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You aren't necessarily supposed to play each chapter in one session. We've played through almost the entire HotDQ adventure at our FLGS. Most of the chapters took a few sessions to complete. Encounters is supposed to be an ongoing campaign. Expeditions is supposed to be adventures that you...

I think this is a good balance. I think minis are a lot more interesting and fun than the cardboard pogs, but I can't afford a huge mini collection, so the pogs will have to do in most situations.

I think you have the sequence of events turned around. Hasbro licensed Transformers to Dreamworks and Spielberg ran it. Dreamworks hired the writers and the director. Hasbro Studios was created a couple years later, financed in part from the success of the Transformers franchise. The new...

I disagree in that Harry Potter as a brand was absolutely grown through marketing. All the movies, toys, lego, etc. is marketing, not luck. I think where luck might play a part is in determining which of the many good ideas get a chance. Why did Christopher Little pick up Harry Potter from his...

You misread what I was saying. A rule of thumb is that any enterprise should bring in at least $150k in revenue per employee. I wasn't saying that each employee takes home $150k in salary. For comparison, Hasbro has about $800k in revenue per employee. WotC was making about $300k per employee...

I don't follow the novels really. Anyone have any sense of how big a business this is? I see they published 7 D&D novels in 2014. How much do you think those contributed to the D&D business? I looked up as much as I could find about best sellers on the NYT list and Amazon and I'd guess that...

I don't see luck having much to do with building brands. Can you give an example of the kind of luck you are talking about?

I suspect Hasbro operates on the assumption that there's a lot more money in owning the brand than in making accessory products for someone else's brand. This is kinda how I see it working too. Something like the Marvel Universe where the movies make a bazillion dollars which keeps the comic...

:) You did say that. I was just hoping that you might elaborate.

I'm not going to argue that the Transformers movies were examples of good narrative or good characters, just that the characters are at the center of that whole brand. Optimus Prime, et al. There is a narrative that defines good guys and bad guys and sets the stage. Hollywood bought the movie...

The only real speculation is the guess at $10M revenue. Everything else has a source. Good point. The R&D team is good at making rulebooks. Hasbro is good at selling games, toys, and sometimes movies. Can the things that Hasbro is good at work for D&D? Sure, but way, way more money in movies...

While luck and marketing have their place, all of the examples you've listed have a strong narrative and developed characters. Disney is really the premier example here. A large part of their business is "characters" including Mickey Mouse, Princesses, Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar and so on. Can...

We've had a lot of discussion about the release schedule for D&D and if this will be successful for the business and the players. I'm really curious about how the brand fares over the next couple years. These are the things I keep mulling over: D&D has not grown in popularity as much as other...

As an aside, I was in my FLGS and in the relatively small RPG section, I was surprised at the number of different Pathfinder titles on display. I don't know PF at all (except by reputation) and I was pretty intimidated by the selection of titles. I would have no idea where to start without...

That's better, certainly. I would only add that there are a few metals that are found in their native state. Copper, meteoric iron, gold, silver off the top of my head. These were usable before smelting was invented. Agreed. Everyone needs to figure out what works for them and the bend the...

The Celts were the first in Europe to enter the iron age. Rome is founded hundreds of years later. The invention of iron chain mail is generally credited to the Celts. The Romans expanded on this with scale mail, splint, etc. The Celts used chariots quite a bit. In fact, the latin word for...

Sorry. I was unclear. I agree that the rule can make sense. Your explanations make a certain sense. I'm not trying to argue against the rule itself, I'm arguing against inconsistent explanations like druids don't like metal, druids don't like technology, metal isn't part of nature, or iron...

My brain hurts. I can get behind the idea that druids favor less technology, but then why single out armor when swords are fine? That's the part that doesn't make sense. If druids are against metalworking technology, then shouldn't they be offended by all metal objects? Also, the level of...

I do disagree. The only way I can understand your statement is to presume that your definition of nature is limited to plants and animals. If you use the commonly accepted definition of nature, then your justifications are… lacking. If you want to argue that the entire concept of druids is...

Iron is the most abundant element on earth. It's one of the most common elements in the crust of our planet. Beyond iron, the vast majority of elements on the periodic table are metals. Bronze, on the other hand, is a man-made alloy and doesn't occur in nature and is fashioned from copper and...