D&D General Dan Rawson Named New Head Of D&D

Hasbro has announced a former Microsoft digital commerce is the new senior vice president in charge of Dungeons & Dragons. Dan Rawson was the COO of Microsoft Dynamics 365.

Hasbro also hired Cynthia Williams earlier this year; she too, came from Microsoft. Of Rawson, she said "We couldn’t be bringing on Dan at a better time. With the acquisition of D&D Beyond earlier this year, the digital capabilities and opportunities for Dungeons & Dragons are accelerating faster than ever. I am excited to partner with Dan to explore the global potential of the brand while maintaining Hasbro’s core value as a player-first company.”

Rawson himself says that "Leading D&D is the realization of a childhood dream. I’m excited to work with Cynthia once again, and I’m thrilled to work with a talented team to expand the global reach of D&D, a game I grew up with and now play with my own kids.”

Interestingly, Ray Wininger -- who has been running D&D for the last couple of years -- has removed mention of WotC and Hasbro from his Twitter bio.

 

[Charlaquin]

The trick is convincing new young gamers that they  do need to buy every book, and every mini, digital widget, etc.

Not much of a trick. Video games have already gotten them accustomed to predatory monetization and peer pressure encourages them to try to get the rarest, most blinged-out cosmetics for the games they play.

 

[Lidgar]

yeah I assume buying digital minis will be a thing. buying digital battle maps and pregenerated adventures (I bought curse of strahd on roll20)

They'll take a cue straight from Fortnight - all about the skins.

Player: "Look DM, I just bought a digital version of my PC in his new +1 chain mail!"

DM: "Hey look, he just found +2 plate!"

Player: "..."

 

[UngainlyTitan]

It was bad in some regards. Cover. Concealment. Miniature use. Spell butchering. Not repairing what they have done with the bard. Even made level requirements that made multiclassing even harder. Using prestige classes to fix holes... putting natural spell in the PHB.
Giving the druid perception (IIRC). Buffing animal companions to fighter level.
Should I go on?
At first it did not look that bad. Even good in parts. Some changes were good. But overall it was taking the game more away from 2e.

I was a long time a go and I played very little pure 3.0 and run none.

 

[darjr]

They can call it whatever they want, point being they believe the masses will buy all new core books and and new books will use the new core and not the old 5th ed core.

If not calling it a "new edition" helps you to buy the new books with the updated rules, then hey we (and WotC) can call it One D&D. But if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck....

I usually like calling things by the names given by the creators or owners or holders of said name.

In my book it’s impolite to use some other name than the name holder wants to use.

 

[overgeeked]

My point is, you don't need all the stuff to play the game.

Just don't remind people that even Gygax admitted that you don't even need the rule books.

 

[darjr]

Just don't remind people that even Gygax admitted that you don't even need the rule books.

I dint think he did. I believe that famous quote isn’t actually his own.

 

[Charlaquin]

Proprietary VTT with microtransactions for everything. You want that race? $1. You want your mini's hair longer? $1. Etc.

You can already buy races, subclasses, etc. a-la carte from D&D Beyond if you don’t want the full book they’re from.

 

[darjr]

I dint think he did. I believe that famous quote isn’t actually his own.

@overgeeked
I believe this is accurate though.

Post in thread 'What is the most inspirational Gary Gygax quote?'
What is the most inspirational Gary Gygax quote?

 

[overgeeked]

I can only presume that means he’s left the company.

That's too bad if true. He seemed to do alright. I'd rather have a long-time gamer in charge.

 

[Imaro]

They can call it whatever they want, point being they believe the masses will buy all new core books and and new books will use the new core and not the old 5th ed core.

If not calling it a "new edition" helps you to buy the new books with the updated rules, then hey we (and WotC) can call it One D&D. But if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck....

So did you consider 4e Essentials a new core?