Lady Dragon
First Post
I can't believe how out of control the responses are to this rumor. Even if it is true in full or in part it is probably only being considered and its not all that bad if it is set in stone.
The first rumor that they are working on it. Yes I suppose that they probably are a good redesign that is worthy of being called Dungeons and Dragons will take several years to develop.
As to when it will be released I don't see how it could be before 2008 since they have already released their list of Jan. thru Apr 2007 release schedule and there is no sign of slowing down. One product which is a super module for FR actually mentions that is the first of three in a set. WOTC always releases there biggest products around gencon and why would they change now. I think they might annonce it sometime in 2007 either in summer or perhaps in Dec.
As to the second rumor of it being heavy mini related well duh! what do you think they are going to to with it. Mini's sell well (I certainly have enough of them) and they will want to keep on selling mini's. And I hate to admit it but I like playing the game with my mini's.
Also mini's need D+D to sell, I imagine their are only three reasons to buy these mini's 1. because you just like to display them. 2.because you play the minitures game or some other mini's game and finally 3. because you use them as prop in your D+D game. or finally all of the above. If wizards lost reason three they might as well stop selling mini's.
Now on to rumor number three about smaller packages. Where does everyone get the idea of this meaning cards or collecting. I take it to mean instead of 3 320 page books maybe there will be 6 192 page books, or something similar I,ve always thought that it wouldn't hard to separate magic out of the PH with a separte book for spells and maybe even magic items. So there could be a character book, a magic book, a DM book, a combat book, a monster book and a options books.
Finally to the last rumor, selling the RPG department. This if it is true is not the same as selling D+D. If they sold D+D they would lose the right to use the name with their mini's and their video games and all other endorsements and lisences, thus leaving them with magic as their only money maker since D+D and mini's are tied together.
Selling their RPG department however would be more like when they sold the Magazine dept. to Paizo. You have to realize that Paizo does not own dungeon or dragon magazines, they don't even own the content that they put into them. Paizo simply took over running the periodicals dept and they inherited those wizards emplyees that worked in those depts. And now they publish those magazine and take the risks as well as the profits and since they are much smaller than WOTC they can make a profit, And I might add they do a fantastic job which helps them I'm sure.
So all that being said what selling The RPG dept would mean is that a third party company would be granted lisense to use all of WOTC's D+D product identity to produce D+D supplements to support the new 4E game. That company might also inherit all of their RPG employees as well. I'm sure they would still work closely with WOTC in order to coordinate with the minature dept. and with Paizo and the magazines (That is if Paizo isn"t the lucky lisencee,)
The first rumor that they are working on it. Yes I suppose that they probably are a good redesign that is worthy of being called Dungeons and Dragons will take several years to develop.
As to when it will be released I don't see how it could be before 2008 since they have already released their list of Jan. thru Apr 2007 release schedule and there is no sign of slowing down. One product which is a super module for FR actually mentions that is the first of three in a set. WOTC always releases there biggest products around gencon and why would they change now. I think they might annonce it sometime in 2007 either in summer or perhaps in Dec.
As to the second rumor of it being heavy mini related well duh! what do you think they are going to to with it. Mini's sell well (I certainly have enough of them) and they will want to keep on selling mini's. And I hate to admit it but I like playing the game with my mini's.
Also mini's need D+D to sell, I imagine their are only three reasons to buy these mini's 1. because you just like to display them. 2.because you play the minitures game or some other mini's game and finally 3. because you use them as prop in your D+D game. or finally all of the above. If wizards lost reason three they might as well stop selling mini's.
Now on to rumor number three about smaller packages. Where does everyone get the idea of this meaning cards or collecting. I take it to mean instead of 3 320 page books maybe there will be 6 192 page books, or something similar I,ve always thought that it wouldn't hard to separate magic out of the PH with a separte book for spells and maybe even magic items. So there could be a character book, a magic book, a DM book, a combat book, a monster book and a options books.
Finally to the last rumor, selling the RPG department. This if it is true is not the same as selling D+D. If they sold D+D they would lose the right to use the name with their mini's and their video games and all other endorsements and lisences, thus leaving them with magic as their only money maker since D+D and mini's are tied together.
Selling their RPG department however would be more like when they sold the Magazine dept. to Paizo. You have to realize that Paizo does not own dungeon or dragon magazines, they don't even own the content that they put into them. Paizo simply took over running the periodicals dept and they inherited those wizards emplyees that worked in those depts. And now they publish those magazine and take the risks as well as the profits and since they are much smaller than WOTC they can make a profit, And I might add they do a fantastic job which helps them I'm sure.
So all that being said what selling The RPG dept would mean is that a third party company would be granted lisense to use all of WOTC's D+D product identity to produce D+D supplements to support the new 4E game. That company might also inherit all of their RPG employees as well. I'm sure they would still work closely with WOTC in order to coordinate with the minature dept. and with Paizo and the magazines (That is if Paizo isn"t the lucky lisencee,)
It's already starting with character generation...
