[Lets's play] You're given total control of Dungeons & Dragons...

[Raven Crowking]

From reading this thread, I would quickly farm the work out to a committee of EN Worlders that have better plans for this eventuality than I do. And I would accept a hefty paycheque for so doing.



There are some seriously cool ideas already, and they are better than what I would come up with. I would admit that, and make use of it!


RC

 

[Mercurius]

Honestly, I'd probably let the name D&D die off and give subsequent versions a new name. I think the biggest travesty was when they flat out redesigned the game from the ground up, with nothing but stylistic similarities to the former game. Gradually shifting, sure. But why keep calling it D&D, anyways? (Please note that this isn't up for argument, it's just showing my thought process behind this.)
.....................

In addition, I'd abandon the idea of remaking the entire D&D game every couple of years. It's absolutely needless and stupid. Do you remake chess every couple of days? Yes, I'm willing to argue about it, and no, not here. Let each version of D&D stand as its own game, with its own flavors. We have enough already. Between oD&D, AD&D, BD&D, 3e, 3.5e, and 4e, and all the material for each game, we already have too many versions of D&D muddying the water. I'm not against a new fantasy roleplaying game but FOR GODS SAKE CALL IT SOMETHING ELSE.

As if you really thought you could get away with this without leading to some discussion! But we can do so in a civil manner.

The part I highlighted in bold-face begs the question: What is Dungeons & Dragons? We can probably all agree that it is many things and that we cannot pinpoint a narrow set of factors that clearly define it (and that we would all come up with factors we feel are primary).

But in a general sense, is D&D primarily the rules themselves or is it the themes "stylistic" elements that exist across editions? Is it a codified institution or is it a living, growing organism?

See, I would say it is the latter in both cases - that D&D is more primarily the themes it embodies than the specific rules that it uses; it is more primarily a living organism than a codified institution. It seems that, based upon your perspective in this post, that you feel the opposite. If so, why? If not, please explain.

(This does not necessarily mean that "anything goes" and whatever WotC decides is D&D is going to be a good thing. But it does mean that it is a changing, evolving thing, and that the specific rules--while important--are generally less important than the themes that they embody. However, I would argue that there are certain unkillable rules that simply must--or should--exist in any form of D&D and still retain its "D&Dness", such as Ability Scores, HP, and AC, and of course the d20 as the base die type. But beyond that there is a lot of flexibility).

 

[Scotley]

A daunting task.

I want to run a company that my customers and my employees can be happy about. So, that means being ethical, fair and people driven.

Embrace the future. DDI needs some work and it needs to be more flexible. As others have suggested, acquire smaller firms that have made strides in new tech such as phone based applications and digital tabletops. I guess it would too nerdy to own a D&D branded phone or pad computer with custom gaming apps built in, but I could at least get them gin up a prototype so I could have one (power corrupts what can I say?) Find a way to bring back .pdf's and offer regular updates to those who buy them.

Continue to encourage some good trends--encounters was targeted at new and lapsed players keep after them with other approaches, Essentials allows for more styles of play and may be a good thing to watch closely, continue to develop things to make the gamemaster's job easier and encourage development of good DM's. Great gamemasters are the key to bringing more players to the game. Figure out ways to encourage growth and development of DMing skills and creativity.

Realize that you can't make all of the people happy all the time. Each edition has its ardent supporters who aren't going to change. License out those retired properties to the fan-based community and make a few bucks off the grognards that will never buy the new stuff. Give them what they want and move on. Give the their own flavor of DDI and sell them a subscription. Would it really cost that much in terms of resources?

Start work on the inevitable 4.5 edition. Given the amount of errata out there this one is well on its way anyway. Make it work with Essentials and make it more modular so that you can make a few more of the people happy a little more often. This path leads to a regular and advanced version of 4.5. The advanced version, at least my vision of it, would bring back more focus on things other than combat and allow more options. I like having numerous styles of weapons, gear and armor to chose from. I'd like to tinker with modular classes, picking and choosing a bit. Despite the cries of greed, you have to have a regular cycle of new books or boxes coming out to keep the company profitable. If we don't do that then the whole hobby dies. Be open and honest about that with your customers.

Continue to branch out into additional genres--modern, future, etc. If the core mechanic is strong enough it easily support these new directions.

 

[MortonStromgal]

Continue with buisness as is while developing and playtesting 5e.

