Is WOTC/Hasbro mismanaging D&D?

[Florin]

Frankly, I think WotC needs to focus on high-volume items only. I think that means laying off of things like campaign settings and all the supplements that go along with it.

They really should focus on things like the PHB, DMG, classbooks, ELH, and D20 Modern. There are enough d20 publishers out there with lower overhead who can do all the campaign settings and supplements to go along with them.

It looks to me like Hasbro/WotC is starting to go that way, so yeah, I think they're doing just fine.

 

[Sir Edgar]

Frankly, I think WotC needs to focus on high-volume items only. I think that means laying off of things like campaign settings and all the supplements that go along with it.

They really should focus on things like the PHB, DMG, classbooks, ELH, and D20 Modern. There are enough d20 publishers out there with lower overhead who can do all the campaign settings and supplements to go along with them.

It looks to me like Hasbro/WotC is starting to go that way, so yeah, I think they're doing just fine.

WOTC/Hasbro is focusing on high-volume items such as the PHB, DMG, MM, etc. This is obvious. I don't have a problem with that. What I am concerned about is QUALITY AND COMPLETENESS of the products they produce. Why? Because it is difficult for third-party (d20) publishers to do this if WOTC/Hasbro does not deliver. You cannot really buy a re-done MM or MM2 from another publisher without WOTC/Hasbro suing. So, they have to do go a good job. If had a choice of other MM's or MM2's to buy, then I would not be complaining.

 

[Malakye]

I had to vote no, mostly because I don't know that much about managing a large company to say that they are mismanaging.

I think that right now they are probably having some trouble coming up with new products for the DnD line. All the major books are out--core books, splat books, ELH, psionics etc.

As far as core DnD I don't see a lot of other books that are really wanted/needed. What I would like to see are more FR books, especially Waterdeep/Undermountain. There is a problem with these products though because they have been done in previous editions and unless they add a lot of new stuff, those who own previous versions just won't buy it.
For example, I have Deities and Demigods and its 2 counterparts for 2nd edition and I didn't buy the 3rd edition version because it just didn't have enough new stuff to validate the price for me. I don't care about the stats of gods, I already have the descriptions for every god/religion and a few prestige classes and feats aren't enough for the price.
It will be interesting to see what happens and what comes out in the next year.

 

[Sir Edgar]

Re: Re: Is WOTC/Hasbro mismanaging D&D?

However, I do wonder why, if it truly is all about $ with them, did they decide to produce so much crap lately. I mean, Dieties & Demigods was not worth buying, IMHO (which is why I didn't buy it BTW, I could tell immediately it was completely useless), that Book of Challenges seems pretty dull, the ELH did not quite live up to people's expectations (although I'm still very unclear on what those expectations actually were), and the Stronghold builder's guidebook really failed to inspire.

Yes, I agree with you. Deities & Demigods was almost 100% useless. This is another example of this kind of mismanagement. Whether or not they did it deliberately to make more money by publishing more books with the deities and demigods that were not included is not the point. They should have never published a book called Deities & Demigods that had LESS content than previous products. The quality of the content was questionable, too. What happened to all the deities and demigods in the previous editions? If they were only going to focus on the D&D mythos and a few others, shouldn't they have included ones like the different deities and demigods for elves, gnolls, goblins, halflings, and orcs (seen in Demihuman Deities from 2nd edition and many other products and articles in Dragon Magazine)? Where is all of that? Deities & Demigods 2? So, I have to buy at least two 3e books to get the content of one 1e book? This kind of business practice is not acceptable.

 

[Sir Edgar]

There is a problem with these products though because they have been done in previous editions and unless they add a lot of new stuff, those who own previous versions just won't buy it.
For example, I have Deities and Demigods and its 2 counterparts for 2nd edition and I didn't buy the 3rd edition version because it just didn't have enough new stuff to validate the price for me. I don't care about the stats of gods, I already have the descriptions for every god/religion and a few prestige classes and feats aren't enough for the price.
It will be interesting to see what happens and what comes out in the next year.

That is an excellent point. If the Deities & Demigods had all of the major deities and demigods from previous editions as well as many new ones, and was all packaged together in one convenient book, wouldn't you have bought it? Why do I have to flip through the 1st edition version from 20 YEARS AGO as well as the 2nd edition Demi-human Deities when we're now in 3rd edition? This is what I am talking about.

 

[Umbran]

Why are there gaps? It's very simple, really - WotC figured out that it's best if they not do everything themselves.

This is what the OGL is all about, folks. They discovered that having WotC do everything - fill in all the gaps themselves - wasn't a particuarly great strategy, economically. And what's not good economic sense is, in the long term, not good for the game.

 

[Garmorn]

No, I don't think they are missmanging D&D.

Lets take your example of monsters. To my group all of the old monster that we liked have been published in the first book. That is a matter of taste. Most of the grips about what they have published or not is a matter of taste.

Second when you have a hobby like ours along with something like the D20 license you want your main company to do the bland middle of the road stuff. It makes it easier to go from one group to another. It helps aviod the entire line catering to a small but vocal minority and destroying the market. With the D20 system the small companies can handle the unusal and the expermental. Not only can they do it better but need a small response to break even.

 

[Sir Edgar]

Why are there gaps? It's very simple, really - WotC figured out that it's best if they not do everything themselves.

This is what the OGL is all about, folks. They discovered that having WotC do everything - fill in all the gaps themselves - wasn't a particuarly great strategy, economically. And what's not good economic sense is, in the long term, not good for the game.

You are right in that allowing third-party publishers to do 32 and 64 page adventures and occasional sourcebooks is not always profitable, especially to a large corporation like WOTC/Hasbro. And that is one of the reasons why they opened this up to third-party publishers. However, what I am talking about are the CORE RULEBOOKS (as well as some splatbooks). Leaving out monsters from MM and MM2 does no one any good, especially D&D fans like myself who want all of the basics in one convenient book.

 

[Sir Edgar]

No, I don't think they are missmanging D&D.

Lets take your example of monsters. To my group all of the old monster that we liked have been published in the first book. That is a matter of taste. Most of the grips about what they have published or not is a matter of taste.

Second when you have a hobby like ours along with something like the D20 license you want your main company to do the bland middle of the road stuff. It makes it easier to go from one group to another. It helps aviod the entire line catering to a small but vocal minority and destroying the market. With the D20 system the small companies can handle the unusal and the expermental. Not only can they do it better but need a small response to break even.

First, no, it is not a matter of taste. They should have included popular monsters from past editions AS WELL AS all the monsters some other people like.

Second, if they were taking the "middle of the road" as you say, then they would have included the more traditional monsters they left out and left out the freaky monsters they included. I don't think people who want the leprechaun and the nereid included in either MM or MM2 are a "vocal minority" that is "destroying the market". This is obvious because at this point in the poll, the people who have voted "yes" are in the majority.

And by the way, according to your definition, is the Ethereal Filcher not "unusual and experimental"?

 

[Piratecat]

Sir Edgar, welcome to the boards! One thing you might not realize is that we pride ourselves on being a lot more polite than r.g.f.d., rpg.net, or the WotC boards.

In this thread you've pretty much made a provocative statement, then been rude to everyone who disagreed with you. I'd certainly appreciate it if you toned down the hostility a whole lot. That means not insulting people, and not taking it personally when they disagree with you.

If this is somehow a problem, please feel free to email me.