D&D 5E So what exactly is Wizards working on?

[BryonD]

In this "reality" there are any number of things we may think shouldn't be dependent on one another, but they are. "Reality" has a lot of twists in it that don't match what we want.
You probably just want a good game, with content to use with it. Not really an unreasonable desire. But, on the other side, they have other concerns.

Certainly

Sorry, but it is true.

Why are you sorry? It is a great time to be a gamer and I have a ton of options. My game will be great five years from now, just like it was great in the midst of the 4e reign.

I'm simply pointing out likely results of potential plans.

Yes, I like 5E and I would absolutely prefer to see them off more of it to me.
But if they can make more money showing me the door, I vote for showing me the door. I'm all for them doing what is best for them.

We are all making a lot of assumptions about what their goals are and about how what we have seen fits their plan into the future. We could be wrong about both. but for the assumptions being thrown around, my answers are my answers. You could compare this to when people told me that WotC didn't need me as a customer for 4E. Some people tried to tell me I needed to realize it wasn't about me. But I was playing an awesome game then. My lack of being concerned over the integrity of my home game didn't stop my predictions from playing out. And my enjoyment of online armchair quarterbacking the market planning doesn't mean I'm on pins and needles over what happens.

Just giving you a game and content is not sufficient on the business side. There is a looming opportunity cost to just giving you a game an content right now. You are asking them to just take the darned risk of that opportunity cost, and they are saying no, they don't want to take on that risk. Which may also not be unreasonable.

That is, if my thought on the movie is correct. I could be wrong.

Again, I agree.
I think there is also risk to NOT doing things. D&D has a brand value today. That brand value is not immortal. If they do things, they take risk and could lose money (or simply make less money). If they don't do things they take risk and could lose money (or simply make less money).

What is a good and thoughtful plan based on realistic expectations of markets?

 

[delericho]

But keep in mind that I've been responding to a lot of posts (in this thread and others) which presume the D&D movie is king of all and so I should not worry about the TTRPG releases because it is all about the movie.

I agree with you that they don't have nearly enough information. Which, of course, mean that they should not be rolling out D&D based on a movie they don't have nearly enough information regarding.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if the plan without a movie is cancellation.

 

[BryonD]

I wouldn't be at all surprised if the plan without a movie is cancellation.

After the seven years, I presume.....

 

[Reynard]

I wouldn't be at all surprised if the plan without a movie is cancellation.

Better yet, sell it off. Let somebody who actually loved D&D buy it.

 

[delericho]

Better yet, sell it off. Let somebody who actually loved D&D buy it.

Unfortunately, Hasbro are very, very reluctant to let go of IP once they have it. Even if it's IP they don't want to use, they tend to be more likely to just sit on it.

That said, they might license the rights to make the RPG out to someone. Though I'm not sure we'd like the results, since my guess is that the most likely candidate is FFG, and their most likely first step is a new edition.

 

[graves3141]

I wouldn't be at all surprised if the plan without a movie is cancellation.

That's pretty drastic. If that was true, then why would they bother spending a couple of years designing a new edition before nailing down a movie deal?

Besides, a successful D&D movie is unlikely to bring a significant amount of people to tabletop D&D anyway. Sure, it'll help the brand name (assuming the movie is good, which may or may not be the case) but it might hurt it too if it sucks.

 

[delericho]

That's pretty drastic. If that was true, then why would they bother spending a couple of years designing a new edition before nailing down a movie deal?

One last big payday.

Besides, a successful D&D movie is unlikely to bring a significant amount of people to tabletop D&D anyway.

No, but a successful movie may well be enough for Hasbro to keep the brand bouncing along. It's not that it's losing money at the moment... but is it making enough?

 

[Dire Bare]

Better yet, sell it off. Let somebody who actually loved D&D buy it.

Hasbro is more known for mothballing franchises than selling them off. So this scenario is unlikely. However, let's posit that a smaller game company manages to purchase or license the rights to the RPG from Hasbro and becomes the new "D&D Company".

