"DnDSports": Competitive Play With Prizes

It seems like the rumours of D&D as e-sports weren't so far off after all in today's bit of unexpected news, as D&D Beyond and Encounter Roleplaying have announced DnDSports. "DnDSports is the first online D&D Tournament in a cooperative Party vs Party setting from Encounter Roleplay & DnDBeyond with a grand prize of $5,000."

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[FONT=&amp]Here's the full announcement:

Imagine if two parties fighting for opposite sides found themselves in the same dungeon. It’s kill or be killed. What will they do to survive?[/FONT]
DnDSports is the first online D&D Tournament in a cooperative Party vs Party setting from EncounterRoleplay & DnDBeyond with a grand prize of $5,000. Over the course of 4 weeks, 16 players will compete in teams of 4 in single elimination games. Each game is a best of 3 arena battle and played via Roll20.

How is it Played?
The full rules for DnDSports will be released shortly after our next round of Playtesting. We don’t claim to have created perfect balance, nor is that our aim, as every competitive game has an element of strategy. We’re also implementing MOBA-esque mechanics such as a Pick/Ban phase to help expand the strategy. We’ve been working closely with over a dozen talented DMs to create 15 pre-generated characters from which the players will choose, and adapt the pre-existing Dungeons & Dragons: 5th Edition rules.

We know that this will be an incredibly fun new way to play D&D, because as long as you’re having fun, you’re doing it right!

When is it?
Day 1: November 10th at 12pm PST
Heat 1: Team Beholder vs. Team Mindflayer

Day 2: November 17th at 12pm PST
Heat 2: Team Kobold vs. Team Tarrasque

Day 3: November 24th at 12pm PST
All Stars Charity game for 826LA foundation

Day 4: December 1st at 12pm PST
Grand Finals

Where can I watch it?
Watch live on Twitch here.
The VODs will be uploaded to Youtube here.

Who is involved?
The EncounterRoleplay & DnDBeyond crews have teamed up to bring this production to life!
As for who’s competing? Keep an eye on the DnDSports Twitter & here on the blog to learn more about the teams as they are revealed!

But D&D Shouldn’t be an eSport?!
It’s not an eSport. We created something that would make competitive gamers feel safe and comfortable trying out D&D5e for the first time. It’s a new way to display the versatility of combat in D&D5e in a unique setting. We encourage you to respect the way different people play D&D because we know that this will be a fun event and there is no wrong to play D&D, as long as you are having fun!

(Thanks to Jeremy for the scoop!)

Many feel competitive play isn't what D&D is about, historically that's not entirely true. Here's a history of D&D and competitive play, going back to the 1970s.

"D&D has always had a competitive streak. Many of co-creator Gary Gygax's published adventures were adapted from tournaments that were played competitively at conventions, like Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan and Tomb of Horrors.

Thanks to its wargaming roots, tournament play was well-established by the time D&D came along. Tournaments were associated with wargaming conventions. The first large-scale D&D tournament took place at Origins in Baltimore, MD on July 25-27. An estimated 1,500 attended, with 120 participating in the D&D tournament."

 

[Parmandur]

Hiya.


Nope. I don't. What's your point? Pretty sure these forums are here for folks to talk and exchange ideas, thoughts and opinions on things related primarily to gaming. Or is this one of those ingenious little ploys where thinking if someone says "You have no proof", that somehow completely invalidates another persons opinion?

As for it being a third-party event; if WotC is officially giving it their stamp of approval or otherwise providing support...it's pretty much the same thing.

Besides all this, look at the latest WotC job board: https://company.wizards.com/content/jobs I find the majority of those openings being "digitally related" to be...suspicious...when combined with this eSport D&D release info.

And I REALLY shouldn't have to say this, but I will just this once: This is all conjecture and my opinion.

^_^

Paul L. Ming

They haven't really acknowledged this show's existence, past Stewart saying they aren't behind it.

 

[gyor]

I think people are making this a much bigger deal then it is. I don't really see how this will effect any D&D players/fans outside of those who choose to involve themselves in competitive D&D.

 

[Parmandur]

I'm not sure what point you're making that you think I missed.

I play actual rules-light storytelling games (eg the last 5 sessions I've GMed have been Prince Valiant and Cthulhu Dark). 5e has about as many rules as 4e (it doesn't have a skill challenge mechanic, and it's martial combat mechanics are slimmer though it's magic mechanics are less slim). So I don't take Mearls seriously on this. Or, rather, I take him to mean the following: rather than focusing on produce mechanics that allow tables to produce their own stories, the publishing emphasis in 5e is producing APs so that tables can participate in WotC's stories.

That's a strange way to read Mearls, as that is not what he said nor an accurate description of 5E. The emphasis has been on producing elegant rules that do not get in the way of playing the game. It is an undeniable experience that people couldn't get past the 3E or 4E mechanics to story much of the time, fair or not. My experience pre-5E was fighting the rules rather than playing with the rules.

