D&D Multimedia Poll - What Else Should Wizards Do?

[Umbran]

Like these?

Yep. All you need is a logo you're willing to allow someone to embroider.

 

[Umbran]

A D&D specific virtual gaming table. This one baffles me to no end as to why it's not done. There is a HUGE market here that no one is tapping.

I think it isn't done because:
1) It can be done, but let us not kid ourselves - that is a major software project, and isn't easy to do well.
2) I don't think your concept of "huge" and theirs are the same. D&D is a niche product in general. This would be a niche-of-niche product.

 

[Hussar]

I think it isn't done because:
1) It can be done, but let us not kid ourselves - that is a major software project, and isn't easy to do well.
2) I don't think your concept of "huge" and theirs are the same. D&D is a niche product in general. This would be a niche-of-niche product.

See I don't understand this. It's not a major software project. This stuff has been around for a decade or more. A chat browser with a die roller. This is not rocket science. Look at the VTT's out there. It's usually a couple of guys in their garage.

And I do think that it is potentially very big. If Settlers of Catan can get 25000 players on pretty much 24/7, I would hope DnD could do significantly better.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I think it isn't done because:
1) It can be done, but let us not kid ourselves - that is a major software project, and isn't easy to do well.
2) I don't think your concept of "huge" and theirs are the same. D&D is a niche product in general. This would be a niche-of-niche product.

Speaking as someone who was involved in looking at a very similar project (which I can't discuss the details of - it wasn't gaming but was otherwise conceptually similar), I have to agree that it would be a major project, but not one requiring a particularly large team unless you went crazy with the art/sound. Using an off-the-shelf engine particularly could save a great deal of time and effort (something WotC appeared NOT to be doing, rather suicidal-ly with 4E's VTT project - which of course was derailed by a rather horrible murder, not by inherent difficulty). So I think whilst it would be non-trivial, it would be more comparable to the better class of indie game or niche business software than a mainstream game (let alone a full-on AAA one).

Also, the market is pretty big - even I know a dozen people (easily) who would want to use a really good fully-integrated VTT-type gaming product - you'd need voice and preferably face as part of the deal (typing isn't good enough) - most of them who currently do not play TT RPGs at all, because they either can't find local groups or only want to play with friends, and who don't find the current offering acceptable.

You wouldn't even need to beat the current offerings in terms of what you could do, if you had a really good basic interface and killer features.

But yes, it'd require a fairly serious investment, easily hundreds of thousands, probably low millions. Still, if 5E does well, it could be smart, as a subscription-based service.

 

[Thaumaturge]

I know there are Gaming Cruises already, so, why not a D&D Cruise? Sail around for five or six days, gaming, True Dungeon, that sort of thing.

Lots and LOTS of organised play stuff. ((Which is looks like they are getting onto))

Oh my goodness, this. With events for kids and non-gamer spouses, this would be awesome. I wouldn't need the non-gamer spouse support, but others would.

But, man, a 4-day con my wife and I could take the kids to with short breaks to see beaches and whatnot? Sounds. Awesome.

Thaumaturge.

 

[tuxgeo]

< snip >. . . a really good fully-integrated VTT-type gaming product - you'd need voice and preferably face as part of the deal (typing isn't good enough) - < snip >

Further riffing on that thought: Extra options for "face" might appeal to some people who don't want to show their real faces to potential strangers online. If any player could participate through voice, die-rolling, seeing the screen, and positioning his or her icon by movement, it might suit some users to have still cartoons of their PCs for display to the other participants in their session, in place of an actual face.

Or, just as there is software to disguise a voice, perhaps there could be software to disguise a face -- that way, facial expressions and mouth movements could be combined with some degree of privacy.

 

[Umbran]

A chat browser with a die roller.

That's not D&D specific. That's generic. For D&D-specific, I'd expect rules-integration.

Look at the VTT's out there. It's usually a couple of guys in their garage.

I think that while folks will accept those products from a couple guys in their garage, they will (rightly or not) castigate WotC for having something official that is of similar quality and feature set. People will expect/demand near-perfection from WotC, and that makes it a much harder proposition.

If Settlers of Catan can get 25000 players on pretty much 24/7, I would hope DnD could do significantly better.

I expect you have it backwards. I expect board gaming is a larger hobby than RPGs, Catan especially. Between 1995 and 2009, Catan sold something like 15 million copies. I don't think PHBs have sold like that.

 

[Chaltab]

A D&D cartoon in the style of Young Justice or Star Wars: Rebels would be great. Or something in the vein of Adventure Time but with more of a cohesive tone and plot. They've more than proven there's a market for TV-PG animation that's accessible to kids but also serious enough to hold adult interest--it would have to be on the Hub though since 1) Hasbro and 2) Cartoon Network doesn't want shows to have audiences that aren't boys apparently.

Also videogames. Aside from the Capcom re releases there hasn't really been a good D&D game since 2006. The problem is finding a developer who can make a good game from it. Bioware now has it's own blockbuster IPs and Obsidian is shooting for the moon with Pillars of Eternity. D&D Online is showing its age and I don't think Neverwinter is going to spark any interest because it basically does nothing interesting with the license. It basically is the awful MMO that grognards said 3E and 4E were.

That's not D&D specific. That's generic. For D&D-specific, I'd expect rules-integration.

Exactly. We already have Maptool and that even has some elaborate mods for rules integration with numerous systems.

Speaking as someone who was involved in looking at a very similar project (which I can't discuss the details of - it wasn't gaming but was otherwise conceptually similar), I have to agree that it would be a major project, but not one requiring a particularly large team unless you went crazy with the art/sound. Using an off-the-shelf engine particularly could save a great deal of time and effort (something WotC appeared NOT to be doing, rather suicidal-ly with 4E's VTT project - which of course was derailed by a rather horrible murder, not by inherent difficulty). So I think whilst it would be non-trivial, it would be more comparable to the better class of indie game or niche business software than a mainstream game (let alone a full-on AAA one).

You might want to rephrase that.

 

[TarionzCousin]

People want a broadway production? Or at least 20% of those that voted?

Spamalot was a huge hit on Broadway and on tour.

 

[Hussar]

It's kinda funny. My daughters have shown zero interest in Marvel movies or products of any kind. But then they saw a Yu-gi-oh type cartoon called Diskwars Avengers. Now they can't get enough Marvel stuff.

I hope we see an incredibly wide variety of efforts for DnD in the future. Hell, I want a DnD themed Power Rangers show.