Ampersand: 2011 releases officially gutted

[ColonelHardisson]

I know the announcement was about D&D material, but the mention of boardgames got me to thinking...if I got a RPG-specific wish from a 1e efreeti, I'd wish for WotC to truly revive Avalon Hill and bring back games like Panzer Leader.

 

[Jan van Leyden]

I really don't know how to judge this new information. Two different scenarios come to mind:

Dark Clouds Gather
The turnover of D&D is dwindling. The move to the Essentials line didn't lead to skyrocketing sales either. WotC is moving to products , which are easier to develop and need less after-sales support like board games. The idea is to milk the brand as much as possible, perhaps selling it off when the revenue stream is still good but showing signs of drying out.

The developers try to make at least a graceful exit from the RPG market. They move their stuff over to DDI in order to lessen production costs and buy some time. When the time comes for D&D to be sold, the customer data of the DDI accounts are sold as well.

Sunny Side up!
We finally see the next step in the direction of digital, service-based D&D; they way RPGs will be published in the next decades. Digital content is elevated by the new development process, classic books are withdrawn, their contents better presented in digital form (CB, Compendium).

Classic products will continue to lose their "identity" with the focus shifting to elements integrated into the digital services. A few years from now we will play our games based on a huge database of material with printed stuff tailored to one's specific needs.

Want to select a Paragon Path for your character? Load it in the CB, hit a button and you get a file (PDF or other format) containing all the material (rules plus description) you need and only this material.

Want to play the new adventure with your group? Select whether you want it delivered as complete PDF (including maps), as application for your MS Surface device or directly play it vie the VTT. Oh, you want to change some monsters in the adventure? No problem, change it online and select your delivery method as above.

 

[Reigan]

If ddi makes more money than selling dead trees then this is a good move for them. It's just that the tones of the article didn't seem very upbeat.

If they made a statement that they were moving to a fully digital model with tools to manage your game, your characters and to play online but no more books, I would be happy with that. Switching resources from producing new rules to bringing ddi up to speed would make sense then.

 

[Dice4Hire]

So who here dosn't see Paizo as taking the #1 spot for the 1st quarter of '11? What is WoTC even selling for the first quarter of '11? Bad move all around

#1 is less impressive if not one else is racing.

But I can see it happening.

 

[Klaus]

I don't have any more information than anyone else, so the following reflects only my opinions/hopes/impressions:

- The "removed" books had a weaker "hook" than usual: reformatting existing classes, expanding multiclass rules, etc, are not a strong enough draw to make expensive hardbacks out of. The sort of material produced for it seem to be more in line with the digital offering. Note that the material isn't being scrapped, as far as we can tell, just rearranged for a different presentation.

- As an expansion of the above, Heroes of Shadow is still on, since it has a tighter "focus".

- The cancellation of the minis line: seems to be a reflection of two things: lower sales for Lords of Madness and a strong reception to the tokens in the Red Box, DMKit and MV.

- The mentioning of boardgames: Could be due to a strong performance of the Castle Ravenloft game? This could be the new format of the old Fantastic Locations line: you get a battleboard, minis and 4e-derived standalone rules, so the boardgame can be used with or without the core rules.

- We could prossibly still see new products announced for the second half of 2011, using material from the previously announced books and expanded to cover specific needs of the line.

 

[Dausuul]

My guess would be that book sales are declining steadily. Casual players never bought many books to begin with; hardcore players nowadays are likely to have DDI and thus not bother. Given the overhead of printing and publishing, they've decided to cut their losses.

In my group, I am the only one who buys D&D books, ever. It's been that way for about a year now. And even I don't buy very many; I went out and bought Essentials because I was too eager to wait for the DDI release (considering how long that release took, this was clearly the right decision), but I no longer even think about blowing money on Martial Power XVI: The Hackening. Why bother? It's not like I'm going to get any use out of it until it hits the Character Builder, and then I won't need the book.

It's a rational decision on my part, and cutting publication of physical books is a rational response on WotC's part. It may well improve the quality of the game down the road. But it's a sad day nonetheless for anyone who grew up devouring loquacious, chart-laden tomes full of bizarre creatures and Larry Elmore's softcore porn.

Edit: ...Or, then again, maybe it isn't. Maybe it's actually a really happy day. Y'know why? Because ever since WotC took over D&D back in 2000, there has been a relentless focus on "crunch." Every book had to have a minimum quotient of crunchy mechanics, and this required level took a big leap when 4E was released. This has perhaps increased their utility as gaming manuals, but it has at the same time made them much less fun to read. If WotC now plans to move all their crunch-heavy offerings into DDI, that frees up the published book line to become books again--things to sit down with, page through, be inspired by. Back to the old school.

 

[DonAdam]

This does look bad as I was looking forward to the Class Compendium especially, but I will reserve judgment until DDXP. I find it hard to believe that they would cancel so much unless it was making room for something else.

In all honesty I could stand a little "grid-filling" right now. I loved Essentials, but I want things like warlords, more cleric domains, more mage schools, etc. Things that increase options without increasing clutter (i.e., feats, powers, etc.).

But my fear is that the something else that fills the schedule will try to make people even more dependent on paying the renewing DDI fee. Both the new character builder and the no issue compilation moves seem like they're headed in that direction.

 

[Zaran]

This does look bad as I was looking forward to the Class Compendium especially, but I will reserve judgment until DDXP. I find it hard to believe that they would cancel so much unless it was making room for something else.

In all honesty I could stand a little "grid-filling" right now. I loved Essentials, but I want things like warlords, more cleric domains, more mage schools, etc. Things that increase options without increasing clutter (i.e., feats, powers, etc.).

But my fear is that the something else that fills the schedule will try to make people even more dependent on paying the renewing DDI fee. Both the new character builder and the no issue compilation moves seem like they're headed in that direction.

I think DDXP will just announce boardgames and collectible card games. It's dumb to completely cancel books especially when people were already pre-ordering them! It's one thing to push books back. It's another thing to completely cancel them. I don't want the Heroes of Shadow book whether it's in hard cover or soft. They didn't even say why they cancelled them.

As for DDI, "Wow we aren't going to sell anymore books that will need to updated into the builder every month! We are giving people lots of free articles every week! We aren't going to bother making everthing into mag form! Subscribe now before it disappears off the shelf!"

 

[ExploderWizard]

What a disappointing column. I was hoping that the hole in the schedule was due to some surprise in the works--and if not, then I was hoping there would at least be some explanation. Sadly, Ampersand just gave me what I've come to expect from it... spin, spin, spin, with very little real communication.

Well.......Hasbro does produce the sit 'n spin. Perhaps that product was used to inspire communication policies.

 

[UnknownAtThisTime]

- The cancellation of the minis line: seems to be a reflection of two things: lower sales for Lords of Madness and a strong reception to the tokens in the Red Box, DMKit and MV.

I think this has little to do with tokens (which I love). It is clear to me the direction is virtual, in both content delivery and play. Why sell struggling minis when you hope 90% of play will be on your subscriber based VTT in the next 6 months?

- The mentioning of boardgames: Could be due to a strong performance of the Castle Ravenloft game? This could be the new format of the old Fantastic Locations line: you get a battleboard, minis and 4e-derived standalone rules, so the boardgame can be used with or without the core rules.

For 70 bucks? Hah. I bought Ravenloft, I like Ravenloft. It is a board game, and not part of my D&D experience. WotC should not imply they can take away RPG content and replace it with board game content, period.

If they want to (re) introduce Fantastic Locations, I would be ALL OVER THAT. I was just on ebay last night scouring for some for map purposes.