Ryan Dancy live stream about WotCs surprising change.

[Jer]

At 9:43 in the video he says

Cynically, I think Dancey understands the TTRPG market too well to know what the folks at Wizards now will or will not see as necessary to go forward. He can't put himself into the mindset of a group of people who really don't understand this niche market that they've found themselves at the top of.

 

[Scribe]

Ryan Dancy said that when he took over the D&D business things were dire, the business was not well. Then the licensing folks called and said they got a check for Baldur’s Gate.

$8 million!!

The gap between BG 1/2, NWN Series, and today, is dire. So much money that could have been made, was not made.

 

[bedir than]

The gap between BG 1/2, NWN Series, and today, is dire. So much money that could have been made, was not made.

Look on the bright side, filling that gap with Pathfinder Online didn't work

 

[Scribe]

Look on the bright side, filling that gap with Pathfinder Online didn't work

Never looked at it, but I'll say Wrath of the Righteous, is simply amazing.

 

[ValamirCleaver]

The gap between BG 1/2, NWN Series, and today, is dire. So much money that could have been made, was not made.

That does make one wonder. If Hasbro hadn't sold their software division in 2000 & licensed out the D&D software rights out from under Wizards to Infogrames causing Peter Adkison to leave the company in 2001 how might have things developed differently for D&D since then? Would have Wizards been able to produce a digital offering that would have been able to stem or even counteract the losses from TTRPGs to MMOs in the later half of the Aughts (the Noughties)? Would Wizard taken the routes they did with the later part of 3.xe & the whole of 4e?

 

[SoonRaccoon]

I don't think WotC will sign on to the ORC. I expect them to try to not do anything stupid, try to put this episode as far in the rear view mirror as possible, and then pretend like it never happened. Putting the SRD out under CC-BY seems to have stopped the bleeding in terms of bad press. WotC will bank on the ubiquity of the D&D brand, and pick up people entering the hobby for the first time, because D&D is the only game most people know exists.

 

[wingsandsword]

That does make one wonder. If Hasbro hadn't sold their software division in 2000 & licensed out the D&D software rights out from under Wizards to Infogrames causing Peter Adkison to leave the company in 2001 how might have things developed differently for D&D since then? Would have Wizards been able to produce a digital offering that would have been able to stem or even counteract the losses from TTRPGs to MMOs in the later half of the Aughts (the Noughties)? Would Wizard taken the routes they did with the later part of 3.xe & the whole of 4e?

Well, without Peter Adkison leaving WotC, I doubt Gen Con would have developed the way it did over the last two decades, that's for sure.

 

[darjr]

I don't think WotC will sign on to the ORC. I expect them to try to not do anything stupid, try to put this episode as far in the rear view mirror as possible, and then pretend like it never happened. Putting the SRD out under CC-BY seems to have stopped the bleeding in terms of bad press. WotC will bank on the ubiquity of the D&D brand, and pick up people entering the hobby for the first time, because D&D is the only game most people know exists.

They are soliciting YouTubers for an interview with Kyle Brjnks.

Putting it behind them they are not.

 

[Haplo781]

They are soliciting YouTubers for an interview with Kyle Brjnks.

Putting it behind them they are not.

Literally a "how can we make sure our bread's buttered on the right side" here.

 

[Iosue]

They are soliciting YouTubers for an interview with Kyle Brjnks.

Putting it behind them they are not.

It's crazy. Per Bob World Builder, they're allowing up to an hour long interviews, with no WotC approval over questions or release of the video required. All they want is to see the list of questions in advance so Kyle can prepare.

I don't know who Kyle Brinks is, but he must have balls of steel to be doing this. As someone on the outside, I'm intrigued and glad they are doing it, but if I were a publicist, I'd be grabbing Kyle by the ankles saying, "No, Kyle, don't do it! Don't throw your life away!"