5e would have 2 sets of core PHB and DMG, one basic (lite rules, focus on roleplaying) and advanced (an add on with tactical and miniature combat). Character creation and leveling would need to be simple enough so as not to need any computer/excel/etc help. Advanced can be much more like how 4e is now. Get a video game ready for the 5e launch with an add for the RPG in the game intro. Bring back OGL and be willing to toss out "per day".

 

[Umbran]

Assuming, for the moment, that funding is not infinite, but that some significant new expenses can be incurred....

Continue with business as usual pending the following:

Step 1: Look at the sales, customer feedback, and survey information currently available with a critical eye towards how that data was gathered.

Step 2: Hire someone who really knows how to do survey work properly to do some serious market research.

Step 3: Make plans based on the results of Step 1 and 2.

 

[Upper_Krust]

1. Keep 4E for now...make more Dungeon Delves style products.

2. Boxed sets of painted minis to accompany each major adventure (path) release (so for example if we release Tomb of Horrors we simultaneously release a boxed set of all the mini's you would need to play that adventure).

3. Make more simple boardgame products (like Castle Ravenloft) to attract families and new players. Sell these in toy stores as well as game stores.

4. Make some computer/video games like Dragon Age (adventure style) and God of War (action style); perhaps with a partner company, but obviously based upon D&D.

5. Make a series of D&D movies...good ones I mean, using iconic characters and properties (heck I'll even write the script).

6. 5E (mechanically a lot like 4E) will have iPad/PC style support from the beginning.

The DMG will be an interactive walkthrough of the game with examples of actual play as video or graphic clips.

The Monster Manual will have an added sound file(s) for each monster which you can play at the game table (voices; war cries; death throes etc.)

7. Research augmented reality technology for 6E.

EDIT:

8: Somehow get Lego to take the Dungeons & Dragons brand and start making sets with it.

9. Have another D&D cartoon series made.

 

[Man in the Funny Hat]

1.
Boggle at the insanity of handing control to me when I don't even play the game as his company currently has it envisioned, packaged and marketed.

2.
Meeting with relevant personnel to have them explain to me, if possible, why the game as it currently exists is preferrable/superior to other, possibly multiple approaches to play.

3.
Probably start work on 5E. Now I hear what you're saying out there, but the premise IS that _I_ have been given control so pipe down pipsqueaks. I personally would want an edition that is greatly less rules-dominated, but not exactly rules-lite either. I want to be able to readily facilitate multiple approaches to playing D&D without players having to ever argue again that the current edition feels like the game is actively working against them. Players who want rules-lite can overlook/omit a lot of rules without feeling that the game will punish them for doing so. Players who want all-rules-all-the-time can... I dunno... obtain an Expanded Players Handbook that allows them to wallow in rules trivia to their hearts content. Meanwhile, the standard game will be somewhere in the middle which is where it should be, was originally intended to be, and where I feel works best - until somebody can show me hard data to the contrary.

4. RESEARCH. I want to know more than that people are playing the game. I want to know HOW they play it, why they play it the way they do, if they would/could play it differently, how all that has changed with each new editions release and as that edition has itself aged and grown. I need to know from my new top-o-the-heap position how the game got to where it is and where I can/should take it regardless of how I personally want to play it. Of course, MY way will have more chance of success because I've already been told that my way is better. Still, I'm not that self-obsessed and near-sighted.

5. Reprint out-of-print materials. If people want to keep buying the 1E DMG why the hell should I not profit from letting them buy a nice, new printed version from me instead of an old, tattered, used version? Besides, this in itself becomes ongoing research into what direction to take the game. If more people buy the previously oop products shouldn't I be profiting from them directly instead of letting a secondary market do so? Shouldn't I be providing the most support to the the most popular approach to the game rules? The current rules are always more popular because they are the current rules. I want to know which rules are better for the game and its growth. Making those decisions on hunches and simple momentum would be foolish.

6.
More research. What is THE FUTURE? People will probably always be playing pencil & paper D&D of all existing versions forevermore, but running ALL of D&D is more than just deciding what rules to use for p&p editions. Can play be better facilitated by computer hardware and software both for at-the-table gaming and online play? I personally love the potential of equipment like the MS Surface so should I be investing D&D in that as well? If _I_ don't take D&D in that direction someone else WILL and I'm left with 1000 diehard luddites carping about how things USED to be. D&D doesn't have to be all one thing and never anything else. Learning what it CAN be doesn't have to involve preventing it from being EVERYTHING else.

