TOPIC: GC Exclusivity only through 2015?

Harlax wrote: I'm not so wild about the next step being another mega convention. Something midsize would be better.

One GenCon style hotel hassle a year is more than enough.

forget the hassle..just the hotel prices at gencon are ridiculous

Better for both, IMHO.

Laz is right, price is part of the hassle.

Any my feel is that going to second location where TD is at best a midsize fish in a very large pond doesn't feel like a step forward.

I never made it to GenCon SoCal, perhaps some of the other old timers could relate how it was running TD at a Con other than GenCon Indy.

It would be grand if some of these mid-size cons courted TD.

George wrote: I never made it to GenCon SoCal, perhaps some of the other old timers could relate how it was running TD at a Con other than GenCon Indy.

Buy "running", do you mean playing (going on a run) or working (volunteering)?

Though I played TD exclusively at Gen Con So Cal for the first four years, I did not start volunteering until GCSC folded and I started going to Indy.

As for playing, it was wonderful. I was never able to pre-buy a ticket, but I was able to get on at least a couple runs a day via the wait list.

Hate to say it, but the next natural step is probably Origins. It's only two more hours past Indy. It's probably big enough and close enough to make the trip worthwhile, whereas many smaller cons might not be. You need a critical mass of people. (The renovated funhouse idea might make smaller cons more practical, but with its own set of headaches.)

But I could see why most people wouldn't go to a TD-only con, except maybe some volunteers, but you only need a certain percentage of those. There needs to be more there there.

Shelly and I stopped going to Origins a few years ago in favor of Gencon, plus now WYC. TD is probably the only thing that would bring us back to Columbus. Not that anyone cares what happens to Origins per se. But, if we could run and part-time volunteer at Origins, I might volunteer full-time at GenCon. Others might be more willing to be FT at one if they could get their runs in at the other, too.

But it's all moot at this point.

Origins drew about 13,000 in attendance in 2014. So it is smaller to be sure. About what GenCon was late 80s/early 90s.


But is a June date too close to GenCon?

Lets see how WYC fares this year. I'm guessing demand will exceed supply.

I don't know if Origins is something to hitch onto. A few years ago they were having attendance issues and people I know that went there said it felt empty/sparse.

I remember when the stand alone event happened and I was tempted to go, but it was a bit far to go for just one event for me.

Snuble wrote: I don't know if Origins is something to hitch onto. A few years ago they were having attendance issues and people I know that went there said it felt empty/sparse.

I remember when the stand alone event happened and I was tempted to go, but it was a bit far to go for just one event for me.

Origins attendance figures for the last 5 years:

2009 10,030
2010 10,669
2011 11,502
2012 11,332
2013 11,573
2014 12,902

If you go back further, they had 12,600 in 2003.

I'm not a fan of Orgins in particular, but they do seem to be on an upward trend. Although that trend merely brought them back to where they had been a decade ago.

In my neck of the woods (Bakersfield, CA) I have talked to gamers of all types which include CCG's, RPGs, tabletop, board game etc. I would say 1 in 10 have known what GenCon is and of those maybe half of those know what True Dungeon is or have an idea what it is about.

I have told people of my recent experiences with TD. A lot of them crave more information and to be honest I feel this could be presented to new people in a better manner then it currently is without ruining that first run through TD.

TD has a high learning curve that I feel intimidates people to some degrees. The group I was paired up with this last year was chock full of newbies to the point that 6 of the 10 of us stood around just looking in the rooms. They did not interact at all with the room or us and ultimately it doomed us in most rooms.

Whats all this got to do with the original post?

I am not sure exclusivity is a good thing for the growth of this endeavor in the long run. For some of us (yes, I have been bitten by the TD bug) the growth of this is a must to keep us interested but also to allow for new people to also get that bug. I know folks who ONLY come to GenCon to do TD 80% of the time. I also know folks who think the price is so high they would rather spend their money elsewhere because a 2 hour run in TD price wise is almost the cost of other events over the whole rest of the weekend if you go by the model of $2/hr.

I do not know enough about the ins and outs of their contract but in my mind GenCon would not be GenCon if TD was not there. On the flip side if done right I feel like TD could stand alone if need be. Heck, I think if you packed TD up and went major city to major city on a tour you would do well if the word got out. Hit each Major city once a year so as to not saturate a certain market. That is just my feelings though.

Everrett Barnes wrote: In my neck of the woods (Bakersfield, CA) I have talked to gamers of all types which include CCG's, RPGs, tabletop, board game etc. I would say 1 in 10 have known what GenCon is and of those maybe half of those know what True Dungeon is or have an idea what it is about.

I have told people of my recent experiences with TD. A lot of them crave more information and to be honest I feel this could be presented to new people in a better manner then it currently is without ruining that first run through TD.

Send them here: truedungeon.com/videos

Harlax wrote:

Everrett Barnes wrote: In my neck of the woods (Bakersfield, CA) I have talked to gamers of all types which include CCG's, RPGs, tabletop, board game etc. I would say 1 in 10 have known what GenCon is and of those maybe half of those know what True Dungeon is or have an idea what it is about.

I have told people of my recent experiences with TD. A lot of them crave more information and to be honest I feel this could be presented to new people in a better manner then it currently is without ruining that first run through TD.

Send them here: truedungeon.com/videos

I'm hoping/expecting you'll see an additional helpful resource before next year.