D&D General Ray Winninger on 5e’s success, product cadence, the OGL, and more.

[Micah Sweet]

Heh heh... yeah, but that's why they keep complaining and going on and on about what should have happened. In the tiniest of hope that WotC changes their mind at some point and turns the game back around to the way they want it.

It's not going to happen of course... but better to hang onto that distant hope than have to admit that Dungeons & Dragons isn't the game they are a part of anymore.

...Yeah. it turns out people form emotional connections to things that are big parts of their lives over a long period of time, and giving up on them is hard. Go figure.

 

[DEFCON 1]

That's fair. There are a lot of house rules zipping around. Lots of ways to play. Theater of the Mind, heavily gridded combat, online, offline, small groups, large groups.

I do think the new rules are less flexible for lots of different styles of play even if they did focus on the most common way to play.

I do not doubt that a lot of the little changes sprinkled about the game were made specifically to make it easier to incorporate into Project Sigil if/when that truly opens fully to the public. But I don't think that is that surprising, nor is it necessarily a massive hardship to playing the game. It's only a massive hardship to those players who can't stand the thought of the D&D game not being designed specifically for them, LOL.

 

[DEFCON 1]

...Yeah. it turns out people form emotional connections to things that are big parts of their lives over a long period of time, and giving up on them is hard. Go figure.

Yeah... they should really work on that.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I do not doubt that a lot of the little changes sprinkled about the game were made specifically to make it easier to incorporate into Project Sigil if/when that truly opens fully to the public. But I don't think that is that surprising, nor is it necessarily a massive hardship to playing the game. It's only a massive hardship to those players who can't stand the thought of the D&D game not being designed specifically for them, LOL.

Or maybe people who don't want a game whose design has been adjusted to interface with online tools?

 

[dave2008]

I can't speak for him but on the interview Mike did with Stan!, he talked about how Magic has like seven ways to play and Warhammer has even more but there's really only one way to play D&D and yet there could be many more. It's a pretty interesting thought. I think there has been some attempts with things like miniature wargaming products, the board games from a while back, and others – but those don't quite feel the same.

It is interesting that there's only the one version of D&D and yet we do see a fair bit of popularity with Old School D&D and yet it takes an (awesome) independent producer like Kelsey Dionne to come up with Shadowdark. Shadowdark was all over the gaming convention I was just at. Imagine if WOTC had tried to tap that market?

I am going to agree with @darjr on this, there are lots of way to play D&D. I am sure how I played 1e, 4e, and 5e would seem unrecognizable to others. Also, just look at all the 3PP products that tweak and twist the "default" playstyle. It can, and is, played many different ways.

 

[AlViking]

I am going to agree with @darjr on this, there are lots of way to play D&D. I am sure how I played 1e, 4e, and 5e would seem unrecognizable to others. Also, just look at all the 3PP products that tweak and twist the "default" playstyle. It can, and is, played many different ways.

I'm also not even sure what one way to play means. Do you have a campaign that is heavy on intrigue and politics or is it all dungeon crawls or playing part in a war or exploring the vast unknown or being privateers fighting evil elvish pirates. It's a lot broader base of styles and options than some other RPGs. Which doesn't mean other companies don't have different approaches and styles that also work, just that there's no one surefire way to make a game have long lasting appeal.

 

[Scribe]

I can't speak for him but on the interview Mike did with Stan!, he talked about how Magic has like seven ways to play and Warhammer has even more but there's really only one way to play D&D and yet there could be many more.

I would be really cautious at putting 'ways to play' at the foot of Warhammers success.

If we are talking Warhammer the Company, Warhammer the IP, 40K the Game, Necromunda the Game, and the various byzantine departments and branches in the same bucket...I dont know.

Warhammer (we should really call it GW) is a success because they take a very cheap material, and sell it at dramatic mark up, to people who may or may not even play the game.

"The Hobby" welcomes anyone and everyone, assuming they want to buy the plastic, or read the lore.

 

[TiQuinn]

Neither of us can say that for anyone but ourselves. It's certainly a big deal for me, and less so for you. That's all.

And why did they get into it? Where did they hear about it, if not from experienced players?

Well, no. Other people can say that for themselves too. D&D is competing for dollars versus a whole lot of other entertainment that costs just as much.

And the older approaches for how people first engaged with the game have changed. There are comics, movies, animation, actual plays…there are so many ways that someone can engage with the game now before they ever actually sit down at a table to play. Having it taught to you by someone who already plays it is kind of an older notion.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

But we're not talking about Kickstarter revenue, are we?

Kickstarter is one of the major ways that RPGs from publishers big and small fund their projects. Goodman Games, Kobold Press and Monte Cook Games would have very different outputs without crowdfunding. (Kobold Press might not even exist without it, as they were crowdfunding before there was even a term for it.)

And the OSR scene eats up a huge portion of the RPG Kickstarter pie.

If you personally don't engage with the OSR scene or Kickstarter, that doesn't make them irrelevant to gaming as a whole.

 

[MerricB]

If you're claiming that the OSR scene is a very small part of the RPG space, Kickstarter is one of the major ways that RPGs from publishers big and small fund their projects. Goodman Games, Kobold Press and Monte Cook Games would have very different outputs without crowdfunding. (Kobold Press might not even exist without it, as they were crowdfunding before there was even a term for it.)

If you personally don't engage with the OSR scene or Kickstarter, that doesn't make them irrelevant to gaming as a whole.

Yeah, Kickstarter is huge for publishers these days. Very important to both TTRPGs and board games.