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!

 

[Wicht]

With a GM. I have an older brother who found it to be a pleasant way to spend some structured time with his younger siblings. Later on, he introduced us to AD&D.

So your brother was, I would guess, introducing it to you as a simpler form of ADnD, a game which you could, in a sense, work yourself up to? Would that be a fair guess, or is it off the mark?

 

[BryonD]

I think its always a mistake to make blanket statements about what, or who, will, at some point in the future, threaten the current status quo. While I could cite many examples, I will stick with the subject at hand and mention that I recall those who said, with absolute certainty, Pathfinder will never threaten Dungeons and Dragons.

Yep. It is funny how history repeats itself.

There were a lot of comments on these very boards about how Paizo was committing not just suicide but STUPID suicide because everyone knows that D&D is D&D.

 

[Umbran]

Considering that initially WotC wanted to produce two APs a year and have a companion to go with the APs, that it did publicplaytests for its edition, that we keep comparing staff numbers and WotC's business model to Paizo's, it would seem that the industry leader is Paizo, not WotC, even if in the general population D&D is more known.

Well, that does bring up an interesting question or two:

If we consider "the industry" to be WotC and Paizo, we could debate that - I think there's a significant argument that Paizo isn't a clear leader, but that the two tend to leapfrog each other - the basic *idea* for an AP was WotC's - actually, TSR's. While Paizo did public playtests, I think it was WotC who first did out-of-house wide playtesting. While Paizo does good business with its model, WotC does more *experimentation* with models (DDI subscriptions, for example). And surely, WotC has been in the forefront of experimenting with rules design and structure. So, who is leading, and who is adapting what has been shown to by the other to work? I don't think it is clear.

If we consider the various publishers who aren't WotC and Paizo (not that they compete in sales, but they do exist), then.... well, most others just don't have the resources to do these things, and are not following suit - can you be an industry leader when nobody's following you?

 

[Wicht]

Yep. It is funny how history repeats itself.

There were a lot of comments on these very boards about how Paizo was committing not just suicide but STUPID suicide because everyone knows that D&D is D&D.

Yes. I remember those.

 

[delericho]

I think its always a mistake to make blanket statements about what, or who, will, at some point in the future, threaten the current status quo.

The problem with taking statements out of context is that you miss the context:

And despite repeated attempts D&D has not, and will not, become a big player in the MMO field - and it certainly (okay, near-certainly) won't ever be the dominant player in that field. And neither will Pathfinder...

I've added emphasis. But you'll see that I actually didn't make a blanket statement - the caveat is right there.

 

[Wicht]

If we consider the various publishers who aren't WotC and Paizo (not that they compete in sales, but they do exist), then.... well, most others just don't have the resources to do these things, and are not following suit - can you be an industry leader when nobody's following you?

You can't lead if nobody follows, but there are different ways of following.

On a slight tangent, I would observe that the OGL has helped make Paizo the leader it is today as there are several companies producing material dependent on the material Paizo produces. The 3pps certainly look to Paizo as both inspiration (part of leadership) and as the current center of the OGL universe.

 

[Wicht]

I've added emphasis. But you'll see that I actually didn't make a blanket statement - the caveat is right there.

Fair enough.
But I still think even near-certainty is too certain.

 

[delericho]

Fair enough.
But I still think even near-certainty is too certain.

Nah. If and when WoW falls it will be because of another tech change (probably VR or virtual presence technology), and it will be at the hands of someone we've never heard of. Unless they're spectacularly lucky, neither D&D nor Pathfinder will be at the forefront of this technology change, because it would depend on them licensing their product to a no-name developer just as they happen to pioneer it. It's much more likely someone will get there first and then D&D and Pathfinder will be left playing catchup again. (And that's assuming WoW don't see the potential of the new tech quickly and use their clout to force themselves back into a dominant position there, in the same way that Microsoft have been able to become one of the big players in console gaming.)

And now the obligatory disclaimers: IMO, YMMV, probably, and even near-certainly.

 

[Umbran]

On a slight tangent, I would observe that the OGL has helped make Paizo the leader it is today as there are several companies producing material dependent on the material Paizo produces. The 3pps certainly look to Paizo as both inspiration (part of leadership) and as the current center of the OGL universe.

Yes, but Paizo didn't originally create the OGL. WotC seems to have been the first to openly license RPG content (I don't think any notable publisher used a creative commons license before them, someone correct me if I am wrong).

So, who is the "leader"? Who is creating more innovations? I don't think it is clearly one or the other.

 

[bmfrosty]

What D&D has, that Pathfinder will never have is several years in which parents groups and and national news programs accuse it of corrupting the morals of the American youth.

This is the reason that D&D is seared into the American conscious.