Is D&D (WotC) flaming out?

[amerigoV]

That may just be my perception, of course, but it did lead to this question: is WotC (and by extension, D&D itself) flaming out?

Yep, might as well stick a fork in it!


My real answer is this - its like Star Wars - even though everything after the first movie was at best OK, we all go see whatever new movie/show comes out. The same thing with D&D - when the new edition comes out, all you lemmings will buy the first set of books no matter if you are currently a 4er, 3er, Pathfinder, Savage Worlder, or Olde Skooler.*

* I actually have high hopes for 5e - I am a man of the odd numbered edition (1e, 3e), but not the evens (2e, 4e).

 

[Crothian]

I have something to say. It's better to burn out then to fade away!

 

[Cyronax]

Essentials seems to have a different focus than other D&D mid-edition revamps - it appears to be designed to grow the brand and clean things up a little rather than a major tweak to the rules.

On the setting note, Dark Sun was out-sourced for 3.0/3.5, and Eberron ended up not getting nuked because of the fan fall-out that happened from giving Forgotten Realms the Dragonlance treatment.

I suspect that WotC is more intereted in trying out new things with the brand in order to try and grow it instead of sticking to previous publishing cycles.

I think you were referring to my post earlier. Re: Dark Sun and Eberron, I was actually just being sarcastic. I like how both turned out. Its nice that they stuck to their 'core values'. As for FR, I personally love the RSE -- Spellplague. FR, more than all of TSR/WotC settings, was pretty bloated and needed some sort of pruning.

 

[Dark Mistress]

You know instead of having posts like this, i would like to see everyone that still goes for edition wars, to get in speedo's oil and wrestle it out. I would pay good money to see that.

 

[Cyronax]

You know instead of having posts like this, i would like to see everyone that still goes for edition wars, to get in speedo's oil and wrestle it out. I would pay good money to see that.

Since gamers are typically the paragon of fitness......this doesn't sound that bad. Maybe it should be a GenCon staple and a half-time show for the ENies......

C.I.D.

 

[Shazman]

To the OP. Take a look at MerricB's post about the same thing. I think it's titled something like "Will 2011 be the last year for WotC D&D?

 

[carmachu]

The D&D design team at WotC split into two groups earlier in the year. The fruits of that change should be evident late next year.

I think it's premature to say D&D as a whole is flaming out, but essentials re-imagining came out less than 2.5 years from the June 2008 release of 4E so it's certainly a shorter cycle than in the past.

One could already argue its started already before, with the new red box, the essentials. They're alreday moving slightly away from 4e with reimaging.

 

[Ycore Rixle]

The short answer is yes. WOTC D&D is flaming out. It's sad.

The good news is that RPGs are not dying. Shifting, as always, but doing just fine in their little niche. I have no doubt that D&D and tabletop RPGs will continue to be a perfectly playable hobby for the remainder of my lifetime, and I plan on being around for another half century at least.

Will WOTC be able to re-light the D&D engine, or will someone else buy the brand and do it? My guess is that WOTC holds on to D&D and makes a marginally better 5e. 4.5e/Essentials is already much better than 4e. Heinsoo and Collins are both gone. Mearls seems to have seen the light. The most important guy is Slaviscek at the moment; I'm not sure if he understands what went wrong with 4e or not. I never thought he would have made that mistake in the first place, so who knows. But my gut says how could he not have learned from the debacle, and that 4.5e/Essentials is evidence of that learning.

 

[Ariosto]

Maybe WotC "flamed out" long ago, if all people are interested in is regurgitation of D&D and Magic The Gathering.

Would you be interested in Dream Craft, Everway or The Primal Order?

How about Diplomacy, Axis & Allies and Robo Rally? Heroscape? Alpha Blitz, Guillotine or Pivot?

Can't sell you Barbarossa or Wellington's Victory? Dawn Patrol, Star Probe or Divine Right? No Cavaliers & Roundheads, Chainmail, Tricolor, Tractics or Don't Give Up The Ship? No Awful Green Things From Outer Space, Snit's Revenge, Knights of Camelot or Dungeon!? They've Invaded Pleasantville or Revolt on Antares?

How about Steppe, Maxi Bour$e, 4th Dimension, Chase or Elixir?

You wouldn't even buy Boot Hill, Gamma World, Top Secret, Gangbusters or Star Frontiers?

These particular titles are not the point. The point is that a game company thrives on selling games to gamers. There is only so much innovation to wring out of a single franchise. TSR Hobbies, Inc., published many different games -- and, in the 1990s, Wizards of the Coast tried to branch out as well rather than get stuck as a "one trick pony".

 

[JoeGKushner]

Paizo hasn't been deviating much from WotC in this regard, unless one considers cranking out two distinct Adventure Paths per year to be "innovative".

It's innovative if you compare it to the adventure material WoTC has been putting out in Dungeon. Which to me is a sad thing. It seems, at least adventure wise, WoTC had a golden opportunity to learn from all Paizo did with Dungeon in print and with their Adventure Path material and decided that it was hard work, milk some old titles after the one adventure path they did do, and forsake higher level play and focus on adventurers that were almost entirely strung together encounters.