D&D is dying by the hour

[Woas]

RSVP please, for the death of D and D,
You have little time,
It has little life.

 

[BryonD]

I was thinking the same thing after I logged off last night--since 3E preserved so many sacred cows in the areas of spells & monsters, which made up so much of the rules set outside of the character generation and combat mechanics stuff that was previewed so freely, it did give the impression of fewer surprises.

Is this perhaps why a lot of people are saying 4E doesn't feel like D&D to them?

 

[Dragonblade]

So what do you guys think? Is my analysis that Wizards is killing off D&D by not communicating at all correct?

No, sorry.

The functionality of DDI has no bearing on my purchase or interest in D&D. Its an extra. I will subscribe though, because I actually like what I have seen.

I don't care about the GSL. While some 3rd party stuff is nice, it also has no bearing on my decision to purchase 4e.

And Pathfinder? I might buy at least the core Pathfinder book. But it also will have no impact on my purchase of 4e. I have no further interest in 3.5 or 3rd edition D&D. Nothing any publisher can possibly release for that system holds any real interest for me.

To this point, I like EVERYTHING I have heard about 4e, and I consider it a vast improvement over every prior edition of D&D in virtually every way. D&D's future looks bright as far as I am concerned.

 

[BadMojo]

The functionality of DDI has no bearing on my purchase or interest in D&D. Its an extra. I will subscribe though, because I actually like what I have seen.

It has functionality? When did that happen?

 

[Reynard]

Is this perhaps why a lot of people are saying 4E doesn't feel like D&D to them?

I think people are saying that because, well, it doesn't. More than that, it is an intended design goal. While this says nothing of the quality of the game that is being produced -- the liklihood is that the game will be very well designed and a lot of fun to play. But that doesn't make it D&D, at least in feel. The sacred cows that have lasted for 30 years have lasted for a reason, and the game was successful for 30 years for a reason.

 

[Dave Turner]

Wizards might still be the leader when it comes to D&D, but Paizo has surely cut some good chunks off the cake.

Your understanding of the relative scale of both of these companies undermines your credibility. Paizo's financial position is at least an order of magnitude (if not two) smaller than WotC's. If you believe that cutting 5% off of a cake is a "good chunk", then your point is at least coherent.

 

[Grossout]

I'd like to see Adventures and even Adventure Paths from as many publishers as possible.

Exactly. All I want 3rd parties for are adventures and monster books.

 

[GVDammerung]

Initially contact was good and Wiz-VIPs regularly showed up on various boards. Now we get nothing. While Paizo is actively communicates with their fans on a regular basis, Wizards is completely silent about major events that are of importance to the 4th edition.

This is the biggest deal, IMO. Paizo is on the offensive, aggeressively engaging what it hopes will be its customers. Wotc appears to be more passive, less aggressive, almost as if assuming it will have sufficient customers and that, as such, there is less need to engage them, comparatively speaking. Everyone likes to be paid attention, to one degree or another. Paizo is then playing it smart and as safe as they can. Wizards may be smart too if they can correctly assume that sufficient numbers of their audience will follow them to 4e for their, and Hasbro's, financial expectations. If such an assumption is off the mark, results may vary inversely. Time will tell.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Sometimes I think the 3rd party publishers just plant posts on forums for their own ends. Yet again, it's the third party argument, yet I have never seen anyone who loves third party materials (and I know many gamers) aside from these doomsday posts and 4E naysayers. I will never buy a 3rd party product anyway because they are invariably terrible, so honestly, I encourage Wizards to keep D&D free from third parties.

Ironically enough, this sounds like a WoTC plant.

But on other avenues, like reality, some third party publishers managed to do so well that they've launched themselves free of the whole D&D origins and while still using the OGL, do a wide variety of games.

It's always best to remember that our personal circles rarely showcase reality and are merely just that, our personal circles.

 

[Firevalkyrie]

This is the biggest deal, IMO. Paizo is on the offensive, aggeressively engaging what it hopes will be its customers. Wotc appears to be more passive, less aggressive, almost as if assuming it will have sufficient customers and that, as such, there is less need to engage them, comparatively speaking. Everyone likes to be paid attention, to one degree or another. Paizo is then playing it smart and as safe as they can. Wizards may be smart too if they can correctly assume that sufficient numbers of their audience will follow them to 4e for their, and Hasbro's, financial expectations. If such an assumption is off the mark, results may vary inversely. Time will tell.

Wizards is assuming that in order to expand their market they need to engage the mass media. Paizo is assuming that in order to expand their market, they need to reach out through the web to extant gamers. For Wizards, the assumption is that in order to engage what they hope to be their customers, they need to reach beyond their current customer base. And that means going to the mainstream.

Here's the kicker: Both are correct in their assumptions, given their position in the market. As the market leader, Wizards needs to reach out into the mainstream of people who are not yet gamers in order to expand their market reach. Because in the gamer market, one thing is and always has been crystal clear: At one point or another, Everybody plays D&D.

They said this on Fear the Boot a couple weeks ago, and it bears repeating: Pepsi talks about Coke, and Coke talks about Coke. It's good to be Coke. It's even better to be Coke when "Pepsi" has a bare sliver of your sales and media visibility.