D&D 5E D&D strategy: now actually makes sense!

[Shasarak]

Anyways. We can now actually understand the 5E strategy. For months we have asked, where are the short adventures, the monsters, the other things we would normally expect? Why is Dragon+ like it is? Will there be real Dragon or Dungeon? More webcontent? What about fan-created content? Is it just UA? How do they ever discover game designers of the future?

The thing is, from the podcast, turns they have been sitting on this for years. They have known all along. Oh sure, there where hints, vague comments here and there, but even as they kept talking up their story-lines they knew.

Know they tell us.

And while there are teething problems, it may cover a lot of the above, and then some. The content gets out there in a crowd sourced kind of way, they got money from it, others get exposure, and its less work then trying to put together a magazine and doesn’t tie up their staff.

So instead of having professional game designers and editors produce products, their great plan is to get a thousand internet monkeys to produce their product?

Ok, well good luck with that.

 

[TerraDave]

So instead of having professional game designers and editors produce products, their great plan is to get a thousand internet monkeys to produce their product?

Crowd sourcing: how things are done. A variation on how they always have been done.

Dragon and Dungeon articles where traditionally done on a submission basis. This does push part of the work from their editors to reviewers. But again that is the current style.

And professionals can also submit. Some are.

 

[Bupp]

Crowd sourcing: how things are done. A variation on how they always have been done.

Dragon and Dungeon articles where traditionally done on a submission basis. This does push part of the work from their editors to reviewers. But again that is the current style.

And professionals can also submit. Some are.

That is how both magazines worked. Sure, you'd get a few mainstay articles from TSR staff, but a lot of articles and adventures were fan submissions.

 

[pukunui]

I saw "share", which could just be some kind of fan policy. I didn't see marketplace. Or maybe just didn't get it.

Maybe. I can't remember what exactly was said or even when. All I can say is that I *was* expecting a marketplace for fan content, so the DMs Guild did not come as a surprise to me. And I had no insider knowledge about it.

I suppose I could have a look and see if I can find the original comments about it. It might have been in the previous AMA Mearls did.

EDIT: Here's what I've found so far:

"... we're working on plans right now to allow people to use the D&D system to create their own stuff." (source: Reddit AMA w/ Mike Mearls from Nov 2014)

Will keep looking.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

So instead of having professional game designers and editors produce products, their great plan is to get a thousand internet monkeys to produce their product?

Ok, well good luck with that.

Blasphemy! Next thing you know, people like that will be saying that we ought to let anybody at all be a Dungeon Master, without even a licensing process, and now suddenly your Bachelor's Of Dungeon Mastering professional degree becomes a worthless piece of paper and your players stop paying their dues and now you're stuck with $40,000 in DM student debt with no way to pay it off.

This is a really terrible move for professional DMs.

 

[Shasarak]

Blasphemy! Next thing you know, people like that will be saying that we ought to let anybody at all be a Dungeon Master, without even a licensing process, and now suddenly your Bachelor's Of Dungeon Mastering professional degree becomes a worthless piece of paper and your players stop paying their dues and now you're stuck with $40,000 in DM student debt with no way to pay it off.

This is a really terrible move for professional DMs.

Do people still play in non-certified games?

I mean you could, in theory, but why would you want to?

 

[darjr]

Because I'm a REBEL! Darn you! A rEbEl!

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Do people still play in non-certified games?

I mean you could, in theory, but why would you want to?

P.S. It goes without saying that I understand and kind of agree with Shasharak's original point: editors and reviewers really do add value when it comes to finding good content, and I hope DM's Guild finds a way to somehow make the cream rise to the top. I just couldn't resist the opportunity to have a little fun with reducto ad absurdum.

My real point is just this: D&D has a lot of talented amateurs out there and I look forward to seeing some good work.

 

[TerraDave]

P.S. It goes without saying that I understand and kind of agree with Shasharak's original point: editors and reviewers really do add value when it comes to finding good content, and I hope DM's Guild finds a way to somehow make the cream rise to the top. I just couldn't resist the opportunity to have a little fun with reducto ad absurdum.

My real point is just this: D&D has a lot of talented amateurs out there and I look forward to seeing some good work.

It certainly is an experiment!

If only there was a place the internet know for its D&D reviews, hmm.

 

[TwoSix]

It certainly is an experiment!

If only there was a place the internet know for its D&D reviews, hmm.

I only trust Rotten Tomatoes for my D&D product review needs.