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

[redrick]

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.

Hey, hey, easy now. Some of the folks most unhappy with the current state of things are old-timers, and some of the folks who are content with what's currently being communicated are members of the so-called "millennial" generation.

I've never seen anybody yell as impatiently at a waiter as a member of the "greatest generation."

I know you're being tongue-in-cheek, but all the lambasting of the millennial generation gets a little old.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

I replied yes but the honest answer is I really don't care about that very much at all.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

It doesn't cost them anything to pop on and confirm/deny. And pointing out false rumours is a form of damage control of the company's rep. And it's not like the staff has ever confirmed a layoff before: confirmation usually comes from the person laid off or someone else in the industry.
I'm sure someone asked a staff member on Twitter or emailed, so they likely knew of the rumours. If not, keeping an eye on the front page of ENworld is likely a good idea.

It's not the best example, but it does demonstrate their propensity for silence. They're great at responding to questions about the rules and the game itself, but for anything else things are more quiet.

Why should they respond about hiring matters? If they are great at responding to game questions I'm at a loss as to why gamers need more.

 

[Morrus]

Why should they respond about hiring matters? If they are great at responding to game questions I'm at a loss as to why gamers need more.

Not only that, it can also be a serious breach of privacy. Companies barely issue references these days, let alone comment publicly to their customers about the staff hirings and firings, for that very reason.

There is absolutely no expectation that a company share or comment on this information. Indeed, there's a very strong expectation that they do not do so.

 

[Jester David]

Why should they respond about hiring matters? If they are great at responding to game questions I'm at a loss as to why gamers need more.

Because the state of the company and who works there is information some fans wants.

Some people are just happy to watch a film while others want to know what's going on behind the scenes, so they listen to commentary tracks on movies or watch documentaries on how films were made. It's the same thing, and we want to get some commentary on the process or a look at the process.

It's also a small industry: we know a lot of the names. When they hired Sean K. Reynolds back the people who knew him or met him were happy for him, and the people who liked his work were excited to know he's still involved in the game.

A lot of us are also concerned and interested in the future of the game and not just its present. The D&D team is rather small, and the RPG team smaller still. If they are hiring, it'd be great to know since it means 5e is doing well enough that they feel the need to expand the permanent team for the first time in a decade.

Plus, anyone can answer rules questions. Anyone can give advice on how to make a ruling or adjudicate. Jeremy Crawford doesn't need to be on the WotC payroll to answer questions on twitter.

 

[epithet]

I am both happy and unhappy with their involvement. I really like the UA articles, but I'm displeased by their overreliance on twitter. I think we would be better served if the attention spent on social media were directed towards conversations on the WotC forums and 3rd party boards like this one. I might be old fashioned, but I believe that most things worth writing are worth the space to use complete sentences without truncated words, or trying to express yourself in a garbled message across several tweets.

I admire those who are able to be eloquent on Twitter. They are a rare breed.

 

[neobolts]

I think they are doing an OK job. But they certainly could make some improvements.

5e is in many ways the "fan's edition". The public playtest and warm callbacks in the products to D&D roots have been great. On the other hand, the D&D team gets brutalized by fans eager to dissect every morsel of info they share. (It's universal to any fandom. Fans are always clamoring for more details.) So WotC's response to their opinionated fanbase has been to be even tighter-lipped and more clinical with info, which creates a self-fulfilling "loop" with some fans disappointed and feeling under-engaged. They are having a tough time with their fan interactions, and I suspect finding the right balance is going to continue to be a struggle for them.

Some specific thoughts:

• A weekly or monthly "fireside chat" type post about what they are up to would be a great approach, and break past the somewhat chilly brevity of tweets. [MENTION=7635]Remathilis[/MENTION] was right to mourn the loss of L&L. It did exactly this and is sorely missed.
• A proper archive page of the official D&D website resources would be much appreciated. There are great resources like the UA columns or the recent PDF presenting the spell index in different formats. I'm downloading all the PDFs, just because the WotC D&D website isn't archived/indexed very well. I fear new players will miss out on great resources.
• Consider having the next 12-24 months of RPG books announced. WotC sometimes gives the outward appearance that the RPG book line has little-to-nothing in the works. Yes, D&D is a big multifaceted brand with games, novels, etc...but the RPG book product line specifically needs to be constantly proven to be green and thriving. The fandom has a long memory (of darker days) and is deeply sentimental about the health of the book line.

