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General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
What is good for D&D as a game vs. what is good for the company that makes it
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<blockquote data-quote="Dausuul" data-source="post: 5701989" data-attributes="member: 58197"><p>Emphasis mine. TSR put out a lot more than one book per year; it's just that most were softcover. The "all glossy hardcover, all the time" thing didn't start until 3.5E. Before that, hardcovers were for core books and big compendium-type things.</p><p></p><p>I do think there is enormous benefit to the game in being produced and supported by a thriving business. It makes it possible to attract and pay highly talented people to work all day on improving the game and creating content. It makes it possible to fund events and cons that bring gamers together. It makes it possible to do cross-marketing stuff like the new board games (which are excellent, by the way).</p><p></p><p>The other side of the equation, though, is that "professional" corporate management has a poor track record with D&D. The first episode of that was Lorraine Williams, who ran TSR into the ground in the '90s. The second has been Hasbro. Because Hasbro is still in charge, it's more difficult to get a clear picture of what's going on, but yearly layoffs are almost never a sign of good management. Rick Marshall's posts <a href="http://grognardia.blogspot.com/2010/11/thank-you-ryan-dancey.html" target="_blank">here</a> imply he thinks Hasbro makes a lot of decisions to boost its quarterly bottom line without much thought to the long term, and I would not be surprised if that's the case. It's a common issue with big public companies.</p><p></p><p>I think the best thing for D&D would be if Hasbro sold or spun off Wizards into a separate company again, and Wizards got someone to run the show who was both a gamer and a competent business executive.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Dausuul, post: 5701989, member: 58197"] Emphasis mine. TSR put out a lot more than one book per year; it's just that most were softcover. The "all glossy hardcover, all the time" thing didn't start until 3.5E. Before that, hardcovers were for core books and big compendium-type things. I do think there is enormous benefit to the game in being produced and supported by a thriving business. It makes it possible to attract and pay highly talented people to work all day on improving the game and creating content. It makes it possible to fund events and cons that bring gamers together. It makes it possible to do cross-marketing stuff like the new board games (which are excellent, by the way). The other side of the equation, though, is that "professional" corporate management has a poor track record with D&D. The first episode of that was Lorraine Williams, who ran TSR into the ground in the '90s. The second has been Hasbro. Because Hasbro is still in charge, it's more difficult to get a clear picture of what's going on, but yearly layoffs are almost never a sign of good management. Rick Marshall's posts [url="http://grognardia.blogspot.com/2010/11/thank-you-ryan-dancey.html"]here[/url] imply he thinks Hasbro makes a lot of decisions to boost its quarterly bottom line without much thought to the long term, and I would not be surprised if that's the case. It's a common issue with big public companies. I think the best thing for D&D would be if Hasbro sold or spun off Wizards into a separate company again, and Wizards got someone to run the show who was both a gamer and a competent business executive. [/QUOTE]
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What is good for D&D as a game vs. what is good for the company that makes it
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