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."

 

[Grendel_Khan]

I just thought 4E actually was quite enabling for RP. And maybe 1D&D and so on will be? I just kind of doubt it. Especially if they do it well! That's kind of the thing - the better the job they do, the more successful they make online/digital play, the more it's going to motivate a push towards G and away from RP.

Depressingly insightful point.

 

[Danny Prescott]

Out of curiosity (and I suspect this is my ignorance) does anyone know if any credible research has ever been made public of the number of Online VTTPG players compared to Face to Face players?

I get there's a mass of complications with that seemingly simple query (one set is comparatively easy to count the other extremely hard, there's overlap etc).. Just colour me intrigued on the relative factors like sheer numbers, longevity, demographics etc. Suspect the answer may well be no but no harm in asking.

 

[MichaelSomething]

I would like to ask; what DOES support role-playing??

 

[vecna00]

I would like to ask; what DOES support role-playing??

Role-players.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

I would like to ask; what DOES support role-playing??

Role-aids.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Role-aids.

They also help with indigestion.

 

[Greg Benage]

I don't think Wizards will "obsolete" roleplaying if for no other reason than it's free content for them. The more time your customers spend roleplaying, the less time they'll spend expecting to engage with new digital content and assets that are expensive to develop.

Also, RP in MMOs tends to suck for a number of reasons, but the way the game design crushes immersion is the biggest one for me. It's pretty hard to roleplay when your character is out doing the same quests as thousands of other characters so you can go kill Onyxia with your buddies BernieSunders and AxeGape for the hundredth time.

By contrast, VTTs are pretty well named. They're just a digital way to play the same game, the same way. If anything, whether it's the medium or some of the tools available, VTTs in my experience do a better job of supporting roleplaying than in-person does.

My imagination wasn't fully up to the task, but I often daydreamed about something like VTTs back in the early 80s. We really are living in the future.

 

[mamba]

One thing that SlyFlourish ignores is that most of his trouble with not being able to get VTT stuff to work with third parties is that he made that choice.

He chooses to not use Shard, or Roll20, or Fantasy Grounds. He could use any of those and use third party stuff. Shard and Kobold Press have a strong partnership, but he prefers OwlBear Rodeo.

His complaint was lack of support from DnDBeyond, he had no issue with Owlbear.

He also acknowledged that it is distinctly a problem he has by sticking with DnDB (because he/his players like it) instead of switching to Roll20 or FG for the campaign. Granted, he did that in the video the following week.

 

[bedir than]

His complaint was lack of support from DnDBeyond, he had no issue with Owlbear.

He also acknowledged that it is distinctly a problem he has by sticking with DnDB (because he/his players like it) instead of switching to Roll20 or FG for the campaign. Granted, he did that in the video the following week.

Right, because OwlBear uses DnDBeyond for all stat stuff

 

[GMforPowergamers]

His complaint was lack of support from DnDBeyond, he had no issue with Owlbear.

He also acknowledged that it is distinctly a problem he has by sticking with DnDB (because he/his players like it) instead of switching to Roll20 or FG for the campaign. Granted, he did that in the video the following week.

I find the roll20 srd compendium works great... my only complaint is it doesn't save homebrew. Like if I make a spell and put it on a wizard, that spell can't just be ported to the sorcerer it has to be remade... even worse you can't move it from 1 campaign to next.