D&D 5E Are you happy with how WOTC's D&D department interacts with the fans (Frequency/ Transparency/Methods)?

[Morrus]

Oh, really? In order to "pop on and confirm/deny" they first have to know the discussion is happening. So, now they have to *monitor* EN World? That certainly has a cost in time and effort. And what about the other sites out there - does WotC now have to declare some sites as officially supported? How many? Start multiplying that monitoring cost - you're now talking about having "online communications coordinator" being a job description....

Any time you find yourself in the position of thinking, "Well, they could just take a quick look at it..." (where "they" are anyone working in a professional capacity - doctor, car mechanic, public relations coordinator, or what have you) you are probably underestimating the amount of effort supporting that kind of service actually takes.

I think that might be part of Trevor Kidd's job. He doesn't necessarily reply to stuff, but he feeds stuff back. I don't know how detailed it is, or how broadly he looks, but I imagine it covers at least the larger communities.

 

[Umbran]

I think that might be part of Trevor Kidd's job. He doesn't necessarily reply to stuff, but he feeds stuff back. I don't know how detailed it is, or how broadly he looks, but I imagine it covers at least the larger communities.

I don't doubt that they have someone who gathers information from various online sources - forums, twitter, and so on. That's just intelligent market research.

However, reliably monitoring those same sources to try to consistently catch the various discussions that might call for WotC comment as part of their overall service, support, and marketing efforts is a far more detailed and time consuming effort. Not to mention actually crafting replies to say the right things and set the right tone - we have seen how poor phrasing can set people all a-tizzy.

If they aren't aiming to to it *consistently*, then we can't expect them to comment on any particular conversation we have.

 

[graves3141]

They seem pretty tight-lipped and poker-faced about a lot of things. For example, I'm curious if the Sword Coast Adventurers Guide is going to be the only regional setting book for the FR (I'm guessing it is) before they move on to another setting (which I think they will). Also, it wouldn't hurt to tell the fans about which settings they are considering publishing things for in the future (I'm sure they already know at this point anyway).

Other things bother me too like the whole idea of the conversion document being held up by one guy doing jury duty. I know many here take this explanation at face value but I don't. It just doesn't make sense.

Chris Perkins saying in an interview that the new setting material would be released in "new and exciting ways" and then it turns out to be a hardcover setting book anyway (although with a tighter focus on a specific region than we're used to). That's not exactly good communication either.

I don't know, when it comes down to it, WotC is just another company trying to make money. I don't fault them for that but expecting them to have a genuine interest in their fans that goes above and beyond the dollar sign is maybe a little naive. Good communication came out of them during the playtest because they needed the help of the fans... guess what, now that the playtest is over, they don't need us quite so much.

 

[Dausuul]

Well, obviously I would like them to post a new Unearthed Arcana twice a day, and have Mike Mearls personally answer all my questions and address all my concerns.

But when I think in realistic terms about the size of the D&D team and the amount of work on their plates, I'm quite happy with the level of communication we've got.

 

[DEFCON 1]

Also, it wouldn't hurt to tell the fans about which settings they are considering publishing things for in the future (I'm sure they already know at this point anyway)..

You're kidding, right?

It "couldn't hurt"? Yeah, sure. They can just pop on to say "We're considering doing Eberron, Planescape, and Al-Qadim at some point"... only to have the psychotic masses not only post a thread asking "WHEN IS PLANESCAPE BEING RELEASED?!?", but then NECROing said thread every month to allow people to rant and vent and claim WotC is lying to them when they said they were considering Planescape as a setting. (Hello 'OGL' and 'PDF' threads!)

And when it was accurately pointed out that not only might WotC *still* be considering it as a setting, but also that they never gave a timetable for when the setting might actually get released... those salient points would just get ignored and those people would continue to just scream about how WotC sucks and isn't it too bad D&D couldn't be owned by some independent company who would listen to the fans?

So yes... it *would* hurt for them to just suggest something that they're casually thinking about. Because some people would get bent out of shape that it wasn't then being released IMMEDIATELY, others would get bent out of shape that they were considering X setting and not the Y setting they thought WotC should be making, and the rest of us would have to wade through all this muck in multitudes of posts and threads banging our heads against our desks as people keep insisting they are deserved something because WotC off-handedly mentioned it.

 

[Jester David]

Oh, really? In order to "pop on and confirm/deny" they first have to know the discussion is happening. So, now they have to *monitor* EN World? That certainly has a cost in time and effort. And what about the other sites out there - does WotC now have to declare some sites as officially supported? How many? Start multiplying that monitoring cost - you're now talking about having "online communications coordinator" being a job description....

