D&D 5E Hasbro Acquires D&D Beyond For $146M

Oofta · Apr 14, 2022

Jer said:
In all honesty this is a problem for just about every single company out there. The web is a mess.

The companies that you perceive as doing it right and standing the test of time are constantly working to keep their applications up to date and spending all kinds of resources to make sure that they're keeping up - including completely revising how they do things fairly regularly. The problem that Wizards has historically had with this stuff is that they're not a tech company - non-tech companies often drastically underestimate just how much work it takes to keep a complex public application functioning (especially if their IT folks are mostly used to maintaining internal private apps - which can also be beasts to maintain and also fall behind the times but you can force your employees to use it as is and work around the flaws until you can budget in money for changes. If you're making an app for the general public the constraints are all very different).

Many non-tech companies treat IT as an expense, a necessary evil who's cost should be kept to a minimum. Some companies understand the importance of technology and public interface but even then management tends to be wowed by a cool interface demos. So it kind of trickles down. Management wants something done as cheap as possible, not understanding the importance of infrastructure and clean designs so as a developer if you want to look like a hero you focus on making UIs that look cool because honestly people often don't know what they really need or want while dozing off while some IT nerd drones on about APIs and adaptable data storage structures. Of course a lot of devs also chase after the bright and shiny new thing because promises of the silver bullet that will solve the problems from the last project. Sometimes it does (but usually just has different issues), sometimes it's Silverlight*.

The sad fact is that most software development fails to meet all of their goals. Most come close enough to be useable but it's only after multiple iterations that they achieve toned down goals.

*Or Knockout or some other javascript flash in the pan monstrosity that promises to solve all your problems. Me? Still miffed that we went with technology that wasn't proven when things like react and angular were starting to gain headway? Or even just sticking with slightly older proven technologies until the dust settled a bit? Nah.

darjr · Apr 14, 2022

DEFCON 1 said:
You have to blow on the cartridge a couple times. Then it should work.

I tried that, but AC/DC wouldn’t let me into the concert for free. I even brought the album.

Grendel_Khan · Apr 14, 2022

DEFCON 1 said:
You have to blow on the cartridge a couple times. Then it should work.

We all love to rib Nintendo, but I had to load a disc into my ever-so-high-tech Playstation and then turn the whole thing upside-down to run it...

LordEntrails · Apr 14, 2022

Henadic Theologian said:
D&D Beyond has had a successful forums for over a decade, clearly they know what they are doing.

Funny, how have they had forums for over a decade if;
D&D Beyond was launched on August 15, 2017

Umbran · Apr 14, 2022

darjr said:
This. Something. H*ck even just license some time on Roll20 using that Beyond20 extension might go a long way.

Heck, given that the mechanics are already handled on D&D Beyond, all they really need is, say, Owlbear Rodeo tacked on the side.

Jer · Apr 14, 2022

Henadic Theologian said:
I see no moderation issue on the site, if it ain't broke don't fix it. D&D Beyond has had a successful forums for over a decade, clearly they know what they are doing.

I'm curious if given it's now a WotC Forum if it will get a subforum for MtG.

Wizards had decent forums for a while too, until they didn't. Moderation can be a non-issue for a while, until it becomes an issue. I watched forums back in the day go from fun places to hang out to cess pits that eventually got shut off because the folks running them just couldn't keep up with the garbage.

So it all depends on how much money they want to spend on forum moderation. Once the costs outweigh the benefits the forums will get dumped. The trick is how beneficial they see having forums that they moderate vs. just using existing social media.

LordEntrails · Apr 14, 2022

ECMO3 said:
Foundry and Roll20 (and maybe others?) are already integrated into DNDB.

Not licensed, meaning it can go away without notice and anytime WotC choses.

Jer said:
It's not justifying it to say that it takes labor to move that content into those different platforms. The work it takes to create a book is different from the work it takes to put that content onto DDB is different from the (vast amounts of extra) work it takes to integrate that material into a VTT.

It does take enormous amounts of labor. Or it takes a huge investment in a Content Management System (like Arbortext). I'm talking a few million, along with something like a 25% maintenance cost. Eventually such systems will trickle into the RPG creation world, but for now they are few companies/industries that can justify such.

Jer · Apr 14, 2022

LordEntrails said:
It does take enormous amounts of labor. Or it takes a huge investment in a Content Management System (like Arbortext). I'm talking a few million, along with something like a 25% maintenance cost. Eventually such systems will trickle into the RPG creation world, but for now they are few companies/industries that can justify such.

I think people underestimate just how much extra labor goes into putting things into different formats and think it's all automated now. Even where it is automated its incredibly expensive. It's not like having both a print book and a PDF where making a PDF is the intermediate stage of getting a book to print (and even there - the version of a PDF that is good to read on a device requires some labor to create from the version of the PDF that the printer needs, so even there there's a cost being paid).

Michael Linke · Apr 14, 2022

darjr said:
WotC traditionally asks folks to move to their city and headquarters. From what I understand D&DBeyond does not. Though lately I’ve heard WotC has begun to walk away from that policy.

If WotC wants to get into the dev game, they need to let go of that. Where I work, we're realizing that no matter where your business is located, you're in competition with dev hiring managers all over the world for the same candidates. Nobody's gonna take a job for your company and move to your city to go to your office, when they can take a higher paying job at a more prestigious company that doesn't care where they live. We've basically given up on requiring in-person work for the dev teams.