D&D General Is DnD being mothballed?

[mamba]

It's not about pleasing everyone, but, sheesh. It doesn't matter what they do, they are doing it wrong according to someone.

kinda the same thing, isn’t it, and not surprising either

Ultimately they can go about the VTT however they want, I do not really care one way or the other, I am just saying they went with what appears to me to be the high risk route. That should not be too much to handle for them, or for people posting here today

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

I suspect that Hussar misses the days when WotC staff members would regularly participate directly in ENWorld threads. I do too!

I mean.....

Staff Member: So, any questions?

EnWorld Commenter: Yeah, why do you suck? Also, martials and spellcasters, amirite?

Staff Member: sigh Um, okay. Any other questions?

EnWorld Commenter2: My question is totally different. Why do you suck so hard? Also, spellcasters and martials. Check. Mate.

Staff Member: Look, I am not answering those questions. Any OTHER questions?

EnWorld Commenter3: Explain to me what you're doing with orcs and alignment. I like to kill orcs. Does that make me a baddie? Also, why do you hate 4e? Does it have to do with spellcasters and martials?

 

[Umbran]

if they cannot handle the fact that not everyone agrees with them, oh well, that is life, get used to it

No. If we are too critical, they don't "get used to it". They disengage.

When the criticism comes from places of ignorance, becomes hyperbolic, self-contradictory or otherwise incoherent, there is no point in listening. The criticism ceases to have value.

Also, what is ‘communicate directly’

Actually posting here and engaging in discussion with EN World users is "communicating directly". It used to happen.

 

[Parmandur]

having 350+ people working on it is not taking it slow… even so, this makes no real difference to my argument.

I am wondering what is taking them so long however

360 people working several years is normal software development?

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

360 people working several years is normal software development?

In fairness, someone saying, "I am wondering what it taking them so long," is also completely normal for people unfamiliar with software development.

Like the management at many companies. "Sheesh, what are those programmers doing? It can't be that hard! Also, I think we want to completely change the way weapons work. Should be easy."

 

[Micah Sweet]

If it takes X to secure the future but you have spent X + a zillion to do so instead, what have you gained?

Well, math tells us you've lost a zillion. Hope X was worth it.

 

[Micah Sweet]

plenty of people, plenty of opinions, it is impossible to please them all, so if for you winning means ‘everyone is happy with what they are doing, no one has any criticism’ then yes, they cannot win.

I consider that an unrealistic goal / idea however


I don’t think I said anything about wasting money, I only said that their approach is high risk in exchange for an accelerated timeline and wonder whether that is the best approach


if they cannot handle the fact that not everyone agrees with them, oh well, that is life, get used to it

Also, what is ‘communicate directly’, they release plenty of videos where they talk about all kinds of things, they have their surveys… if you mean ‘in person’, I’d say that is not feasible, at least not in numbers that give you meaningful feedback and not just a few anecdotes

Videos are not direct communication. They are press releases with marketing agendas.

IMO, design philosophy should be communicated transparently in the book, perhaps in sidebar form. WotC has never been very good at this, because it requires taking a stand.

 

[Oofta]

having 350+ people working on it is not taking it slow… even so, this makes no real difference to my argument.

I am wondering what is taking them so long however

That's assuming the 350+ people are all working on the VTT, which we do not know. A significant portion is probably be working on a rewrite of DDB. From what I can tell there's a real possibility that much, if not most, of the DDB back-end needs to be rewritten for 2024 in order for it to be more flexible. If they're also adding in functionality to implement 3PP materials it could be a pretty massive project.

 

[mamba]

No. If we are too critical, they don't "get used to it". They disengage.

can criticism be taken too far, sure, does that mean no one can criticize WotC on anything without being called out for it? I hope not.

Every time there is even mild criticism, there are people rushing in to defend them. That feels unnecessary, and if anything it usually prolongs the discussion without accomplishing anything.

If the only permitted engagement with WotC is praise or WotC disengages, then that is simply not a realistic requirement

When the criticism comes from places of ignorance, becomes hyperbolic, self-contradictory or otherwise incoherent, there is no point in listening. The criticism ceases to have value.

sure, but not all criticism is that. I do not think anything I posted here comes even close to that, yet people go ‘WotC cannot ever win’ when there is at best mild criticism here. Saying they follow a high risk / high reward strategy without me seeing a need for that is about as mild as it gets while still falling under the umbrella of criticism

Actually posting here and engaging in discussion with EN World users is "communicating directly". It used to happen.

would be nice if it still did, I can see why it isn’t, comes with the territory I guess, once you attract a large enough crowd, it will be impossible to please everyone, and if that is what it would take to stay engaged…

 

[Oofta]

360 people working several years is normal software development?

Depends on the software. But this is where I question whether or not they're all working on the VTT. For example a truly complex video game like BG3 had around 400 people working on it over the course of 6 years. But it seems like the complexity of that project is orders of magnitude greater than a VTT. On the other hand, I could see a lot of work being done on the DDB and related technology which could be where the bulk of the hires went. Or maybe they're secretly working on something else entirely and building a VTT that can be used to build games.