5e is a great edition and there is so much to like. I think some of the suggestions in this thread could make the experience even better.

 

[Patrick McGill]

Because the state of the company and who works there is information some fans wants.

Some people are just happy to watch a film while others want to know what's going on behind the scenes, so they listen to commentary tracks on movies or watch documentaries on how films were made. It's the same thing, and we want to get some commentary on the process or a look at the process.

It's also a small industry: we know a lot of the names. When they hired Sean K. Reynolds back the people who knew him or met him were happy for him, and the people who liked his work were excited to know he's still involved in the game.

A lot of us are also concerned and interested in the future of the game and not just its present. The D&D team is rather small, and the RPG team smaller still. If they are hiring, it'd be great to know since it means 5e is doing well enough that they feel the need to expand the permanent team for the first time in a decade.

Plus, anyone can answer rules questions. Anyone can give advice on how to make a ruling or adjudicate. Jeremy Crawford doesn't need to be on the WotC payroll to answer questions on twitter.

I think that delving into employment issues is incredibly unprofessional and would be seriously taken aback if that was something they commonly commented on, especially in regards to unsubstantiated rumors. Whether or not we want to rubber neck shouldn't enter into WotC's decisions to speak openly about their employment issues, and we would be in the wrong to think that WotC is missing a communication opportunity in doing so.

I think it's unfair to grade their communications based on whether or not they'll jump into forum gossip to comment on something of that sort of professional level.

 

[Jester David]

I think that delving into employment issues is incredibly unprofessional and would be seriously taken aback if that was something they commonly commented on, especially in regards to unsubstantiated rumors. Whether or not we want to rubber neck shouldn't enter into WotC's decisions to speak openly about their employment issues, and we would be in the wrong to think that WotC is missing a communication opportunity in doing so.

I think it's unfair to grade their communications based on whether or not they'll jump into forum gossip to comment on something of that sort of professional level.

Commenting on firings and other dismissals is likely bad form. As is gossiping. That shouldn't be done.
Denying with a professional post is different. That's damage control.

Confirming is something different. That should be handled with a sincere "goodbye" post, like the one Rodney Thomson received. This lets people know a staff member is gone, but does so in a "we'll miss you" kinda way, and feels more optimistic. (Because, apparently, if you leave voluntarily you get a post, but if you get laid off they ignore things to avoid negative publicity. Ditto if your temporary contract expires.)

 

[Jester David]

Here's my thoughts on my primary issues with communication:
A couple years ago (2011?), Mike Mearls announced they had lost touch with the fanbase and were establishing new weekly columns for the website to improve communication. Now we know this was to gather marketing feedback for the direction of D&D prior to the public playtest.
When the new edition was released, the articles stopped. Which gives the impression that, once we had given the information needed to make the new edition, our feedback wasn't really needed. Once they had made the hit game, communication was no longer needed.

There are still the surveys every so often, but that's different. It's more feedback to design rather than feedback prior to design and guiding design. There's even a need for it: Mearls has sometimes put out calls for feedback on twitter. That's great for rapid responses, but you're not going to reach everyone, just the twitter users who follow D&D designers and checked their feed in a one-hour window.
It's not a great way to talk to the fans, as it requires the fans to reach out to you, not the other way round. The social media sites are okay, but they're mostly used as a marketing tool announcing things and sharing articles rather than communicating or interacting with the fans. There's no dialogue and limited seeking of information.

For example, an article on psionics would have been a good idea. Musing about the design and getting feedback prior to the Unearthed Arcana article. That might have sidestepped some of the "Far Realms" and "mystic" controversy. They could also look into which subclasses are more desired, which subsystems people like, and what optional rules feel missing from the game.
There's also a wealth of monsters that didn't make it into the 5e Monster Manual that could be considered for feedback, or extended feedback. How do the fans feel about primordials? Death giants? How should yugoloths/daemons be handled?
At the same time, the designers have been absent from podcasts and fan interviews. I don't remember the last time Mearls of Crawford was interviewed. They tend to limit themselves to the official podcast, that is also mostly a marketing tool.

It's a very one-sided form of discussion. Advertising and marketing on the social media, rules questions on twitter, and feedback for things they already designed on their website. There's very little actual communication going on, and what little there is, is restricted in scope and topic.

Which is odd because the team is so very approachable. I've seen them at GenCon and they're great guys, and friendly. It feels like there's this wall between us and them unless you're right there in person.