WotC How much does Hasbro / WotC impact your feelings towards D&D?

[DinoInDisguise]

Oh yeah, that sure worked out for streaming. Everyone tried to make a copy of shiny new thing and now they're all slowly dying off one after another, while Netflix remains as dominant force and is jacking up the prices because they know people have nowere to go. Wait.

So I have a quick question. Is WotC allowed to compete in this market?

I ask this because you seem to be arguing in this post, and in prior posts, that WotC making a good product is bad. Does that mean that WotC making a bad product is best for consumers? Or is WotC making any product bad? Is WotC just not able to compete, in your view, without causing issues?

There's an analogy here with criminal behavior. If someone wanted to go to the bank. But it's, hypothetically, possible they pull out a tommy gun and rob that bank. Should they not go to the bank based on the mere possibility? Should we presume any one who wants to go to the bank has that intent?

Here is another example;

The issue is, that if D&D Beyond becomes THE main way through which the producers and customers interact and exchange money, it if becomes THE main source of profit for the 3rd party publishers...What's stopping WotC from implementing such rule then, when Kobold Press & others no longer can financially afford to deny them and leave D&D Beyond?

The problem here is that this requires two parties to agree to the terms to begin with. And every third party on DNDBeyond has other methods of selling their product. But because it is, hypothetically, possible that this happens, WotC shouldn't pursue making better products?

Isn't that the same as the tommy gun example? Aren't we telling WotC not to go to the bank, because it's possible they find a tommy gun and decide to rob it? Even if that's not currently the plan or intent? Essentially, dictating a course of action on presumed intent?

Seems utterly wild and unsustainable to me as I read it. But I could be misunderstanding. A world where presumed intent is the standard is scary indeed.

 

[mamba]

The only thing that would concern me is if WotC started buying out the main VTTs only to shut them down. I see no reason to believe that is going to happen

what about not extending their license agreements....

 

[Oofta]

what about not extending their license agreements....

That would be another problem, and something else that has not happened and is unlikely happen.

 

[Zardnaar]

I also boycott tea!

Because it's not gin.

Beer.

 

[Zardnaar]

Possessing one or more cats has turned out to be a viable solution to this dilemma. You get to re-reuse all those boxes, including the gobs of recycled, puffed air packaging, sometimes for months on end.

We bought a new box for our cat yesterday. Came with free waste bin.

 

[Parmandur]

what about not extending their license agreements....

Not even that would be that concerning, given the rules are in Creative Commons: but I doubt WotC will since they enjoy money, particularly the kind that other people take risks to get.

 

[Micah Sweet]

That would be another problem, and something else that has not happened and is unlikely happen.

Why wouldn't that happen? Agreements like that get pulled all the time, usually because the owner wants direct control.

 

[mamba]

Not even that would be that concerning, given the rules are in Creative Commons

I would consider it concerning, even if you do not

Another advantage of having A5e and ToV around…

 

[Umbran]

Again, the difference between monopoly and monopsy - notice that all the names you listed are (relatively for rpg scene) big corproate things.

With respect, a mom-and-pop pizza place is a "big corporate thing" relative to the RPG scene. Other than Hasbro/WotC, nobody in the business is a big company, and they don't have the resources to really get into the shenanigans that we'd be concerned about from "big business".

 

[TheSword]

I think that film and TV streaming services are bad examples. Party because they have driven prices down for the consumer massively compared to the cost of watching films and boxes sets in the 90s and early 20’s and secondly they take the money and invest it into films and TV that may not otherwise get made. You can’t get down on Netflix for exercising a little control if they fronted up 2mil for you to make the thing.

Also there are dozens of streaming services so I don’t think there is the level of exploitative control that exists on say music streaming, Facebook, or YouTube.