D&D 5E Wizards not taking Gencon seriously?

[Osgood]

What is the importance of cons beyond catering to those who have already bought into the whole gaming experience and, then, only the fraction who will take the time, expense and hassle of participating in a con? I've never understood it, so that piece would need a lot of clarification. Prior to the instant transmission of information that is the internet, I can understand that cons were an excellent venue for the dissemination of information to a large group who could then get that info out to others, but we don't need that anymore.

To my mind, the importance to existing customers is minimal. Sure it was always nice to get early previews of upcoming products and talk with the developers, but you are right there is little importance in a presence at a con. My concern for the marketing has always been the future of game.

The importance is for the huge percentage of attendees who have never played D&D. Odds are good that they have heard of D&D (certainly better odds they've heard of D&D over Pathfinder, Savage Worlds, or what have you), so seeing a booth or the cool play area they had in previous years might encourage them to give it a try. New players are needed for the game to thrive into the future. You hit the nail on the head, many people try out games at a con, but its not easy to try out D&D at Gen Con.

As a side note, not every D&D fan is plugged into online D&D news. In my gaming group I am the only one who bothers to look for D&D news online. For the others, those presentations were the only time they heard about upcoming products. I honestly couldn't tell you why, they seem to spend all kinds of time on social media, but they never bother to look for gaming info.

 

[billd91]

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

This isn't true. WotC had a very large presence at GenCon during the early 3e years, and that's all after Hasbro bought them. The decline is more recent than just being bought by Hasbro.
Personally, I think it's a mistake to write off a 55,000+ attendee show even if you are interested in pursuing broadening the D&D brand into movies and video games.

 

[amerigoV]

I've played with over the past 30+ years have never been to a con, have had no desire to do so and when confronted with the opportunity to do so, will let it pass by. Heck, I'm heavy into RPGs and only attended my first con 3 years ago after playing for 30 years.

When I was a D&D diehard, my experience and POV was remarkably similar to yours. I live in Columbus and never had any desire to go to Origins. I was invested in the system and had no desire to play other games. If I wanted new stuff, the game stores had it and I did not have to pay an entrance fee/parking to get it (in the days before the Amazons).

When we switched to Savage Worlds, that all changed. I do hit Origins and another con in the region (Con on the Cob near Cleveland OH). I found that the Savage Community was just the "right" size that they would have a presence at various cons but not overwhelmingly so. So there is enough games to get in yet you see familiar faces. Over time, you get to know these players through the Con and on the Pinnacle message boards and get to be actual friends with them. Even better, I have been in games with people that worked for Pinnacle or some of the key 3rd party developers.

So for me, there is a community to engage in that is more intimate than the D&D community. A gathering of Savages has become a gathering of friends for me, and they do gather at various Cons.

 

[BrockBallingdark]

Personally, I think it's a mistake to write off a 55,000+ attendee show even if you are interested in pursuing broadening the D&D brand into movies and video games.

Attendance of 61,423 But I agree, we are still the RPG gamers, we are the reason D&D could even try to go into movies and video games.

 

[Doc_Klueless]

Attendance of 61,423 But I agree, we are still the RPG gamers, we are the reason D&D could even try to go into movies and video games.

But what is 61,423 in the grand scheme of things if the number of players is 1,000,000 (6.14%? of the players) or 2,000,000 or 5,000,000. Is it cost effective? Is it more cost effective to pump that same money into League play/events sponsored/materials at independent game stores? Because the bucket of money is not bottomless and spending that money in ways that is the most effective way to expand the presence of D&D is really the key, isn't it?

(Again, I'm not trying to be argumentative, but am honestly looking for information so I can wrap my brain around some of the problems people are seeing.)

 

[Doc_Klueless]

To my mind, the importance to existing customers is minimal. Sure it was always nice to get early previews of upcoming products and talk with the developers, but you are right there is little importance in a presence at a con. My concern for the marketing has always been the future of game.

Ok. Thanks for that.

