EricNoah
Adventurer
If I were going to judge WotC's management of D&D it certainly wouldn't be based on whether they designed every product tailor made to my tastes. And yes, it does come down to personal preference and taste. I personally don't find Deities & Demigods very useful, but I never found books of gods useful in any edition of D&D. I might have liked to have had stats for my personal 250 favorite monsters in one handy book, but that's just not realistic. I personally think the Stronghold Builder's Guide is a good product.
If I were going to judge WotC's management, I would judge it on how the D&D game overall is doing. Do I like the fact that people are getting laid off? No. Do I worry that this is going to errode quality in future products? Yes, of course, but I have yet to see evidence that this is the case given, what, two years since the first layoffs happened. Do I think WotC did a particularly good job managing the development of Master Tools & eTools? No way.
But the game itself is strong, the open gaming movement completely changes the way I judge how D&D overall is doing. WotC are going through some hard times, and I think they're continuing to put out top notch products in spite of those challenges. And that's what I'd have to judge. So I'd say they're doing fine.
If I were going to judge WotC's management, I would judge it on how the D&D game overall is doing. Do I like the fact that people are getting laid off? No. Do I worry that this is going to errode quality in future products? Yes, of course, but I have yet to see evidence that this is the case given, what, two years since the first layoffs happened. Do I think WotC did a particularly good job managing the development of Master Tools & eTools? No way.
But the game itself is strong, the open gaming movement completely changes the way I judge how D&D overall is doing. WotC are going through some hard times, and I think they're continuing to put out top notch products in spite of those challenges. And that's what I'd have to judge. So I'd say they're doing fine.