Clint_L
Legend
Who is the "we" of the thread's title? As a player and DM, I don't "work with" WotC, I buy from them if I think the product is good value. The vast majority of my RPG dollars go to 3PP, mostly for miniatures and terrain.
As sponsor of my school's D&D Club, I do kind of work with them, and they have been fantastic, with their educational programme that gifted us every source and adventure book up to Rime of the Frost Maiden, which I am then able to share with all of the students via DnDBeyond. DDB is itself an extremely valuable tool for running multiple campaigns with beginners as it allows them to be up and playing very quickly. I have no intention of dropping D&D, since doing so would hurt a lot of kids.
As for 3PP, I presume they should work with WotC if it makes good business sense. Obviously, the past few weeks have changed that equation, but ultimately most 3PP are trying to make ends meet, and if they can do a bit better through working with WotC, at least some of the time, who am I to judge?
My final point is that I think we need to keep our eyes on the prize. For fans, I think that means keeping as many viable options as possible - for us, variety is a good thing. But the main casualties (potentially) of the current situation are 3PP, and a lot of them rely on working with WotC to a significant degree. We have to make sure that whatever we do moving forward, we don't inadvertently hurt all those guys.
As sponsor of my school's D&D Club, I do kind of work with them, and they have been fantastic, with their educational programme that gifted us every source and adventure book up to Rime of the Frost Maiden, which I am then able to share with all of the students via DnDBeyond. DDB is itself an extremely valuable tool for running multiple campaigns with beginners as it allows them to be up and playing very quickly. I have no intention of dropping D&D, since doing so would hurt a lot of kids.
As for 3PP, I presume they should work with WotC if it makes good business sense. Obviously, the past few weeks have changed that equation, but ultimately most 3PP are trying to make ends meet, and if they can do a bit better through working with WotC, at least some of the time, who am I to judge?
My final point is that I think we need to keep our eyes on the prize. For fans, I think that means keeping as many viable options as possible - for us, variety is a good thing. But the main casualties (potentially) of the current situation are 3PP, and a lot of them rely on working with WotC to a significant degree. We have to make sure that whatever we do moving forward, we don't inadvertently hurt all those guys.