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

[Micah Sweet]

I put a 5, realizing I'm in the minority. I'm glad some of you are 1-2s - you're probably not as unhappy as I am with the hobby.
Not only is it the scandals, the corporate mindset has taken over design and product development.
"We're never going to change the game. There's never going to be a new edition. You're just going to get 5e for the rest of your life. We're not going to put in design twists that will cause trouble for the VTT or character designer. Everything must fit into the existing framework. We can't create anything bold and experimental that might frighten our shareholders. We're going to lean on nostalgia instead of creating anything new. (IIRC, the last new campaign setting was Eberron two decades ago.)"
D&D is honestly just boring to me. It was already a backwards-facing product in 2014. It feels dated and bland moreso in 2024.

Agreed (although I voted 3). I love TTRPGs, but WotC's "official" game is far less interesting and fun to me than it used to be, largely because of choices WotC has made in the last several years regarding new products and a change in design philosophy. With the occasional exception, for my preferences WotC has been going downhill in product quality since Tasha's, and 5.5 has accelerated the process. The OGL mess has only made me feel less sanguine about the companies long-term goals. Couple that with my having found an alternative that I find superior in nearly every metric (I think you know what game I mean), and I just enjoy official D&D far less than I used to.

 

[OptionalRule]

DnD isn't a single thing so this is hard to answer.

• All editions of DnD? None at all. DnD is beyond a single company, or edition.
• Modern DnD in general? A bit because WotC's behavior is curating a community that has some pretty toxic pockets by setting expectations both in the system and in terms of general behavior.
• In terms of current and future editions? Absolutly. WotC makes me reluctant to entangle any of my enjoyment with their products or brand strategies.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I didn't restate the controversies and anti-fan, anti-employee, and anti-industry issues they've created over the past year and a half. All that stuff makes Hasbro a pretty nasty company to my ethical barometer. So not only is it all that (OGL, Pinkertons, Christmas firings, AI policies, monetization statements, racism in Spelljammer, misprinted Deck of Many Things, etc), it's also the very real effect that corporatism has when it invades design.
From a creative standpoint, 5e seems like Rise of Skywalker and Marvel Phase 4. I'm sure the designers would love to do actual design work. I'm sure the writers would love to have the freedom to create engaging adventures instead of shoehorning IP cameos into the stories like in the Vecna adventure.
Hasbro has made the game worse since they've been more directly involved.
Has anything of at least average quality been produced in the last 5 years?

I've been trying to say this for years.

 

[Parmandur]

Heck, I barely look at politicians for leadership. Normally, I content myself with honest competence (and even that is quite hard to come by). In any case, toy-sellers are right out...

Honest competence is like gold, lol.

 

[R_J_K75]

I put a 5, realizing I'm in the minority. I'm glad some of you are 1-2s - you're probably not as unhappy as I am with the hobby.
Not only is it the scandals, the corporate mindset has taken over design and product development.
"We're never going to change the game. There's never going to be a new edition. You're just going to get 5e for the rest of your life. We're not going to put in design twists that will cause trouble for the VTT or character designer. Everything must fit into the existing framework. We can't create anything bold and experimental that might frighten our shareholders. We're going to lean on nostalgia instead of creating anything new. (IIRC, the last new campaign setting was Eberron two decades ago.)"
D&D is honestly just boring to me. It was already a backwards-facing product in 2014. It feels dated and bland moreso in 2024.

This exactly how I feel. Only thing I can add is that I was never a huge fan of 5E to begin with. The only upcoming product I'm even remotely interested in is the Forgotten Realms product coming out November 2025, which seems like a very slow release schedule IMO. I doubt I'll actually follow through and buy it ~15 months from now, as I'll more than likely have lost all interest in D&D by then, which I pretty much already have.

 

[John Dallman]

I voted 1 - tiny to no impact.

Hasbro/WotC are the copyright holder on the stuff I play (OD&D, AD&D1e) , and I will occasionally buy a PDF from them, but I have very little interest in their current products. They've been getting more and more prescriptive about the way their games should be played for decades, and their interests and mine have very little overlap now.

I have anti-interest in organised play, online character sheet automation, or similar things obviously intended to get me to give them more money.

 

[mamba]

I've been trying to say this for years.

not sure why you put ‘trying’ there

 

[AK81]

For me it counts a lot. I really dislike how they have operated lately. It bothers me enough that I won't buy any more books from them. Unless they make something that I really really like. I still like 5e, but now I have so many other options that I don't need to relay on them anymore. I will just play Advanced 5e, Tales of the Valiant or 2014 instead.

 

[schneeland]

Went with 2, the only one that really mattered was the OGL, they are still on parole for that one, all the others I simply shrugged off.

To me it is more important that I like the product, but they have not exactly been hitting it out of the park with that one for a while. The direction they are taking the game in is not one I am very interested in

I think that sums up my position pretty well.
I do think that my current dissatisfaction with the product partly stems from the corporate structures in which it is created, but - the OGL issue aside - I really look more at the product than at the company that company that creates it.

 

[RoughCoronet0]

I would have put 0 of it was an option, but since it is not I put 1.

Honestly at this point, the “community” is a bigger killer of my interest or support in regards to various D&D or other TTRPG products then the company is. There have been quite a few products that I have ignored due to the way various parts of the community wants to shove it in my face while belittling me for liking D&D over the years. Both online and in really life. If you want to promote something to me, it would be real nice to not be talked down to in the process because I like D&D.

I just want to play the game I like playing, that I have formed so many memories with my friends and family with over the years without being shamed for it. I don’t begrudge anyone for not liking the game or those making it for whatever reason, no shade to any of them. But I don’t have to feel the same way just because some people think I should. If that makes me a sheeple or what have you, so be it.