WotC's 2017 Convention Schedule Includes New Hascon, No GenCon

This year WotC will be attending Pax South, Winter Fantasy, Pax East, Gary's con, Origins, Pax A West, the new a Hasbro convention, Hascon, and Gamehole Con. Like last year, the company is skipping Gen Con in Indianapolis.

Here are all the convention details:

[h=3]PAX SOUTH[/h]January 27-29
Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center
900 E Market St.
San Antonio, TX
Chris Perkins and Trevor Kidd will be at PAX South at the end of this month. Chris will have the honor of delivering the key note Story Time with Chris Perkins on Friday morning, as well as stepping onto the main stage to serve as Dungeon Master for Acquisitions Incorporated, live for the first time from sunny San Antonio. Many Dungeons & Dragons games will be playable in the open gaming spaces scheduled through the D&D Adventurers League. We definitely won’t be playing in the basement of the Alamo, thankfully.
[h=3]WINTER FANTASY[/h]February 1-5
Grand Wayne Convention Center
120 West Jefferson Blvd
Fort Wayne, IN
Chris Lindsay will be returning to Fort Wayne for Winter Fantasy and will be available to speak about the D&D Adventurers League and Dungeon Masters Guild. We will debut a brand-new D&D Adventurers League EPIC by Will Doyle here, giving attendees the first chance to overcome new challenges and collect loot. Chris will be running unique D&D Adventurers League sessions with loot and magic items you can’t get anywhere else.
[h=3]PAX EAST[/h]March 10 -12
Boston Convention & Exhibition Center
415 Summer Street
Boston, MA
Chris Perkins and Trevor Kidd will be in Boston at PAX East again this year. Chris will serve as Dungeon Master for another Acquisitions Incorporated live show with Mike, Jerry, Scott, and Pat. There will be many opportunities to play Dungeons & Dragons in the open gaming spaces of PAX scheduled through the D&D Adventurers League.
[h=3]GARY CON[/h]March 23-26
Grand Geneva Resort & Spa
7036 Grand Geneva Way
Lake Geneva, WI
We’re heading back to Gary Con in Lake Geneva again this year! Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford, and Chris Lindsay will be panelists in a discussion of D&D Across the Editions. Mike Mearls will be DMing a celebrity game using his Greyhawk house rules for 5e in one of the deadliest dungeons he’s run in his personal campaign: the dreaded Path of Blades. Mearls will also run a home brew horror RPG based on the Avalon Hill board game Betrayal at House on the Hill. Chris Lindsay will head up a host of Dungeon Masters as we present the Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan and the Tomb of Horrors as competitive events for the first time in decades. Also, don’t miss the EPIC designed by Chris Lindsay, featuring the Keep on the Borderlands.
[h=3]ORIGINS[/h]June 14-18
Greater Columbus Convention Center
400 N High Street
Columbus, OH
Mike Mearls, Chris Lindsay, Chris Perkins, Trevor Kidd, and Jeremy Crawford will be returning to Origins for the D&D tabletop gaming event of the year: The D&D Open. Bring your favorite Adventurers League character and risk life and limb to bring glory upon your adventuring party. We’ll also have D&D board game tournaments, exclusive DMs Guild panels, exclusive Origins swag, and even more!
[h=3]PAX WEST[/h]September 1-4
Washington State Convention Center
800 Convention Place
Seattle, WA
Chris Perkins, Trevor Kidd, and many more folks from the Dungeons & Dragons team will be at PAX West. Chris will be on panels and serving as Dungeon Master for the live Acquisitions Incorporated game with Jerry, Mike, Scott, and Pat. Many of us will be around in the Dungeons & Dragons area and there will be tons of opportunities to play D&D in the open gaming area scheduled through the D&D Adventurers League.
[h=3]HASCON[/h]September 9-10
Rhode Island Convention Center & Dunkin Donuts Center
1 La Salle Square & 1 Sabin St
Providence, RI
Join us in Providence for the debut of HASCON, a new convention event in September focusing on all of Hasbro’s brands including Transformers, My Little Pony, Magic the Gathering and, of course, Dungeons & Dragons! You will get to peek behind the curtain of our characters and stories through interactive experiences, exclusive products, talent appearances, panels and much more.
[h=3]GAMEHOLE CON[/h]November 2-5
Alliant Energy Center Exhibition Hall
1919 Alliant Energy Center Way
Madison, WI
Mike Mearls and Chris Lindsay will return to the Midwest in November for Gamehole Con in Madison. Mike and Chris will be attending panels, serving as Dungeon Masters in unique Adventurers League scenarios, and hanging out and answering any questions you might have.

 

[Rhineglade]

Well that is just really too bad. The "granddaddy" of all RPGs (namely D&D) will not be represented at GenCon which in my mind has always been synonymous with the game since its inception. That is just idiotic.

 

[Lanefan]

Well, the page on their website is that it's the "D&D Team" at Wizards of the Coast, so my point is essentially correct. It doesn't say WotC on the whole wouldn't be there (at least not in the article on the website talking about the cons they were going to.) Does it say on the Magic: The Gathering side of the website that WotC won't be there for that either?

WotC haven't been there for M:tG for years; they farm it out to a 3rd-party group the same way they farm out D&D to Baldman Games.

But beyond any of this, it's a question of "presence". Someone going to the last couple of GenCons and just looking around would be quite justified in assuming Pathfinder/Paizo is the big - if not the only - fish in the fantasy RPG pond as their posters and advertising are everywhere; which is bad for WotC as GenCon is starting to attract a large-ish number of casual and-or non-RPG-ers in its attendance mix (e.g. board-gamers, cosplayers, cardgame players, etc.).

