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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Malmuria" data-source="post: 9156249" data-attributes="member: 7030755">Last year wotc said that they want to create a "recurrent spending environment."  Arguably, this has been the problem (from a business perspective) with dnd and ttrpg since the beginning: all you really need to play is a rulebook-or-three, some dice, and your imagination. So how to get people to keeping buying more things that they don't strictly 'need' to play the game.  This could be 1) supplements with more options, 2) settings, lore, metaplot 3) adventures 4) game aids, branded content, etc.  Too much (1) or (2) is arguably bad for the mid- and long-term viability of the game and its design, as they create too much overhead for dms as the game becomes unbalanced, leading to a new edition.  (3) works, but one only has time to run so many adventures, so they become written to be read and thus harder to actually use. (4) doesn't affect the game, but requires people buy-in to the brand because it's the most obviously unnecessary.  The current approach, judging by their investors calls, seems to be to lean into digital game aids--dnd beyond, the 3dVTT--as the surest path to create this recurrent spending environment.  This is a risk, and could fail, as it has the potential to actually affect the design of the game and lead to the same problems of overhead (on both DMs and their computers).  Or the market could take it as something nice but 'extra' and not really needed (which it is), and the huge investment of the vtt could be a flop.  If the attempt to create this recurrent spending environment does not go well, it will likely have an effect on the game comparable  to the risky business decisions of previous editions, i.e. a massive review of the business strategy that would be extremely disruptive to players.</blockquote>

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