The importance is for the huge percentage of attendees who have never played D&D. Odds are good that they have heard of D&D (certainly better odds they've heard of D&D over Pathfinder, Savage Worlds, or what have you), so seeing a booth or the cool play area they had in previous years might encourage them to give it a try. New players are needed for the game to thrive into the future. You hit the nail on the head, many people try out games at a con, but its not easy to try out D&D at Gen Con.

Ah, Ok. I think I'm getting the problem now.

When we switched to Savage Worlds, that all changed. I do hit Origins and another con in the region (Con on the Cob near Cleveland OH). I found that the Savage Community was just the "right" size that they would have a presence at various cons but not overwhelmingly so. So there is enough games to get in yet you see familiar faces. Over time, you get to know these players through the Con and on the Pinnacle message boards and get to be actual friends with them. Even better, I have been in games with people that worked for Pinnacle or some of the key 3rd party developers.

So for me, there is a community to engage in that is more intimate than the D&D community. A gathering of Savages has become a gathering of friends for me, and they do gather at various Cons.

Now, this drives home some of the importance of the con or just cons in general. Thanks for the input, AmerigoV.

 

[Hussar]

To my mind, the importance to existing customers is minimal. Sure it was always nice to get early previews of upcoming products and talk with the developers, but you are right there is little importance in a presence at a con. My concern for the marketing has always been the future of game.

The importance is for the huge percentage of attendees who have never played D&D. Odds are good that they have heard of D&D (certainly better odds they've heard of D&D over Pathfinder, Savage Worlds, or what have you), so seeing a booth or the cool play area they had in previous years might encourage them to give it a try. New players are needed for the game to thrive into the future. You hit the nail on the head, many people try out games at a con, but its not easy to try out D&D at Gen Con.

As a side note, not every D&D fan is plugged into online D&D news. In my gaming group I am the only one who bothers to look for D&D news online. For the others, those presentations were the only time they heard about upcoming products. I honestly couldn't tell you why, they seem to spend all kinds of time on social media, but they never bother to look for gaming info.

"Huge percentage of attendees who have never played D&D"? Really? Do you honestly think there is a large contingent of Gen Con attendees who have never played D&D?

Sure, I can see trying new games at cons. Been there done that. But, D&D? Really? I'd be pretty shocked if more than a tiny fraction of Gen Con (or most gaming cons for that matter) attendees have never played D&D. I don't think conventions are likely a good venue for drawing new gamers. Conventions cater to hard core gamers and the overwhelming majority of hard core gamers have played D&D before.

 

[Hand of Evil]

But what is 61,423 in the grand scheme of things if the number of players is 1,000,000 (6.14%? of the players) or 2,000,000 or 5,000,000.

Remember, when 5e came out it was stated that it is not being translated into any other language, another failure. 7 billion people on the planet and all you are focusing on is a limited population. I think I would be shooting for 6.14% of a billion people.

 

[Osgood]

"Huge percentage of attendees who have never played D&D"? Really? Do you honestly think there is a large contingent of Gen Con attendees who have never played D&D?

Sure, I can see trying new games at cons. Been there done that. But, D&D? Really? I'd be pretty shocked if more than a tiny fraction of Gen Con (or most gaming cons for that matter) attendees have never played D&D. I don't think conventions are likely a good venue for drawing new gamers. Conventions cater to hard core gamers and the overwhelming majority of hard core gamers have played D&D before.

I absolutely think RPG players are in the minority at Gen Con. Between CCG players, board gamers, cos players, and folks from Indy just there to see what all the fuss is about I think we are greatly outnumbered. Most of the vendors aren't catering to RPG players, much less space is dedicated to RPG play than other games.... Even that hall that had D&D was mostly board games and Magic (D&D took up maybe a 10th of that space). Sure, some of the folks plays those other games have played D&D, but I doubt it's been a majority for many years.

 

[Morrus]

Yeah, Gen Con has huge CCG, board game, and cosplay components.