Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
The Pitfalls of Success: Hasbro Success Story, Take 2
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Snarf Zagyg" data-source="post: 8214385" data-attributes="member: 7023840"><p>Most of the time, I just let a post out and see where the conversation goes; rarely does it seem so many misunderstand what I wrote (albeit [USER=2525]@Mistwell[/USER] got it pretty quickly). Admittedly, a fair number of people commented based on the title without reading the piece, but then again, it did have words. Lots of them. Since I think the topic enough is interesting enough to discuss, and the original thread was closed because it ended up in a conversation about the gender and/or sexual preferences of certain rock musicians ... yeah, I didn't see that coming either ... I thought I'd try again by posting the annotated guide to the first post. Here is the first one:</p><p></p><p>[URL unfurl="true"]https://www.enworld.org/threads/sell-out-hasbro-and-the-soul-of-d-d.678609/[/URL]</p><p></p><p>Here is the annotated guide to that post:</p><p></p><p><strong>Thesis: D&D has been promoted within Hasbro due to its success; with this increased success will come increased scrutiny and change, along with sweet, sweet opportunities for mining D&D's IP. </strong></p><p></p><p><em>Superstructure, repeated 8 times: A slightly changed version of the song, "Sell Out" by Reel Big Fish; the irony of the song is that this is the first single (and most well-known song) by the band after they signed with a major label; Mojo Records - an MCA/UMG label, and was promoted on the radio and through MTV. To put it another way, there is nothing like17,000 people chanting in unison, "Eff you, I won't do what you tell me."</em></p><p></p><p>Interlude 1: D&D is very successful, and the success of D&D has caused it to be elevated within Hasbro to a new position of promience.</p><p></p><p>Interlude 2: A discussion of the term "selling out," and how the idea that success and artistic merit/integrity are opposed is bizarre to most people today.</p><p></p><p>Interlude 3: The history of D&D, and how it's always been corporate since Arneson went to Gygax to figure out how to monetize his idea.</p><p></p><p>Interlude 4: Making fun of Disney, because, Disney. And stating that this is what corporations do- they monetize their assets.</p><p></p><p>Interlude 5: Discussing some of the history of Hasbro in terms of monetizing their assets (Hasbroverse, 4e), and stating that previously, there were few expectations for the D&D brand.</p><p></p><p>Interlude 6: Combining 4&5 to state that D&D will now be a "managed brand" and that we should expect more D&D, more licensing, more mining of the IP.</p><p></p><p>Interlude 7: Concluding by observing that not all aspects of increased corporatization are good; expectations can be a killer to new products because they are judged by new metrics, and standardization and homogenization will tend to increase as it is more of a "brand." But "In the end, worrying about the success of D&D is like worrying about selling out- it's a much better problem to have than the problem of failure."</p><p></p><p><strong>What I Assumed Were Interesting Issues for Discussion:</strong></p><p><strong>1. Will "D&D" be a good managed brand? Is D&D the type of IP that Hasbro will be able to successfully mine like the DCEU and Marvel in a happy, profit-maximizing, cross-media synergizing, shareholder-pleasing way? </strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong>2. Now that Hasbro has elevated the D&D and MtG (WoTC) "brands" into a new division (along with digital licensing), what types of products do you expect to see?</strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong>3. What concerns, if any, do you have about the need for even more performance from D&D? Is this a permanent change that Hasbro should be counting on for continued meteoric growth, or is this a reflection of unique factors, such as the Pandemic and the success of certain streaming shows (similar to the late 70s and early 80s having unique circumstances) that will cause the growth to dissipate? </strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong>4. What was up with that whole 90s ska revival, anyway? Zoot suits? ZOOT SUITS?!!??</strong></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Snarf Zagyg, post: 8214385, member: 7023840"] Most of the time, I just let a post out and see where the conversation goes; rarely does it seem so many misunderstand what I wrote (albeit [USER=2525]@Mistwell[/USER] got it pretty quickly). Admittedly, a fair number of people commented based on the title without reading the piece, but then again, it did have words. Lots of them. Since I think the topic enough is interesting enough to discuss, and the original thread was closed because it ended up in a conversation about the gender and/or sexual preferences of certain rock musicians ... yeah, I didn't see that coming either ... I thought I'd try again by posting the annotated guide to the first post. Here is the first one: [URL unfurl="true"]https://www.enworld.org/threads/sell-out-hasbro-and-the-soul-of-d-d.678609/[/URL] Here is the annotated guide to that post: [B]Thesis: D&D has been promoted within Hasbro due to its success; with this increased success will come increased scrutiny and change, along with sweet, sweet opportunities for mining D&D's IP. [/B] [I]Superstructure, repeated 8 times: A slightly changed version of the song, "Sell Out" by Reel Big Fish; the irony of the song is that this is the first single (and most well-known song) by the band after they signed with a major label; Mojo Records - an MCA/UMG label, and was promoted on the radio and through MTV. To put it another way, there is nothing like17,000 people chanting in unison, "Eff you, I won't do what you tell me."[/I] Interlude 1: D&D is very successful, and the success of D&D has caused it to be elevated within Hasbro to a new position of promience. Interlude 2: A discussion of the term "selling out," and how the idea that success and artistic merit/integrity are opposed is bizarre to most people today. Interlude 3: The history of D&D, and how it's always been corporate since Arneson went to Gygax to figure out how to monetize his idea. Interlude 4: Making fun of Disney, because, Disney. And stating that this is what corporations do- they monetize their assets. Interlude 5: Discussing some of the history of Hasbro in terms of monetizing their assets (Hasbroverse, 4e), and stating that previously, there were few expectations for the D&D brand. Interlude 6: Combining 4&5 to state that D&D will now be a "managed brand" and that we should expect more D&D, more licensing, more mining of the IP. Interlude 7: Concluding by observing that not all aspects of increased corporatization are good; expectations can be a killer to new products because they are judged by new metrics, and standardization and homogenization will tend to increase as it is more of a "brand." But "In the end, worrying about the success of D&D is like worrying about selling out- it's a much better problem to have than the problem of failure." [B]What I Assumed Were Interesting Issues for Discussion: 1. Will "D&D" be a good managed brand? Is D&D the type of IP that Hasbro will be able to successfully mine like the DCEU and Marvel in a happy, profit-maximizing, cross-media synergizing, shareholder-pleasing way? 2. Now that Hasbro has elevated the D&D and MtG (WoTC) "brands" into a new division (along with digital licensing), what types of products do you expect to see? 3. What concerns, if any, do you have about the need for even more performance from D&D? Is this a permanent change that Hasbro should be counting on for continued meteoric growth, or is this a reflection of unique factors, such as the Pandemic and the success of certain streaming shows (similar to the late 70s and early 80s having unique circumstances) that will cause the growth to dissipate? 4. What was up with that whole 90s ska revival, anyway? Zoot suits? ZOOT SUITS?!!??[/B] [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
The Pitfalls of Success: Hasbro Success Story, Take 2
Top