Rumours: WotC Announcement Today; Insider Email Reveals Plans

There's a couple of rumours going round today. I cannot verify either, but I'm reporting them as most of the recent OGL rumours have proven true.

First -- it is rumoured that today at 3pm ET Wizards of the Coast will make some kind of video statement about the current Open Game License situation. This rumour came from the folks at Roll For Combat who were the first to break the draft OGL scoop.

[[UPDATE -- This didn't happen!]]

Second -- an email has been circulating from an anonymous WotC insider. Again, I must reiterate I cannot myself verify this, so read this with that in mind, but the email says:

Hi,

I'm an employee at WotC currently working on D&Dbeyond (DDB) and with D&D business leaders on the health of the product line. If you want I can provide proof of this.

I'm sending this message because I fear for the health of a community I love, and I know what the leaders at WOTC are looking at:

-They are briefly delaying rollout of OGL changes due to the backlash.
-Their decision making is based entirely on the provable impact to their bottom line.
-Specifically they are looking at DDB subscriptions and cancellations as it is the quickest financial data they currently have.
-They are still hoping the community forgets, moves on, and they can still push this through.

I have decided to reach out because at my time in WotC I have never once heard management refer to customers in a positive manner, their communication gives me the impression they see customers as obstacles between them and their money, the DDB team was first told to prepare to support the new OGL changes and online portal when they got back from the holidays, and leadership doesn't take any responsibility for the pain and stress they cause others. Leadership's first communication to the rank and file on the OGL was 30 minutes on 1/11/23, This was the first time they even tried to communicate their intentions about the OGL to employees, and even in this meeting they blamed the community for over-reacting.

I will repeat, the main thing this leadership is looking at is DDB subscription cancellations.

Hope your day goes well,

P.S. I will be copying and pasting this message to other community leaders.

If both rumours are true, I guess at 3pm ET today we'll find that out.

 

[Michael Linke]

Sorry to add fuel to the fire but I think we were most definitely heading for disaster as it became more "mainstream" to attempt to make a living off a game that was initially intended to simply be a pastime or hobby. I'm not looking for people to start throwing a snit but I feel this opinion needs to be voiced. Certainly, the initial publishers, writers, artists, etc deserve to make a profit. There is a lot of work that goes into making this product that we all know and love.

Where I simply draw the line however is people thinking they can run a game and charge for this. Seeing this as acceptable behavior very well could have had a influence on the higher ups that if the consumer can do this, why can't we? Is DMing a lot of leg work? Of course it is. I've DMd for YEARS. I'm not discounting this. But this is my HOBBY which I ENJOY. I LOVE doing the prep and leg-work. Sometimes too much. Doesn't mean I should start charging lonely shut ins for this service.

There are actually allowances in tax law for Hobby income. Many hobbyists take advantage.

Let's suppose my Hobby is painting miniatures. My hobby budget is $50 a month. That buys me 2 miniatures to paint each month. I have enough time in my schedule to paint a third miniature, but not enough money to afford that miniature. I can sell some of the miniatures I paint to raise funds to afford that third miniature each month. There are ways to report this type of income so that it's NOT taxed as a small business or work income, and it's commonly done.

Edit: although, tax law was simplified a few years back, so maybe hobby income isn't a thing at the moment? Even if it's not specially supported by tax laws and currently taxed as normal income, the practice of using your hobby to fund that hobby is still a valid part of any hobby.

 

[Deadmanshand]

Well, if they are your 10 & 12 year old kids, you should be feeding them.

Worse. My 18 year old and his buddies (18-23).

 

[guachi]

"Under monetized" to me meant "we want $5/mo in subscription fees". The email may be fake but it rings true.

I've tried to delete my DDB account entirely but I can't figure out how to email customer support to do so.

EDIT: Never mind, I found where to email them. It was a non-paying account but a deletion is the fastest metric I can think of to express my displeasure.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

There are actually allowances in tax law for Hobby income. Many hobbyists take advantage.

Now I have to decide if the tax benefits offset confessing to my wife how much I spend in Kickstarter RPG campaigns.

 

[ART!]

Canceling my DDB subscription is definitely in the cards.

Lately I've become very reliant on the encounter builder there, but what I'm running won't go on much longer. I've bought one book and a sprinkling of micro-transactions, so leaving will be no big loss. And running 5E for the first time in a few years I'm really struck by how much work it is. I'd love to find a system that gets the %&$! out of my way.

 

[rgard]

No. If you want to stop supporting WotC, you have to stop giving them money. For subscriptions, for books, for PDFs, for merch, for anything.

Correct and easily done.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Hey, what’s with this rising tide? It’s raising all those other boats! I don’t like that at all, my boat should be the only one that rises!

That's the attitude that I hate the most. There really are rich people that will SPEND MONEY to stop you from getting rich too. Just so they can be the only one.

Even when doing a business deal (like when I buy a comic collection as a retailer) - I try to make it so that everyone benefits (as best I can). My goal is that, at the end, the seller is happy, I'm happy, and the customer who buys it is happy. Why would anyone want anything less? I just don't get it.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Canceling my DDB subscription is definitely in the cards.

Lately I've become very reliant on the encounter builder there, but what I'm running won't go on much longer. I've bought one book and a sprinkling of micro-transactions, so leaving will be no big loss. And running 5E for the first time in a few years I'm really struck by how much work it is. I'd love to find a system that gets the %&$! out of my way.

Kobold Fight Club makes this all a lot easier. I am abashed at how long it took me to try it.

 

[Atomoctba]

Now I have to decide if the tax benefits offset confessing to my wife how much I spend in Kickstarter RPG campaigns.

Mine spend more money than me in these things

 

[Frozen_Heart]

This is my thought as well as a person who has worked in various versions of retail, customer service, corporate America and various combinations of.

I also consider that shareholders, being shareholders, will percieve any mass cancellations of D&D Beyond and the various posts about never supporting Wizards again, as being a risk, and, being risk-adverse, will decide to end D&D. If we see mass cancellations, and shareholders only read numbers, they may decide that it's not worth the hassle, take what they can and run. It's like the Great Depression is my fear - nothing causes a bank run like hearing rumors the bank run has already started.

I honestly wonder if this is where we're headed. Not the mass cancellations now, as those always blow over pretty fast due to customers having short memories.

But if DnDone crashes and burns on release due to everyone just choosing to stay on 5e, will Hasbro just throw the DnD brand in the dumpster and end it completely? What happens then?

It's essentially the KT extinction of TTRPGs if that happens.