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

[Demetrios1453]

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

That poster isn't - they are saying that there are other posters in this thread who do think so.

 

[Oofta]

"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.

So they're going to provide digital tools for those that want them as long as the tools make them a profit. How is this a bad thing? As long as they continue to sell physical books, why does anyone who doesn't want digital tools care?

 

[Oofta]

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

When you have podcasts with the label along the lines of "This is the end of D&D" concerning the push to digital, what else am I supposed to think is being said?

 

[Vael]

My read on the interview as a whole was that Lanzillo is interested in broadening DnD's appeal and expanding their audience, and that does run into a lot of gatekeeping. Drilling into one example seems to ... hunting for reasons to claim the sky is falling.

 

[SlyFlourish]

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.

ahhhh.... (shhhhh)

 

[Oofta]

That poster isn't - they are saying that there are other posters in this thread who do think so.

Providing digital tools doesn't mean they won't also provide books but people have repeatedly stated that they won't bother selling books.

If a company that originally sold tractors also now sells high end sports cars, that doesn't really have any impact on their tractor business. Lamborghini still sells tractors, WotC will continue publishing books.

 

[Mannahnin]

This feels like misdirection. The question had nothing to do with a false dichotomy between players who play online and those who play in person. She steered the real question about a fear of a future digital D&D and mandates from on-high to shift to digital to a culture war between players who like playing in person and those who play online. That was never the concern. I don't know anyone who would say that playing online shouldn't exist. This is about a fear of WOTC trying to take further control of the game by pushing it into their own walled garden.

I concur. That read very much like evading the question rather than answering the one being asked. It's deft marketing speak.

The shot at Gygax was disrespectful and unneeded.

Eh. I take it as a joke about something this community has been joking about since around 1979. Gary earned that ribbing.

 

[Reynard]

So they're going to provide digital tools for those that want them as long as the tools make them a profit. How is this a bad thing? As long as they continue to sell physical books, why does anyone who doesn't want digital tools care?

I think it is safe to assume that WotC will do that which is most profitable for them, which I personally think means that books will get more expensive and become less universally considered necessary. They'll become Vinyl.

When you have podcasts with the label along the lines of "This is the end of D&D" concerning the push to digital, what else am I supposed to think is being said?

You know how YouTube works, right?

 

[Oofta]

I think it is safe to assume that WotC will do that which is most profitable for them, which I personally think means that books will get more expensive and become less universally considered necessary. They'll become Vinyl.

The cost of printing a book is minimal. It may not be as profitable as digital, but it also doesn't really compete with digital either. People that get books are not suddenly going to switch to digital and it would hurt adoption of new players that may ultimately be digital customers.

Lamborghini's cars may well be more profitable per unit than their tractors, doesn't mean they don't make money off their tractors. Digital may or may not be more profitable than books but there's no reason to ignore a profitable market segment.

Maybe someday we won't have books any more, I know I prefer my Kindle. But a lot of people still like physical books, or both books and digital.

You know how YouTube works, right?

Doesn't change that I think it's an illogical and biased opinion based on what we know and what we've been told.

 

[Malmuria]

So they're going to provide digital tools for those that want them as long as the tools make them a profit. How is this a bad thing? As long as they continue to sell physical books, why does anyone who doesn't want digital tools care?

People who play exclusively physical probably don't need to worry, unless the push to digital starts to affect the design/creative team in some way. But people who are in any sort of mixed groups, whether physical/digital or digital across different ecosystems will have different needs and concerns when it comes to wotc's digital plans.

Indeed, the physical/digital is a false dichotomy; the real (unanswered) question is how tightly wotc will look to control their digital ecosystem