D&D General Interview with D&D VP Jess Lanzillo on Comicbook.com

[Henadic Theologian]

Think the book Legends & Lattes or Fourth Wing.

Never heard of either, I'll look them up later.

 

[Stormonu]

Wooo, I was right there with you until this part.

I believe the poster was being sarcastic.

 

[SlyFlourish]

Awesome interview, and I gotta say @SlyFlourish it feels like you're reading a lot of your own biases into what was said. I think it's totally fair to push back on anti-digital sentiment as a type of gatekeeping. Without online software like Roll20 and DDB/maps, I wouldn't be playing RPGs at all these days both due to the pandemic and most of my gaming group moving in the last 5 years. And if the day ever comes that WotC stops printing physical books, (which again, from the interview, doesn't sound like it will be anytime soon) that just opens an opportunity for competitors to take over the segment of the market that is willing to pay for that.

My point was that no one was poking at online play – certainly not the interviewer. I play online myself. I think it's a totally valid way to play and I think it's disingenuous to assume that being skeptical of WOTC's focus on digital D&D equates to saying "your version of playing is stupid".

Purposefully or not, she's attempting to create a situation where criticism of WOTC's focus on D&D Beyond is criticism of online play overall when it totally isn't. If they want to better support online play, create an authenticated API so you can pull D&D Beyond material directly into your favorite online platform of choice.

 

[Malmuria]

It's totally cool, but you and I have very different opinions on what's best for the RPG hobby I think. I don't know why it would be better for DDB to have better incentives than other platforms. Do we not want healthy competition to drive innovation?

(I have a feeling they were being sarcastic)

 

[Scribe]

"Don't like digital? Probably just a gatekeeper."

Vilify those who disagree with you ahead of time. 2020 mindset.

 

[SlyFlourish]

(I have a feeling they were being sarcastic)

Oh I hope so!

 

[Reynard]

"A shift to digital play" doesn't mean no physcial books ever again. No one is saying that, so it would be great if people stopped building that strawman to defend WotC.

But I think it is foolish to believe, given all we have seen and all they have said, that WotC isn't going to leverage D&D in the digital space as hard as they can.

 

[Oofta]

Word by Hoffer

Her response


Nothing about that confirms a digital-only future. It's the exact opposite.

Never let reading actual responses get in the way of a good theory about how WotC is hell bent on destroying the hobby.

 

[Reynard]

Never let reading actual responses get in the way of a good theory about how WotC is hell bent on destroying the hobby.

Why do you think a focus on digital would destroy the hobby?

 

[DarkCrisis]

Wooo, I was right there with you until this part.

WOTC, as a subsidiary of Hasbro, has a fiduciary responsibility to their shareholders. They have no such responsibility to us.

I know there are people in WOTC who have the game and its players' best interests in their heart. Absolutely.

But the company is publicly traded corporation, not a non-profit or a government organization. If they can find a way to rent our imaginations back to us, they totally would and I think they're going to try. It's their legal responsibility.

It's totally cool, but you and I have very different opinions on what's best for the RPG hobby I think. I don't know why it would be better for DDB to have better incentives than other platforms. Do we not want healthy competition to drive innovation?

I have recently had a change of heart and am trying to embrace WotC and 5E and be super positive and not sarcastic as all, so that others won't be so negative in response to my perceived negativity. 2+2=5.