D&D 5E "The Future of D&D is International" (Inverse article)

Matthia05718273 said:

Now I'm not saying D&D in its current form would work in China, the demon/devil stuff is obviously problematic and a skeleton on the cover of the DMG isn't going to work either. But WotC can find a local company in China to partner with, to at bare minimum get the game's ruleset into China.

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Which is what I have said the whole time? Please show me where I have said that fantasy in general is problematic in China and not just specific aspects like undead.

The question is if there will be a totally separate edition of D&D or if some of the required changes will filter back and affect future products for the global market when WotC does not want to pay for two separate products. That could mean future adventures could be made to also appeal to the chinese market (very difficult) and avoid things which are not appropriate in China, either because of censorship or mentality differences for example.

Asian isn't only Japan, of course, but in the industry of the speculative fiction ( = fantasy + sci-fi) Japan is the main market. South Korea is also a big fish.

We have to make a difference between Chinese people and Chinese government. Maybe a 3rd party could sell an Oriental Adventures setting in Taiwan without troubles, and even may become very popular, but in the Continent would be different.

We aren't here to talk about statecraft, but we can about the Chinese censorship as a menace for the industry of the entertainment and the genre of speculative fiction. If China says they don't want gay characters in the new She-ra cartoon, then you can bet all the characters will become straight.

* Third party companies from non-English countries could publish setting inspired in their own folklore, but the market of the table-RPGs are too small to create a blockbuster. These franchises should have a better future like novels, comics or videogames. And you should remember in the rest of the world the teenages aren't so rich to buy books with a prizeof 35-50 $. With that money they would rather to buy videogames.

* You shouldn't forget the rich folklore from Latin-Mediterranean countries, with lots of creatures and feys.

LuisCarlos17f said:

Asian isn't only Japan, of course, but in the industry of the speculative fiction ( = fantasy + sci-fi) Japan is the main market. South Korea is also a big fish.

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These are individual translations though...

We have to make a difference between Chinese people and Chinese government. Maybe a 3rd party could sell an Oriental Adventures setting in Taiwan without troubles, and even may become very popular, but in the Continent would be different.

We aren't here to talk about statecraft, but we can about the Chinese censorship as a menace for the industry of the entertainment and the genre of speculative fiction. If China says they don't want gay characters in the new She-ra cartoon, then you can bet all the characters will become straight.

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I don't see it as much as a threat. It is a heavy burden though.

* Third party companies from non-English countries could publish setting inspired in their own folklore, but the market of the table-RPGs are too small to create a blockbuster. These franchises should have a better future like novels, comics or videogames. And you should remember in the rest of the world the teenages aren't so rich to buy books with a prizeof 35-50 $. With that money they would rather to buy videogames.

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That's why they need to create products in the $15-20 range, and have them aggressively put in toy stores and bookshops. A localized version of the starter set and essentials kit could sit well between Monopoly and Risk. They cannot rely on the WPN stores for that, as they have little coverage and game and comic book shops are very niche.

* You shouldn't forget the rich folklore from Latin-Mediterranean countries, with lots of creatures and feys.

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Like the Follets, Mari, Manonas and Sugar?

My suggestion for get new players is a board game like the Hero Quest from 90's, with easy rules to be learnt, but also with (no-automatic) leveling-up. If the name "Hero Quest" can't be used because reasons of copyright, then the option could be "Endless Quest", like the "choose your own adventure" game books. With a special app in the tablet, this could be used as "Dungeon Masters", or the expansions or DLCs could be sold like NFC miniatures with PDFs.