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<blockquote data-quote="ferratus" data-source="post: 6054102" data-attributes="member: 55966">I think it may in fact be time for WotC to retire D&amp;D as a living, constantly evolving property.&nbsp;&nbsp; I also think it might be time to retire WotC as a company.&nbsp; It has got to be fairly frustrating for Hasbro, that has its business as toy and games, to have a seperate subsidiary to release just a couple games.&nbsp; &nbsp; There is so much loss of synergy with other brands and so much redundancy there.&nbsp;&nbsp; If the D&amp;D and Magic brands weren't forced to support the infrastructure of an entire company, they could have a much more forgiving release schedule, and have greater opportunities for merchandizing.Imagine a D&amp;D product cycle that has a few well-structured games Basic - a stripped down dungeon crawler, 4 races, 4 classes, random dungeon table.Advanced - Old school 1e/2e/RC Basic polished up, but still playing homage to the classic D&amp;D themes and tropes.&nbsp;&nbsp; In other words, lose the wonky/unfair rules, but keep the quirky charm.&nbsp;&nbsp; Place for adventurer-conquerer-king style gameplay as well.Tactics - Feats&amp;Powers version, for those that love their character builds and combat.&nbsp; We can finally admit now that 4e is dead that 4e was just 3e brought to its logical conclusion right?&nbsp;&nbsp; The powers system is just feats, spells, and substitution levels streamlined under a central cohesive mechanic, and pretty much everything else is the same.&nbsp; This would be the edition for what 3e and 4e fans love in common.&nbsp; Character builds and combat.&nbsp;&nbsp; That's it.&nbsp; No splatbooks, no release schedule, rely on user generated content for adventures and &quot;optional&quot; rules and addons for content and community.&nbsp;&nbsp; I've never really seen much difference between &quot;professional&quot; and &quot;amateur&quot; quality of content anyway, except for production values (art, accessories etc.)The tabletop community gets with the business of slowly dying out because nobody has time to play cooperative tabletop games anymore, and would survive longer if WotC and other companies don't keep selling new product to splinter and diminish the fanbase.Then Hasbro, instead of trying to come up with the next biggest revolution in D&amp;D to revive the brand every couple years, should just let it sit quietly and pull in consistent amount of revenue.&nbsp;&nbsp; But really, what will make them the money off this IP isn't the game itself, it is the merch.&nbsp;&nbsp; D&amp;D T-shirts, toys, key rings, flash drives, etc etc.&nbsp;&nbsp; If you can't make it yourself, license it out and help sell the product on your website.I have been, since the year 2000, continuously flaberghasted that WotC does not have a online store on their website.&nbsp;&nbsp; Paizo does, in which they sell not only their games, but products related to their brand, and even the products of their competitors that they think will sell.So that's my plan for how D&amp;D Next can succeed.&nbsp;&nbsp; Make a few game products to give enough rules for a DM to get started in their favoured style.&nbsp;&nbsp; Merchandize and license the brand.&nbsp; Use the fanbase for splatbook content.&nbsp; Sell old product in electronic form.&nbsp; Then if you must tinker with the rules system again, pull a game designer team together from your stable at Hasbro (or hire a a team of freelancers) to do the job, and then put them on the next project instead of firing them at Christmas because D&amp;D is all you do.The way WotC is structured is probably the biggest reason D&amp;D is having a hard time as a property.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="ferratus, post: 6054102, member: 55966"] I think it may in fact be time for WotC to retire D&D as a living, constantly evolving property. I also think it might be time to retire WotC as a company. It has got to be fairly frustrating for Hasbro, that has its business as toy and games, to have a seperate subsidiary to release just a couple games. There is so much loss of synergy with other brands and so much redundancy there. If the D&D and Magic brands weren't forced to support the infrastructure of an entire company, they could have a much more forgiving release schedule, and have greater opportunities for merchandizing. Imagine a D&D product cycle that has a few well-structured games [B]Basic[/B] - a stripped down dungeon crawler, 4 races, 4 classes, random dungeon table. [B]Advanced [/B]- Old school 1e/2e/RC Basic polished up, but still playing homage to the classic D&D themes and tropes. In other words, lose the wonky/unfair rules, but keep the quirky charm. Place for adventurer-conquerer-king style gameplay as well. [B]Tactics[/B] - Feats&Powers version, for those that love their character builds and combat. We can finally admit now that 4e is dead that 4e was just 3e brought to its logical conclusion right? The powers system is just feats, spells, and substitution levels streamlined under a central cohesive mechanic, and pretty much everything else is the same. This would be the edition for what 3e and 4e fans love in common. Character builds and combat. That's it. No splatbooks, no release schedule, rely on user generated content for adventures and "optional" rules and addons for content and community. I've never really seen much difference between "professional" and "amateur" quality of content anyway, except for production values (art, accessories etc.) The tabletop community gets with the business of slowly dying out because nobody has time to play cooperative tabletop games anymore, and would survive longer if WotC and other companies don't keep selling new product to splinter and diminish the fanbase. Then Hasbro, instead of trying to come up with the next biggest revolution in D&D to revive the brand every couple years, should just let it sit quietly and pull in consistent amount of revenue. But really, what will make them the money off this IP isn't the game itself, it is the merch. D&D T-shirts, toys, key rings, flash drives, etc etc. If you can't make it yourself, license it out and help sell the product on your website. I have been, since the year 2000, continuously flaberghasted that WotC does not have a online store on their website. Paizo does, in which they sell not only their games, but products related to their brand, and even the products of their competitors that they think will sell. So that's my plan for how D&D Next can succeed. Make a few game products to give enough rules for a DM to get started in their favoured style. Merchandize and license the brand. Use the fanbase for splatbook content. Sell old product in electronic form. Then if you must tinker with the rules system again, pull a game designer team together from your stable at Hasbro (or hire a a team of freelancers) to do the job, and then put them on the next project instead of firing them at Christmas because D&D is all you do. The way WotC is structured is probably the biggest reason D&D is having a hard time as a property. [/QUOTE]

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