D&D 5E D&D Next not planning to compete against Pathfinder, Splatbook Hints

[Hussar]

You know, I actually do not care? Hasbro is not in danger of becoming the next Marvel, but still, tabletop D&D could vanish tomorrow, and as long as it was supplanted by toys and games that were encouraging kids to engage their imaginations I would consider it a fair trade. D&D isn't about expensive books and funny dice.

Is there a problem with becoming the next Marvel? I would have thought that was a good thing.

 

[variant]

If Wizards of the Coast wants to expand the Dungeons & Dragons brand, they need to quit licensing it to lousy companies. An example of their recent blunder is licensing Neverwinter to Cryptic Studios which got bought by Perfect World. So now we got a really crappy themepark MMO released at the very edge of the decline of themeparks and the rise of sandboxes.

 

[Halivar]

If Wizards of the Coast wants to expand the Dungeons & Dragons brand, they need to quit licensing it to lousy companies.

I agree with this to a degree. But a company has to recognize its core competencies before deciding to in-house. Marvel took a huge gamble making Iron Man themselves, and in general I don't think other companies can take that success as an indicator of their own chances. WotC just needs to license video games. Writing, however, they need to develop as a core competency. Dungeon and Dragon SHOULD be something they can make in-house.

 

[Blackwarder]

I agree with this to a degree. But a company has to recognize its core competencies before deciding to in-house. Marvel took a huge gamble making Iron Man themselves, and in general I don't think other companies can take that success as an indicator of their own chances. WotC just needs to license video games. Writing, however, they need to develop as a core competency. Dungeon and Dragon SHOULD be something they can make in-house.

And they should license Marvel to make movies!

Warder

 

[Warskull]

If Wizards of the Coast wants to expand the Dungeons & Dragons brand, they need to quit licensing it to lousy companies. An example of their recent blunder is licensing Neverwinter to Cryptic Studios which got bought by Perfect World. So now we got a really crappy themepark MMO released at the very edge of the decline of themeparks and the rise of sandboxes.

This is a good point. I feel that games such as Baldur's Gate, Planescape: Torment, Neverwinter Night 1 (and to a lesser degree NWN2) really helped expand the brand. A few good D&D games could help grow the brand.

However, Wizards may not be to blame for Neverwinter. Atari (aka infogrammes) owned the license from back when they did NWN1/2. They had cryptic start a game and later on Cryptic got gobbled up by Perfect World. The license agreement simply may have not be available for renegotiation.

They need to get that license away from Atari. Heck, give it to Obsidian and fund/publish the game themselves. Obsidian has proven with South Park:Stick of Truth that they can make great games if they are given sufficient time and support.

 

[DMZ2112]

Is there a problem with becoming the next Marvel? I would have thought that was a good thing.

It wasn't a value statement; Marvel transitioned into movies and (arguably) away from comics but their core business is still mass-market fiction. Only the medium has changed. Hasbro's core business is toy manufacture; they're not about to become a movie production house at the expense of their own lucrative toy licenses, like Disney (which now includes Star Wars and Marvel).

If Wizards of the Coast wants to expand the Dungeons & Dragons brand, they need to quit licensing it to lousy companies. An example of their recent blunder is licensing Neverwinter to Cryptic Studios which got bought by Perfect World. So now we got a really crappy themepark MMO released at the very edge of the decline of themeparks and the rise of sandboxes.

Neverwinter is a decidedly mediocre MMOG, but considering that there has never been an MMOG about which its devoted fanbase did not complain constantly, I consider the MMOG quality bar fairly unreachable. If you think Cryptic is a "lousy company" your own estimation of the rest of the MMOG market must be seriously grim.

I find that if you ignore that it's an MMOG, the gameplay in Neverwinter is actually very entertaining.

They need to get that license away from Atari.

Atari lost the license in 2011 after a legal battle related to the release of Neverwinter. Atari was arguably responsible for the loss of synchronization between Neverwinter, the Neverwinter Campaign Setting book, the associated D&D Encounters season, and of course the line of Fortune Cards, and Wizbro was not happy.

Personally I'm glad they took the extra time, as the game was not ready for prime time even when it hit in Summer 2013. A year later, however, they've really turned it into something special.

 

[Warskull]

Atari lost the license in 2011 after a legal battle related to the release of Neverwinter. Atari was arguably responsible for the loss of synchronization between Neverwinter, the Neverwinter Campaign Setting book, the associated D&D Encounters season, and of course the line of Fortune Cards, and Wizbro was not happy.

Personally I'm glad they took the extra time, as the game was not ready for prime time even when it hit in Summer 2013. A year later, however, they've really turned it into something special.

So is the license up in the air now, or do Cryptic/Perfect World have it? Cryptic/Perfect World having an exclusive license would be very bad.

Neverwinter is a decidedly mediocre MMOG, but considering that there has never been an MMOG about which its devoted fanbase did not complain constantly, I consider the MMOG quality bar fairly unreachable. If you think Cryptic is a "lousy company" your own estimation of the rest of the MMOG market must be seriously grim.

Cryptic really is a lousy developer, they released two failed MMOs (Champions Online and Star Trek Online) before releasing Neverwinter. Neverwinter was really nasty about pushing the pay to win aspects and it was otherwise a mediocre MMO. However, you are correct that in general most MMOs are pretty bad.

 

[DMZ2112]

So is the license up in the air now, or do Cryptic/Perfect World have it? Cryptic/Perfect World having an exclusive license would be very bad.

I'm reasonably certain that the rights reverted to Wizards. Cryptic does not need the license to continue to support Neverwinter, any more than Turbine needs it to continue to support DDO.

Cryptic really is a lousy developer, they released two failed MMOs (Champions Online and Star Trek Online) before releasing Neverwinter. Neverwinter was really nasty about pushing the pay to win aspects and it was otherwise a mediocre MMO. However, you are correct that in general most MMOs are pretty bad.

I'm not sure I understand your criteria, but your opinion is your own. Again, I think the real problem here is not who made the D&D MMOGs or who might make a third one, but rather that D&D doesn't need another MMOG, or even the two it already has. What it needs --what we all need -- is a good five-player co-op sandbox RPG with Steam Workshop support.

 

[Fobok]

What it needs --what we all need -- is a good five-player co-op sandbox RPG with Steam Workshop support.

I agree except the 5-player co-op. If I had 4 friends to play games with, I'd be playing actual D&D. Co-op support? Sure, awesome. Make it mandatory? It won't be getting my money.

 

[DMZ2112]

I agree except the 5-player co-op. If I had 4 friends to play games with, I'd be playing actual D&D. Co-op support? Sure, awesome. Make it mandatory? It won't be getting my money.

Oh, no. No no no. Forgive me, I never intended to suggest the game should not also be full-featured in single-player.

I forget sometimes that developers these days do stupid goddamn crap like make video games that are only multiplayer.