It's right here.

Pretty interesting stuff so far.  He talks about how well 5th is doing, as well as why they weren't at Gencon.

QuotePeople just understand that it is too hard to teach someone those games in 15 or 30 minutes. You’re getting an experience that’s so watered down that it isn’t really helping you become a big fan of it.

I describe the situation, you describe what you do in response.

If you have a game system that in 15 (or 30!) minutes they can't be going full steam ahead, then you're probably doing too much in the way of player facing mechanics that form the basis of decision making.  And not concentrating on decision making based on the described situation.  I'm talking about both in terms of game mechanics and the approach of the DM.

I get that what a lot of players want from modern games is to play with the game mechanics and make decisions based on them.  I consider 5E to be a huge improvement over 4E and 3.x/PF (and 2nd ed if you use too much of later supplemental materials) but I'm shocked that you still can't give someone the core experience in half an hour with out it being watered down.

QuoteMore than anything though, the most positive news Mearls has been getting from the D&D community is from the surveys he runs through the WoTC website. He's learning that his players are younger than ever before, which means that D&D is growing in just the right kind of way to build the next generation of role-playing aficionados.

This though, is just excellent.  I notice the same thing whenever I advertise a game or run one at a local event.

Quote"We’ve stayed away from the march of the splat books, the new character classes, new spells, all that stuff. It’s thrown some people for a loop. But what we’ve seen is a very strong response to the game overall. People seem happy with it. That’s always good.

I thought it was very brave to have no 'march of splat books.'  Considering how many players would snap them up.  It's like they're truly changing course from the approach that started in 3 and culminated with 4E where you create this leveling up optimization game so you can sell supplements with cool powers, spells, prestige classes, etc.,.

In the article it mentions that the 5E PHP has just started it's 4th print run.

Does anyone know if the newest print run would have the errata incorporated into it?

The game is selling ahead of projections. Good.

The game is reaching a younger player base. Good.

The game is moving to Twitch and becoming popular there. Good.

The game takes too long and they're afraid that D&D will suffer from DM burnout at Gen Con, so they pulled out? NOT good.

I don't think it's necessary for WotC to do all of the stuff they used to do at Gen Con --their company run games, etc-- but having a presence is incredibly important. Just because boardgames are more pervasive at Gen Con hasn't stopped Paizo, or Troll Lords, or Catalyst, or Studio 2, or even other RPG companies from doing well. Good Lord, look at what Paizo has done: they've GOT the entire Sagamore Ballroom, and that's something that used to be OWNED by D&D.

WotC's (lack of) presence at Gen Con feeds into the perception that WotC doesn't care/is going to can D&D. You don't have to go whole hog just to have a presence, have some stock to sell, and get people excited for your games. Simply BEING there is half of the battle, and WotC needs to at least have some sort of official D&D presence at Gen Con.

It's like watching this year's Gamescom and seeing Blizzard announce their new WoW expac outside of Blizzcon for the first time EVER. Blizzard always used to do their own thing, and this year they broke from that tradition. Me, I see that as an acknowledgement that other game companies are now a real threat to Blizzard, and they can no longer afford to ignore the rest of the market's trade shows.

WotC can't afford to ignore D&D at Gen Con, because you want to capitalize on all of the momentum from the 5e release as much as you can.

Quote from: Gwarh;850364In the article it mentions that the 5E PHP has just started it's 4th print run.

Does anyone know if the newest print run would have the errata incorporated into it?

Yes it does.

Quote from: flyerfan1991;850380...
WotC's (lack of) presence at Gen Con feeds into the perception that WotC doesn't care/is going to can D&D...

The people who have that perception will continue to try to sell that narrative no matter what WotC does or says. And it will continue to make no difference whatsoever in sales or policy because WotC has learned to ignore them.

Does anyone happen to know what the cost would be for WoTC to be at Gencon?

If all those other goals are being reached, who cares about Gencon? Gencon is only a means to an end.

He says it's all about the brand now, yet he only talks about it as the rpg.

Quote from: Sommerjon;850499He says it's all about the brand now, yet he only talks about it as the rpg.

  The RPG is what he works on and cares about most.

  Good for 5E; I'll be giving it a first shot next Friday. I don't know that skipping GenCon was a wise move, but if they think growth comes primarily from attracting new, lapsed and casual players, then it may work with their strategy.

Quote from: Armchair Gamer;850503I don't know that skipping GenCon was a wise move, but if they think growth comes primarily from attracting new, lapsed and casual players, then it may work with their strategy.

Apparently they had 100 tables of 5e D&D, and on top of that there were a lot of over-spill games in hotel rooms and the like.

The argument seems to be that most Gencon attendees want to actually play games rather than attend panels.

Quote from: Omega;850414Yes it does.

That's awesome! thank you for confirming that.

I might buy a new copy and give my 1st ed version to a pal to see if I can get him hooked.

I wonder if the MM and DMG have been also reprinted with the small amount of errata updated in them?

Quote from: Arminius;850497If all those other goals are being reached, who cares about Gencon? Gencon is only a means to an end.

I don't entirely disagree, but to me it's like GM not showing up at the Detroit Auto Show.

D&D IS the flaghship RPG. It's the one RPG that non RPG players have heard of, and it is still the big dog in the RPG world. Not having a presence there doesn't send a great msg, and if anything it's great PR to be there and talk to the fans in person.

They don't have to put on a mega sized display either, but they should be there showing the flag. When I read that they had no official presence there I was a bit flabbergasted.

Quote from: jadrax;850507Apparently they had 100 tables of 5e D&D, and on top of that there were a lot of over-spill games in hotel rooms and the like.

The argument seems to be that most Gencon attendees want to actually play games rather than attend panels.

I think this is what was meant.  They let people play, rather than have to listen to something they may not care about.

Could someone put this up on archive so I don't have to give Polygon any clicks?