D&D 5E Don't Throw 5e Away Because of Hasbro

[TheSword]

apologist: a person who offers an argument in defense of something controversial.

I'm posting this up for TheSword guy who insists on supporting WOTC. I mean, there's 697 comments on this one post alone, so I think that is, by definition, controversial. And he consistently defends them even though he says he doesn't.

I don't have a dog in this fight, I'm just amused by his insistence.

I don’t insist on supporting them. I support them when they’re being unfairly attacked and criticise them when they do things poorly. I play 5e about 33% of my gaming time and WFRP 4e is a much better system. I moved to Pathfinder for 10 years after the 4e debacle. I think for a couple of years the products after Tomb of Annihilation were mediocre but they redeemed themselves in the last couple of years.

I don’t think they’re perfect, but if a company makes a mistake and corrects them in a timely manner then they deserve credit for that. For me a company that listens and makes adjustments after feedback is better than one that never makes a mistake. I honestly don’t think people realise how rare that is. People have massively unreasonable expectations and they should be careful what they wish for, because the easiest way to avoid the issues on the list is not to engage with any content creators, not allow access to the IP and stick to the old paradigm of only supporting the current edition.

Folks don’t know they were born. WotC is a fluffy bunny playgroup compared to most other corporations of that size, or even its predecessor TSR.

 

[TheSword]

I'm not convinced a quick flick-through so you can see the layout and topics is enough to satisfy the audience likely to base their purchasing decision on an internet influencer's promotional video.

Well it sufficed for previous reviews into antiquity. What was it about the 2024 edition that meant folks had to read 85% of it before buying it?

Or do you mean it’s unlikely to generate sufficient views to make a few thousand $$ for the content creators?

 

[mamba]

I don’t insist on supporting them. I support them when they’re being unfairly attacked

people might disagree on when that is

I think for a couple of years the products after Tomb of Annihilation were mediocre but they redeemed themselves in the last couple of years.

would have to check what came since ToA, but I have not really seen the redemption

I don’t think they’re perfect, but if a company makes a mistake and corrects them in a timely manner then they deserve credit for that.

agreed

For me a company that listens and makes adjustments after feedback is better than one that never makes a mistake.

not so sure about that, pretty sure I’d prefer someone who doesn’t screw up over someone that does but then fixes things

I honestly don’t think people realise how rare that is.

not that rare, if it takes enough public pressure to get there. The rare thing is the public pressure

People have massively unreasonable expectations and they should be careful what they wish for, because the easiest way to avoid the issues on the list is not to engage with any content creators, not allow access to the IP and stick to the old paradigm of only supporting the current edition.

People do not have access to their IP outside DMsGuild, where they get their share.

They also are only supporting the current edition, and are afraid to create a new one, so they will have to stick with it for a while

 

[TheSword]

would have to check what came since ToA, but I have not really seen the redemption

Golden Vault, Planescape, Vecna, 2024 books, Phandelver.

not so sure about that, pretty sure I’d prefer someone who doesn’t screw up over someone that does but then fixes things

Then you prefer people less likely to try new things, take risk, make investment in alternatives or you know do anything that isn’t tried and tested already.

 

[Zardnaar]

Golden Vault, Planescape, Vecna, 2024 books, Phandelver.

Then you prefer people less likely to try new things, take risk, make investment in alternatives or you know do anything that isn’t tried and tested already.

Most of them are flawed at best.

The anthology books tend to be B tier B+ if it's a good one eg Golden Vault.

 

[Hussar]

apologist: a person who offers an argument in defense of something controversial.

I'm posting this up for TheSword guy who insists on supporting WOTC. I mean, there's 697 comments on this one post alone, so I think that is, by definition, controversial. And he consistently defends them even though he says he doesn't.

I don't have a dog in this fight, I'm just amused by his insistence.

That is most certainly not the definition of an apologist.

An apologist is someone who will defend the actions of someone or something that is obviously in the wrong. The fact that people accuse him of being an apologist just shows how one sided the discussion actually is. Simply defending something controversial isn't being an apologist, otherwise, virtually everyone is an apologist and the word has no meaning. There are MANY examples of apologists in the world that cannot be talked about here because of the no Politics rules.

But, saying that what WotC has done over the past couple of years doesn't amount to a whole lot of much and certainly not to the degree of opprobrium and outrage that you routinely see on things like Youtube or X is hardly being an apologist. The grist for the outrage machine driving the algorithm is a much larger problem AFAIC. When a minor paragraph in a thousand page history book gets highlighted by people like Elon Musk as an example of WotC destroying the hobby and hating fans, I think that's a much larger issue than not being terribly fussed that a handful of youtubers got minorly inconvenienced for blatantly violating fair use.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Well it sufficed for previous reviews into antiquity. What was it about the 2024 edition that meant folks had to read 85% of it before buying it?

Or do you mean it’s unlikely to generate sufficient views to make a few thousand $$ for the content creators?

That second one is definitely a factor, yes, but I'm taking your statement literally, and what you describe simply isn't enough in my estimation to make me feel I have sufficient information to throw $50 at a product. That's not an insignificant amount of money to me.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Most of them are flawed at best.

The anthology books tend to be B tier B+ if it's a good one eg Golden Vault.

Planescape turned out all right, but I still prefer the 2e version.

 

[Zardnaar]

Planescape turned out all right, but I still prefer the 2e version.

Fair enough. That one seems to be better regarded than say Spelljammer.

Long form WotC adventures not very good. I only buy them 50% off or so.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

My question is if Hasbro was acquired by "you know who" if Dark Sun would be republished.

2025 is going to be a year to radical changes, in the global economy and in the entertaiment industry. This should be a serious influence in the coming soon D&D projects.

D&D is not like selling toys for children. D&D players are enough grownup to realise certain things and when they don't like theses, and there are consequences. The strategy to take care the brand has to be different. We aren't compulsive buyers. If we have enough enough money to buy them, then we are too busy with our jobs and families to enjoy in the free time.