New Management

[haakon1]

This poll definitely needs a lemoncurry option, because there is no option I agree with.

There are probably some things I'd want to improve, but nothing falls under the given options.

I dunno what lemon curry is, but the Lorraine Williams choice is the standard "I feel like giving a silly answer choice". Nobody could seriously want that . . .

It's not that there's anything wrong with 2nd Edition, it's that just that . . . well, you have to be an old timer to get the humor, I guess. Let's put it this way, there's a whole thread here about a claim in her official bio to having invented D&D. Which is, BTW, very much not true -- she actually invented the internet. (snark detector: on mode. snarky comment/silliness: detected)

 

[Umbran]

New does not equal better. Is the current management so bad that you can't imagine it being worse?

Imagine chibi half-orcs. It could be sooooo much worse....

 

[haakon1]

New does not equal better. Is the current management so bad that you can't imagine it being worse?

Oh, believe me, I can imagine it, starting with: D&D is out of business, which I well remember would have happened if it were not for WotC back in the day.

Nevertheless, I'd like to roll the dice and give somebody else a try, were I the DM of the Universe.

Imagine chibi half-orcs. It could be sooooo much worse....

I don't know what chibi means, but I'll take your word for it. It could absolutely be much worse, and I have no doubt the current mgmt is doing their best. I just think I'd put them on "double secret shape up or ship out probation" if I were up to me. The customer relations fiascoes seem so unnecessary to me, and fundamentally unrelated to the quality of the products or profitability of the product thus far -- they're just building up customer disgust for no good reason that I can see, which has to be bad for business -- and therefore the gaming eco-system's health -- in the long run. It makes me sad and disappointed, wistful not angry. That's my real reply.

My snarky reply: Are those the half-orcs with the shaved pits, or the ones with the dragon bewbs?

 

[Henry]

I don't know what chibi means, but I'll take your word for it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chibi_(Japanese_term)

Yeah... worse.

New management? It's not like we're the ones to make the decision; besides, in current tough times I'm not the one to go all Donald-Trump-Apprentice on someone whose job I realistically couldn't do - it's not my place.

But do I wish someone would think of fan relations a bit more, particularly in a hobby where it's important to do so? Yes, I do.

 

[caudor]

New does not equal better. Is the current management so bad that you can't imagine it being worse?

Imagine chibi half-orcs. It could be sooooo much worse....

You have a dark imagination...oh so very dark

 

[FlareStorm]

My first reaction is get rid of em, but then who would replace them?

I don't think they know how to handle the information age, and I don't think the gaming community really does either. Its new territory, both sides will have to work together to pave the road to the future. WoTC isn't doing that.

The T$R stuff, I didn't hear about until years later when it was way over and done with, I was just playing. Now that we have the internetwebs, anyone who takes up the reigns has to be prepared to have every move the do scrutinized, evaluated, and explain the reasoning. WoTC isnt doing that.

So I'd say dump em if there was another alternative.

 

[Korgoth]

I'm afraid that I've gotten to the point...

... at long last, after "shaking fists at the clouds"-type insults, after profound misunderstandings of the roots and basic premises of the game, after the creation of an edition that bears about as much resemblance to D&D as does Toon, after the PDF debacle, and so on...

... that I just plain hate WOTC. I'm sorry, but it's become too strenuous for me to stave off my basic irascible response to their continuous and unabated disdain for their audience (or at least, that's how it often appears). So I'm not going to put any more effort into not hating that company.

I don't hate the people who work there. I hope WOTC goes out of business... may all of those people go off to find wonderful jobs in whatever field and may they flourish. But I'm sick of WOTC the company and I'd rather see D&D go out of print than have to see one more day of this pointless company screw around with it, and screw around with the legacy of excellent men.

It's like watching Paris Hilton try to rewrite the Iliad as a Harlequin Romance. Enough already.

 

[haakon1]

So I'd say dump em if there was another alternative.

Well, not our call since we're not Hasbro. But the obvious "buyers" if D&D were sold off would include Paizo and White Wolf. I could also see smaller outfits like Goodman Games, Expeditious Retreat Press, Troll Lords, etc. being interested but presumably lacking the "umph" to generate the venture capital needed. I'd be happy to see one of these companies give it a try.

It could be worse, though . . . there were some really low quality third party publishers, but I assume they are out of business now anyhow.

When Gary Gygax was still alive, I asked him if he would come back to write for D&D, under the right ownership. He said he'd consider it. Too late now, for him and Dave.

 

[JeffB]

I don't hate the people who work there. I hope WOTC goes out of business... may all of those people go off to find wonderful jobs in whatever field and may they flourish. But I'm sick of WOTC the company and I'd rather see D&D go out of print than have to see one more day of this pointless company screw around with it, and screw around with the legacy of excellent men.

Not a fan of 3E, but I like 4E and yet I have to agree to a certain extent with this part of your post.

I miss TSR when they were a friendly smaller business owned and run by gamers for gamers. Read Tim's forward in the original Monster Manual- I miss those days immensely, and that is not rose-colored glasses. Even the boom of the early 80s was a good time for us and the emerging RPG indusrty. All the negativity was OUTSIDE the hobby directed towards it. Now the negativity is all internal

To use an old saying my Father often spoke - D&D "has become too big for it's britches"

 

[Xyxox]

Well, not our call since we're not Hasbro. But the obvious "buyers" if D&D were sold off would include Paizo and White Wolf. I could also see smaller outfits like Goodman Games, Expeditious Retreat Press, Troll Lords, etc. being interested but presumably lacking the "umph" to generate the venture capital needed. I'd be happy to see one of these companies give it a try.

It could be worse, though . . . there were some really low quality third party publishers, but I assume they are out of business now anyhow.

When Gary Gygax was still alive, I asked him if he would come back to write for D&D, under the right ownership. He said he'd consider it. Too late now, for him and Dave.

D&D will NEVER be sold.

If Hasbro ever decided it was time to pull the plug, they'd SHELVE it, but they'd never never EVER sell it.