7 Years of D&D Stories? And a "Big Reveal" Coming?

When asked what he was working on, WotC's Chris Perkins revealed a couple of juicy tidbits. They're not much, but they're certainly tantalizing. Initially, he said that "Our marketing team has a big reveal in the works", and followed that up separately with "Right now I'm working on the next seven years of D&D stories". What all that might mean is anybody's guess, but it sounds like there are plans for D&D stretching into the foreseeable future! Thanks to Barantor for the scoop!

 

[Reynard]

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasbro_Studios

If you actually read that link you provided you will see that Hasbro Films has produced none of their properties into feature length films. It is a subsidiary designed to deal with the legalities of licensing films to actual production companies. You'll not that it is also on the hook for unproduced films for a hefty sum.

Really, though, it is sort of a silly argument. None of us know what is planned and what may happen. My only assertion is that Hasbro will not successfully turn D&D into a top tier brand outside of gaming circles and that resources directed that way are wasted, but I freely admit I hay be totally wrong and 2018 might be the year of the billion dollar Dark Elf international blockbuster hit.

The question is, even if that were to happen, do you think it would actually benefit the RPG?

 

[Umbran]

I agree.

All those comic movies didn't help with comicbook sales to be honest.

Ah, but all those movies are having an effect on comic books. Marvel, right now, has a problem. When folks pick up an Avengers comic, for example, they don't see something much like the movies, and that's effectively a barrier to picking up those new readers! The movies take a lot of inspiration from the Ultimates line of comics, which is not part of the main Marvel continuity most of which have already ended their run - the only one left right now is Ultimate Spider Man, if I recall correctly, and his last issue is coming soon too.

Interestingly, Marvel is having a new "Secret Wars" event, that is going to mash things up a bit. It is expected that this will enable several elements of the Ultimates line to merge into the main continuities.

Thus supporting my point, that if you have continuing IP lines, and you make movies, you'll probably eventually want to move the IP into line with the movies. The version of the property that has the greatest exposure is apt to drive the rest at least somewhat.

 

[Reynard]

Ah, but all those movies are having an effect on comic books. Marvel, right now, has a problem. When folks pick up an Avengers comic, for example, they don't see something much like the movies, and that's effectively a barrier to picking up those new readers! The movies take a lot of inspiration from the Ultimates line of comics, which is not part of the main Marvel continuity most of which have already ended their run - the only one left right now is Ultimate Spider Man, if I recall correctly, and his last issue is coming soon too.

Interestingly, Marvel is having a new "Secret Wars" event, that is going to mash things up a bit. It is expected that this will enable several elements of the Ultimates line to merge into the main continuities.

Thus supporting my point, that if you have continuing IP lines, and you make movies, you'll probably eventually want to move the IP into line with the movies. The version of the property that has the greatest exposure is apt to drive the rest at least somewhat.

Off topic, but the Ultimates influence on the MCU is greatly overstates. Ultimates is a deconstructionist version of the Avengers with a fascist Captain America, a cannibal rapist Hulk, a new age delusional Thor and a self serving, power hungry Iron Man. The MCU has none of that. In fact, the only thing it really retains from the Ultimate line is Sam Jackson as Nick Fury. The MCU is more accurately described as very iconic, distilled versions of the characters, with many decades of continuity sloughed off.

That, I think, is what we will see after Secret Wars -- an MU that looks a lot more like the MCU, rather than the UMU.

 

[chriton227]

It's not worth gambling the game on, but it's worth being optimistic.

Why not? What does Hasbro have to lose? Potentially damaging a brand in an extremely small market segment that honestly doesn't bring in that much money? And what do they have to gain? If they happen to hit it reasonably big, they get a slice of a box office pie that for a single movie would dwarf the entire tabletop industry, plus a perfect opening for making even more off of associated toys. It's the equivalent of buying a cheap lottery ticket for them. If they run the numbers and decide that the (chance of hitting it big) * (projected revenue gain) is greater than (chance of damaging brand) * (reduction in value of damaged brand) then it could easily be a bet they are willing to take. And the projected revenue gain is probably a much larger number than the potential reduction in brand value, meaning that the chance of pulling off doesn't even need to be particularly good for it to be worth trying.

As a gamer and someone who likes D&D, I'd like to think that the D&D game is really worth something, but to the execs Hasbro it might just be an asset on the balance sheet, nothing more and nothing less.

