WotC Guessing as to WotC's VTT plans

[Steel_Wind]

The concern would be, they release a Temple and Cavern set. So the only limit is your imagination...as long as it's a temple or cavern. But my adventure features a crypt! Well, the Crypt Expansion for the Temple Pack is coming in 2026.

As it stands, I can grab any one of thousands of 2D maps online and use them. Hell, I never have to leave the Dyson Logos site if I like his style. But maybe they'll give the community tools to create these assets, and we'll have thousands of community-made 3D environments to choose from. I'll be surprised, but that would be nice.

That's true.

But if I am planning on finally leveraging the D&D Brand to make World of Warcraft money, I need to sell subscriptions to not just DMs, but players, too.

They want to bill every member of every gaming group monthly. Make no mistake, that's the plan.

MMO money. That's the goal. It always should have been, to be perfectly honest. I know that may be a dirty idea here, but if I own the D&D brand? I'd be demanding to know why these other companies are taking what should always have been my money.

Properly exploited, the D&D Brand should make money at a scale which makes M:TG look like its poor cousin. This has been true for 20+ years.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

They want to bill every member of every gaming group monthly. Make no mistake, that's the plan.

I doubt this. The current sub allows a DM to share their content. I could easily see the VTT added onto it.

 

[darjr]

I doubt this. The current sub allows a DM to share their content. I could easily see the VTT added onto it.

I agree.

However I do think it need to be discussed. I’m sure someone at WotC has.

Is this a deal breaker for anyone?

 

[MonsterEnvy]

I agree.

However I do think it need to be discussed. I’m sure someone at WotC has.

Is this a deal breaker for anyone?

No it would just make the sub a better deal.

My hope is that Beyond content you buy gets added to the VTT.

 

[Steel_Wind]

I doubt this. The current sub allows a DM to share their content. I could easily see the VTT added onto it.

The number of employees and sheer cost it takes to create sharing rules text is minor.

And to be blunt, those employees don't cost NEARLY as much as competent programmers, environmental & texture artists, 3d creature artists and technical artists and tech designers. On average, those employees will cost 3x as much as one designer for 5e - at least. And the numbers required exceed the numbers required to work on rules and adventure design for 5e by an order of magnitude.

They are not giving that away for free.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

The number of employees and sheer cost it takes to create sharing rules text is minor.

And to be blunt, those employees don't cost NEARLY as much as competent programmers, environmental & texture artists, 3d creature artists and technical artists and tech designers. On average, those employees will cost 3x as much as one designer for 5e - at least. And the numbers required exceed the numbers required to work on rules and adventure design for 5e by an order of magnitude.

They are not giving that away for free.

Of course not, the sub costs money after all.

 

[Benjamin Olson]

I don't know why it would do this, given that people use minis and boards.

And they'll keep doing so. My concern is that those who come to the hobby playing within a 3d vtt paradigm will not appreciate how it is constraining their creativity and options, in part because it will be constraints fundamentally familiar to many of them from the video games it looks like, of only being able to do what someone has pre-programmed in and made assets for.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

And they'll keep doing so. My concern is that those who come to the hobby playing within a 3d vtt paradigm will not appreciate how it is constraining their creativity and options, in part because it will be constraints fundamentally familiar to many of them from the video games it looks like, of only being able to do what someone has pre-programmed in and made assets for.

I see it as no different than using minis and boards.

 

[Hussar]

And they'll keep doing so. My concern is that those who come to the hobby playing within a 3d vtt paradigm will not appreciate how it is constraining their creativity and options, in part because it will be constraints fundamentally familiar to many of them from the video games it looks like, of only being able to do what someone has pre-programmed in and made assets for.

And, as someone who has been using other peoples maps for a lot of years, I really don't think it's too much of an issue. There's just so bloody much of it. I don't spend two hours making a half-assed map that I could do myself. I spend five hours modifying someone else's half assed map.

Jokes aside though, I could really see, if they do it right, being able to just draw a 2d line map and then the program turns it into a 3d set. Or randomly generated maps as well - Hey, I need a crypt, click, click, click. Done. We've had random dungeon generators around for decades. One tied to a decent graphical system would be pretty cool.

But as far as things like "skins", I really don't see that. You don't play with strangers, by and large. Most people are playing with people they know. And, unlike Fortnight, you're playing with these same people, week after week, for many, many hours. Someone coming in with their latest cat skin for their toon just isn't going to fly in most groups.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

I have said it in other place and I am going to say it here again: Hasbro could enjoy a special advantage over its competitors thanks the licences: One-D&D could sell packs based in no-Hasbro franchises: Conan, Willow, the Witcher, Final Fantasy, Warhammer, Assasin's Creed.. Other ace up the sleeve could be modules about optional rules, for example managing a domain for Birthirt, or ruling a mercenary squad for a batlefield war game.

Other idea is selling "multicompatible DLCs", for example a pack of cosmetic elements could be used in different titles, and even in off-line videogames. The pack "creatures of Witchlight" could be used in game B, game C and game D even when there are created by different companies.

Other of the possible next steps is using the same graphic motor for other games with more-arcade style.

I would bet one of the Hasbro's goals is to own their own game creation system/game-maker-software, created by them or by means of acquisitions. Wouldn't you do the same?

Game Maker - TV Tropes

Due to the massive complexity of the majority of major programming languages, and the difficulty of actually learning them in the first place, a small-but-dedicated subgenre of software has arisen: the "game maker." Simply put, a "game maker" is …

tvtropes.org

Game creation system - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Forgotten Realms: Unlimited Adventures - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

But here the handicap is 5ed to be limited until now to the fantasy genre, nothing of modern age or sci-fi yet.

* I suggest WotC allowing a fandom web, out of official channels, for fanfiction. Here the risk is smaller about troubles with possible NSFW content.