WotC No new DMs Guild Adept titles since mid-December?

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

It's also well documented that, internally, there have long been two camps about the impact of letting other creators officially sell D&D material, whether they call it D&D or 5E or whatever. There have been enough changes in leadership since DMs Guild launched for the powers that be to be less enthusiastic about it. (That said, the fact that every other game company is setting up something similar suggests that they think it's useful.)

But it could also be that they know they will have this debate again about the 2024 edition and were told to not do any new initiatives (with a potentially long timeline, in the corporate world) until that decision is made. Hopefully it won't take as long as it did in 4E.

There is a lot of OGL stuff out there on Kickstarter and elsewhere nowadays, but it's rarely stuff that I think WotC would ever be selling themselves. (Lord knows they wouldn't want to produce the more than monthly grimdark settings that seem to always be getting launched on Kickstarter. So many grimdark settings.) But convincing someone with a skeptical view of open content of that is always going to be tricky.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

(Lord knows they wouldn't want to produce the more than monthly grimdark settings that seem to always be getting launched on Kickstarter. So many grimdark settings.)

I feel like WotC would absolutely write a grimdark setting, it's right up that sort of "middle-aged well-meaning but hopelessly out-of-it white nerdy guys think it's cool!" vibe they have going, but quite late in proceedings they'd realize it just wasn't going to fly, either because it was actually grimdark and thus kind of off-brand for WotC given even Ravenloft (including the original 1E/2E versions!) isn't grimdark, or equally because it wasn't grimdark, it was just a fantasy setting where everyone was wearing black and there were more spikes than is usual.

I'd be deeply unsurprised if one of the 2+ "cancelled after being significantly developed" original settings that Winninger referred to a while back was an attempt at grimdark.

Agree re: content, but they need to learn - being open helps more than it hurts. They've seen this very clearly before. All the KSes etc. for 5E books? A lot of those reach more mainstream audiences than DM's Guild or the like, and all of them hype D&D and keep people playing D&D, rather than starting to look at other RPGs on KS or the like.

 

[Marandahir]

I'd be deeply unsurprised if one of the 2+ "cancelled after being significantly developed" original settings that Winninger referred to a while back was an attempt at grimdark.

Wait! Cancelled!?

 

[Alzrius]

I'd be deeply unsurprised if one of the 2+ "cancelled after being significantly developed" original settings that Winninger referred to a while back was an attempt at grimdark.

Do you mind sourcing that, because it's news to me.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Agree re: content, but they need to learn - being open helps more than it hurts. They've seen this very clearly before. All the KSes etc. for 5E books? A lot of those reach more mainstream audiences than DM's Guild or the like, and all of them hype D&D and keep people playing D&D, rather than starting to look at other RPGs on KS or the like.

There are or have been multiple "use 5E to play science fiction" campaigns on Kickstarter in the last few weeks, which is hilariously wrong-headed from a design standpoint (if you want to play science fiction, streeeeeeeeeeeeeeeetching 5E to the limit to do it isn't really the best method), but it absolutely puts money in WotC's pockets.

(Yes, Starfinder and Dragonstar and other things have done this in the past, more or less successfully, but I don't believe fantasy-but-on-a-starship is really what most science fiction fans want, especially multiple times, and many of the recent Kickstarted campaigns aren't fantasy at all, but 100% sci-fi that they've bolted onto the 5E ruleset in an attempt to make their sci-fi heartbreaker sell better.)

 

[dave2008]

Wait! Cancelled!?

Do you mind sourcing that, because it's news to me.

Ray mentioned in either an interview or one of the design articles that projects sometimes get dropped or canceled after a certain amount of development. I don't know that he said they were settings, he was just talking about the development process in general IIRC. I think this is what @Ruin Explorer is referring to.

EDIT: This is the first hit I got here on EnWorld: D&D Settings in Development

Here is a quote: "He does note, however, that of the last three, there's a chance of one or more not making it to release, as they develop more than they use."

 

[Parmandur]

Or my thought is the Adapt program was really a way for them to develop and vet potential new creators. And they simple no longer need a pool of new people to work with. i.e. they have a large enough pool of outside creators they are happy to work with they no longer need to have a way to bring in more. Or other channels they have are bringing them the new talent they are looking for.

I think they are still using the DMsGuild for that (based on recent hires), they just don't need to prime the pump anymore.

 

[Parmandur]

Ray mentioned in either an interview or one of the design articles that projects sometimes get dropped or canceled after a certain amount of development. I don't know that he said they were settings, he was just talking about the development process in general IIRC. I think this is what @Ruin Explorer is referring to.

EDIT: This is the first hit I got here on EnWorld: D&D Settings in Development

Here is a quote: "He does note, however, that of the last three, there's a chance of one or more not making it to release, as they develop more than they use."

He didn't provide a timeline for the new Settings, so I don't think that it is definite that they are scrapped at this point. Theybare not on the release schedule, unless Radiant Citadel and maybe the Book of Many Things are what was being referenced.

 

[jasper]

new designer pack free for download. And good for Adventure League submissions.

Dungeoncraft Spelljammer Designers Pack - D&D Adventurers League | Dungeon Masters Guild

Dungeoncraft Spelljammer Designers Pack - The D&D Adventurers League is an ongoing official organized play campaign for Dungeons & Dragons. The D&amp

www.dmsguild.com

 

[dave2008]

He didn't provide a timeline for the new Settings, so I don't think that it is definite that they are scrapped at this point. Theybare not on the release schedule, unless Radiant Citadel and maybe the Book of Many Things are what was being referenced.

My point was not about anything specific, just that "they develop more than they use." So things get developed to a certain point and the could move forward or dropped. IIRC, the development decision point is after 6-12 months of development