I talked about D&D 5E in the last column. This time, I want to talk about Wizards of the Coast and other companies at Gen Con.

My experience at Gen Con didn't match what was presented at the D&D Keynote Address (which I am watching on You Tube — no time at the Con to go as I was gaming!). You now have a second opinion from someone who was on the ground at Gen Con.

Wizards of the Coast

At D&D Experience, Wizards of the Coast employees oversaw the playtest and even DMed at some tables. We were asked to give extensive written feedback. Wizards wanted to get to know us and Wizards wanted to know what we thought about 5E.

The employees were nowhere to be seen outside of seminars at Gen Con. Not in the Wizard's booth and not at the two playtests I was in.

Our first DM was begging for a break but the Wizards' coordinator made him DM for us. That was uncomfortable.

At our second adventure we had seven guys and we pulled up an extra chair. All of us had real tickets to the event. Our DM called foul and made one of us leave and join a table of strangers. Six players only. We protested. A lot of us only got to see each other at Gen Con. We wanted to game together. We are all gamers here, can't we just get along? I guess not. He said too bad, got back up from the Wizards' coordinator, and both of them kicked one of us off the table.

We weren't in a tournament. We had spent money to play D&D 5E and were actually playtesting the game for Wizards' benefit. Yet they kicked one of my friends to a table of strangers because we had one too many players. We considered leaving, but decided to stick it out.

Wizards of the Coast customer service at Gen Con was extremely poor. The company is hard on its volunteer DMs, they treat the paying and playtesting players rudely, some volunteers were power tripping, and the designers were absent.

Also, we weren't asked for any feedback. Our DM was supposed to ask us to consider signing up for DDI, but he took one look at our group and realized that a sales pitch wasn't going to work. We hadn't come to have Wizards try to sell us a time share — I mean DDI. We came to playtest 5E and have fun.

That was it. No feedback, no responses from us on D&D 5E. Wizards didn't ask for any information at all and Wizards did not respond favorably to anything we as paying customers and players wanted. Wizards was frankly rude for no reason I could fathom. I am still puzzled to be honest.

What happened in the last seven months to change 5E and Wizards' attitude so drastically and in such a negative direction?

Summary

Wizards at Gen Con chose not to listen to those playing D&D 5E and was extremely hard on players and volunteer DMs alike. They didn't announce the return of PDFs at their booth, only in the keynote address. I would have expected that news to have been on a big banner in the dealer hall.

I didn't attend any D&D 5e seminars at Gen Con, I just played the game and checked out the very limited selection of products at the booth (from a distance. Wizards doesn't let you leaf through books. They are behind the counter and you have to ask permission to peruse them. I am not making that up). And Wizards as a company wanted nothing to do with me. No mingling at the booth, no written feedback, not even letting me demo a game or look through D&D books or minis or cards in their booth at the dealer's room.

An extremely odd and unsatisfying D&D 5E experience at Gen Con.

Comparison

I visited many other booths at Gen Con. CEOs of other companies were manning and womanning booths. Stacks of books and games were out for all to look out. Demos were running fast and furious. It was a chaotic beautiful sprawl of games, gamers, and the hobby we love. A mixture of hard-core gamers, costumed convention goers, and families with babies. I loved all of it.

Henry Lopez of Paradigm Concepts, Inc. for example spoke to me at length about Witch Hunter. He was proud of the way the game allows a GM to tweak monsters and make them unique. He plays the games he sells, without a doubt. And he is proud of the work his company does.

I also talked to Nel, one of the creators of Shadows of Esteren. He was very keen to get feedback on how the translation of the game came across to English-speaking readers and was curious if I got to play the game yet. He smiled a lot, which may not sound like a big deal but it makes a big difference. It creates a connection and shows he is listening to me. As a gamer, as a customer, and as a person that matters to me. In a big way.

One of the Kenzer employees talked to me about Hackmaster and how a recent adventure tied to a sourcebook and offered to take $15 off if I wanted to buy both. He knew his product and he was enthusiastic. He was also ready to wheel and deal, which I appreciated. I might have been talking to David Kenzer for all I know, I couldn't read the guy's name tag, but he was friendly and helpful.

I stood in line at Fantasy Flight Games once the massive line to pay shortened (by Saturday). A FFG employee talked to me about playtesting the Star Wars RPG Beta I had in my hands. He was loving the game. FFG also lured me into planning to make future purchases of the boardgame Borderlands, Relic, and the Talisman City expansion (by demo for Relic and displaying the boxes for the other two). They love their games and love to show them off. And I liked it.

Conclusion

I want Wizards of the Coast to get that enthusiasm about both 4E and 5E (and boardgames and cards and other games they make too). I don't want product behind a booth, no demos, and no designers out in view to gush about how great gaming is while implying how cool all of us gamers are for being in such a great hobby. Wizards doesn't display the love of D&D they should have or beam with pride in their work. Not as of Gen Con anyways. And they should.

Wizards bucks the trends that other game companies follow but not in a good way. I very much hope they follow through on the promise to bring backs PDFs as that lack hurts the company and annoys gamers. A Wizards of the Coast that is aloof and elitist and that doesn't talk to its customers one on one is not a leader in the industry. It is simply lost. I know my friend wouldn't mind getting one of those Con-special d10s he wasn't allowed to trade for at Gen Con 2012.

I would be thrilled to see Wizards change. I would love to bump into Greg Leeds in the Wizards booth at Gen Con 2013 and hear him gush about how groovy his dragonborn sorcerer is in 5E and how he got the idea for the character from playing another character in 4E. Maybe he could point out some great things about his games during a demo or offer me a deal on a book I'm paging through.

Charlie