Dire Bare
Legend
NPR's Planet Money just released an article about Magic The Gathering, and how it beat the "Curse of the Black Lotus". With all the talk about WotC's plans for D&D, I found this interesting and relevant.
Here's the NPR story: http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2015/03/11/392381112/episode-609-the-curse-of-the-black-lotus?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20150312
Basically, in the early days, Magic was very much in danger of going the way of Beanie Babies. In other words, WotC had the potential to make killer short-term profits by catering to the speculators and likely giving Magic a very short life cycle. But they instead choose to try and beat that scenario and invest in Magic's long term profits and sustainability. Many fans (and speculators) derided them at the time, and they WERE giving up practically guaranteed amazing short-term profits. But since Magic turned 22 recently, it looks like their gamble played out. And as Magic fans who follow WotC's design and development for Magic already know, WotC has Magic design down to a science. Not that they don't make mistakes from time to time, and feel the need to change gears, but Magic has been an incredible long-term success for them that has no end in sight.
Today, WotC is trying something similar with D&D. Two different games with different needs, but perhaps a similar approach can do for D&D what it did for Magic. WotC has stated they hope to make 5th edition long term and sustainable, and that they are moving away from the splat-book driven edition treadmill that has resulted in shorter and shorter edition life cycles for the game. Even with their experience with Magic, repeating that success with D&D is new territory and WotC has also stated that they are basically experimenting as they go, and we should expect to see different approaches as new products are released. We have some fans relieved and excited about the new, leaner, release cycle for the game. And we have others upset that WotC has a light release schedule announced for 2015 and has explicitly stated they are trying to avoid saturating us with splats.
Personally, I feel that this is an experiment and isn't a guaranteed success for WotC, although the initial reaction and sales for 5E seem to be very favorable. But I am on board and very excited to potentially see an edition that might remain stable for 10 years or possibly longer, with fewer, but interesting releases each year. My wallet can't afford the old style splat inundation of 4E, 3E, and 2E, while at the same time I miss and am nostalgic for all of those great products.
What do you guys think? Is there any relationship between WotC's proven success with Magic and their new approach with D&D?
Here's the NPR story: http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2015/03/11/392381112/episode-609-the-curse-of-the-black-lotus?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20150312
Basically, in the early days, Magic was very much in danger of going the way of Beanie Babies. In other words, WotC had the potential to make killer short-term profits by catering to the speculators and likely giving Magic a very short life cycle. But they instead choose to try and beat that scenario and invest in Magic's long term profits and sustainability. Many fans (and speculators) derided them at the time, and they WERE giving up practically guaranteed amazing short-term profits. But since Magic turned 22 recently, it looks like their gamble played out. And as Magic fans who follow WotC's design and development for Magic already know, WotC has Magic design down to a science. Not that they don't make mistakes from time to time, and feel the need to change gears, but Magic has been an incredible long-term success for them that has no end in sight.
Today, WotC is trying something similar with D&D. Two different games with different needs, but perhaps a similar approach can do for D&D what it did for Magic. WotC has stated they hope to make 5th edition long term and sustainable, and that they are moving away from the splat-book driven edition treadmill that has resulted in shorter and shorter edition life cycles for the game. Even with their experience with Magic, repeating that success with D&D is new territory and WotC has also stated that they are basically experimenting as they go, and we should expect to see different approaches as new products are released. We have some fans relieved and excited about the new, leaner, release cycle for the game. And we have others upset that WotC has a light release schedule announced for 2015 and has explicitly stated they are trying to avoid saturating us with splats.
Personally, I feel that this is an experiment and isn't a guaranteed success for WotC, although the initial reaction and sales for 5E seem to be very favorable. But I am on board and very excited to potentially see an edition that might remain stable for 10 years or possibly longer, with fewer, but interesting releases each year. My wallet can't afford the old style splat inundation of 4E, 3E, and 2E, while at the same time I miss and am nostalgic for all of those great products.
What do you guys think? Is there any relationship between WotC's proven success with Magic and their new approach with D&D?
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