D&D General Is DnD being mothballed?

[Parmandur]

That much I don't doubt, TTRPGs are hot right now and Dnd is the only household name TTRPG. My comment was more concerning playstyle preferences and unmet desire, as opposed to system selection.

WotC is producing books thstncocer a number of playstyles, just in this fiscal quarter. They cannot make everything for all niches of potential interest, but that doesn't mean they aren't servicing the TTRPG market.

 

[Stormonu]

Wizards has been building their VTT in Unreal Engine for years. If they switch over to Larian's custom engine used in BG3 it would likely delay the VTT launch by years.

Edit: They would also then have 2 choices: Recreate the functionality of the current 3D VTT in Larian's engine (and if that's the case why even bother switching engines) or make it more game like/like Baldur's Gate 3, which would require way more time and money.

What always seems to happens is that they get these things up and running just in time for the popularity to have died down that it's no longer profitable. Whatever they've got now, it would be best to keep moving in that direction and get it out soonish.

 

[The-Magic-Sword]

WotC is producing books thstncocer a number of playstyles, just in this fiscal quarter. They cannot make everything for all niches of potential interest, but that doesn't mean they aren't servicing the TTRPG market.

I'm not sure anything bears that assertion out, and I can't exactly prove a negative beyond proving the existence of people who aren't being served by it, which is self evident to anyone in the space.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

When I make statem I'm always assuming its just an opinion. Unless it's objectively true and easily referenced eg yes the Rebels blew upbthe death stars in ANH and RotJ.

I dont care if you disagree with me knock yourself out.

There was a guy I used to know (and yes, it was a guy) who used to insist that the Death Star in Return of the Jedi wasn't a new Death Star, but was, instead, the original Death Star, but, um, rebuilt. Or something.

The more he drank, the more insistent he was on this point. Facts can be tricky things!

 

[Parmandur]

I'm not sure anything bears that assertion out, and I can't exactly prove a negative beyond proving the existence of people who aren't being served by it, which is self evident to anyone in the space.

Well, first, they are releasing 5 books a year that do very different things for different styles of play. So that part is obviously true. They do not have infinite resources, so they cannot serve every niche interest. So that part is casually true. They have an extremely large and growing customer basez so that they are being serviced is also true.

The mere existence of niche interests does not necessitate that a company services them to.be serving the market.

Coca-Cola is not failing to serve the soda market if they don't produce a sourcream and onions flavored soda or durrianade just because 10,000 people want it. They produce a variety of products for a wide range of tastes, but cannot please everyone.

 

[Vaalingrade]

300 people does seem like a lot for making a VTT, even if it's a super fancy 3D one. The only way it makes sense to me is if most of them are 3d modelers and animators, and the VTT will launch with a huge amount of high-quality monsters and environments.

If they don't have the majority of the MM monsters and those from the most popular modules, they might as well not even show up. If they think the 'oh no, a vidya game' reaction was toxic, wait until Cringe Monster No One Uses #134 doesn't make the VTT cut and it turns out it was secretly everyone's favorite monster.

 

[Echohawk]

If they don't have the majority of the MM monsters and those from the most popular modules, they might as well not even show up. If they think the 'oh no, a vidya game' reaction was toxic, wait until Cringe Monster No One Uses #134 doesn't make the VTT cut and it turns out it was secretly everyone's favorite monster.

They probably have excellent knowledge of which creatures are actually in use from the frustratingly-still-in-beta-please-please-spend-some-time-finishing-it Encounters tool on D&D Beyond.

 

[Vaalingrade]

They probably have excellent knowledge of which creatures are actually in use from the frustratingly-still-in-beta-please-please-spend-some-time-finishing-it Encounters tool on D&D Beyond.

And that would be useful if the rage at Cringe Monster No One Uses #134 was dependent on people actually using Cringe Monster No One Uses #134 and not being very attached to turning the page past it year after year.

 

[The-Magic-Sword]

I think the distinction I would draw is that DND appears to be cultivating interests in its playerbase that it doesn't really follow up on, rather than servicing a particular market well.

 

[Parmandur]

I think the distinction I would draw is that DND appears to be cultivating interests in its playerbase that it doesn't really follow up on, rather than servicing a particular market well.

The consistency of their product schedule, and the sales numbers, indicate that theybare servicing their market. Idlf they weren't, we would see a radical shift and shake-up as when 3E, 3.5 or 4E failed to do so.