If D&D can be 1st Edition, 3rd Edition, 4th Edition, computer games for any and all of those, minis, play-by-post, novels, movies, TV, and more - shouldn'T ALL of that be what I want to have people buying from me in some way/shape/form? Aren't I just being an idiot if I'm telling my potential customers that D&D has to be THIS edition and no other simply because _I_ want it that way - and then watching as my potential customers do what they want with it anyway without paying me to do so?

7.
No battle plan survives contact with the enemy. My first general goal is learning where I really need to go. Only after I have that CLEARLY determined can I determine how best to lead my troops in that direction.

 

[tyrlaan]

Year 1
I'd kick things off by changing absolutely nothing. Why? Because I'm not about to jump into running a company with the assumption that I know what needs to be done or can be done without really knowing thing one about what's going on behind the scenes. So first order of business would be to learn what is going on behind the scenes.

• Where is money allocated
• Where are resources allocated
• Profit margins on various product lines
• Run a cost/benefit analysis on all aspects of WotC's offerings
• How much of Hasbro's cookie jar is available to WotC and are there restrictions on how that's divided across D&D and non-D&D WotC product
• What are Hasbro's expectations of WotC and the D&D brand

Once I know where the money is and how it's both coming in and going out, I can start to make wise decisions instead of off the cuff ones. For example, I look at Dungeon and Dragon today and I'm underwhelmed. There's likely a reason for it. But I can't rightly fix it with guns blazing and asking no questions. But once I know things like the DDI mags cost $X to maintain and earn us $Y and we have Z resources allocated to it, I can start to look deeper to "fix" it.

If I'm lucky, all this analysis can be done in time to start building future plans before the year is out, like end of Q4 I'm thinking.

Year 2
Planning time! Release schedules etc still unchanged at this point. I'll assume that everything I think is wrong/right today is actually true and that through some miracle of perceptive powers all the analysis work in Year 1 just proved I've been right all this time. Therefore I would start planning the following:

• Loosen up the GSL to remove some of the niggling bits that bother 3PPs. Finish planning and implement by Q4 of Year 2.
• Take a serious look at marketing strategy. Brainstorm new ideas to bring D&D to even more people. Planning done by Q2 of Year 2 and implemented by Q4 of Year 2.
• Reinvigorate Dragon and Dungeon. Whatever this really requires. I'd be open to anything that fits the company budget, whether it’s paying more for freelancers, hiring extra help, revamping content management software. Whatever it takes. Finish planning by Q3 of Year 2 to implement by Q2 of Year 3.
• Identify a way to release cost-effective revised rulebooks. I'd go into this accepting the fact that it might not be feasible, but I'd make sure it’s thoroughly investigated/researched. Finish planning and implement by Q1 of Year 3 (if doable).
• Make sure certain products are on the roadmap if they aren't already to bring newer classes/races on par with other ones in terms of system support. I'm thinking Divine Power 2, Primal Power 2, etc.Finish planning by Q2 of Year 2 and implement by Q1 of Year 3.
• Look to sell off miniatures line/shut it down wholesale/possibly partner with another company. The plan is to get out of the business (unless the Year 1 research tells me this is a cash cow of course) other than to have someone else do the work and split the profits. A deal with Reaper sounds like a great idea.Finish planning by Q3 of Year 2 and implement by Q4 of Year 3
• DDI software components! My guess is a new development staff is needed. Assuming the money is there to do it, fire and hire is in order. Update CB to be more houserule friendly. Build out the missing slots in Adventure Tools. Finish planning the replacement of staff and allocation of resources by Q4 of Year 2 and implement by Q2 of Year 3. Planning of actual software changes starts Q1 of Year 3 with implementation by Q1 of Year 4.
• What to publish next! We need new material that people will buy and I would be a strong enemy of releasing a new edition thanks to the digital world and what it offers.Planning starts and runs straight into Year 3.

So really the only change that would come out from the customer perspective is an update to the GSL and maybe a new marketing campaign. Shocking? I don’t think so. WotC seems to be making money right now so it’s not like I’d expect to walk into a ship that’s sinking and needs instant saving. About my only financial concern I have at the moment is loss of some DDI subscriptions if the magazines keep causing dissatisfaction, but that can be “patched” with some smart content releases until the bigger changes I plan out finally hit.

Year 3
Released to the world!