Any time you find yourself in the position of thinking, "Well, they could just take a quick look at it..." (where "they" are anyone working in a professional capacity - doctor, car mechanic, public relations coordinator, or what have you) you are probably underestimating the amount of effort supporting that kind of service actually takes.

Didn't they just hire someone for a community relations position?
Checking on fan sites and maintaining a presence should fall under that. Although, having the name designers pop in should also be encouraged.

Looking in on ENworld is a good idea. See what the fans are talking about, what problems they're having with the game, how they're using the system, what questions they have, and more. In addition to surveys, a Twitter, and convention conversations, it's a way to stay in touch with the fanbase.

You cannot just communicate by letting the fans talk to you. You have to actually do the legwork and approach the fans. You have to respond to their comments and questions, or even answer their questions before they're asked.
The D&D community isn't *that* huge. Monitoring ENworld and RPGnet would be enough. Many posters manage to do that just fine, sometimes even daily, to say nothing of the mods. Are the WotC staff less busy then us? Their time is so precious they cannot spare an hour every other week?

For example, jury duty. We had to inquire into the state of something (conversion guides) before they told us it was delayed. And there haven't been a lot of updates. They didn't volunteer that information when they were sure there was going to be a delay; they kept silent until someone noticed and pressed.

 

[Mistwell]

That doesn't mean they are actually "employees" in a technical sense. On LinkedIn, folks will generally self-report where they work as their employer, even if they are contractors or working through agencies such that they aren't actually full-time employees. LinkedIn is not a human resources system of record.

No but it's the best we have. I'd say it's a presumption they work there unless someone has some reason to doubt it. I'm also not sure what difference it would make in this context. If WOTC is listing them in credits to books as part of WOTC, and they are listing themselves to the public as working at WOTC, why would it really matter for the discussion we're having if there is some "technical" difference in their employment status?

 

[Remathilis]

Oh, really? In order to "pop on and confirm/deny" they first have to know the discussion is happening. So, now they have to *monitor* EN World? That certainly has a cost in time and effort. And what about the other sites out there - does WotC now have to declare some sites as officially supported? How many? Start multiplying that monitoring cost - you're now talking about having "online communications coordinator" being a job description....

Any time you find yourself in the position of thinking, "Well, they could just take a quick look at it..." (where "they" are anyone working in a professional capacity - doctor, car mechanic, public relations coordinator, or what have you) you are probably underestimating the amount of effort supporting that kind of service actually takes.

Mearls popped in a month or two ago to clarify something. Pramas posted in the SCAG thread. SOMEONE tipped them off to something on Enworld they felt the need to comment on!

 

[Sacrosanct]

I think they are doing as good as they can do. Unless you're a stockholder, you really don't have any right to know what they are doing or planning. And as mentioned above, any time they do hint at something, the nerd masses go into a frenzy about when and what is being released, often with vitriol directed at the company and Mearls if it doesn't come to fruition.

I blame the new entitlement "I want it now!" generation for most of the "no" responses Back in my day, you had to wait 6-8 weeks for delivery AFTER they got your order form in the mail. Now get off my lawn.

 

[redrick]

I can't imagine a company of WoTC's size officially confirming or denying individual layoff decisions with the general public. New hires are one thing — that's a cause for celebration, but layoffs are painful for the company and the individual. I appreciate that Morrus sees part of his mission as shining a light on the interior workings of the companies that make our games, but I think it would set a bad precedent for Wizards to officially comment on that stuff. Let the individuals involved comment as they see fit (and, most likely, as decorum and confidentiality agreements allow.)

Similarly, the idea of Wizards employees regularly wading into forum threads seems a tough task for said employee. I mean, it would be cool if Mr. Crawford decided to dive into a rules thread, or Mr. Perkins decided to dive into a DM advice thread, but we get that stuff through Twitter and their respective columns. What is really being asked is that Wizards dive into the speculation and criticism threads. That would mean reading through page after page of speculation from people who, ultimately, don't know what they're talking about, without actually being able to address any of it. Certainly not a fun "coffee break" task I'd volunteer for at my job.

I think Wizards did a pretty good job at appropriately setting my expectations for this edition and its release schedule in the months leading up to the actual release. We get tons of informal communication from Mearls and Crawford, mostly about how to play the game that we have. I think that's the general message from Wizards — there might be some cool new stuff coming down the pipeline, but don't build your campaign around it. Build your campaign around the game that has been published and the material available for it. You'll be able to buy two Adventure Paths a year, if that's what you're into.