WotC Ray Winninger Steps Back From WotC

Former leader of the D&D team Ray Winninger has announced his departure from WotC, having "accomplished the ambitious goals we set". Dan Rawson was announced the new head of D&D earlier this month, leading many to speculate about Winninger's departure.

"Sorry for the radio silence; I'm in the midst of a SORELY needed Long Rest. I have indeed left WotC, having accomplished the ambitious goals we set when I took over the D&D team.

Shepherding D&D was an honor and a privilege, but I'm looking forward to slowing down and getting back to a list of personal design projects. (Gamers, you haven't seen the last of me!) Most of all, I look forward to following D&D as a fan again.

Proud of the team I left behind; D&D is in very good hands: @JeremyECrawford, @ChrisPerkinsDnD, @DroidsForSale, @dtovar77, Liz Schuh, Kate Irwin, Trish Yochum, @aquelajames, @FWesSchneider, @MakenzieLaneDA, @amandahamon, Emi Tanji, Bree Heiss, @doctorcomics. @justicearman

@RPGRonLundeen, @BillBenham2, Rob Hawkey, Ben Petrisor, @Dan_Dillon_1, @EytanBernstein, Adrian Ng, Janica Carter, @chrislindsay, @TrystanFalcone, @mattchucole, Bob Jordan, @christulach, Natalie Egan, Hilary Ross, Carl Sibley. Thanks for being such great adventuring companions."

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Plus, Colville is a game designer. That carries weight.

I'm watching his (very long) video about Rings of Power now, and he's a guy who's had to write Lord of the Rings games and cast actors for it and he has lots of praise and criticism of the show as a result. I don't agree with all of it, but the fact that he has done the thing makes his opinions about the show more interesting, IMO.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Oh, another good YouTuber, just so people don't think that I'm also giving into criticizing everyone: Sly Flourish/Lazy Dungeon/Michael Shea (who may have one or two more brands than he needs). He also has thoughtful discussions of things and he's not 100% sold on D&D Beyond being the future of D&D (he wants to see a space preserved for third party content as well), but he never runs around with his hair on fire and is happy to concede when he doesn't know something for certain or that he was wrong. That also makes him more credible in my eyes. (Plus, he gives really good DM advice, comparably to Matt Colville's, which I appreciate.)

 

[vecna00]

Oh, another good YouTuber, just so people don't think that I'm also giving into criticizing everyone: Sly Flourish/Lazy Dungeon/Michael Shea (who may have one or two more brands than he needs). He also has thoughtful discussions of things and he's not 100% sold on D&D Beyond being the future of D&D (he wants to see a space preserved for third party content as well), but he never runs around with his hair on fire and is happy to concede when he doesn't know something for certain or that he was wrong. That also makes him more credible in my eyes. (Plus, he gives really good DM advice, comparably to Matt Colville's, which I appreciate.)

I should actually watch more of his stuff. I've only watched one video of his with Teos, and I need to put the videos in rotation more. I do really like Jorphdan's lore videos and I've been watching more of the Eldritch Lorecast.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Yeah, Dungeon Masterpiece did a piece on this (albeit with regard to the announced VTT) which touched on a lot of the same points.

Yeah, that video is mostly unfounded speculation and personal preferences with a tinge of "One True Wayism". He repeatedly goes on tangents about how he thinks Improv of the Mind is the one true way to play D&D and how using minis is inferior and VTTs are even worse. His opinion is basically garbage in the context of this discussion.

"D&D wasn't designed for this! We shouldn't be messing with the traditional way to play the game!" is one of the core points of the video. Which is obviously wrong for reasons I should not have to explain.

I'm with @Whizbang Dustyboots on this one. That guy's channel is bad. Matt Colville and Dungeon Dudes are far better for topics like this.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I really want to buy the Dungeon Dudes some software so they can illustrate their videos with stuff they're talking about, which they're almost alone among successful D&D YouTubers in not doing, but their content is very solid. And it's probably because they're so Canadian, but they also seem like genuinely nice people who like each other, which is also nice to have in my media diet.

 

[Charlaquin]

I mean, not a single player will have much, if any, issues with changing rules.

Umm… have you met players?

 

[Charlaquin]

This earnings report couldn’t have helped.
Wizards of the Coast 3rd Quarter

DnD creator Wizards’ Q3 revenue drops $60m on last year​

A financial report shows a $60 million decline in DnD and Magic: The Gathering creator Wizard of the Coast's earnings compared to last year's quarterly revenue.

This has more to do with M:tG than with D&D. All signs point to D&D continuing to do better than ever. Meanwhile, on the M:tG side they seem to be doing everything they can think of to anger their playerbase.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

This has more to do with M:tG than with D&D. All signs point to D&D continuing to do better than ever. Meanwhile, on the M:tG side they seem to be doing everything they can think of to anger their playerbase.

That's been my impression of the differences between the D&D and M:tG community since I started playing. I've always seen the M:tG community as (justifiably) more hostile towards WotC than the newer D&D players. Of course, there are always the grognards that think 3e ruined the game or newer players that get fed up with Jeremy Crawford's twitter rulings for D&D, but generally, the D&D side of WotC is much more player-friendly than the M:tG side, which monetizes the hobby to insane levels.

 

[MoonSong]

This has more to do with M:tG than with D&D. All signs point to D&D continuing to do better than ever. Meanwhile, on the M:tG side they seem to be doing everything they can think of to anger their playerbase.

30th anniversary arghh!!! T-T

 

[Charlaquin]

That's been my impression of the differences between the D&D and M:tG community since I started playing. I've always seen the M:tG community as (justifiably) more hostile towards WotC than the newer D&D players. Of course, there are always the grognards that think 3e ruined the game or newer players that get fed up with Jeremy Crawford's twitter rulings for D&D, but generally, the D&D side of WotC is much more player-friendly than the M:tG side, which monetizes the hobby to insane levels.

I think it’s important to remember that whether you play D&D or M:tG, WotC is not your friend. But, yeah, it’s definitely the case that WotC is much more egregious with their predatory monetization of M:tG. And with the recent 30th anniversary edition product, they’ve sent a very clear signal that their target demographic is secondary market speculators, not players.