Chris Perkins: Reintroducing Settings in Ways that Surprise People

WotC's D&D Story Manager, Chris Perkins, was the subject of an interview by a chap called Chris "Wacksteven" Iannitti. One of the topics covered is campaign setting books; Perkins says that they want to reintroduce settings in "surprising" ways, and that they're not guaranteed to be books. (thanks to Mistwell for the scoop)

The video is below, but if you can't watch it right now, here are the highlights as listed by pukunui on WotC's website:

• He can't talk about products that haven't been announced yet
• They value all of their worlds, as each one has "tons of fans"
• They are focusing on specific areas within settings to detail and "codify" via their story bibles
• Their goal is to "challenge people's expectations" re: sourcebooks
• They're "not interested in releasing books for the sake of releasing books anymore"
• They want book releases to be events that will "surprise and delight people"; they also want to put out books that people will actually use rather than books that will just get put on a shelf to "stay there and slowly rot"
• "One of our creative challenges is to package [setting] material - reintroduce facts and important details about our worlds - in a way that we know that DMs and players are going to use, that's going to excite them, that's actually going to surprise them. We may get that content out, but I'm not going to guarantee it's going to be a book. I'm not going to guarantee that it's going to be anything that you've seen before. But it will be something."

[video=youtube;alnwC34qUFs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alnwC34qUFs&feature=youtu.be[/video]
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[Kramodlog]

Natural 20 with a bludgeoning weapon.

*rimshot*

 

[HonorBoundSamurai632]

The trick for the D&D team will be to bring in new fresh blood to the hobby while keeping us old grognards interested. This is an uphill battle and one that I fear they will lose. Modern teens have many other more exciting and interesting outlets for their time.

At this point I don't believe that tabletop gaming can be a profit making enterprise, in the scope of modern big business, but needs to be a labor of love to succeed.

I couldn't agree more. It will be difficult for them to find that balance that pleases Hasbro. I want the updated Campaign Settings so bad. Unfortunately, it's not going to happen in a format that it did in the past.

 

[Mistwell]

I did read it, thank you. When I did, I found the "If the answer is..." bit to be... passive aggressive?

I mean, if you have real concerns like that, you still ask the question in public, where he now kind of has to address it publicly in some manner? That's a ploy typically used to bring peer/public pressure into play, you know. Either he gives the answer, or he has to look all stern and such telling people to shove off.

I recognized that may not have been the intent, so I responded in the rhetorical question form. Even if you didn't intend it, the implied answers give the reasons that should forestall anyone else from picking up the question.

At the point you had responded, I had already said I regretted asking in the first place, and Morrus had responded with a name of a WOTC employee. What do you want Umbran? What purpose does this dialogue serve for you or anyone?

 

[HonorBoundSamurai632]

4e's only point of "debacle" is that it was not a great long-term business plan for a company OF THAT SIZE. By any other RPG publisher's measure, 4e would have been a smash success that unequivocally changed the course of the roleplaying industry forever. Wizards of the Coast operates at a scale that requires long-term, smash-hit success with every single release, and that's just not sustainable for them. But *for them* is a very, very specific, highly unusual, completely unrelatable phrase to the rest of the RPG publishing industry.

I would say that isn't completely accurate either. I can't sit here and say that 4th was a total "debacle," but although many enjoyed 4th Edition (I was not one of them,) Paizo proved with Pathfinder that 4e wouldn't have been a smash success for other publishers. WoTC, (whether intentional or not,) has made moves that copied much of what Paizo has done. The first one that pops into my mind, is how the play test entitled D&D Next was made available for public download ..... very much like Pathfinder was. Even the way WoTC does it's miniatures now, (based on storylines and not given random set names like the minis during 3.0/3.5 era,) mirrors Paizo's model. Mechanically, in 5th, the Wizard, for instance, rolls a 1D6 for hit points now .... similar to Pathfinder. Charging $50 for books, is very similar to how PF's Core Rulebook is also $50, (although it is a Player's Handbook and DM/GM Guide in one book.)

