Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Shasarak Oct 25, 2014 20:44:01	So just back from Armageddon, NZs Largest Entertainment Expo and I could not help but noticing there was no DnD represented there.  WotC had a huge space dedicated to MtG but not one sign or book display for DnD.   So is there really no money available for the DnD marketing?
#2 pukunui Oct 25, 2014 22:41:27	D&D is still very much a niche market in this country.
#3 Shasarak Oct 26, 2014 1:19:21	This is the Expo for Niche markets, with all of the stores that sell RPGs there and Wotc had an enormous space for MtG.
#4 pukunui Oct 26, 2014 4:38:16	Did Vagabond et al have any RPGs at their booths? From what I understand, TTRPGs have never had a presence at Armageddon. They're too niche even for the niche market expo.
#5 Mecheon Oct 26, 2014 5:10:29	Shasarak wrote:
#6 iserith Oct 26, 2014 6:30:54	Maybe they felt they couldn't compete with the Lord of the Rings RPG. Home field advantage and all that.
#7 Zardnaar Oct 26, 2014 13:00:51	D&D is not very popular in NZ and I tihnk we have a bare handful of stores left. Magic is an order of magnitude bigger than D&D here. We used to organise magic events and there are over 5-600 magic players and they can get 100+ magic players in a room at once. At its height in Dunedin magic had more players than Christchurch and Wellington. Dunedin has no game store now selling D&D(1996 we had 3), Christchurch's RPG store got destroyed in the quake not sure if they moved or reopened.    IDK if Wellington has an RPG store or even dedicated magic event store. Auckland had 3 or 4 a few years back I think they may have 1 left and Pathfinder seems more popular up there from what I can tell.    AFAIK Pathfinder also killed D&D here. The is a local PFS but no game store or AL AFAIK. The uni RPG club mostly plays vampire with a side helping of Pathfinder for D&D related things. They run monthly events but no D&D at least most of the time and if they do its 3.5 or Pathfinder. The Uni RPG closest has 2E, 3.0 and 3.5 in it, I was there when the leader bought 3.0 and the books are still there I don't think anyone uses them now. The PFS crowd does play 5E but not as a primary system and they have a lot of Paizo APs to use from what I can see and they can get 3-4 groups up when they do events.    D&D minis at its height got around 10% of the players of magic on a good day. I used to organise that locally as well but now no game store makes that hard.
#8 VinceP Oct 26, 2014 13:02:51	I was most disappointed the 5E D&D was not at the WotC area. This was a massive opportunity for WotC to promote D&D in this country considering all the hype about making it available to more people especially the younger generation. All the students (I'm a teacher) I've introduced to D&D have loved it and now play D&D in preference to other RPG's or Warhammer. The local hobby store now has 2 tables of D&D on the Saturday. This is a first time I have ever noticed this and I have been looking for years (decades).   IT IS A WASTED OPPORTUNITY.
#9 CCS Oct 26, 2014 13:04:30	You are of course going to step up next year & fix this deficiency. Right?
#10 Shasarak Oct 26, 2014 13:47:14	pukunui wrote:
#11 DaveDash Oct 26, 2014 14:41:47	Never realised so many of you were Kiwis!
#12 pukunui Oct 26, 2014 15:46:15	Shasarak wrote:
#13 Zardnaar Oct 26, 2014 15:50:23	pukunui wrote:
#14 Varden_Khol Oct 26, 2014 16:08:46	I would've loved to see a DnD stand in there. I went along yesterday and while it was cool to just walk around and check out the stands there was nothing there that really interested me. DnD just isn't big enough here yet. I mean, it took me about 15 years to find anyone to play it with and that only happens if I DM.   If they set up an area for it I'd definitely volunteer to help out.   *EDIT* We'll have to see what they have at PAX Aus next week.