TOPIC: Important Re-Post From Jeff (TD Creator)

I recently made a post in the Lords & Ladies section of the TD Forum. This is a special place that is only view-able by folks 5th level or higher. After posting it, I received feedback that I should post it in the General section for all to see. It explains some of the events that led up to the recent changes. Thank you for giving it a read.

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Thanks all for the good feedback on this idea. I do listen as y'all have had some amazing ideas over the years.

Regarding WHY we went to the 3 dungeon structure -- it is complicated.

For years I have dreamed of making super-cool dungeons at Gen Con. If I won the lottery today, TD at Gen Con in 2019 would just be two massive dungeons with lots of multiple paths, secret doors and bonus rooms. But the cost of the ticket would have to be sky-high. I know that is not practical, so I've long considered the idea of doing three dungeons as announced.

A handful of things made me pull the trigger on this dream this year.

First, we did a preliminary test last year with the Dancing Among Stones adventure. We went overboard on that both in terms of cost and time budget, but I was so happy with the result. After 15 years of slowing growing TD, I felt we had gotten TD to the place I had first dreamed about in 2003 while have pancakes with Peter. I knew with a little more space, budget and time to build we could have made Dancing Among Stones a pretty amazing experience.

Second, I visited Universal Orlando this past October, and I went on tours of all their amazing haunts. Also, I got to meet with their head honcho, and it really inspired me to up the quality of the event. I want to completely blow folks' minds with their TD experience, and to do that I need more space.

Third, I ain't no spring-chicken these days. I'm 53 and I'm starting to prioritize the fulfillment of dreams a wee bit more these days. We just signed a 5-year deal with Gen Con, and I want to make these coming 5 years amazing while my vigor remains to push the envelope on what we can do.

Fourth, we just hired Mike Naglee to help take over some of the aspects of running TD so I can spend more time working on the more creative side of TD. This hire allowed us to make the Astral module (N1) a new module -- and a module that could premiere at Origins. It also, I feel, was probably a subconscious way that I moved TD's future toward the enhanced dungeon scenario.

Fifth, from a logistics stand-point, doing the same events from Gen Con at Gamehole Con, PAX South and other Cons just makes a lot of sense. In the past, we've had to do two weeks of work in the warehouse after each Con just to re-configure all the sets, props and costumes just to match the new unique structure of the upcoming event. And mistakes can be made...and stuff got left behind or the wrong things brought. After the upcoming Gen Con we are just unload the trailers into the warehouse (each intact in its own space) and then very easily re-load them in an afternoon to go to Gamehole Con. We will have a few pallets of consumable to re-load. So, if you multiple the two weeks' savings per Con, you can see that over a month of time will be saved this year in the warehouse. This is time we can spend making better sets and props.

Also, the quality of the volunteers at Gen Con should be the highest ever. We will have a large pool to choose from for Gen Con, and we can now be more choosy than we were in the past.

Despite all these point, the plan just a few weeks ago was still to leave Gen Con as-is -- with 4 modules (2 different modules each with a combat and puzzle side) in 2018. It was not until a fateful trip last week that I decided to make the big move. I took the kids to Orlando last week for a quick Spring Break trip to Disney and Universal. Lori had to take her elderly father out West, so we decided at the last second to hit Orlando.

I was standing in the middle of Main Street at the Magic Kingdom -- watching the throngs of people immensely enjoying themselves, and I thought back to Walt Disney's crazy idea to open Disney World back in 1971. It might surprise you to learn that it was a huge financial gamble, and many "experts" thought his castle in the swamp would be a big fiasco. But he took the gamble, followed his creative dream, and his initiative ended up being widely loved by generations of folks who want some wonderment in their life. And it was there on Main Street looking up at the castle while surrounded by people from across the globe that I decided it might be time to go for it.

When I got back to TD HQ, I put out some event structure ideas for discussion, and we talked about lots of scenarios. I finally asked the TD Crew if they wanted to follow me on the crazy idea of going with 3 enhanced dungeons, and they gave out some great Pro and Con feedback. But in the end, we all felt that the 3 enchanced adventures was the way to go. We are now super-charged about the new creative fun we get to enjoy this year, and we can't wait to see all those excited faces at Origins and Gen Con. I think you guys will like what we are going to do with all that space!

And yes...in case you are wondering...I am really worried that the new ticket price will be our undoing. I kept it as low as I could. Remember that we just hired Mike Naglee full-time and his awesome wife Jenn part-time , so the smart thing to do would probably have been to up the price to $66 and kept the 4 dungeon scheme. Heck, we even entertained the idea of adding a 5th dungeon (Astral), as it would have been possible to shoe-horn it in there with a slight decrease in overall quality. I have to admit the extra $120,000 in revenue for a 5th adventure was tempting, but for lots of reasons that idea was abandoned.

But life is too short, and after 15 years of hard work, I went with my dream. Let's hope it is not a castle in the swamp!


Why premier N1 at Origins? Good question.

1) It gives the token buyers a nice thank you for supporting us and coming to the special token fun at Origins. I love the fact that the big token buyers can enjoy a new adventure at both Origins and Gen Con.

2) Logistically, it makes great sense for us not to have to premiere 3 brand new dungeons at Gen Con. Having one launch 6 weeks before Gen Con allows us a much better build schedule, and we can tweak N1 for Gen Con after seeing what works at Origins. We will have an extra day and more installers at Gen Con, so we can boost the fun of N1 at Gen Con.

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BTW, after reading many of the comments here, it is apparently that I should have talked more about how the rooms will be divided up between combat and puzzle rooms. I actually gave exact info on that in the newsletter.
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Gen Con 2018

Gen Con will see the presentation of the entire three-part N-series of modules. They include:

• N1 – Astral Journey to the Bliss (1st shown at Origins) [b[]3 puzzle rooms, 3 combat rooms & 1 "both" room][/b]
• N2 – Odin’s Haven (premieres at Gen Con) [3 puzzle rooms, 3 combat rooms & 1 "both" room]
• N3 – Vault of the All-Father (premieres at Gen Con) [4 puzzle rooms & 3 combat rooms]

Thanks, Jeff! That's really inspirational, I'm glad you're pursuing your dream. I'm also really glad you can now really focus on the Creative aspect.

I cut and pasted that into an email to my friends who play True Dungeon with me, to see if can help get them to accept the higher price and keep playing. I hope it does, I know I'm looking forward to what you create this year.

Two things: I hope I still make the cut, and should I bring a resume?

Shaman wrote: Two things: I hope I still make the cut, and should I bring a resume?

I doubt that you need to worry.

I hope I don't have to.

I’m glad to see you bringing this forward to the rest of the True Dungeon forums. I think this is an important note that was missing from the explanation on how things would be changing.

I’m new and have not yet played the game, but knowing that ticket prices are coming with this drive and thought for the players behind them helps make the price more understandable. I was already planning to give True Dungeon a try, even making my first purchase of tokens tonight to plant my feet firmly on the idea.

I look forward to seeing what you come up with and look forward to hopefully working with you all in future conventions.

Thanks for posting the explanation. It makes a lot more sense to me now.

Well Im excited! Given the quality jump last year I cant wait to see you go all out

Good for you, Jeff. I look forward to it.

Outstanding! Thank you for letting us have a glimpse inside the decisions. Very exciting time as we embark on the next 15 years of TD.