D&D 5E D&D Creator Summit--'D&D Beyond And Beyond'

This presentation is by Dan Rawson and Marjory Laymon, moderated by Sara Chaffee.

I see a live view of what I assume is WotC's offices (the caption says 'Game Room'). Muffled voices talking as people wander around.

• Dan Rawson talks about his start in D&D. Introduces the team present: Dan Rawson (SVP of D&D), Marjorie Laymon (VP D&D Beyond), Pat Backmann (Sr. Product Manager), Jared Wasdin (Product Manager), Elliot Spilk (Associate Product Manager), Sarah Chaffee (Community Manager).
• What is D&D Beyond? The official gateway to D&D for content, news, offerings. The WotC D&D site is being deprecated and DDB is taking over.
• As the official home for D&D, DDB wants to be expansive. Content, tools, VTT. It's an amusement park. A whole ecosystem for the community.
• What have they been up to? Integrating with WotC since being acquired last year. Digital content drops, plus stability and performance work. 4.5 million users creates system challenges.
• What's next? Improving play/prep, mobile play, new player onboarding, open to partners, backend tech stuff.
• Partners and publishers--early stages of what that could look like, welcome feedback.
• (Q&A section begins--It's really hard to make out anything anybody is saying).
• Discussion about global communities, content for different people across the world.
• Homebrew and marketplace features. Make homebrew creation and sharing easy.
• Mobile site and app versions of DDB are different--can functionality be added to the app?
• Digital content in other languages and ASL? Is something they are actively trying to figure out.
• Future of D&D in print is very bright. Millions cherish the books and the tabletop and they want to support that. Digital is as well as not instead of.
• WIll DDB marketplace be monetized? That is absolutely the intention. Creators can offer their products for sale. Accessible, open, and available to creators.
• Will existing settings remain open to DMs Guild/DDB marketplace creators with the launch of OneDnD? "The goal is more not less." I think that was the entire answer to the question.
• Equitability of product pricing globally. Not something they've tackled yet, they appreciate the concern, and something they need to approach.
• Older editions in DDB? That's been discussed, but there are no plans right now. Possibility, not a 'no'.
• Does that include problematic elements of old products? They'd use the mechanical rules, not the 'content'.
• Preserving WotC's DnD website resources as it migrates to DDB? Not sure what the actual question or answer were! Can't make it out!
• How VTTs and content will interact? They want content and access to be as broad as possible. They will continue to partner with great VTTs.
• Will there be any mentorship on content creation for the third party marketplace? (There's a situation where somebody in person asks a really long question, the digital attendees can't hear it, then one of the presenters summarises the question [I think], but it's not always clear what the answer is.)
• Will the VTT be on consoles? Other technical requirements? Intent -- early in development -- is to play on PC, console, and mobile. Sequencing won't be everything on Day 1. Goal is to make it available on as many platforms as possible.
• Back to legacy content being on DDB--any content will go thorugh robust review to ensure it is appropriate and inviting to everybody. Means bringing legacy content over is a lot of work, and they won't bring them over without dong that work.
• Gaming store accounts and events--that's a strategy that is underway.
• Continue to lean into D&D in schools. Working on content for children.
• And that's the session over, and my coverage done! The next one will be the afternoon Virtual Tabletop session, covered by Beth Rimmels, in an hour or two.

 

[Incenjucar]

They had the head of the VTT team, who rose through the tech ranks as a programmer lead the VTT discussion.

See this is why every party needs a face character. A bard would have had this locked down.


In all seriousness it's why it's vital to have community manager types involved as intermediaries. The designers are not automatically the best people to be at the front of the discussion.

Ideally you want someone who is 80% charismatic and 20% expert to be smoothing things out for the person who is 80% expert and 20% charismatic.

 

[The Glen]

They had the head of the VTT team, who rose through the tech ranks as a programmer lead the VTT discussion.

Just to clarify the VTT head Was the one that couldn't answer all the technical questions that were presented? The Sources I was watching were some of the people in attendance on their various channels Just want to get the story straight

 

[Zaukrie]

Just to clarify the VTT head Was the one that couldn't answer all the technical questions that were presented? The Sources I was watching were some of the people in attendance on their various channels Just want to get the story straight

They probably don't actually know the answers yet. We aren't even in alpha.....Why anyone NEEDS to know this before alpha is odd to me, frankly.

 

[darjr]

No I think reports show they didn’t know they had a hostile crowd. Or at least didn’t know to what extent they were. Nor did they expect some of the specifics.

 

[bedir than]

Just to clarify the VTT head Was the one that couldn't answer all the technical questions that were presented? The Sources I was watching were some of the people in attendance on their various channels Just want to get the story straight

The technical question that Kale wasn't able to answer is one that no company would be able to answer at this point in development. "What will the minimum computer requirements be?"

 

[tenkar]

They hand-picked the attendees, both in person and virtual. It shows me that they still don't have a full grasp of what their "influencers"/"content creators" are saying on YouTube and elsewhere.

They need a point person whose sole responsibility is to keep a finger on the pulse of these content creators, so they won't be surprised to such an extent yet again.

 

[The Glen]

They hand-picked the attendees, both in person and virtual. It shows me that they still don't have a full grasp of what their "influencers"/"content creators" are saying on YouTube and elsewhere.

They need a point person whose sole responsibility is to keep a finger on the pulse of these content creators, so they won't be surprised to such an extent yet again.

That would make too much sense they could never go for it

 

[bedir than]

They need a point person whose sole responsibility is to keep a finger on the pulse of these content creators, so they won't be surprised to such an extent yet again.

That would make too much sense they could never go for it

Dixon is a full time employee whose job this is. He spoke extensively to the groups and to individuals. People there universally praised him (except for those who stormed out).

 

[Baron Opal II]

I don't think it's healthy for internet personalities and writers to scream at WotC leadership and then brag about storming out to the meetings because WotC leadership hadn't determined a revenue share split on the DnD Beyond Marketplace.

Who was doing that?

A touch short-sighted, they certainly won't be invited to further gatherings. Burning a bridge under construction isn't a great tactic.

 

[Parmandur]

While I agree with you I must add that the degree of angst and following scramble and slight panic from WotC was notable.

Oh, it's a huge mess. But that's exactly why it's an opportunity for growth: if they do this regularly and respond appropriately, then surprises will become less common.