D&D 5E (2014) The Pitfalls of Success: Hasbro Success Story, Take 2

[Urriak Uruk]

I still find this point incredibly misguided and dismissive of the actual situation of “most people today.” We’re not idiots, we recognize the conflict between artistic integrity and corporate influence. Wealth inequality has simply grown to the point that fewer and fewer can afford to take the “high ground.”

I'll add, corporate influence can sometimes (believe it or not), result in better quality art. George Lucas was given quite a few limitations when making the first Star Wars, including a limited budget and script re-writes. When he later made the prequels which he largely financed himself, he had near complete artistic freedom. Up to you to decide whether you like the original trilogy more than the prequels!

 

[Charlaquin]

I'll add, corporate influence can sometimes (believe it or not), result in better quality art. George Lucas was given quite a few limitations when making the first Star Wars, including a limited budget and script re-writes. When he later made the prequels which he largely financed himself, he had near complete artistic freedom. Up to you to decide whether you like the original trilogy more than the prequels!

Very true! While artistic integrity and corporate influence are at odds, artistic integrity doesn’t automatically translate to quality.

 

[MoonSong]

Let's not kid ourselves, D&D is at its best in a long time, but we all know it is the Magic money (and Arena Money while at that) the reason for this "promotion".

Will we see more D&D videogames? likely. Will the D&D movie be cool to have? yes. Will it make money? Who knows? I'll watch it as soon as I can and then maybe will be able to find a few more players locally. Meanwhile, Wizards already has all of my money this summer anyway...

 

[MoonSong]

I'll add, corporate influence can sometimes (believe it or not), result in better quality art. George Lucas was given quite a few limitations when making the first Star Wars, including a limited budget and script re-writes. When he later made the prequels which he largely financed himself, he had near complete artistic freedom. Up to you to decide whether you like the original trilogy more than the prequels!

Dah, of course the prequels! And clone wars! n_n

 

[MoonSong]

Very true! While artistic integrity and corporate influence are at odds, artistic integrity doesn’t automatically translate to quality.

Indeed. Sometimes limits are good, because they ground you and force you to get outside your comfort zone.

 

[Charlaquin]

Let's not kid ourselves, D&D is at its best in a long time, but we all know it is the Magic money (and Arena Money while at that) the reason for this "promotion".

Will we see more D&D videogames? likely. Will the D&D movie be cool to have? yes. Will it make money? Who knows? I'll watch it as soon as I can and then maybe will be able to find a few more players locally. Meanwhile, Wizards already has all of my money this summer anyway...

100% this

 

[Urriak Uruk]

Very true! While artistic integrity and corporate influence are at odds, artistic integrity doesn’t automatically translate to quality.

And I suppose to redirect this back to Hasbro and WotC, I think it's fairly clear that Hasbro has been happy with its success and is "promoting" it in the company to have more investment and resources. That is, IMO, a good thing. I'm not as confident in the IP mining (looking at you D&D film), but most merchandising for D&D like toys and such is stuff Hasbro already does, so I'm not sure how they can "make it worse."

Anyway, I think the TTRPG team of D&D has been pretty successful and growing, and that the corporate folks are unlikely to "fix what 'aint broken" and tinker with it.

 

[embee]

4. What was up with that whole 90s ska revival, anyway? Zoot suits? ZOOT SUITS?!!??

As a Gen-Xer, I will not brook any disparagement of 90s dancehall ska.

Feel free to slam Cherry Poppin' Daddies, however.

That said, D&D, while it performs very well, is, as they say, punching above its weight class. It generates a lot of revenue but has a relatively low cost. At this point, it is a Hasbro property like Risk, Monopoly, Clue, Scrabble, or Battleship. It requires no advertising money. People know it exists. Just put it on the shelf in Target.

It's a lot like the Skyrim model. Make a solid product. Not a perfect one. A solid one. Then, just leave it be. If people want to make content for it, let them. It will sell units, allowing you to collect money. Skyrim is a buggy mess with outdated assets. But it has an amazing community of support. You can download updated assets and bug patches for free and wind up with a game that looks like it came out this year, not ten years ago.

Want a new adventure for 5e? Well, you can wait for WOTC to release it or get a 3PP adventure. The 3PP has no cost to WOTC and serves as free advertising, and also keeps people invested in the product.

When you're running a machine that prints money, don't mess with the machine. It will print money for as long as you don't screw with it.

 

[prabe]

Indeed. Sometimes limits are good, because they ground you and force you to get outside your comfort zone.

I think there's a difference between A) choosing limitations for artistic/aesthetic reasons and B) limitations imposed by low budget on the one hand or corporate oversight on the other. That said, limitations under (A) can work to the good (they are after all a creative choice) and limitations under (B) can be worked around and/or looked at as trade-offs along a spectrum.

 

[prabe]

When you're running a machine that prints money, don't mess with the machine. It will print money for as long as you don't screw with it.

I doubt WotC and Hasbro are likely to repeat the mistakes of the past. I expect them to make entirely different mistakes going forward.