Mercurius
Legend
This topic has been discussed quite a bit before, but I wanted to tease out a very specific element of it. As I see it, WotC has two non-mutually exclusive choices:
1. Churn out a slew of adventures and supplements for 5E
2. Provide an OGL to allow other publishers to churn out a slew of adventures and supplements for 5E
Sure, they could just stand pat and delay the OGL indefinitely, but to me that would be a huge--even crippling--mistake, which I will go into further. Either way, D&D "needs" more adventures - it needs a thriving publishing schedule. I know, I know, the dreaded glut - do we really want another glut-fest like 2000-03? But for one, did that actually hurt D&D 3E? I suppose you could argue that allowing everyone to publish just about anything, it not only diluted the market but created a situation whereby 3PPs were producing stuff that WotC might have eventually wanted to produce, "beating them to the party," so to speak and perhaps consequentially shortening the lifespan of 3E. But I think that is a tenuous theory at best.
The thing is, these things have a way of working themselves out. Quality will win out in the end, or at least popularity. We might see another garbage truck of mediocre product in the early years of a so-called 5E OGL, but the lesser products and companies will select themselves out. But more importantly, here is what the OGL is actually good for (from WotC's perspective): producing product that WotC doesn't want to make for profit reasons AND supports the health of the game. Namely, adventures. And, to a lesser degree, theme books, campaign settings and splats.
So in my mind the clock is ticking. Clearly, barring a complete change of direction from their early statements, WotC is not going to start churning out tons of adventures. But also clearly, the game needs more adventures. I'm happy to homebrew adventures to some extent (and always homebrew my campaign settings), but I also like using one-shot adventures and I imagine that there are many DMs out there that don't want to homebrew at all and are running out--or have run out--of options, post-Tyranny of Dragons. To put it another way, many (most?) D&D groups can't be sustained only by the WotC-sanctioned story arcs. There's actually a certain claustrophobia to the idea, a lack of diversity and therefore options. It isn't only about needing enough material to use, but having plenty of options to choose from. I don't think they can rely upon back catalogue as many folks won't want to bother with conversions.
And, for the love of all that's holy (or unholy) offer a world or two for people to play in! I know, back catalogue...but, but...and of course maybe you're taking the approach that as long as there's a paper-thin set, ala Tyranny of Dragons' smattering of Realms info, then you're good to go on one story arc after the other. But I think for the real immersion to take place, that is for new players and DMs, they need a starting world (or three), something to inhabit, to live within. You don't need to create another Realms bible (yet), but how about a book detailing a starter region like the Sword Coast or the Dalelands or Greyhawk and environs? Take one from Paizo: A living, breathing, growing world really supports the health of the game, even if specific products are loss leaders.
It is well known that a large segment of D&D players--whether it is the lone big bump on a kind of gamer demographic bell curve, or one of the largest bumps on a sine save--is aging, or has aged - is in their (our) 30s-50s, with careers and family and not as much free time to create settings and adventures. While I really appreciate D&D 5E's traditionalism as far as emphasizing homebrews and DM improvisation, I do think that it would be a huge mistake for WotC to assume that most DMs want to create everything themselves. I think this simply isn't true. So WotC, here's my unsolicited advice: it is time to roll out the carpet on the OGL, and/or start producing one-shot adventures and campaign settings. You've offered a great, core game - but now it is time to bring it to life.
Just a few thoughts to add to the mix.
1. Churn out a slew of adventures and supplements for 5E
2. Provide an OGL to allow other publishers to churn out a slew of adventures and supplements for 5E
Sure, they could just stand pat and delay the OGL indefinitely, but to me that would be a huge--even crippling--mistake, which I will go into further. Either way, D&D "needs" more adventures - it needs a thriving publishing schedule. I know, I know, the dreaded glut - do we really want another glut-fest like 2000-03? But for one, did that actually hurt D&D 3E? I suppose you could argue that allowing everyone to publish just about anything, it not only diluted the market but created a situation whereby 3PPs were producing stuff that WotC might have eventually wanted to produce, "beating them to the party," so to speak and perhaps consequentially shortening the lifespan of 3E. But I think that is a tenuous theory at best.
The thing is, these things have a way of working themselves out. Quality will win out in the end, or at least popularity. We might see another garbage truck of mediocre product in the early years of a so-called 5E OGL, but the lesser products and companies will select themselves out. But more importantly, here is what the OGL is actually good for (from WotC's perspective): producing product that WotC doesn't want to make for profit reasons AND supports the health of the game. Namely, adventures. And, to a lesser degree, theme books, campaign settings and splats.
So in my mind the clock is ticking. Clearly, barring a complete change of direction from their early statements, WotC is not going to start churning out tons of adventures. But also clearly, the game needs more adventures. I'm happy to homebrew adventures to some extent (and always homebrew my campaign settings), but I also like using one-shot adventures and I imagine that there are many DMs out there that don't want to homebrew at all and are running out--or have run out--of options, post-Tyranny of Dragons. To put it another way, many (most?) D&D groups can't be sustained only by the WotC-sanctioned story arcs. There's actually a certain claustrophobia to the idea, a lack of diversity and therefore options. It isn't only about needing enough material to use, but having plenty of options to choose from. I don't think they can rely upon back catalogue as many folks won't want to bother with conversions.
And, for the love of all that's holy (or unholy) offer a world or two for people to play in! I know, back catalogue...but, but...and of course maybe you're taking the approach that as long as there's a paper-thin set, ala Tyranny of Dragons' smattering of Realms info, then you're good to go on one story arc after the other. But I think for the real immersion to take place, that is for new players and DMs, they need a starting world (or three), something to inhabit, to live within. You don't need to create another Realms bible (yet), but how about a book detailing a starter region like the Sword Coast or the Dalelands or Greyhawk and environs? Take one from Paizo: A living, breathing, growing world really supports the health of the game, even if specific products are loss leaders.
It is well known that a large segment of D&D players--whether it is the lone big bump on a kind of gamer demographic bell curve, or one of the largest bumps on a sine save--is aging, or has aged - is in their (our) 30s-50s, with careers and family and not as much free time to create settings and adventures. While I really appreciate D&D 5E's traditionalism as far as emphasizing homebrews and DM improvisation, I do think that it would be a huge mistake for WotC to assume that most DMs want to create everything themselves. I think this simply isn't true. So WotC, here's my unsolicited advice: it is time to roll out the carpet on the OGL, and/or start producing one-shot adventures and campaign settings. You've offered a great, core game - but now it is time to bring it to life.
Just a few thoughts to add to the mix.
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