WotC Hasbro CEO optimistic about AI in D&D and MTG’s future

[Oofta]

Correct, they are demonstrably untrustworthy.

So they can't be trusted to say no to AI art because they've said no to AI art and they considered but did not implement a policy change people did not like.

 

[Zaukrie]

Until we get some form of protection for artists (including writers here), I'm not a fan of AI integration with anything.

 

[CleverNickName]

I guess that's one way to make sure 5E is "evergreen" for me: make it unconscionable for me to buy anything else.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Serious question: What more demonstrable bad behavior from WotC would it take for you to not to assume good faith on their part? I mean, gestures vaguely at all their actions in the last 18 months in the D&D and MtG spheres

In the same interview, he mentions that the MTG Universes Beyond model is something they're bringing to D&D. That could either be great (there are definitely some properties I'd love to get sourcebooks for) or terrible (there are definitely some properties that would just be corporate synergy and make little sense for the actual D&D community).

That feels like its own thread, though.

 

[mamba]

I thought that was what I said; the retailer accidentally broke the street date by giving the purchaser a different set of cards. Which is entirely legal and not at all the purchaser's problem.

well, it was not the product they ordered, and keeping something you did not order is a gray area at best

They were contacted and either refused to resolve it or to even get in touch over it, so WotC had someone show up in person

 

[Jer]

In the same interview, he mentions that the MTG Universes Beyond model is something they're bringing to D&D. That could either be great (there are definitely some properties I'd love to get sourcebooks for) or terrible (there are definitely some properties that would just be corporate synergy and make little sense for the actual D&D community).

That feels like its own thread, though.

I mean, if he wants to do that the Universes Beyond stuff they've done for Magic include a whole lot of properties that already have licensed RPGs. Some of them have licensed RPGs that are compatible with 5e. Of the ones that they've used for Universes Beyond that don't have their own RPG I'm not sure how much interest there would be - is anyone clamoring for a Jurassic Park sourcebook? Or a Fortnite sourcebook? Maybe a League of Legends sourcebook I guess.

But hey - the Clue sourcebook for D&D might be kind of fun. At least for me. I'm not sure that literally anyone else on the planet would buy one though. (I'm still kind of stunned that they made a Clue set for Magic the Gathering - again something that I would suspect is marketed solely to try to get me to buy back into Magic the Gathering...)

 

[mamba]

We can't stop progress, burying our heads in the sand and ignoring it is not going to change anything other than we'll be surprised when we're impacted.

that is not what I was proposing…

 

[Jer]

So they can't be trusted to say no to AI art because they've said no to AI art and they considered but did not implement a policy change people did not like.

Hasbro is a large corporation that will always do what's best for the share price. Just because they say that their policy is no AI art now doesn't mean that they won't change that policy in the future. So being wary of what they're saying and making sure they know your response to it is perfectly acceptable.

It's kind of like carrying bear spray when you're going to be around bears. You hope that the bear won't show up and threaten you, but you need to be able to react when they do.

 

[Alzrius]

well, it was not the product they ordered, and keeping something you did not order is a gray area at best

They were contacted and either refused to resolve it or to even get in touch over it, so WotC had someone show up in person

When the retailer sends you the wrong product, that's the fault of the retailer; it strikes me as a stretch to suggest that there's some sort of impetus on the part of the customer to send the incorrect product back (especially when it was sent in lieu of, rather than in addition to, what was actually ordered). Even then, that's between the purchaser and the retailer; the publisher (i.e. WotC) has absolutely no right to demand that the product be returned, let alone by sending thugs who use threats and intimidation to retrieve it.

 

[cbwjm]

well, it was not the product they ordered, and keeping something you did not order is a gray area at best

They were contacted and either refused to resolve it or to even get in touch over it, so WotC had someone show up in person

Yeah, they sent the Pinkertons! I was amazed that they still existed, I'd thought they all became police.