D&D General The Making of Original Dungeons & Dragons: 1970-1977 Coming In June

[Stormonu]

I wasn't aware that they'd let the whole physical book team go- were they on that list of folk compiled from the December layoffs? How are they putting out the 5.5 books if they don't have a team for them?

I have no illusions about getting quality-made D&D books; I was pointing out that while a ribbon is nice, it's hardly the primary factor of an OSR book's quality.

I'll just wait for the Beedle & Grimm's version

 

[Reynard]

of course it does, WotC is not ending printed books with the 2025 MM. All it means is that someone else will do the printing


the only thing that does not follow is that there are no books past the MM in 2025, because by that logic we do not even get the PHB as that is not printed yet either

The idea that the 2025 MM is the LAST printed D&D book ever would be hilarious if it wasn't soaked in obvious conspiratorial vitriol.

 

[overgeeked]

of course it does,

It literally doesn't.

WotC is not ending printed books with the 2025 MM.

I never said they were. I'm pushing back on your claim that despite the recent firings there will be no consequences to the print books. That's wrong on its face. You can't fire a bunch of people and expect it to have no consequences on the product the company produces. Especially if a chunk of the fired people were on the printed books team. Or, worse, as was claimed above, that the entire printed books team was fired.

 

[mamba]

I never said they were. I'm pushing back on your claim that despite the recent firings there will be no consequences to the print books. That's wrong on its face. You can't fire a bunch of people and expect it to have no consequences on the product the company produces. Especially if a chunk of the fired people were on the printed books team. Or, worse, as was claimed above, that the entire printed books team was fired.

So what do you consider to be relevant consequences of this?

We clearly can rule out that there won't be printed books any more, which leaves someone else is printing them, but as far as I am concerned that is entirely irrelevant to me. Is there any consequence anyone not involved in the printing process should care about?

 

[Clint_L]

Liz Schuh took the early retirement offer, and she has been central to the print side of WotC for a while, since the 90's. But I have seen no evidence crom anyone credible that they got rid of everyone involved with books.

Books remain a cornerstone of their business, and they've already announced the next slate which extends into 2025. The notion that they got rid of everyone in books production is ludicrous; it doesn't even bear discussion.

 

[Parmandur]

Books remain a cornerstone of their business, and they've already announced the next slate which extends into 2025. The notion that they got rid of everyone in books production is ludicrous; it doesn't even bear discussion.

I agree: Liz Schuh taking early retirement is what people are taking and blowing up here.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Oh, man, I remember when the world ended in 2012, since the Mayan calendar didn't extend beyond that point.

 

[Reynard]

Oh, man, I remember when the world ended in 2012, since the Mayan calendar didn't extend beyond that point.

In retrospect, a complete digital meltdown due to the Y2K Bug might have been for the best.

 

[Superchunk77]

Off topic, but is your handle a reference to the band Superchunk?

Nope

 

[Superchunk77]

Books remain a cornerstone of their business, and they've already announced the next slate which extends into 2025. The notion that they got rid of everyone in books production is ludicrous; it doesn't even bear discussion.

It was, but that's changing. Physical books sales always decline as you get longer and longer into a new edition. Hence, they're moving to a purely digital format. DNDBeyond and VTT based modules is the future for D&D. Charging subscription fees to dndbeyond/vtt users and/or charging for modules, digital miniatures, dice and so on. This is the only way they will ever get D&D sales up to the targets Hasbro is expecting. Their current CEO did it at Microsoft, and now they're doing it at Hasbro too. It's well known that the only books that sell really well for RPG's are the core rulebooks, which is why they are still putting the 2024 books out in physical format and calling it a "final edition". Once the VTT is release ready, that's when you'll see the flip to purely digital content. The VTT is planned for 2026, so there might be a few more physical books later next year while they wait for a stable release.