Many would claim that PF may have saved the industry from the lackluster sales of 4th Ed. I am just quoting what I have read on many forums filled with others' opinions. I do not have actual data to back up that last statement, so take it for what that's worth. My point is, is that if 4th Ed. made Hasbro even a smidgen of money, perhaps the WoTC staff would be a lot larger and be able to pump out updates to things like Deities and Demigods, Monster Manual II, Oriental Adventures, and the campaign settings for 5th Edition. The other side of the coin is that yes, Paizo's staff is much larger, but their system is now suffering from the rules bloat that 3.0/3.5 suffered from (which we have all very much stated we do not want to see for this current edition.)

WoTC had something very, very, good with 3.0/3.5. Unfortunately, many of the books released towards the end of that edition were lackluster at best, (just read the reviews.) IN MY OPINION, it looks like 4th Edition wasn't anywhere near as successful as HASBRO would have liked to see, so now they have WoTC on a short leash when it comes to this edition of the table top game. Unfortunately, this short leash is starting to lead to yet another division of players. Some of us, (myself included,) would like to see the campaign settings brought back to their former glory. The other half is enjoying the small snippets the adventure books are giving us. This division, if not taken seriously, could once again give us something similar to the edition war that we all saw, (and were apart of,) not too long ago. WoTC/Hasbro needs to figure this out!!

 

[wedgeski]

I do specifically recall [MENTION=697]mearls[/MENTION] posted here during the playtest or rollout to clarify something. It was a long time ago though.

Different times...

 

[Melkor]

Mearls posted in this thread at the end of March (Post #6):

http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?435509-Blast-From-the-Past-Earliest-D-amp-DN-Panels

 

[jrowland]

What do you want @Umbran? What purpose does this dialogue serve for you or anyone?

Side Note: I am coining a new term: Webpinion. An opinion offered up on the web. Noun. [MENTION=2525]Mistwell[/MENTION] expressed his webpinion and regretted it. @Umbran responded to [MENTION=2525]Mistwell[/MENTION]'s webpinion with his own webpinion."

Silly, clunky, and thread-derailing I know, but at page 23 I think I can safely sneak it in (threads been derailed pages ago). Carry on.


Side Note 2: Can we bring "Bitchen" back? I miss it. "Webpinion is a bitchen new term coined by [MENTION=94389]jrowland[/MENTION]."

 

[Bupp]

There are some of us that love the new rules and are quite happy making use of previous edition books that are already on our bookshelf / hard drives. It is fairly easy to convert to 5e, or look around the home brew forum here or on blogs to find what you need.

 

[Fabio Andrea Rossi]

Just a quick thought that just happened to me: as all of D&D settings are part of the big Multiverse, what if they are thinking of one single Multiverse Setting Book/Resource?

As so many pointed out before me, there's one ton of "old" fluff setting material out there, some of it excellent in quality and cheap in reach (digitally & legally, at least), to deliver the details.

One single, massive resource book updating the Multiverse to 5E just outlining the gist of each setting, the main special rules (like the planes in the DMG but longer), where to get deeper fluff info for those interested and finally the latest changes to the setting would be interesting to a number of players, if there's enough of the main settings.

And, to make my dreams even wilder, they may even re-release digitally the old "core" setting books just deleting crunch and keeping ever-lasting fluff at very low production & selling costs to get the "long tail" of the consumer. Heck, I'm sure many of us would rebuy them, as the success of RpgThru and the likes of it show.

Am I daydreaming here? Probably yes, but I have to say that even if they come up with some completely different surprise it may not be bad at all...they earned some serious trust with this year books's quality, I think.

The above sourcebook would also have the advantage to introduce players to all settings quickly and withouth waiting years to get to the damn Ravenloft or Planescape or whatever other setting you like most.

 

[Umbran]

At the point you had responded, I had already said I regretted asking in the first place, and Morrus had responded with a name of a WOTC employee. What do you want Umbran? What purpose does this dialogue serve for you or anyone?

When I first responded, I noted my reason - to back up Morrus up on the matter, as I agree with him, but thought some elements could use a little emphasis.

Since that, I've just been responding to you, and what seemed like legitimate points you'd brought up that deserved I follow up. I've no purpose beyond that - I'm done when you're done.