Ok, now i'm REALLY CONFUSED. AKA, do any of you think you know what WotC is doing?

[MortonStromgal]

Sold? No chance whatsoever. Hasbro is not some guy doing games on a part-time basis. No company gets rich and stays that way by selling IP.

Tops and Microsoft license Shadowrun and Battletech out now to Catalyst Game Labs and Smith and Tinker.

Sold? No chance whatsoever. Hasbro is not some guy doing games on a part-time basis. No company gets rich and stays that way by selling IP.

Jordan Wiseman has made a healthy career out of buying and selling IP. I would expect talks to happen with Hasbro and interested parties concerning buying up the IP. It would just depend on what the offer is compared to what they can license it for. WOTC being sold to Hasbro is another example. Hasbro named a price that the owners felt was high enough to get out.

 

[MrMyth]

Maybe not the only ones, but the main ones I can think of to warrant all the recent shake ups at WotC.

Eh, not really. Honestly, the only major announcement is the one about the books. The rest of it?

The minis line has struggled for a while. Without a minis game to encourage collectability, most DMs just don't need more minis once they've already bought some. WotC has tried different approaches, presumably with underwhelming sales, and so the line just is no longer sustainable.

The magazines no longer being compiled... is a shame. But doesn't really impact the content itself. Theoretically we'll be getting at least as much content as before, plus the new free content, plus more editing. If, a month from now, they are still have issues with the adjustment to the new approach... then maybe we've got some problems. But I don't think there is any long-term issue here.

The books, though... dropping that much content seems pretty severe. The general sense I've gotten is that Essentials sold ok, but wasn't the break-through hit they were hoping for. Thus, I think we're seeing them shifting away from an Essentials driven lineup. I don't think it means the game is collapsing, just that they are going to shift their strategy (again). Hopefully this time they'll stick with it.

 

[Grimstaff]

The D&D brand could then be licensed out for video games, movies, tactical wargames (for large-scale combat) and roleplaying games.

BBM,

 

[Stormonu]

And plenty of people are still very happy with 3.5E, even though that edition has been out of print for years. People need to relax...discontinued or not, 4E isn't going anywhere. People who love 4E will continue to play it.

I don't know what to make of the new changes. I thought that the Essentials line was the harbinger of a 5th Edition, but the rest of these changes don't really jibe with that. It feels more like a restructuring, like they are testing out a new business model. I imagine a board meeting where someone stands up, puts their thumbs and index fingers on a polished tabletop, leans forward, and starts talking in clichés. "It is time to sail this ship in a new direction..."

But nobody is talking. I think it is the silence from WotC that is making us nervous, more than anything else.

Wise this one is, if not clever

For now, the only thing I'm following are the boardgames - got WoA on preorder. I saw something earlier about them continuing to do boardgames, as if there were more on the way. Have they revealed the titles for any boardgames beyond Castle Ravenloft and Wrath of Ashadarlon?

 

[shadzar]

I never said that subscribers would be against this but it feels wrong to me charging a monthly fee for playtesting and then getting the same people to pay additional money for the book. Perhaps if maintaing a sub for X amount of time earned a coupon for a copy of the book when it was printed then it wouldn't be so terrible.

myspace and facebook have "games" on then as well does many other sites that are in "BETA" and you are playing the game and playtesting it at the same time, and MANY people pay to get "premiums" in those games. The days of the playtester getting free swag and the content for free to do the work of testing are over, and the "pay us to do work for us" era is already here.

"A fool and his money are soon parted."

Morals have changed sicne we feel it wrong to wharge people to work, as well charge them again for the product they worked on, where others feel nickle and diming people into debt and deeath is ok and the way to go.

 

[ShinHakkaider]

Wise this one is, if not clever

For now, the only thing I'm following are the boardgames - got WoA on preorder. I saw something earlier about them continuing to do boardgames, as if there were more on the way. Have they revealed the titles for any boardgames beyond Castle Ravenloft and Wrath of Ashadarlon?

Yeah, I havent heard any thing about games after Wrath of Ashadarion. All I know is when I showed my son the picture of WOA box set he wanted it. NOW.

I've got it on pre-order on Amazon.

 

[steeldragons]

Yeah, I havent heard any thing about games after Wrath of Ashadarion. All I know is when I showed my son the picture of WOA box set he wanted it. NOW.

I've got it on pre-order on Amazon.

Your honor, my case rests (as far as the board game situation is concerned.)

Kudos to you (and your son) for getting the "NExt Gen" involved.

Awesome!

--SD

 

[Stalker0]

So, Wotc has finally decided to crowdsource the mechanical balancing and editing process?

If they do I'd be all for it.

Generally within a day of online articles go up the online community is able to compile a list of errors and overpowered combos with new content. They do it willingly, continuously, and freely.

No editing staff can beat that!

If WOTC did use online content as a sounding board for content, and then release the polished version in hardcover books I think it would be a great model for quality content.

The question is would people focus their money on the online content, the books, or both?

 

[carmachu]

So, Wotc has finally decided to crowdsource the mechanical balancing and editing process?

They learned from Paizo's open play test. Its worked well for them, why not WOTC.

 

[Wicht]

They learned from Paizo's open play test. Its worked well for them, why not WOTC.

Participation in Paizo's open playtest was free to Paizo's customers, excepting those, who like myself, who wanted an actual book. Even then the Beta book was minimally priced. Those who were content with PDFs could download all the playtest documents for free and then comment for free on Paizo's free web-forum.

I think the business models are a little different from one company to another when it comes to playtesting material.