WotC stores: dead?

Kichwas · Dec 30, 2003

I've been hearing rumors to this effect since mid 2001 if not earlier.

No suprise it would finally happen, I thought it already had.

That said, I will hold off believing until I see an announcement from Wizards themselves on their site.

Bards R Us · Dec 30, 2003

The WotC store in my local mall wasn't too bad compared to some of the horror stories I hearing from other people. At one time they even had the entire RPG collection prominently displayed in the front of the checkout center! But then again I could find a larger and better selection at some of the hobby shops (even one of the Barnes & Noble stores had a better selection).

Bards R Us · Dec 30, 2003

Man you guys have GOT to check out the comments section on the link to article that I posted. Its freaking hilarious LOL

Bloodsparrow · Dec 30, 2003

Hmm, well, the one at the Block in Orange (California) always had people in it... Not sure on how much they were buying...

The RPG section was liquidated a little while ago anyway.

I'll have to pop over there and see what's on sale. Maybe I can get D&D Clue at a good discount.

. . .

Wow, you're right, those comments are funny...

Somebody please tell me wtf the WotC stores have to do with d20? Somehow, I don't think Hasbro is shutting down the stores because the d20 system (suposedly, according to some people) sucks.

I love how when some people get to hate some one thing about a company, absolutely EVERYTHING else that happens is DIRECTLY connected to it.

Kid Charlemagne · Dec 30, 2003

Brown Jenkin said:
And some people said thier reorganization of the focus of the stores 6-12 months ago wasn't a corporate plot to get them to fail so they could legitamately close down a sector they had no interest in.

They certainly didn't need to do that. They were failing perfectly well on their own. The Wizard's store in my area couldn't even get Wizards books in before the other gaming stores. I'm sure they tried to make one last go of it, but the stores were a pretty bad idea from word "go," and doomed as soon as Hasbro bought Wizards.

Apocalyptic Kitty · Dec 30, 2003

Haha! The end of D20 is finally at hand. Long live F.A.T.A.L.!

Ulrick · Dec 30, 2003

Apocalyptic Kitty said:
Haha! The end of D20 is finally at hand. Long live F.A.T.A.L.!

If D20 and D&D died and was no longer produced, I don't think I'd cry because a lot of it is crap now-a-days. But if F.A.T.A.L. rose from the ashes to take its place...well, I do have the right to bear arms, ya know.

Nightfall · Dec 30, 2003

d20 isn't going to die cause I need it AND I have no life.

And it's not going to die today IF I and the other FINE publishers of d20 stuff have anything to say about it. Life will go on as usual. Gamers will gripe, and people will game. Thus the cycle of an 1000 years of the same crap goes on.

UniversalMonster · Dec 30, 2003

The comments over there (at Gaming Report) were funny.

Early on, when the Wizards store first appeared at my local mall, I liked it. They had a little gamers Lan in the back, and pokemon tournaments and M:tg stuff. It seemed kind of cool- and it was close, so we shopped there. But one by one, most of the cool things about that store disappeared.

By the end- by this Christmas, I dropped by to see if I could score some miniatures and they didn't have any. I had to go to Borders to get the Miniatures handbook. Nobody even knew anything about the Dragoneye minis, and they hadn't any idea that the D&D Harbinger miniatures came in boosters as well as the starter set.

johnsemlak · Dec 30, 2003

Bards R Us said:
Man you guys have GOT to check out the comments section on the link to article that I posted. Its freaking hilarious LOL

Is it just me, or do some of those comments seem rediculous?

From what I can tell, this will have zero impact on D&D, d20, and RPGs. I mean, what % of WotC stuff or other RPG stuff was being sold through WotC's stores, anyway?

I believe TSR never had a retail chain either. Didn't prevent me from getting products.