D&D General WotC Has Owned D&D Longer Than TSR Did

As Matt Forbeck pointed out on Twitter, WotC has owned D&D for 24 years since it purchased TSR in 1997. TSR created D&D in 1974, 23 years before WotC bought it.

 

[Istbor]

Exhibit A: 50 Shades of Grey

For you perhaps. Though I image, the quality of the writing is not what made that a 'quality' book for those that do enjoy it. Different strokes for different folks.

 

[werecorpse]

Charming. Very fine example of how to win friends and influence people.

Not terribly relevant to the current state if D&D, at any rate.

Not so sure on this. Seems for the current state someone managed to get crunch and fluff smooshed together into one book as the standard way of releasing non adventure stuff a la Volos or Mordenkainens and also Xanathars and Tashas. I suspect the beancounters had significant input in that decision.

 

[Parmandur]

Not so sure on this. Seems for the current state someone managed to get crunch and fluff smooshed together into one book as the standard way of releasing non adventure stuff a la Volos or Mordenkainens and also Xanathars and Tashas. I suspect the beancounters had significant input in that decision.

Evil "bean counters" always wanting to do what actually works best. What a bunch of jerks.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

For you perhaps. Though I image, the quality of the writing is not what made that a 'quality' book for those that do enjoy it. Different strokes for different folks.

Eh, most of the people I know who are into that stuff are good people, it is just the books themselves, and to a lesser extent, the movies. You want to murder an English teacher, have them read those books. lol

 

[QuentinGeorge]

50 Shades of Grey is merely a way to read porn in public without shame. Complaining about the writing quality seems to be missing the point!

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

50 Shades of Grey is merely a way to read porn in public without shame. Complaining about the writing quality seems to be missing the point!

So, anyone ever wonder if there is a "50 Shades of Greyhawk" spoof out there in fanfic land? Was this already joked about when the first book originally came out and was such a surprise success? lol

 

[TheSword]

So, anyone ever wonder if there is a "50 Shades of Greyhawk" spoof out there in fanfic land? Was this already joked about when the first book originally came out and was such a surprise success? lol

Well it is Dungeons and Dragons.

 

[Parmandur]

So, anyone ever wonder if there is a "50 Shades of Greyhawk" spoof out there in fanfic land? Was this already joked about when the first book originally came out and was such a surprise success? lol

I ain't about to Google it, that's for dang skippy.

 

[Ogre Mage]

Even before the 90s, I don't know that my younger self could've ever imagined the scale of D&D's success and popularity today.

One thing the research and scholarly discourse on D&D has revealed was just how poorly-run TSR was. The Random House deal, for example, or the massive splitting of the market with all the settings in 2e. The list goes on. Sometimes it feels like the only reason TSR survived as well as they did was that D&D was lightning-in-a-bottle product.

It's wild to think how time has flown. I remember being in college and having not gamed for a few years, then coming back to the hobby and discovering that TSR was no more and that upstart Magic company owned D&D now.

In the D&D dark days of the mid/late 1990s, that is what I thought was going to "replace" D&D -- Magic: The Gathering. It was the hot new thing at the time and you could just plop down and play a game without the hours of prep D&D required. The success of the Everquest MMORPG in 1999 only convinced me further that these new games were taking over the gaming space that D&D occupied. They were the next generation. D&D might as well have stood for Dinosaurs & Dodos.

I was right in one sense. MtG and the MMORPGs became potent forces in the gaming industry. They are here to stay. But the idea they would render D&D obselete was dead wrong. I came back to D&D in 2001, the dawn of 3.X. Within a year I realized my earlier prediction was off.

During the edition wars chatter began again that D&D was dying. This time my older self viewed the talk more skeptically.

 

[Retreater]

I just shared this information with my player group - and we've been playing together in some capacity since the mid-90s. One of the players commented that "part of his childhood died with TSR."
I can agree with that to a point. To my group's age demographic, WotC D&D represented the game's first edition when we were adults. 3.x edition was the system that was out when we graduated from college and started careers, got married, bought houses, had kids, saw our parents die, etc. A lot of us look back with nostalgia for the TSR-era products just because life was simpler. Gaming culture didn't extend farther than our own gaming table (or maybe a local hobby shop). It was pure ... not dictated by the commentary of social media, messageboards, corporate speech, YouTubers, influencers. It was our friends who mattered - not the whole world.
Now - amongst our group - we have Virtual Tabletops, entire luggage sets to carry our physical books and supplies, convention scheduling, Wyrmwood gaming tables, and professional game design credits. We devote more time debating the game with strangers than playing the game with friends.
So I celebrate the success of modern D&D. I am relieved that young people can purchase rulebooks and not be accused of Satanism, be threatened by bullies. I'm glad to see it sell well and be available in department stores. But I do miss the old times and how the game used to feel. It's not the same game, and even when I go back to play the old editions it can never feel the same because I am not the same.