WotC Hasbro CEO Chris Cox, "I would say that the underlying thesis of our D&D business is all about digital,”

[Scribe]

Dont have the means to watch this, but I hope they reference BG1, IWD, and NWN (especially its mod potential).

PC gaming should have always been a heavy part of their portfolio if they were looking to 'monetize' the brand.

It's tangential now, but I'm of the opinion that WotC was being extremely disingenuous with that particular clause. They cited it repeatedly, to the point of making it sound like they felt like they had a moral responsibility to eliminate the OGL 1.0a in order to keep the hobby diverse and inclusive, refusing to countenance that what they were proposing was a solution in search of a problem...all while putting most of their focus into VTT-related aspects of the license ("no spell animations!").

It was always a smoke screen. Their position regarding diversity and inclusivity is nothing but empty talk that they think will aid in the main goal ($$$), and if they found that it was actually harming their financial goals, they would toss it like an updated rule that did not get over 69% approval in a survey.

 

[darjr]

Dont have the means to watch this, but I hope they reference BG1, IWD, and NWN (especially its mod potential).

PC gaming should have always been a heavy part of their portfolio if they were looking to 'monetize' the brand.



It was always a smoke screen. Their position regarding diversity and inclusivity is nothing but empty talk that they think will aid in the main goal ($$$), and if they found that it was actually harming their financial goals, they would toss it like an updated rule that did not get over 69% approval in a survey.

I added the transcript. But please go watch it when you can. Give him the views.

 

[Reynard]

I think it is funny that the company that is still scared to sell PDFs of their new books is going "all in on digital."

 

[Parmandur]

I think it is funny that the company that is still scared to sell PDFs of their new books is going "all in on digital."

PDFs are not a current digital strategy. They sell Beyond copies instead.

 

[Reynard]

PDFs are not a current digital strategy. They sell Beyond copies instead.

That's so weird when literally every other RPG company, big or small, sells PDFs.

 

[Oofta]

That's so weird when literally every other RPG company, big or small, sells PDFs.

Other companies don't have DndBeyond.

 

[Oofta]

Hard to say from the outside. The designers seem to be enjoying their work, at least, including the fresh blood like Juatice or De Armas.

I've known people who put up with a lot of abuse and didn't say a thing, others have taken being told that they need to make a minor change as a major affront to their dignity. It's also quite possible that there have been things happen that shouldn't have, someone got reprimanded and the issue was fixed. Or any number of combinations.

Without actual evidence, we will simply never know.

 

[Parmandur]

That's so weird when literally every other RPG company, big or small, sells PDFs.

Which means that the majority of the market doesn't sell PDFs.

Yet they still have a more modern digital version strategy.

 

[billd91]

I think it is funny that the company that is still scared to sell PDFs of their new books is going "all in on digital."

I can see the response now...

Sorry, I left something out. I said we're going all in on digital... in ways we can control.

 

[darjr]

WotC DOES sell PDFs. And from reports makes good money on them. Just not for select things.

It’s a strategy that doesn’t make much sense to me anymore.

Except as a way to make people go to DnDBeyond.