• Revised core rulebooks are on shelves
• Updated product release schedule
• New and improved Dragon and Dungeon magazine! Regular monthly column for each released Campaign Setting. Return of rarely seen or dead columns, such as Demonomicon, Save My Game, etc. Additional exclusive DDI releases, on par with what was done with the Assassin. Downloadable dungeon tile files for use in home games. Downloadable condition markers that can be printed out and used at home. Monthly DDI fiction. Monthly webcast from a WotC staff member talking about an aspect of gaming. DDI mailbag. Make some articles follow a blog style so they can stir up interactive conversation. And probably more things that I’d be able to think of when planning for this over the span of 6 months with a team of other WotC employees.
• D&D miniatures line by Reaper!

More planning!

• Continue planning content to publish next. Ideas on the table. 4e modern, future, super hero, wild west, manga, etc. Hit all the genres. Keep things as plug and play/modular as possible so people can do some really interesting things with home games. Classless 4e. Rules for aspects of non-combat; getting followers, building castles. 4e DIY manuals. Return of the World Builder’s Guidebook and other helpful DM tools. Rules for a new tier beyond epic (I bet this one just scared the pants of some of you ). Planning is frankly ongoing, but hopeful implementation of first batch of products would be q2 of Year 4.
• Start planning for DDI software on mobile tools. Fully embrace the world of the smartphone. Investigate Mircosoft’s smart table (or whatever it’s called) and develop software for that too. Start looking at the bleeding edge because everyone else is. Can’t estimate planning and implementation anymore
• Start planning out D&D hosted weekend long RPG conventions. I mean huge weekend long tabletop gaming story arcs that start and end in a weekend. Pay to play of course. Time them with new setting releases.

Year 4
Released to the world!

• DDI Redux! Serious support in the CB for the house ruling enthusiast. Virtual table top. Masterplan? Why use that when WotC provides you something a million times better through the Adventure Tools? Support simple to use customizable character sheet print outs. Character visualizer. Simple to apply monster themes. Ability to revert to old versions of errata’ed rules. The list can go on here just like I commented above in planning what to publish.
• Seriously new products that take D&D places people didn’t expect. Products you NEED to have unless you want all your friends to point and laugh at you.

Planning

• Product brainstorming continues
• Appeal to Hasbro to get D&D out to the world in other media. I’m thinking a new cartoon. A live action mini-series on the Sci-Fi channel or something. A new movie!
• Investigate the console market. Team with someone to develop a console “game” that works over Xbox Live or PSN or whatever and lets people play D&D through their console systems.
• Get adspace on TV and radio. Google homepage. Figure out demographics and make smart calls, like a D&D ad during a commercial break in Big Bang Theory. Think big, but think smart.

Year 5
Total pie in the sky here, but what I’m going for by year 5 would ultimately be something like this:

Instead of “you’re a geek if you play D&D” it’s “you’re a geek if you don’t play D&D”

Also, D&D would be instant name brand recognition. People wouldn’t ask “do you play any rpgs” they’d ask “do you play D&D.” Making D&D as household a term as Kleenex is the goal. And if I did that, I think I’ve figured out how to win D&D

 

[Dausuul]

Refocus DDI on providing a back-end service. The idea is that you're going to open up the DDI database for third-party use. Content will be divided into a small core of publicly available material--probably restricted to the first few levels of certain classes and races--and a much larger database of "restricted" material which can only be accessed with a DDI sub. Provide a web service to authenticate DDI users.

Make sure there's an ironclad licensing agreement that protects WotC's IP while enabling third parties to build apps without fear (as long as they follow required procedures to authenticate users before serving up restricted content). Then roll the whole thing out with lots of fanfare. The D&D fanbase is one of the most techno-literate communities around; it's insane not to leverage that. If you build it, they will come--or more accurately, if you give them access, they will build.

Then, as suggested above, start aggressively buying up the best of the free tools that result, and hiring some of the people who built them.

Next up, accept that different people want different things out of their games, and build toward that. Do some market research to get a broad picture of the types of games people want to run, and figure out ways to support the major variations without fragmenting the brand any more than necessary. Do you want to run "wahoo" adventure, classic high fantasy, or gritty swords and sorcery? Do you want dungeon crawls, epic quests, political intrigue, or empire building? D&D should have something for all of these.

More as I think of it...

 

[Morrus]

I think I'd be the only guy to say "no thanks". There's no way I'd want to be in charge of D&D.