Hasbro quote on MtG

[SquareKnot]

Could you say more about this, Merric? I've played a couple of LFR games, but I've never really been an LFR player in a meaningful sense. What makes now a turning point for the program?

I don't want to derail this thread, and Merric can speak for himself, but I suspect his comment was in reference to
this post, also discussed in this 20+ page thread over at Wizards.

To summarize, LFR has been run and supported by WotC. Now it is shifting more to a "community driven" effort. The module authors are no longer paid, the ties to the DCI database are changing, Wizards Play Network is stepping away from it, the number of modules per year is decreasing, LFR is no longer Forgotten Realms canon, ... This is similar to what they did with the D&D Miniatures game -- turned it over to fans with permission to use a lot of the IP but mostly cut any financial investment in it.

This may result in a stronger, better, more story focused LFR or it may be the beginning of the end. That whole discussion deserves its own thread, which I'm surprised hasn't shown up yet.

Back somewhat on topic, it looks like Wizards is aiming at Encounters & Game Days as part of its brand revitalization, perhaps at the expense of LFR.

 

[Herschel]

I didn't realize "in the know" meant "someone who has never read nor played 4E".

 

[Hawke]

I have to say the Xbox Live Duels of the Planeswalkers brought me back in. I hadn't played Magic in a decade and saw it was on sale for a cheap price on arcade. I took a look at the screenshots and it looked very polished. Quickly beat it, bought the expansion (and since the second expansion) and because of the multiplayer ease I was able to convince several never-played-magic friends to buy DotP. Fast forward a few months and we'd all bought a significant amount of cards, one guy has an Archenemy deck. Who knows if we'll keep it up, but we've had a good time and WotC has made some money off of us... so I think some management changes and decisions on how to market paid off.

I think Encounters is much more successful at drawing me in than LFG ever was. Unfortunately for me Wednesdays are my normal game night and while I tried to get in on a thursday season 2 encounters game, it fizzled before it got off the ground. Overall, WotC's brand management seems to be pushing themselves... and we haven't even gotten to Essentials.

 

[DaveMage]

I didn't realize "in the know" meant "someone who has never read nor played 4E".

Consider yourself schooled.

 

[Eridanis]

I have to say the Xbox Live Duels of the Planeswalkers brought me back in. I hadn't played Magic in a decade and saw it was on sale for a cheap price on arcade. I took a look at the screenshots and it looked very polished. Quickly beat it, bought the expansion (and since the second expansion) and because of the multiplayer ease I was able to convince several never-played-magic friends to buy DotP. Fast forward a few months and we'd all bought a significant amount of cards, one guy has an Archenemy deck. Who knows if we'll keep it up, but we've had a good time and WotC has made some money off of us... so I think some management changes and decisions on how to market paid off.

I picked up Duels of the Planeswalkers when it came out in Steam. Not only is it fun, but it's been a good tool for teaching my 8-year-old the basic rules. Next... deckbuilding! (wrings hands evilly)

 

[MerricB]

I think it's too early to tell with the Essentials line.

I think Essentials may lead to 4E brand confusion (it already seems to have even here amongst those of us "in the know").

Brand confusion is probably not a very good thing for the D&D line.

Hmm. I rather think it won't, and the reason is this: it's not incompatible with the standard line. This isn't like Basic D&D and Advanced D&D which were two lines of products that differed in some pretty major respects.

The reason we're confused at present is because it isn't out. We haven't seen it, and often we're using a version of Chinese Whispers or Telephone to interpret what it actually is.

Cheers!

 

[DaveMage]

Hmm. I rather think it won't, and the reason is this: it's not incompatible with the standard line.

The question is how well will the information be communicated to game store (or bookstore) staff.

If someone goes into a store and asks what's the difference between "essentials" and "non-essentials" (heh), and the store staff say "there's no difference" that would probably confuse (or, at least, make no sense to) the customer. ("Then why call it something different?")

Or, a person who *doesn't* ask a store clerk may look at the shelf and wonder why some D&D products say "essentals" and some don't. They may then decide it's not worth the time to figure it out and go look at something else. (The cover for Rogue Trader looks cool.....)

 

[MerricB]

The question is how well will the information be communicated to game store (or bookstore) staff.

If someone goes into a store and asks what's the difference between "essentials" and "non-essentials" (heh), and the store staff say "there's no difference" that would probably confuse (or, at least, make no sense to) the customer. ("Then why call it something different?")

Or, a person who *doesn't* ask a store clerk may look at the shelf and wonder why some D&D products say "essentals" and some don't. They may then decide it's not worth the time to figure it out and go look at something else. (The cover for Rogue Trader looks cool.....)

Remember, there is a Basic D&D set, which is the starting point for Essentials (and D&D). Once they get that, it will have a list of what to buy next depending on whether they're a player or DM.

Cheers!

 

[Hussar]

Hmm. I rather think it won't, and the reason is this: it's not incompatible with the standard line. This isn't like Basic D&D and Advanced D&D which were two lines of products that differed in some pretty major respects.

The reason we're confused at present is because it isn't out. We haven't seen it, and often we're using a version of Chinese Whispers or Telephone to interpret what it actually is.

Cheers!

One could say we're currently staring at the weather.

/me walks away whistling.

 

[Herschel]

Game companies only succeed when they move forward. Riding a wave is fine, but when a product becomes stagnant, they run in to trouble. That often means new blood for a fresh perspective/