What would Ryan Dancey do?

Erratic K · Apr 22, 2007

Scott Rouse (for more info google: ' "scott rouse" wotc ' or the like) is the senior brand manager who has D&D and had to make the Paizo license announcement and is currently the shepherd of D&D. Mr. Rouse has been: Marketing Manager Magic, Brand Manager GI Joe trading card game, Brand Manager for Duel Masters, and now Brand Manager or Senior Brand Manager for D&D. On the wizards site, he is rebirthed in D&D:

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dnd/20070420a

Just as a sample of his thoughts on the game. He also did the PDF release of current products for wizards through drive through RPG. Which I think was a good move, but evolutionary. Evolutionary because they were already selling the old products via pdf, and the price point was set to not cannibalize book sales.

His notes on D&D don't seem to have quite the vision I'd expect from the brand manager of D&D at a turbulent time (revoking the license for and apparently cancelling the magazines for the fans). I'm sure he's qualified and good with projects, and great at promotion or marketing- except for on the GI Joe TCG. No offense to Scott, but his credentials are nice but not stellar, and his vision is not the revolutionary stuff of the most successful brand manager of D&D, Ryan Dancey.

Erratic K · Apr 22, 2007

WWRD pt 2.

Dancey was a bit of an iconoclast. And he had some luck, some vision, some execution when he organized getting 3rd edition out (one of the biggest successes in RPGs in terms of sales and profit). Like him or hate him, he changed the game. I think for the better.

So I'm thinking about the paizo announcement and the discussions of 4th E, and I'm asking myself the question, "what would Ryan Dancey do?"

I don't really mean it literally, I mean it in a "what would an iconoclast do that is unexpected, successful and successful to usher in the new mode of D&D?" and does it require the destruction of the current mode of D&D? The destruction is obviously not possible unless the fans desire it due to the OGL (another brilliant iconoclastic move). But if a new product was good enough, it would make the old one a niche or usurp it entirely.

SO...

Erratic K · Apr 22, 2007

WWRD pt 3 - broken up because otherwise it was too ugly

WWRDD?

Here are some observations:

The PDF market has changed RPGs.
RPGs are facing competition for game type entertainment dollars on many fronts (CRGP, CCG, and other games)
Collectible miniature games have changed the game market.
the internet in other facets that PDF has changed gaming. MMOG, Steam distribution, enworld, etc.etc.

If I were RD:

I would not announce the Paizo license pull until the time to do 4E.

4E would have some collectible and online tools directly wedded to it.
(in an odd way D&D already has collectible elements because people collect the books)

The game would be distributed in book and e-format. E-format would be cheaper.

And I would get the RPGA or beta test involved with the fans (listen to the customer)...
the game would be made easier for the DM, but not at the reduction of depth of play (tough design problem).

I'd OGL it. I'd try to make it OGL enough so that people could help with the online tools or elements.

What do you think Ryan Dancey would do?

Ds Da Man · Apr 22, 2007

I think RD would fully agree with the move to digital. I think it was originally planned for 3E (Character Gen in the PHB). I personally think this is a good move (maybe not planned as well as could have been i.e. should have waited for actual content to be displayed before cancelling the mags). I think the potential for digital, kick-a$$ adventures are fully possible. I would love an interactive city, complete with item shops, etc. that I could download from WotC. The possibilities are endless.

Alnag · Apr 22, 2007

I think, there is nothing wrong with digital movement and we knew, that Ryan Dancey wanted more and better digital tools for D&D long before this movement. The question is whether he would go the same way - especially cancelling the magazines before actually launching the e-mags.

I also believe that he would communicate much more and directly with the "angry mobs", and he would prepare them for the change gradually. I pretty much believe, that not the digital movement itself, but the way it was managed is the true mistake. Mistake which will cost thousands of alienated players and millions of $.

I see the main problem in lack of communication and loss of touch with the community. Something absolutely opposite than in times of launching 3e. (And rembember the preparations before launching it - slow build-up of excitement - that's the true way).

I miss Ryan Dancey!

EDIT: I've just read in the different thread, that WotC stuff would like to go there, but they are turned off by the current level of rudeness. See - this is probably the problem. First, they should already be there, especially at the moment zero (as Paizo stuff). And calm the wave of anger immediately and despite any levels of animosity.

lamproswc · Apr 22, 2007

I think 3E's big innovation was to make the game much more about how to build a character to be as powerful as possible. In 1E and 2E you really didn't have many options to fiddle with. There a few things, like kits and weapon proficiencies, but it wasn't nearly on the same level as it is in 3rd Edition. You never had character building threads in 2E. I think this was a good move and it massively, massively increased the appeal of the game.

What does the game need now? I think they could make its appeal wider by making the various special abilities players can use easier to understand and apply. Any 12year old boy can put together a Magic deck and feel like they've created something awesome, but polishing a D&D character can be very abstract. There's a big leap going from "beginner" to "intermediate", and that turns off a lot of potential players.

I also think they need to make the game easier to mod. I feel like the range of quality products available through the OGL has been disappointing. There's a ton of stuff out there, but outside of fantasy, how many products are there which have done well? I can only think of two - M&M (which is really building the game up from scratch) and Star Wars (which has the best license ever.) D&D is just a very, very difficult game to try to modify. It has too many interconnecting pieces, you try to make one change and you open up a whole new kettle of fish.

Finally, I think they could work on the art and graphics design a lot. But, maybe this is just me.

As far as online content goes - the world of online content is mostly free. I'm skeptical that pay online content has a good short term future. I doubt that the decision to cancel Dragon and Dungeon was driven by an expectation of serious revenue from selling periodicals online. If I were them, I'd be looking to modify Wizard's D&D homepage to make the articles a little more useful. Their current crop is pretty sad - an article on how to use the Horizon Walker? Remove the trash, stick to maybe one or two new articles a week, and make every article useful. That'll generate some of the interest that MtGO's site gets, I think.

-Alex

Nightfall · Apr 22, 2007

*hums the tune of What Would Brian Boitano Do* and substitutes Ryan Dancy for Brian.*

delericho · Apr 22, 2007

I would very much like to know Ryan Dancey's thoughts on this matter, but I don't think speculating as to them is particularly helpful. Perhaps he will enlighten us at some point.

In any case, Ryan Dancey was a success with D&D for a time, but his opinions have always been divisive and controversial. And, as he has admitted, he is wrong almost as often as he is right. So, while his opinion would be interesting, it is also emphatically not the last word on a subject.

Mark CMG · Apr 22, 2007

Erratic K said:
What would Ryan Dancey do?

Hasn't someone already lit the Dance-Signal? Rather than speculate on how RD will speculate, I think he will let us know soon enough.

3catcircus · Apr 22, 2007

Hmm,

First, I'd sell the brand to someone competent... You really need a group of people who are really creative who are managed by suits who *understand* the game and the business and can make the call as to when to spend money on development or not.

I'd make the books as both dead trees and as PDFs. Stand-alone PDF would be cheaper than dead tree. Purchase of the dead tree books would provide access to a secure server to download a pdf copy. This is the thing that amazes me the most. Chances are that they use Acrobat to pre-flight things before they go to print, so it isn't like the PDFs aren't *already* factored into the cost of the books.

I'd do a Kaizen event of some sort to look at the various existing digital tools out there (RPGXplorer, PCGen, DMGenie, etc.) and see which one was the best and whether or not it made any sense to develop their own tools or provide licensing and support to an existing tool.

Unfortunately, it seems that they probably didn't do one, considering they canceled CMP's license (I don't particularly care for CMP, but that is besides the point).

I'd use the website as a medium, not an end in itself.