End of Editions?

[Nathal]

I wonder if I'll ever see the day when Hasbro calls it quits on new editions of D&D, repackages the whole game as a single book and kills all support material, fires all the staff, and allows gamers to find support material forevermore on Ebay. I fear that may happen some day due to attrition as more and more gamers shy away from new editions. Hmmm...

 

[Nightfall]

Yeah right...Some where though some way D&D will come back. They can kill the material. They can't kill the dream.

 

[Nathal]

Yep, RPGs are here to stay. I am going to buy 3.5, hoping the books are better organized and more clear in the rules presentation. If I had bought a ton of 3.0 stuff or had a solid game going currently I would not buy 3.5. Honestly, I see nothing wrong with either decision, but Wizards had better make damn sure 4th Edition is the most dazzling version of D&D in 30 years if they dare release it before 10 years from now.

 

[2d6]

I wonder if I'll ever see the day when Hasbro calls it quits on new editions of D&D, repackages the whole game as a single book and kills all support material, fires all the staff, and allows gamers to find support material forevermore on Ebay. I fear that may happen some day due to attrition as more and more gamers shy away from new editions. Hmmm...

From a practicle standpoint, I don't think that would kill the game. Sure, Hasbro owns the PI and the associated trademarks and copywrites, but the important part, the SRD, is out there for anyone to use.

I'm certain that if Hasbro shut down the DnD team, folks like Monte Cook would just put out thier own DMG and MM and everybody moves on. Would it be DnD? not in name, but in spirit, i think so.

2d6

 

[William Ronald]

I think the game will survive because we, the gaming public, have decided it will survive. As I understand it, the OGL and D20 license are irrevocable. So, third party products could still be produced -- including alternative PHBs, DMGs, and the like.

Additionally, if Hasbro wanted to sell the D&D name -- remember they are a company that desires to make a profit -- someone would take them up on the offer. So, I would not be pessimistic about D&D's future. It survived unreasonable attacks in the 1980s, and bad management in the 1990s. So, I think the game will be around for a while.

 

[jgbrowning]

I think the game will survive because we, the gaming public, have decided it will survive. As I understand it, the OGL and D20 license are irrevocable. So, third party products could still be produced -- including alternative PHBs, DMGs, and the like.

Additionally, if Hasbro wanted to sell the D&D name -- remember they are a company that desires to make a profit -- someone would take them up on the offer. So, I would not be pessimistic about D&D's future. It survived unreasonable attacks in the 1980s, and bad management in the 1990s. So, I think the game will be around for a while.

I think a smaller company with less demands for large profit margins would pick up DnD in a heartbeat.

DnD is profitable, but probably not as profitable as many large corps would like.

joe b.

 

[William Ronald]

jgbrowning wrote:

I think a smaller company with less demands for large profit margins would pick up DnD in a heartbeat.

DnD is profitable, but probably not as profitable as many large corps would like.

I have known several people who said they think that DnD would be better off as the key part of a small company, rather than a small part of a major corporation.

I think Green Ronin or White Wolf would be interested. One ironic possibility would be for Peter Adkison to buy the DnD license (possibly with the Magic: the Gathering license).

 

[Tarrasque Wrangler]

Re: Re: End of Editions?

From a practicle standpoint, I don't think that would kill the game. Sure, Hasbro owns the PI and the associated trademarks and copywrites, but the important part, the SRD, is out there for anyone to use.

I believe I heard somewhere back when 3E came out (Monte maybe?), that the SRD had this feature designed into it on purpose, in case WOTC ever folded and/or the D&D line died. From my understanding, the SRD is as eternal and irrevocable as death and taxes. Even if WOTC or Hasbro wanted to revoke the OGL, they couldn't. They could stop updating the SRD, and it would be stuck at 3.5 forever, but frankly I could think of worse fates.

 

[Talaysen]

I have to say I would REALLY like to see Hasbro just turn around and sell off WotC (or just D&D) as EM TV recently sold off the Muppets. (Which went back to the Henson family, btw.) Then again, EM was under a great deal of financial strain and needed to sell their assets to get out of debt...so the first thing we need to do is completely undermine Hasbro's finances.

...

Right, here's the plan: Group A will sneak into Hasbro's corporate offices and release a number of highly damaging press releases. Group B, consisting of Hasbro's shareholders and friends/acquaintances/brokers of same, will start selling like mad (or convince shareholders to do so) and start a panic. Group C will remain at home, deny involvement and sip lemonade.

I'm only kidding of course. Heh...heh heh...

 

[Mark]

I fear that may happen some day due to attrition as more and more gamers shy away from new editions. Hmmm...

Except the sales numbers directly state that the exact opposite has happened. 3.0 out sold all previous single editions and has brought more people to the hobby than ever before. It may be that the ".5" might show to be a plateau for sales, but another possibility exists. We may find that even more folks come to the hobby, and that a lot of players previously shy about becoming DMs see this as an opportunity to stretch their imaginations and give it a go. I'm optimistic about this new edition.