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.

 

[Cadence]

Gelatinous cube SQUISHIES, like you squeeze because your boss is being a jerk!

Are there little edible skeletons and armor/weapons? I'm now picturing Gelatinous Cube jello desserts...

 

[jhallum]

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

One of the designers posted on twitter that it's not their purview to talk about the OGL, rather only about things like this. Feels a bit like punching down is only allowed ,but not punching up, but it's just the corporate lifestyle I guess.

 

[FormerLurker]

Unsurprisingly, the YouTubers and content creators who have spent the last two weeks rolling in views over the controversy and being shared constantly all over the internet, are trying to keep the controversy going...

 

[wicked cool]

I wouldn’t mind a technology improvement on rules etc . Board games have started to do this but I think we are years away from this

 

[jerryrice4949]

It wouldn't surprise me if Disney has at least kicked the tires on buying Hasbro at some point.

D&D, Transformers, My Little Pony, and so on. Tons of IP for their collection!

Maybe for the IP. But the toy business isn’t what it used to be so maybe not.

 

[Velderan]

Maybe for the IP. But the toy business isn’t what it used to be so maybe not.

Look at the MCU, the comic industry isn't what it used to be and Disney is making tons of money off their investment in comic IP. The IP is where the money is.

 

[Mallus]

In general, it’s a good idea to believe a company when they say they’re not doing something they can’t.

Like if SpaceX puts out a statement swearing they’re not building a warp core.

 

[Wepwawet]

Well, I really love 5e and i hope that OneD&D will be as good.

I really really didn’t want to leave D&D and have to learn and switch to other systems. I’m glad they’re responding to fans worries and addressing concerns, that reassures me.

To be honest I don’t care about dndbeyond. I’ll be playing D&D same as always, with my books, sheets of paper, a pencil, and far more dice than i need.

I’m glad they backtracked on the OGL, but it’s kind of understandable that going forward they want to use a new license… Hopefully ORC will work as well for most 3pp so that they won’t need the new license. But i want to keep my D&D

 

[Mallus]

Unsurprisingly, the YouTubers and content creators who have spent the last two weeks rolling in views over the controversy and being shared constantly all over the internet, are trying to keep the controversy going...

Honestly I don’t begrudge them that. They’re businesses trying to make money in a highly competitive space.

 

[jerryrice4949]

Look at the MCU, the comic industry isn't what it used to be and Disney is making tons of money off their investment in comic IP. The IP is where the money is.

Agreed. Which is why I think WoTC feels they need to be more restrictive. Right or wrong.