New adventures from Wizards - policy reversal!!!

[MerricB]

"Wizards of the Coast is planning to put out more adventures in the future, as there has been a perceived reduction in publication of them in the d20 market. They said they had shied off from putting out many adventures in the past, as there were many d20 publishers putting them out. But with a reduction in the number of adventures being produced lately, this is an area where they feel they can provide service by re-filling that niche."
- from Gaming Report article

Wow! Fantastic!

Now, all they need are some decent adventures...

Cheers!

 

[Prince of Happiness]

If they can line up some "heavy hitters" or some s***-in-your-pants awesome unknowns, I'm all over this.

 

[johnsemlak]

Well, this is good news if it's true.

I wonder, would decreased output of adventures by d20 publishers really affect WotC's decisions? WotC outsells any 3rd party publisher by large margins in almost any category of product. I know a handful of adventures did very well (Death in Freeport, Crucible of Freya) but didn't the Sunless Cidedal outsell those considerably as well?

 

[MerricB]

Well, this is good news if it's true.

I wonder, would decreased output of adventures by d20 publishers really affect WotC's decisions? WotC outsells any 3rd party publisher by large margins in almost any category of product. I know a handful of adventures did very well (Death in Freeport, Crucible of Freya) but didn't the Sunless Cidedal outsell those considerably as well?

Sunless Citadel was the 1st Wizards module for 3E - you'd really have to look at sales figures of the later modules and compare them.

However, I do think that Wizards keep an eye on the available adventures on the market. The health of the adventure market must be somewhat tied to the health of D&D.

Cheers!

 

[Prince of Happiness]

Sunless Citadel was the 1st Wizards module for 3E - you'd really have to look at sales figures of the later modules and compare them.

However, I do think that Wizards keep an eye on the available adventures on the market. The health of the adventure market must be somewhat tied to the health of D&D.

Cheers!

One thing I would have to wonder about is also the distributive "power" that WOTC has. People would have a lot easier time buying a WOTC D&D adventure rather than someone else's because it has the official D&D logo on it. I'm sure, for example, younger or newer players would pick a WOTC module rather than some other company's (which might be superior) because it might not cross their minds that the 3rd party's module is meant for their game.

 

[MerricB]

Incidentally, it is worth looking at the reorganized RPGA and how they factor into Wizards support of D&D players and DMs.

This month, your home group of players could get:
* 4 Reward points for playing Shadows of the Last War - Eberron adventure
* 4 Reward points for playing Maure Castle - Dungeon mag 112
* 2 Reward points for playing any of the adventures in Dungeon 113

(And I'm sure the reward points also apply to other upcoming modules).

Although the player reward points aren't that great (at the moment), the DM reward points can give miniatures and the like... (It's 20 reward points give one reward: either a promo miniature or a booster packs)

What is most interesting is that there are no RPGA fees to join, stay a member, or to play in your own events. You can download RPGA modules from the 'net (as long as you report the gathering afterwards). Of course, the RPGA modules aren't always that good, but some of the Dungeon ones are...

It's fascinating to see how the RPGA has been reorganised: as there are no fees, Wizards must be funding all of this out of their sales (most likely of the miniatures. )

Cheers!

 

[MerricB]

One thing I would have to wonder about is also the distributive "power" that WOTC has. People would have a lot easier time buying a WOTC D&D adventure rather than someone else's because it has the official D&D logo on it. I'm sure, for example, younger or newer players would pick a WOTC module rather than some other company's (which might be superior) because it might not cross their minds that the 3rd party's module is meant for their game.

Indeed - now, this isn't to say that Wizards are trying to put the d20 companies out of business. I doubt that very much.

Instead, I think Wizards might now realise that the d20 License, good though it is, isn't producing the level of support (through adventures) that the D&D brand needs.

Good modules help DMs remain in the game, and help people become DMs. That's very important to Wizards. It may well be that the last four years have shown that, on their own, the d20 System publishers can't fill that requirement.

One worrying implication that this may have is the loss of the d20 System Licence or the OGL as applied to 4E - though I think that wouldn't actually aid Wizards sales of D&D. Instead, it'd just cut out of the D&D loop those people who weren't going to buy Wizards products anyway.

Losing those people is far more significant than the (minor) drop in supplement sales the d20 System products might produce, for you also lose the networks of people who play around them.

Of course, I might just be paranoid about this matter.

Cheers!

 

[Knight Otu]

Nice.

Of course it won't happen, but what about an epic continuation of the (first) adventure path? The story of Ashardalon is not over, as far as I'm concerned.

I also see a bit about the monster series of books: A pair of books for denizens of the lower planes? Demons and Devils, or a different distinction?

 

[johnsemlak]

Edit--responded to wrong thread

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Ahh, this is good news. I had a feeling that these Eberron adventures were just the first step. Now, lets hope for some good stuff!