 

[Kramodlog]

I'd be very surprised if they were more than outlines, even if some are more detailed than others.

It's still worrisome. It sounds like storylines are Perkin's job, which is putting everything on his creativity. A creative person could easily think of several really, really good ideas for epic campaigns... but 14? At some point you end up with lemons. I hope he's brainstorming with the rest of the team.
Regardless, we don't know what the fans will be clamoring for in 2016 or 2017, let alone 2021. Planning for that far, beyond the barest of bare bones, seems like a waste of time. Or, as worries me, like they don't care what stories we want.

Do they care about the products we want? The minimal release schedule and the exclusive focus on APs seems to indicate that they do not.

 

[Staffan]

Off topic, but the Ultimates influence on the MCU is greatly overstates. Ultimates is a deconstructionist version of the Avengers with a fascist Captain America, a cannibal rapist Hulk, a new age delusional Thor and a self serving, power hungry Iron Man. The MCU has none of that. In fact, the only thing it really retains from the Ultimate line is Sam Jackson as Nick Fury. The MCU is more accurately described as very iconic, distilled versions of the characters, with many decades of continuity sloughed off.

That, I think, is what we will see after Secret Wars -- an MU that looks a lot more like the MCU, rather than the UMU.

Side note, with spoilers for Ultimates vol. 2: Ultimate Thor, at first, is believed by many to be delusional and "just" a powerful mutant or something, and there are events in Ultimates 2 that certainly point that way... but as it turns out, he's the real deal, and in a rather spectacular way.

Another side note: Ultimate Cap mellows considerably in later story arcs.

 

[Irennan]

Why not? What does Hasbro have to lose? Potentially damaging a brand in an extremely small market segment that honestly doesn't bring in that much money? And what do they have to gain? If they happen to hit it reasonably big, they get a slice of a box office pie that for a single movie would dwarf the entire tabletop industry, plus a perfect opening for making even more off of associated toys. It's the equivalent of buying a cheap lottery ticket for them. If they run the numbers and decide that the (chance of hitting it big) * (projected revenue gain) is greater than (chance of damaging brand) * (reduction in value of damaged brand) then it could easily be a bet they are willing to take. And the projected revenue gain is probably a much larger number than the potential reduction in brand value, meaning that the chance of pulling off doesn't even need to be particularly good for it to be worth trying.

As a gamer and someone who likes D&D, I'd like to think that the D&D game is really worth something, but to the execs Hasbro it might just be an asset on the balance sheet, nothing more and nothing less.

Yet another gamble on their side is what I fear at the moment. I feel that if 5e were to fail or to prove not successful enough, that would spell the end of (published, that is) D&D and its settings...

 

[Nellisir]

Endgame? It wasn't that bad and I liked seeing Connor and Duncan together.

Or was there another that I'm repressing?

There are two others: Highlander II: The Quickening, which is the first and only movie I've ever walked out of; and Highlander III: The Sorcerer, which ignores Highlander II and has Mario van Peebles as a villain. And then there's the series Highlander, which ignores Highlander II and Highlander III....

But seriously, people...there's only one movie. No one ever made a sequel to Highlander. There can be only one....

 

[Remathilis]

There are two others: Highlander II: The Quickening, which is the first and only movie I've ever walked out of; and Highlander III: The Sorcerer, which ignores Highlander II and has Mario van Peebles as a villain. And then there's the series Highlander, which ignores Highlander II and Highlander III....

But seriously, people...there's only one movie. No one ever made a sequel to Highlander. There can be only one....

You will accept Highlander 2 with open arms once you've seen Highlander: the Source.

 

[chriton227]

There are two others: Highlander II: The Quickening, which is the first and only movie I've ever walked out of; and Highlander III: The Sorcerer, which ignores Highlander II and has Mario van Peebles as a villain. And then there's the series Highlander, which ignores Highlander II and Highlander III....

But seriously, people...there's only one movie. No one ever made a sequel to Highlander. There can be only one....

This person knows too much. This is for the good of humanity...

<puts on sunglasses and pulls out a neuralyzer>

Okay, I want everyone to look at me for a moment.

<FLASH!>

There was only one Highlander movie. There were rumors a sequel would be made, but it never happened. Anyone who thinks they saw a sequel, especially one involving aliens, actually just saw the reflection of a weather balloon being distorted by swamp gas. Now please carry on with your regularly scheduled gaming conversation.