D&D 5E New WotC Survey! Learn About A New D&D Product!

WotC has launched a new survey about the future of D&D. This survey includes an NDA (which some people have not taken to well!) halfway through, which asks you not to talk about the survey on pain of being tracked down and fined, but it's about an upcoming (unannounced) new D&D product. You can find out what it is by taking the survey (or it's all over social media aready).

 

[Parmandur]

If this is what it sounds like, and they screw over above reference partners, I will stop giving them any money. I know it won’t matter, but the only thing that actually matters in life, on any level, is how one treats other people. If they make a thing that directly competes with and invalidates a certain popular service, that’s it.

It depends on how it goes down. Not to talk specifics, as I fear the Pharaoh's curse if I should violate the sacred survey promise, but there are ways they could make the transition in a pro-consumer way, and they may have crossed WotC mind.

Peraonally, I like pencil, and paper. Bah humbug.

 

[overgeeked]

Pulling a move like that would be PR suicide at this point, on the level of when TSR started C&Ding fansites that had nothing but homebrew.

I didn't say it was a good PR move, only that it would be a terrible business move to go into the same space two of your licensees already occupy...while also leaving those licenses intact. So PR suicide or business suicide? If they're going to make this move, which the super secret video flatly says they will be in the near future, then they can choose to either: 1) get flak from people online, or; 2) waste and lose a lot of money. At a guess, they'll go with option 1. Or they can have Hasboro flex their billions and buy out both Roll20 and Fandom/D&D Beyond. Which is even less likely to happen.

 

[QuentinGeorge]

If they pull the licenses, you won’t have a choice. If WotC does move into 1st party digital tools, the very first thing they will do is pull those licenses. This is why I’ve never done D&D Beyond. My investment vanishes the second WotC says so. Nope. Give me print or give me downloadable PDFs. I’m paying to own, not rent.

Never trust digital ownership. Never. If you can’t hold it in your hands, they’ll eventually take it away from you. Somehow.

 

[Parmandur]

I didn't say it was a good PR move, only that it would be a terrible business move to go into the same space two of your licensees already occupy...while also leaving those licenses intact. So PR suicide or business suicide? If they're going to make this move, which the super secret video flatly says they will be in the near future, then they can choose to either: 1) get flak from people online, or; 2) waste and lose a lot of money. At a guess, they'll go with option 2. Or they can have Hasboro flex their billions and buy out both Roll20 and Fandom/D&D Beyond. Which is even less likely to happen.

It is worth noting that Vurse purchased the Cortex Plua system, and ia transitioning to being a full fledged publisher. The writing may be on the wall for the relationahip there...

 

[Don Durito]

If they pull the licenses, you won’t have a choice. If WotC does move into 1st party digital tools, the very first thing they will do is pull those licenses. This is why I’ve never done D&D Beyond. My investment vanishes the second WotC says so. Nope. Give me print or give me downloadable PDFs. I’m paying to own, not rent.

Well we could choose to play other games.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

All joking aside, and without "talking about it" per the NDA...

...I'm pretty lukewarm about the New Product they are asking about. I already have everything I need in that department.

Yeah same. If they buy out their partner in that realm and give them a huge team to get the tools caught up to all the curveballs they’ve thrown out over the last year or two, great. Otherwise it’s just a screw job to a partner that has done well by them and a set of stuff no one was asking wotc for.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

It depends on how it goes down. Not to talk specifics, as I fear the Pharaoh's curse if I should violate the sacred survey promise, but there are ways they could make the transition in a pro-consumer way, and they may have crossed WotC mind.

Peraonally, I like pencil, and paper. Bah humbug.

I don’t care about that, I care about whether someone I’m sending money to and promoting by talking about their products online is a company that screws over their partners.

 

[Mecheon]

I don’t care about that, I care about whether someone I’m sending money to and promoting by talking about their products online is a company that screws over their partners.

Agreed.

Certainly interesting they're delving into that particular space, but given the parties already in the field who they've specifically partnered with, biiiit worrysome. Particularly in connection with the announcements regarding the translation moving from partners to in house

 

[Iamoutofhere]

I didn’t get an NDA to have to agree to. In fact I didn’t get much of anything. Just a bunch of satisfaction questions about racial abilities which was all very pointless and won’t tell them diddly.

 

[Parmandur]

I don’t care about that, I care about whether someone I’m sending money to and promoting by talking about their products online is a company that screws over their partners.

No particular reason to believe that to be the case: Curse has been moving into becoming an RPG publisher in their own right pretty quickly. They may know about time limits to the license that we do not. Moving an outskurcedproduxt in house is not necessarily screwing another company over.

For a similar case, WotC pulled the Dungeon & Dragon Magazine licenses from Pakzo...but they communicated that to Paizo well before they were contractually obligated to do so. Which is what allowed Paizo to survive. Ending a business relationship does not need to be a screwjob.