WotC: We Are Not Making AI Dungeon Masters

Adding to the recent spate of YouTube-based claims about WotC's plans for Dungeons & Dragons were some additional claims -- (a) that D&D Beyond would have $30 subscription fee; (b) that homebrew content would not be permitted on lower tiers; and (c) that DDB was actively working on AI Dungeon Masters.

Some of this was based on a (long ago debunked) slide from a presentation last year.

WotC has made some clarifications:

Hey, everyone. We’ve seen misinformation popping up, and want to address it directly so we can dispel your concerns.

Rumors of a $30 subscription fee are false.

No one at Wizards is working on AI DMs. We love our human DMs too much. If you’re looking for a DM, we suggest heading to our Discord where DMs and parties are looking for players.

We have designers whose core job it is to compile, analyze, and then act upon your feedback. Your feedback has made the game better over the past decade, and your feedback is central to D&D’s future.

Homebrewing is core to D&D Beyond. It's not going away, and we're not going to charge you for it. Your homebrew is, and always will be, yours. We’ve always been excited to see your creations both on and off D&D Beyond!

There is still no clear statement regarding the Open Gaming License v1.0a, however.

 

[Vaalingrade]

"Please, look at all the pretty chaff. Doesn't it make you want to forget about the OGL?"

 

[Malmuria]

They have brought back the good WotC we have known in recent years.

If only we didn't know about the bad WotC lurking in the shadows.

Maybe wotc is a lycanthrope?

 

[Corinnguard]

More like Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde.

 

[The Stray]

Wow, Jeremy Crawford is posting about the survey thing. Yet he's been silent on the OGL for weeks.

 

[MockingBird]

I love D&D, I love 5e, I hate that they have broken the trust of the community and 3pp. I feel like they are doing some decent course corrections. I was really let down to learn it was possible they didn't read our survey comments. It's good to see them addressing everything but they are going to have to show me they mean what they say.

 

[Dire Bare]

Trust in WotC is hard right now, but . . . . there are some crazy rumors flying around Reddit and I'm sure other sites.

I'm fairly confident the $30 sub fees and AI DM's are fabricated rumors. I'm also confident the design team reads those survey results.

But D&D Beyond playing shenanigans with our homebrew on their site . . . . crazy, but so is de-authorizing the OGL.

 

[Scribe]

Wow, Jeremy Crawford is posting about the survey thing. Yet he's been silent on the OGL for weeks.

I think that kind of seals it.

They wont budge on 1.0 OGL, they have their marching orders, and who cares if it spits in the face of creators and the industry at large.

 

[The Stray]

I think that kind of seals it.

They wont budge on 1.0 OGL, they have their marching orders, and who cares if it spits in the face of creators and the industry at large.

If they're trying to clear the air, it's still pretty stinky.

 

[J.Quondam]

$30 monthly subscription is ridiculous. It's going to be $29.95.

And of course no one at WotC is working on an AI DM. They've contracted an outside company with programming expertise in AI chatbots to do that.

WotC intern: "ChatGPT, please write an AI DM app to be used in our D&D VTT."
Done!

 

[GMforPowergamers]

$30 monthly subscription is ridiculous. It's going to be $29.95.

that was my first thought...

just the other day when my fiancé asked how much I spent on the groceries I said "I kept it below $100" and she INSTANTLY shot back "That could be 99.99 from you tell me what you spent..."
(if it matters it was like $78)

And of course no one at WotC is working on an AI DM. They've contracted an outside company with programming expertise in AI chatbots to do that.

that has me bummed... I want holodeck AI DMs