overgeeked
Open-World Sandbox
Oh...oh, man. I think I need to go lie down.
For reference:
Hi! I was the brand manager for Dungeons & Dragons and the VP of Tabletop RPGs at Wizards of the Coast from 1998 to 2000. I can answer this question.
There were plans to do a Magic RPG and several iterations of such a game were developed at various times. After Wizards of the Coast bought TSR, there were discussions about making a Magic campaign setting for D&D.
After the release of 3rd edition, we had planned to do a Monstrous Compendium for Magic monsters which would have been a tentative cross-over product to see what the interest level was for such a book.
In the end, the...
- RyanD
- Replies: 81
- Forum: *Pathfinder & Starfinder
I can see why they’d think that. It’s plausible.For reference:
Hi! I was the brand manager for Dungeons & Dragons and the VP of Tabletop RPGs at Wizards of the Coast from 1998 to 2000. I can answer this question.
There were plans to do a Magic RPG and several iterations of such a game were developed at various times. After Wizards of the Coast bought TSR, there were discussions about making a Magic campaign setting for D&D.
After the release of 3rd edition, we had planned to do a Monstrous Compendium for Magic monsters which would have been a tentative cross-over product to see what the interest level was for such a book.
In the end, the...
- RyanD
- Replies: 81
- Forum: *Pathfinder & Starfinder
I think it also falls into the area of “why isn’t an rpg of a popular license the most popular game in the market, like Marvel or Star Wars?” etc. Sometimes the translation of one thing into another doesn’t produce the same effect. Magic as an RPG may sound like a natural fit but it’s probably not going to do gangbuster numbers.I can see why they’d think that. It’s plausible.
OTOH, WotC has long been skeptical of supporting more than 1 RPG at a time. That may have put some extra weight on that side of the scales.
Superman: Proving Lord Acton wrong since 1938.
Well, they've clearly done some cross-pollination with MtG settings getting D&D sourcebooks and a few Magic sets being based on D&D, so they're not as opposed to doing it as they were back then. I think the success of Universes Beyond* sets probably showed them that there's little commercial danger of mixing in outside things in Magic.Thats very interesting. I would question if the same beliefs have been retained after all this time. The Magic community of 2013 is certainly not the Magic community of 2025, but I dont know.
At, one point they had Primal Order, SLA Industries, Ars Magica, and Talislanta. They only concentrated down to one RPG when they acquired TSR.WotC has long been skeptical of supporting more than 1 RPG at a time. That may have put some extra weight on that side of the scales.
Because before that they didn't have the number 1 RPG?At, one point they had Primal Order, SLA Industries, Ars Magica, and Talislanta. They only concentrated down to one RPG when they acquired TSR.
I mean, Ryan Dancey was also the guy who didn't want anybody playing any RPGs other than D&D. So under his guidance, yes, all other game support went to zero.Because before that they didn't have the number 1 RPG?
That brings us to Open Gaming, and why we're pursuing this initiative inside Wizards and outside to the larger community of game publishers.
Here's the logic in a nutshell. We've got a theory that says that D&D is the most popular role playing game because it is the game more people know how to play than any other game. (For those of you interested researching the theory, this concept is called "The Theory of Network Externalities").
Note: This is a very painful concept for a lot of people to embrace, including a lot of our own staff, and including myself for many years. The idea that D&D is somehow "better" than the competition is a powerful and entrenched concept. The idea that D&D can be "beaten" by a game that is "better" than D&D is at the heart of every business plan from every company that goes into marketplace battle with the D&D game. If you accept the Theory of Network Externalities, you have to admit that the battle is lost before it begins, because the value doesn't reside in the game itself, but in the network of people who know how to play it.
If you accept (as I have finally come to do) that the theory is valid, then the logical conclusion is that the larger the number of people who play D&D, the harder it is for competitive games to succeed, and the longer people will stay active gamers, and the more value the network of D&D players will have to Wizards of the Coast.
The logical conclusion says that reducing the "cost" to other people to publishing and supporting the core D&D game to zero should eventually drive support for all other game systems to the lowest level possible in the market, create customer resistance to the introduction of new systems, and the result of all that "support" redirected to the D&D game will be to steadily increase the number of people who play D&D, thus driving sales of the core books. This is a feedback cycle -- the more effective the support is, the more people play D&D. The more people play D&D, the more effective the support is.