Mike Mearls Talks (er, Tweets) About the Industry

I think history has proven Mike wrong. The problem is that D&D isn't a game. D&D is a framework that allows 5 players to make a game.

So if you like boardgames, you got lots of different games to choose from. If you like RPGs, you got lots of games to choose from. But those games are the things GMs do with D&D. My campaign is my own game I've developed. Your campaign is yours.

I think there's a market for lots of different RPGs in that sense. Because each gaming group playing D&D is running its own unique game, in their own homebrew setting with their own house rules.

But I don't think there's a market for different *frameworks*. I think there's demand for *a* framework, that players use to develop lots of different games.

 

[Corpsetaker]

So what if WotC had devoted 1000s of man hours and a million dollars developing an Eberron campaign book. You'd still be unhappy about the content and WotC might be out a lot of money if it didn't sell well? Maybe all the resources and energy at WotC should be devoted solely to creating content that you are interested in. Perhaps they should fire Mearls and put you in charge of what needs to be created, because your happiness is much more important than the long term viability of the company.

My happiness is important to me and I am going to argue for it. I am not worried about your happiness or anyone else's to be honest. I don't buy material in order to make you or anyone else happy. I buy material because it's what I like and I am going to argue for my happiness.

What else do you expect?

 

[Corpsetaker]

Fundamentally, I agree with Mike about the way 5E is going. I think that if you want a D&D type game that is heavy on crunch and full of new options every couple of months - Pathfinder is your niche.

Why does it if have to be a hoard of books if we want more than what is being put out now? I don't agree with Mike at all because nobody here is shouting for mountains of books. This is becoming a very massive strawman that needs to go.

More than what we have now does not equal the bloat of previous editions.

 

[Mistwell]

It seems like an honest critique in a "could do better if he applied himself and stopped talking to the girls" kind of way.

I didn't say or imply it was dishonest. I said it's a negative comment, and he said that he'd never made a negative comment about it.

 

[Remathilis]

OK, wait a sec here. When, since the release of 5th, have these two publications said squat about D&D? Actually, if you search the web for major media references to D&D you find there's no news about it at all. There's almost nothing about any future anything. Maybe once every few months the term "Dungeons & Dragons" surfaces in the media, usually just a cultural reference. Very rarely someone comments on having played, or some reference to people who do play, etc. There's absolutely no hype about ANYTHING. None.

Interesting thing that popped up on my Google news. It's older, but certainly from after launch...

http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidewalt/2015/05/06/rage-of-demons-drizzt-dungeons-dragons/