Since you live in the Midwest, one thing you might not realize is that the Interstate Highway system connects basically every major city all up and down the east coast from Canada to Florida, and city-to-city flights out here are relatively cheap - even somewhat long-distance travel is fairly fast, easy and inexpensive, and most folks don't have much of a problem traveling out-of-state since a three or four hour drive might well bring you through three different states.

For those of us on the west coast it's all the same - a long flight or a longer drive (I know all about the Interstate highway system ) to get to any of these. The only really big con anywhere near here is PAX-West in Seattle, whose RPG side just seems like an afterthought.

Lanefan

 

[DEFCON 1]

I'm not sure I understand your post then. You replied "Well, D&D *will* be at GenCon", as though I'd said it wouldn't be.

Ah well. Never mind. Nothing to see here!

Ah gotcha, Morrus, sorry! I wasn't trying to reply to your post specifically. The impression I was getting from the thread was in essence of "Can't believe WotC won't be at GenCon with D&D! It's the oldest RPG and it's the 50th anniversary!", so I was just pointing out that while the employees wouldn't be there, the game itself would be well represented. I probably put emphasis on the wrong parts of my post. My bad!

 

[Parmandur]

WotC haven't been there for M:tG for years; they farm it out to a 3rd-party group the same way they farm out D&D to Baldman Games.



But beyond any of this, it's a question of "presence". Someone going to the last couple of GenCons and just looking around would be quite justified in assuming Pathfinder/Paizo is the big - if not the only - fish in the fantasy RPG pond as their posters and advertising are everywhere; which is bad for WotC as GenCon is starting to attract a large-ish number of casual and-or non-RPG-ers in its attendance mix (e.g. board-gamers, cosplayers, cardgame players, etc.).

For those of us on the west coast it's all the same - a long flight or a longer drive (I know all about the Interstate highway system ) to get to any of these. The only really big con anywhere near here is PAX-West in Seattle, whose RPG side just seems like an afterthought.



Lanefan

Actually, PAX not being an "RPG Con" per se is part of why WotC has said they are moving over to more smaller Cons for official presence: brand evangelization outside the standard tabletop crowd.

 

[Warmaster Horus]

Gencon = HasNotCon

 

[Tyranthraxus]

Actually, PAX not being an "RPG Con" per se is part of why WotC has said they are moving over to more smaller Cons for official presence: brand evangelization outside the standard tabletop crowd.

This. Gencon attendees tend to be ones that go year in year out. THe die hards, the fanatics. THe ones that can tell you the exact page the grapple rules are in the 5e PHB. WOTC have decided that attending conventions like PAX, they can perhaps pull non gamers or casual gamers more into gaming. I think its a great idea. They still have D&D present in Baldman and can be elsewhere too.

 

[cmad1977]

Why preach to the converted?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[happyhermit]

I find the shock, disgust and dismay over Wotc not going to Gencon genuinely amusing, to the point where it has actually made me lol on occasion.

I am otherwise a very sympathetic person, I swear, but certain varieties of nerd rage and/or indignation are hilarious to me on a visceral level.

 

[MNblockhead]

I find the shock, disgust and dismay over Wotc not going to Gencon genuinely amusing, to the point where it has actually made me lol on occasion.

I am otherwise a very sympathetic person, I swear, but certain varieties of nerd rage and/or indignation are hilarious to me on a visceral level.

Those that are upset, I'm guessing, are older gamers feeling the pangs of nostalgia.

I have not been to Gen Con since the end of the 80s (I think 88). I stopped playing RPGs soon thereafter and just got back into it with 5th edition.

There is no logical reason for me to care if WoTC goes to Gen Con. The last time I played D&D at Gen Con WoTC didn't exist. And Gen Con today is too big, too expensive, and too inconvenient with work and family obligations to go to.

But...

For me Gen Con WAS D&D. Being able to make the drive from the Twin Cities to Milwaukee was like my trip to Mecca [1], except with Muhammad still walking around and signing autographs.

I understand why WoTC doesn't go to Gen Con. And they still support the hard-core D&D gamers by participating at Gary Con. Yet, Gen Con without an official D&D presence is a bit saddening. But that's just an aging gamer getting all nostalgic. LOL away.



[1] Okay, it actually WAS, literally, a trip to MECCA, but I mean the other more famous Mecca.

 

[happyhermit]

Those that are upset, I'm guessing, are older gamers feeling the pangs of nostalgia.

I have not been to Gen Con since the end of the 80s (I think 88). I stopped playing RPGs soon thereafter and just got back into it with 5th edition.

There is no logical reason for me to care if WoTC goes to Gen Con. The last time I played D&D at Gen Con WoTC didn't exist. And Gen Con today is too big, too expensive, and too inconvenient with work and family obligations to go to.

But...

For me Gen Con WAS D&D. Being able to make the drive from the Twin Cities to Milwaukee was like my trip to Mecca [1], except with Muhammad still walking around and signing autographs.

I understand why WoTC doesn't go to Gen Con. And they still support the hard-core D&D gamers by participating at Gary Con. Yet, Gen Con without an official D&D presence is a bit saddening. But that's just an aging gamer getting all nostalgic. LOL away.



[1] Okay, it actually WAS, literally, a trip to MECCA, but I mean the other more famous Mecca.

No, nothing to laugh at in your post, it makes sense to me and is not what I was referring to. I am certainly not young, started playing decades ago, and my S.O would tell you I am certainly prone to nostalgia, so I get that. To me though, most of Gencon's history is much more disturbing to that nostalgia (such as moving away from it's original location) than is the lack of Wotc employees at this one.

Most of the people I see get the most worked up about it are not older, many of them have little nostalgia for older versions of the game, and many of them have a huge list of other issues with Wotc and 5e.