IMO, best case scenario is a return to the status quo. The new game could be the best edition yet with awesome supplements and expansions, but unless they take a similar approach towards sustainability that WotC is now, the game is doomed to continue on the edition treadmill of shorter and shorter edition life cycles. All IMO, of course.

Besides, again IMO, 5E is the best edition yet and the slower pace is right up my alley. Future movies or not, I'm liking the direction things are going. Within a year I'd be tickled if they came out with a Paizo AP style reinvention of Dragon Magazine to keep us super D&D nerds satisfied with new content, but I would hope the emphasis would continue to be story over new crunch.

 

[Dire Bare]

That's pretty drastic. If that was true, then why would they bother spending a couple of years designing a new edition before nailing down a movie deal?

Besides, a successful D&D movie is unlikely to bring a significant amount of people to tabletop D&D anyway. Sure, it'll help the brand name (assuming the movie is good, which may or may not be the case) but it might hurt it too if it sucks.

If Hasbro cancelled all licensing plans for D&D, it wouldn't be a guarantee that the RPG would also be cancelled, but the D&D team would have to make a hard case to continue spending time and money developing the game. D&D by itself is profitable, but not on the level where it can sustain itself in a large company like Hasbro.

And Hasbro has had movie plans for D&D for a long time. The legal battle isn't about IF new D&D movies are going to get made, the battle is over WHO gets to make them. They will happen, and they will likely be a much higher quality than Silver Pictures and SweetPea Entertainment have managed to excrete out over the years. IMO, Hasbro views the RPG as the least profitable part of the D&D franchise, but it sits at the base of the pyramid. The overall brand won't be successful if the RPG is in tatters, the movies and video games and everything else builds on top of the RPG success, and really brings in the money.

And I disagree that a successful D&D movie won't impact the RPG. If the new D&D movies kick ass, then a D&D TV show is all that more likely, and more D&D video games are likely, as are profits from toys, t-shirts, and costume hoodies. And all of this will feedback into the game and we WILL see sales of the PHB spike. Although, even if that didn't happen, the overall profits of the brand would have already increased significantly, so still a win.

Hasbro's goal isn't to get every household in America playing D&D each weekend, but rather to use the game as a springboard for multimedia profits. If the player base stays roughly where it is now but the movies and all are profitable, Hasbro will see this strategy as a win. If the game itself DOES dramatically increase in playership and profit, well, that's awesome too!

 

[Dire Bare]

Unfortunately, Hasbro are very, very reluctant to let go of IP once they have it. Even if it's IP they don't want to use, they tend to be more likely to just sit on it.

That said, they might license the rights to make the RPG out to someone. Though I'm not sure we'd like the results, since my guess is that the most likely candidate is FFG, and their most likely first step is a new edition.

I don't think WotC/Hasbro would even consider selling or licensing the D&D game, and I would not want them to. But if they did, FFG would be one of my top choices along with Paizo. FFG makes beautiful games that are fun to play and collect, but they would very most likely dramatically change the D&D release strategy more than WotC has!

Just for fun speculation, here's how I think it would go.

The new FFG D&D would be 5th edition REVISED. The game would get a graphical update which would include cards and weird dice (even weirder than your standard polyhedrals). There would be a new core book, but also an "update" box to update your current 5E rulebooks to the revised rules. We would no longer see the holy trinity of PHB, MM, and DMG, each core rulebook would be a complete game. However, we'd get several different D&D core games, like perhaps a Forgotten Realms themed D&D core book, followed later by an Eberron themed core book (imagine a cross between the PHB, DMG, MM and a setting book). Expansions wouldn't come at a crazy pace, but they would come consistently and include new adventures, card packs as player supplements, and the occasional splat.

The changes would PISS OFF a small but vocal segment of the fan base, and the game would be EXPENSIVE. But beautiful, soooo beautiful . . . .

And there would be a dice app for your smartphone.