D&D 5E Am I no longer WoTC's target audience?

[Parmandur]

I still don't understand WotC's aversion to lower page count, B&W soft cover books (or even full color) since 3.5 first became a thing. Something like that would be perfect for these things.

WotC has talked about this: the books sell as meaty art objects as much as rule books (again, they've made the rules available for free without art). There is maybe some money to be made with small, low-art books, but there is more to be made with beefy, art-heavy products that, say, a four year old or two year old can get a kick out of, generating more future players.

 

[Parmandur]

Settings that have not been published for decades (with the exception of DarkSun 4E) are niche products with only limited appeal. I get that some old grognards (myself included) would like a new version of old settings but a significant portion of the people buying the product weren't born the last time these products were current.

Which is all I was pointing out. They are following the money trail and branching out. Publishing content related to currently pop culture makes a lot of sense. Even if I would never be interested in some of the new settings.

At the same time companies aren't omniscient, and neither are posters to this forum. Just because you might buy a "My Little Pony" D&D conversion, doesn't mean it would be a hit.

WotC does seem to think they can get value out of these older Settings...in time rolled out slowly.

 

[lowkey13]

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[Helldritch]

If Wizard doesn't want to publish "offical" GreyHawk, Dragonlance, Darksun, SpellJammer or whatever other setting they have stopped publishing over the last decade or so; maybe they should license 3PP to do it for them. I'm sure that someone out there have done a tremendous job on their favourite settings already and would like nothing more than to share it. But the IP prevents them from doing it. These settings are like the treasure trove of a dragon. The dragon is sitting on its trove but doesn't do anything with it. Wizard isn't doing anything with their IP.

I'm sure that new generation of players would love to play on GreyHawk. But they do not know better.

 

[Oofta]

If Wizard doesn't want to publish "offical" GreyHawk, Dragonlance, Darksun, SpellJammer or whatever other setting they have stopped publishing over the last decade or so; maybe they should license 3PP to do it for them. I'm sure that someone out there have done a tremendous job on their favourite settings already and would like nothing more than to share it. But the IP prevents them from doing it. These settings are like the treasure trove of a dragon. The dragon is sitting on its trove but doesn't do anything with it. Wizard isn't doing anything with their IP.

I'm sure that new generation of players would love to play on GreyHawk. But they do not know better.

But if they license it out then they lose the option of mining that old intellecutal property in the future. There's not a lot of reason for them to do that. That and I have no clue if other companies would be interested or how you would value it.

 

[Maestrino]

If Wizard doesn't want to publish "offical" GreyHawk, Dragonlance, Darksun, SpellJammer or whatever other setting they have stopped publishing over the last decade or so; maybe they should license 3PP to do it for them. I'm sure that someone out there have done a tremendous job on their favourite settings already and would like nothing more than to share it. But the IP prevents them from doing it. These settings are like the treasure trove of a dragon. The dragon is sitting on its trove but doesn't do anything with it. Wizard isn't doing anything with their IP.

I'm sure that new generation of players would love to play on GreyHawk. But they do not know better.

Sure, but... if I wanted to play Greyhawk (never having played that setting before) I could also just go find all the maps and lore online on wikis and use all the existing 5e mechanics and monsters already published, and run a great campaign in Greyhawk. I don't need it republished - it's already out there.

And even if certain pre-published adventures aren't my thing, I'll probably still pick them up because there might be something in there (a particularly good trap, a nice map, some adventure hook bones, whatever) that I can throw into another campaign in a different way.

 

[BMaC]

If Wizard doesn't want to publish "offical" GreyHawk, Dragonlance, Darksun, SpellJammer or whatever other setting they have stopped publishing over the last decade or so; maybe they should license 3PP to do it for them. I'm sure that someone out there have done a tremendous job on their favourite settings already and would like nothing more than to share it. But the IP prevents them from doing it. These settings are like the treasure trove of a dragon. The dragon is sitting on its trove but doesn't do anything with it. Wizard isn't doing anything with their IP.

I'm sure that new generation of players would love to play on GreyHawk. But they do not know better.

Yep. Goodman Games has done great work with Original Adventures Reincarnated. They or Kobold Press would be a safe pair of hands to hold a license for Greyhawk.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

In the past I have joked about a secret multiverse infinite crisis war, but I dare that is the hidden card if they are going to need a total reboot of all franchises.

Hasbro wants D&D to be its making-cash cow. It is the perfect brand for teenagers who don't buy toys any more. Really they want to build a skycrapper and we only are seing the lowest floors. Think about this. They have been negotiating in secret and now Adquistion Inc and Exandria (Critical Role) are canon in D&D. Maybe they are still talking with other companies and 3PPs for partnership projects, but we know nothing at all. (Of course I have got my own theories).

Have you forgotten the UA article about magic in a modern setting? I dare to say this is a sign there is a open door for a d20 Modern 2.0.

 

[lowkey13]

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[Mistwell]

Good. Glad you and everyone else enjoyed it. It just rubbed me the wrong way due to my own peculiarities, which is one of the many reasons I'm not part of WotC's target audience anymore. (But then, my relationship to D&D has always been ... idiosyncratic, not being a real fan of 1E/OSR, 3E/Patfhinder, or 5E.)

We just ran through the 2e adventure(s) Four From Cormyr using 5e. Our DM converted on the fly, and the adventure ran exceptionally well. I'd never even heard fo that adventure before and it was a blast. Have you tried using 2e adventures in 5e?