Blue Orange
Gone to Texas
How much would you need to raise to buy WotC back from Hasbro? Could it be crowdsourced? Many older geeks are reaching middle age and peak earning power.
How much would you need to raise to buy WotC back from Hasbro? Could it be crowdsourced? Many older geeks are reaching middle age and peak earning power.
To be fair the premise is more that the institutional knowledge wasn’t in enough authoritative voices.Yeah, I read it. I don't buy it. At all.
The OGL was created before Hasbro. The train was already out of the station. After the OGL, Hasbro's first two moves were to introduce 3.5e very quickly, and then to move to 4e without an OGL. In other words, when Hasbro started paying attention, they tried to ditch the OGL within the first seven years.
5e came around, but it was considered a "last gasp" with a skeleton crew. It's not like Hasbro was paying that much attention.
When Hasbro started paying attention again, they stated cooking up a way to get rid of the OGL, again. This wasn't from a lack of institutional knowledge, at all. Like I said, I don't buy the thesis. There were people in WoTC that knew that people would react badly- but Hasbro wanted to monetize it further. They decided that the blowback would be worth it. They decided wrong.
TLDR; every time Hasbro has turned Sauron's eye to D&D, they have tried to monetize it and get rid of the OGL. The thesis is not a good one. Because it doesn't pay any attention to what actually happened.
How much would you need to raise to buy WotC back from Hasbro? Could it be crowdsourced? Many older geeks are reaching middle age and peak earning power.
I know a girl who won a "create an RPG adventure contest" and got to make one for Pathfinder. She's still freelance after like 5+ years and has contributed to a few books here and there (magic items, monsters, etc). She'd love an actual job in the industry but it's never materialized.I'm friends with a lot of people who worked for WotC and were let go. For the overwhelming number of them, "other things" means getting a job outside the industry like the rest of us, while working on rpg stuff as a hobby or secondary income (like me and many others who never worked for WotC or "made it big"). Only a rare few have been able to make a decent living doing solely rpg stuff after leaving WotC.
Hasbro bought WotC in 1999. DnD 3E & the OGL launched in 2000.Yeah, I read it. I don't buy it. At all.
The OGL was created before Hasbro. The train was already out of the station. After the OGL, Hasbro's first two moves were to introduce 3.5e very quickly, and then to move to 4e without an OGL. In other words, when Hasbro started paying attention, they tried to ditch the OGL within the first seven years.
There was a fight within the board late last year or early this year where an "activist group" tried to force WotC to spin off from Hasbro but it died. I love DnD but if we could raise the billions needed to buy WotC we'd be better paying off providing human rights to people who need it.How much would you need to raise to buy WotC back from Hasbro? Could it be crowdsourced? Many older geeks are reaching middle age and peak earning power.
Hasbro bought WotC in 1999. DnD 3E & the OGL launched in 2000.
Notice my phrasing. The OGL was the brainchild of Ryan Dancey. It, and 3e, were already developed by WoTC prior and during the Hasbro takeover. In fact, for the first couple of years after the Hasbro takeover, they were still sorting through what they had.
Hasbro didn't really get involved in the day-to-day at WoTC until after Adkinson left (2001), and by 2003 we already saw 3.5e released to try and claw back a little of the OGL. 4e was in development by 2005, with the idea that it would not employ the OGL.
Perhaps, but without Hasbro's influence what would have been the timeline on 3.5 hitting the streets? My very uneducated guess would say at least a year or two later than what actually transpired.I'm not sure I give credit to Hasbro for 3.5 though. Monte Cook has said that as soon as 3E was out the door they started working on it. Just my 2 cents.