this year was an off year?

As for WotC not having a booth... this has been par for the course for some time now. If I was at GenCon would I want to see a cool D&D booth? Sure! Does it ruin my convention if it's not there. Nope!

From what I can tell is that the issues that happened this year are 3 fold and compounded on one another:

1. WOTC didn't bring any monetary support this year at all. Last year they didn't have a booth(except for a small one selling T-shirts and novels inside the D&D gaming area) but they brought some decorations with them to make the gaming area look nicer. Plus they contributed some money(I gather..not confirmed) to pay for the gaming space. They also donated books as prize support for the judges and All-Access Pass players.

This year, they didn't bring anything at all. No booth selling T-shirts, no decorations, no prize support, no money. This meant that Baldman did without some things they've had in the past; like a speaker and microphone. Which caused marshals to have to yell loudly to tell the DMs what do to. Some didn't hear and caused games to start up to an hour and a half late.

2. Baldman games appears to have had some issues with DMs due to the number of complaints I've seen about DMs this year. I assume most of the DMs were good but a couple bad ones caused some problems.

3. The Epic wasn't as good as some people would have liked. It wasn't as interactive as previous years and some people thought it was too easy or too boring.

Also, as an honourable mention, I'll add 4. The lights went off at midnight in the middle of the Epic due to an automatic timer that wasn't shut off and no one was able to get them turned back on so a bunch of people just gave up and left in the middle of the game.

Most of the issues weren't really Baldman's fault. But people have grown to expect a level of showmanship mostly created by WOTC in the past that was missing this year. I gather that Baldman expected WOTC to donate books as prizes for the All-Access pass people and WOTC changed their schedule to released their books too late to come out at Gen Con, leaving them without anything to give out.

 

[Queer Venger]

Is it just me, or did anyone else kinda get the feel that Wizards wasn't really trying with their Gencon booth? GM shortages, lots of lines, GM's not even knowing what exactly is supposed to run-combined with the lack of any kind of marketing, or even a couple nice decorations like last year, it felt like they only came because they had too. Or for some reason weren't expecting good turnout (considering the reception 5E has been getting, why wouldn't they?!)

Wizards does not sponsor Gencon, they also do not have a D&D booth. Read Mike Mearls comments on focusing on game stores for new product releases, not Gencon. I support this because the local game store is where D&D lives. They dont need to attract new customers via Gencon, everyone going to Gencon is pretty much guranteed to buy their products. I call that smart marketing.

Would I love to see a D&D booth the way Paizo has a PF booth? Yeah. But is it smart to spend thousands of dollars to do this when you are focusing on local game stores, absolutely not.

 

[Zak S]

Wizards often appear not to be taking conventions as seriously as the other core classes because they can scry in remotely using a crystal ball or magical pool.

 

[neobolts]

WotC tried a new low-key approach to GenCon this year. Based on the fan rage in some corners of the internet, they may have underestimated sentimentality towards the D&D presence of years past. Plus with their focused release schedule, they risk looking underwhelming next to the LITERAL CATALOG of material Paizo is promoting every year.

 

[Umbran]

Plus with their focused release schedule, they risk looking underwhelming next to the LITERAL CATALOG of material Paizo is promoting every year.

Okay, I'll say it - size doesn't matter.

What matters is, "Are we having fun playing the game?"

 

[neobolts]

Okay, I'll say it - size doesn't matter.

What matters is, "Are we having fun playing the game?"

That's a fair observation. But cons are a celebration of the hobby; grand spectacle is part of the equation. Not that WotC are doing it wrong, but that they recognize that when it comes to big brands and generating spectacle its either all-in or nothing.