 

[pming]

Hiya.

I seriously doubt you know what your talking about here. I have serious mental illness in both my and my partner's families and this seems like both callus and baseless accusation. I don't think it is wise to make such claims. I also fail to see how having a mental illness relates to D&D esports. It just seems like a jerky thing to say for no reason (FYI, I am not saying you are a jerk).

I did my research. Of all the things I found out, the general consensus among professional psychologists and other mental health professionals, is that roughly 20% to 25% of people in positions of "power" (CEO's, Politicians, Lawyers, Police Officers, etc) have significant psychotic traits that would likely place them in the clinical category of psychopath or sociopath.

That is NOT to say that all psychopaths are knife-wielding maniacs...they aren't. Most aren't, actually. But CEO's was near the top of the list in every study or review I found.

As for the relationship to D&D...I wasn't making that jump. I was saying that the idea of eSports D&D was likely coming from a position up high deciding they wanted more money/market-share/power and figured merging D&D's recent uptick in popularity with the silly amount of money that eSports (and other "televised competitive events") was somehow a win/win idea. And that this idea was not hatched due to any sort of actual first-hand experience or even second-hand (like, "My kids play and they told me that..."). The person(s) making the final decision to support such an idea were ultimately the CEO's and other's in a position to decide to do it; hence, the psychopath/sociopath connection. (re: the CEO's are doing it for want of more money/power and not because they think it would be cool, fun and engaging for others because they find it so).

So, as you can see, I didn't say it to "be a jerk" or for "no reason".

PS: If you type in "psychopaths sociopaths CEO's position power" into DuckDuckGo.com (or whatever search engine), you'll get a lot of info immediately. Look for the sites that are actual psychology/education/medical related and not the click-bait sensationalism "stories" you get from places like Vox or Buzzfeed.

^_^

Paul L. Ming

 

[Hussar]

For those worried about what this means for the direction of dnd going forward.

You should be worried.

The most iconic elements of dnd are a direct result of competitive play. The most iconic modules, the push for RAW Uber alles. And many other things.

If this proves to be very popular then, just like all those things you like about DnD, you can bet it will be incorporated into the game going forward.

Just like all the things you DO like about DnD.

 

[Charlaquin]

What a weird choice.

 

[GreyLord]

Hey, they are trying something new.

Is that really such a bad thing? It can open new avenues of fun and enjoyment. It's tapping into things from the past and if it works and spreads fun for others, so much the better.

If it doesn't work out, then it's a pitch and a miss.

 

[Charlaquin]

Hey, they are trying something new.

Is that really such a bad thing? It can open new avenues of fun and enjoyment. It's tapping into things from the past and if it works and spreads fun for others, so much the better.

If it doesn't work out, then it's a pitch and a miss.

I don't think it's a bad thing, it's just very strange.

 

[dave2008]

Hiya.



I did my research. Of all the things I found out, the general consensus among professional psychologists and other mental health professionals, is that roughly 20% to 25% of people in positions of "power" (CEO's, Politicians, Lawyers, Police Officers, etc) have significant psychotic traits that would likely place them in the clinical category of psychopath or sociopath.

That is NOT to say that all psychopaths are knife-wielding maniacs...they aren't. Most aren't, actually. But CEO's was near the top of the list in every study or review I found.

As for the relationship to D&D...I wasn't making that jump. I was saying that the idea of eSports D&D was likely coming from a position up high deciding they wanted more money/market-share/power and figured merging D&D's recent uptick in popularity with the silly amount of money that eSports (and other "televised competitive events") was somehow a win/win idea. And that this idea was not hatched due to any sort of actual first-hand experience or even second-hand (like, "My kids play and they told me that..."). The person(s) making the final decision to support such an idea were ultimately the CEO's and other's in a position to decide to do it; hence, the psychopath/sociopath connection. (re: the CEO's are doing it for want of more money/power and not because they think it would be cool, fun and engaging for others because they find it so).

So, as you can see, I didn't say it to "be a jerk" or for "no reason".

PS: If you type in "psychopaths sociopaths CEO's position power" into DuckDuckGo.com (or whatever search engine), you'll get a lot of info immediately. Look for the sites that are actual psychology/education/medical related and not the click-bait sensationalism "stories" you get from places like Vox or Buzzfeed.

^_^

Paul L. Ming

I'm glad you did some research.

 

[dynath]

When the CEO of WotC commented on competitive game play and the article went up people just went off saying "it's just MtG". I saw this coming its such a weird and idiotic move to me. I know they used to do it back in the 80s, then stopped because it didn't work. I know live play youtubers & twich streamers are big but I don't see that translating well into "competitive" dnd. Good luck to their bank accounts, trust companies to make everything competitive multiplayer with recurrent consumer spending micro-transactions.