Dear Wizards, I no longer have a clue what you're doing

[Nemesis Destiny]

What utter nonsense. Tell that to Toyota, whose sales plummeted after the whole failing brakes issue became public knowledge.

For the record, it was a sticking electronic throttle control problem. The unit in question was actually manufactured by a third party and used in vehicles marketed by other makes as well. It only became statistically significant because Toyota used it in many of their models and they sell a lot of cars.

The media attention, while warranted to a degree, had become more of a witch hunt than a safety issue in the then-current political-economic climate.

I could think of dozens of other examples, but why bother? It should be self-evident that there is such a thing as bad publicity and companies try to avoid it like the plague.

Whether WotC is suffering bad publicity right now is another issue, but it seems like perhaps they are.

That said, your point is valid. It may even bear some resemblance to the public image issues that D&D held back in the 1980s, though you could argue that the image may have even helped sales in some demographics back then.

The kinds of things they've been doing of late I don't think is well-represented by that analogy though. I think stirring up the hornet's nest that is their fanbase with incomplete or misleading preview articles only serves to get those fans talking about the game, which, good or bad, is probably what they want.

 

[Prestidigitalis]

What utter nonsense.

A lie repeated a thousand times becomes the truth. It applies as well to clichés as to any other saying.

 

[jedijon]

Wizards is Japan in the 1700s. WotC, you are a bastion of impregnable awesomeness whose every decision "vaults" you further into a "compendium" of wonder. Your fervor is no "miniature" affair!

Cancellations are merely the result of baleful blows of worthless detractors, and all is well in your sane and virtuous land!

Besides, Magic is all you really ever needed. And now, let's "Dancey".

 

[fumetti]

Obviously, WOTC desperately wants a business model that milks its customers on a weekly/monthly basis. They want DnD to be an Xbox Live product.

Since they can't have that, they want a collectible-game model like MTG, YuGiOh, MageKnight, Heroclix, etc.

And they are doing everything possible to recreate Dungeons and Dragons to fit that model, even if they have to destroy it in the process.

What's worse is that it's owned by Hasbro. If DnD tanks, Hasbro isn't going to keep it going at break-even just to keep fans happy. Hasbro doesn't like properties that don't sell well (see the repro vintage GI Joe line), and doesn't mind putting them on a shelf.

 

[The Little Raven]

Obviously, WOTC desperately wants a business model that milks its customers on a weekly/monthly basis. They want DnD to be an Xbox Live product.

Since they can't have that, they want a collectible-game model like MTG, YuGiOh, MageKnight, Heroclix, etc.

And they are doing everything possible to recreate Dungeons and Dragons to fit that model, even if they have to destroy it in the process.

What's worse is that it's owned by Hasbro. If DnD tanks, Hasbro isn't going to keep it going at break-even just to keep fans happy. Hasbro doesn't like properties that don't sell well (see the repro vintage GI Joe line), and doesn't mind putting them on a shelf.

*yawn* This tired argument has been made since 1997. After 14 years of it being wrong, you think people would actually give up on it.

 

[korjik]

*yawn* This tired argument has been made since 1997. After 14 years of it being wrong, you think people would actually give up on it.

My rare minis disagree with your assesment.

 

[TheClone]

4e feels like a total construction site to me.
- Some Books canceled
- Dungeon & Dragon rebuild, so you can pick the articles you like, but no compilation for the collector's and magazine fans anymore
- CB rebuild but with less features and usability but has potential to grow up. Some like it offline, some online
- MB has bugs for me, too, but it still works. But needs updates with all the recent monsters
- VT is a good start for a beta. If they integrate the right features, it might become a good tool.

...and some other. They're changing a lot. There are (many) parts of it that have a potential to become real good things. But so far it's just potential. Will they be able to realize it? I'm pretty skeptical because recently they just released new construction sites. Dark Sun and the rebuild done with Essentials were my last highlights, too.

Currently I'm just afraid of what's up next, because we're totally hanging on WotC's drip. If they cancel the online tools, we're screwed. Nobody ever wants to look up the powers and feats for his build across all those books, I guess. At least I won't. And with that no new characters, no level up, no D&D 4. There is no real evidence that this will happen soon, but the with the current downfall of everything 4e it's just my (at least partly) irrational fear.

And I'd hate to go back to 3e, especially as a GM. 4e did a really good job for GMs. Tough I now have a brand new Pathfinder Core Book in the shelf and it will be my next option if I can't sure that my next campaign will live shorter than 4e support.

 

[Greg K]

And I'd hate to go back to 3e, especially as a GM. 4e did a really good job for GMs. Tough I now have a brand new Pathfinder Core Book in the shelf and it will be my next option if I can't sure that my next campaign will live shorter than 4e support.

You could always give Savage Worlds a try:
Core Book $10
Wizards and Warriors (free) or Fantasy Companion $20. The latter includes race creation, new edges, some new powers, trappings

Modern Martial Arts (by the Brand Manager) a few unarmed combat edges: free
Dials for adjusting lethality (by brand manager): free

Furthermore, several of the best third party companies for d20 Modern have started converting their Ennie nominated or awarding stuff over to Savage Worlds

Thrilling Tales 2e (Adamant) for Pulp

Mars: Savage Edition (Adamant) for planetary Romance

Darwin's World (RPGObjects) for post apocalypse

Sidewinder:Recoiled (Dog House Rules) for Wild West: okay, this may be a long wait as no time frame was given for completion. However, they have been doing some small stuff.

 

[occam]

Three books have been canned, one of them a desperately needed book on rare items (that are sorely lacking right now), the release schedule looks completely barren, the digital tools/offerings have still not improved and the monster builder is still a broken mess. Everything that was starting to get somewhere in July and August of last year has now been practically dismantled bit by bit. There just isn't anything to cheer about anymore or even look forward to - the ship looks like it is firmly beginning to sink.

Not to dispute any of your feelings, but I would've recommended waiting until after DDXP before expressing fundamental doubts about the future of D&D. I don't know what WotC will discuss there, but rending of garments and gnashing of teeth soon before their designated event to talk about future plans just seems a bit hasty.

If you don't like what you hear from DDXP, rend and gnash away!

 

[ATimson]

Not to dispute any of your feelings, but I would've recommended waiting until after DDXP before expressing fundamental doubts about the future of D&D.

Maybe my impatience is because I'm a lapsed fan who only got back into D&D in early December after a year-plus hiatus, but it feels like Wizards is killing the game right as I picked it up (again). So rather than slowly building up my copies of the back catalog new, I've just gone ahead and bought as much as I could afford from Half.com and Amazon Marketplace.

It's used or remaindered copies that WOTC won't see any money from, but Wizards isn't giving me any reason to believe this stuff will stay in print. DDXP was too late.