rogueattorney
Adventurer
Let's put aside for a moment the fact that WotC has been telling the entire rpg community that "adventures don't sell" for more than a decade.
Let's forget for a second that WotC has repeatedly said that core rule books are their main source of D&D income, and that by releasing what will soon be their 5th distinct set of core rules in approximately 14 years they have engaged in a business plan that reaffirms their stance.
If they are really, truly intent of serving all groups of D&D players, shouldn't their focus be more on supplementary materials? By which I mean adventures, campaign settings, and other tools that can be used by a broad swath of D&D players.
I think we can take for granted that a certain percentage of 0-4th edition players will buy and use the 5e rules. It's also true that a certain percentage of those same players will continue to happily play the game they're playing right now. Wouldn't it then make sense for WotC, if they are really trying to get everyone back under the same umbrella, to offer products that can easily be of use to all of those players?
To put it simply, I think that rules divide and adventures unite. We can all talk about our adventures in the Caves of Chaos on the frontiers of the Pomarj, about how our crazy party-mates set off the alarms in the Shrine of Evil Chaos, and how we had to fight our way through a swarm of undead monsters to get back to the Keep safely. That's edition neutral. It's when we talk about how that adventure is (or, too often, should be) adjudicated that the divisions come in.
I know, personally, that it's very unlikely that the group I'm in will switch over to 5e. I think that I am pretty unlikely to purchase any 5e rules if my group doesn't play the game. However, if WotC were to produce products that were of use to the game that we're playing, it would be a completely different matter.
I sometimes feel that people have a negative opinion of so-called "generic" or "un-stat-ed" game products other than mini's and game boards. However, I think that there have been some phenomenal products over the last 10 years or so and I wonder whether people's opinions of these might be better if they had "official Dungeons & Dragons product" on the front cover.
Let's forget for a second that WotC has repeatedly said that core rule books are their main source of D&D income, and that by releasing what will soon be their 5th distinct set of core rules in approximately 14 years they have engaged in a business plan that reaffirms their stance.
If they are really, truly intent of serving all groups of D&D players, shouldn't their focus be more on supplementary materials? By which I mean adventures, campaign settings, and other tools that can be used by a broad swath of D&D players.
I think we can take for granted that a certain percentage of 0-4th edition players will buy and use the 5e rules. It's also true that a certain percentage of those same players will continue to happily play the game they're playing right now. Wouldn't it then make sense for WotC, if they are really trying to get everyone back under the same umbrella, to offer products that can easily be of use to all of those players?
To put it simply, I think that rules divide and adventures unite. We can all talk about our adventures in the Caves of Chaos on the frontiers of the Pomarj, about how our crazy party-mates set off the alarms in the Shrine of Evil Chaos, and how we had to fight our way through a swarm of undead monsters to get back to the Keep safely. That's edition neutral. It's when we talk about how that adventure is (or, too often, should be) adjudicated that the divisions come in.
I know, personally, that it's very unlikely that the group I'm in will switch over to 5e. I think that I am pretty unlikely to purchase any 5e rules if my group doesn't play the game. However, if WotC were to produce products that were of use to the game that we're playing, it would be a completely different matter.
I sometimes feel that people have a negative opinion of so-called "generic" or "un-stat-ed" game products other than mini's and game boards. However, I think that there have been some phenomenal products over the last 10 years or so and I wonder whether people's opinions of these might be better if they had "official Dungeons & Dragons product" on the front cover.
