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The primary difference, of course, is intent. TSR thought that everything they shipped to Random House would eventually sell and/or TSR would pay for the returns. Neither TSR regime shipped a ton of stuff to Random House, siphoned off the RH monies to themselves, shut down the business, and...

No, that's not what a "bust out" is at all, at least as the term was defined in GOODFELLAS, which is where everybody first heard it. A "bust out" is using a business you control to borrow as much as you can, and then funneling the borrowed proceeds into your own pocket. That's illegal. It's...

There's nothing unethical so long as it's your money, and that was Lorraine's money. Lots of businesses launch multiple failed versions of a product before getting it right, or launch multiple failed versions of a product and never get it right at all.

TBH, I don't know. I worked on that first Buck Rogers RPG and was on the edge of Miller's orbit at the time so I was well aware of it, but it was certainly announced publicly. Miller was a good friend of Flint; still is. (Miller is one of those people who occasionally hung out at Gary's LA pad.)

There was nothing remotely unethical about Lorraine Williams’ TSR licensing Buck Rogers. The big difference between Williams’ TSR and its earlier incarnation is that, eventually, Lorraine effectively owned 100% of the company; it was no longer split between multiple owners. Under those...

Thanks. That makes sense. I’ll note that’s not saying the tariffs won’t have an impact on D&D or WotC.

Did Chris actually say, “D&D is unlikely to be significantly impacted by the tariffs,” or did he say, “the only D&D products produced outside the US are boxed sets?” I’m guessing the latter because I find it hard to believe the former. Paper costs are certain to rise due to the tariffs, perhaps...

(The usual disclaimer about seeking advice from an actual lawyer before making business decisions.) Generally speaking, you’re free to use someone else’s trademark so long as you use it in such a way that won’t mislead buyers into believing you are a licensee or otherwise affiliated with the...

That’s it! I’m told the theme song directly references CoC’s SAN mechanics.

In Japan, CoC is indeed bigger than D&D. I believe CoC is bigger in Japan than it is in the US, but still well below Paizo’s US sales. I’ve read that CoC’s popularity in Japan was sparked by an anime that revolves around a school girl who dates various Great Old Ones. From there, a rash of...

There is certainly significant overlap of people who play both but, yes, I believe the audiences for TTRPGs and D&D are looking for different things. At bottom, the experiences are very different. I believe that the overwhelming majority of BG3 players are well aware that D&D exists, and if it...

Sort of. The number of people who play D&D regularly is comparable to the number of people who play games like HALO, ASSASSIN'S CREED and WoW regularly (although it's nowhere near the number of people who play FORTNITE). A big difference, of course, is that D&D doesn't monetize as well as those...

When I run "One D&D" vs "D&D Next," I get different results and the curves look closer to the point where I'm not sure there's anything to conclude here. (Sorry, blue and red are inverted in my graph.) WotC talked about "D&D Next" longer than "One D&D." Interest in both pseudo-brands waned as...

No insult intended--he's a good guy and I'm happy he enjoys the game--but Joe Manganiello didn't make D&D "cool." D&D made Joe Manganiello cool. At least, in the sense that it generated a lot more attention for him than he generated for it. "Cool," of course, is an amorphous concept. As most of...

I believe 5E can remain stable without the "3D VTT."

The new products were announced in January, they weren't added in January. Those products were in the works for quite a while. (A couple of them were in the works for several years.) For the last couple of years, WotC announced the next year's entire slate of D&D products in the fall. In...

Thanks, that's a great point. The coupon in Essentials Kit was a successful experiment. The reason it wasn't repeated was that for much of my tenure, our relationship with DDB was in question. The negotiations that led to the acquisition started a long time before they came to fruition.

Sales weren't decreasing. From 2014 until I left (and possibly beyond), D&D revenues grew every year and by double digits in most years. Sales on the PHB alone were at least steady, and probably growing slightly YoY, as well. (I equivocate because the number of units sold was certainly growing...