Will 2011 be the last year of Wizards D&D?

[MerricB]

Wizards have spent 2010 in a state of one major stuff-up after another when it comes to D&D. They've mishandled a number of key initiatives so incredibly badly that they've managed to completely erode my support for them.

D&D Red Box: not compatible with any other product.

D&D Essentials: so much confusion as to what it is and who it is for.

D&D Insider: a worse disaster of implementation is hard to imagine.

So, will Wizards of the Coast still be making D&D at this time next year? Will anyone care?

 

[Lancelot]

I hope not... because they've handled the product better than most other companies likely would have.

In my group (8-10 players): 1) Red Box has been purchased by several players, for nostalgia if nothing else; 2) everyone loves Essentials; 3) we've had 4 players buy DDI subscriptions since the start of the year, and getting good use out of them.

WotC indeed has had some problems. But what's the alternative?

• Give the license to White Wolf. They'll make you yearn for the good old days when a Realms-Shaking event only invalidated *some* of the material that had been previously released for the setting. Driz'zt will be more angsty than ever, and every class will be renamed to something like Wizard: the Fireballing, or Fighter: the Meatshielding.
• Give the license to Fantasy Flight Games. D&D 5e will be a board game. It'll look incredible, and will have much better miniatures. But you'll need ten times as many "fiddly bits", and the game will be nigh unplayable until PH2, PH3, and the "revised" DMG are released.
• Give the license to Mongoose Publishing. Wait for delays and disappointments in the release schedule. Eventually receive a sheepish apology that they nearly had the D&D license, but another company actually got to it before them.
• Give the license to Games Workshop. Get a new edition every 3 years. Every class has it's own "classbook" that must be purchased independently of the core rules, and your character mini costs $40 (paint and assembly not included; non-approved minis may not be used).
• Give the license to Paizo. Watch them re-release 4e (relabelled as 5e), fixing none of the problems with the rules... but adding new complexity, and making it even harder for new players to get into the game.
• Give the license to Palladium. Sound the trumpets for the arrival of the 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

No offense intended to any of the fine companies above, who all have their niche in the grand mosaic which is our hobby. However, I'm a little sick of hearing about WotC's supposed destruction of D&D.

At least they've been trying something new to simplify the game and attract new players. They've been fairly responsive to player feedback, both good and bad. Essentials, and some of the DDI initiatives, have been in direct response to some of what "we" have been saying. Their latest minis set has been one of the best ever. Some of the recent books have been exceptional: MM3 was one of the best MMs ever released, for any edition. The Dark Sun relaunch was good, and most people have been saying the Gamma World relaunch is terrific.

I hope they keep the license. I can forgive some of their mistakes, because I think they're good people, who mostly listen to their consumers, and continue providing me with quality gaming supplements for my dollars.

 

[Nyronus]

Wizards have spent 2010 in a state of one major stuff-up after another when it comes to D&D. They've mishandled a number of key initiatives so incredibly badly that they've managed to completely erode my support for them.

D&D Red Box: not compatible with any other product.

D&D Essentials: so much confusion as to what it is and who it is for.

D&D Insider: a worse disaster of implementation is hard to imagine.

So, will Wizards of the Coast still be making D&D at this time next year? Will anyone care?

They see me troll'n, trying to catch me flame'n...

Or, to put it a more sarcastic way: No and making a second answer is arbitrary in light for the first.

The Red Box was hailed as a great success as a n00b spring board and only had two "incompatabilities" in it, namely the difference between the magic missiles and the rogue. Woo-hoo?

Essentials is also more or less a success. I don't see how it can be confusing. Its for store owners to always have in stock. That's about it. It includes some more simple classes for simpler players and some classic classes to try and get the more reasonable grognards to take a look. Its not rocket science. Furthermore I am confused as to why you being unable to tell who the company wanted to market a product too makes it a failure worthy of bankruptcy/selling the franchise. How does one reach this conclusion from the premises? I am once again underwhelmed by your accusations.

Finally is DDI. I assume that you meant the character builder, since that's the only place that they really have messed up... for all of a month. Its more or less fine now. I haven't had a problem since day two. Its slow and clunky, but then so was the old one. Furthermore, I can't complain since I, as a Mac user, now get personal access to a product I have been paying for for two years. Also, the oft under-appreciated Compendium has actually gotten upgrade and I can tell you that it's current form is way better than the previous one. You can also talk about the quality of the magazine, but its been decline for a while, and honestly its not horrible, merely a lot more hit or miss from its glory days of Revenants and Rust Monster Nightmares. Furthermore I take great offense to describing releasing a product a month to early in its development as "a worse disaster of implementation is hard to imagine." Really, you can't think of something worse? I can imagine a whole hell of a lot worse implementations in a split second, and, being a student of history, can name a whole hell of a lot worse ones without having to imagine them. Mis-informed and ludicrously over the top, so that's three strikes and your out!!!

Lets also not forget that Hasbro and even WotC itself are both so ludicrously rich that they can keep DnD alive as a pet project if they so wanted to. Barring the fact that the books and subscriptions are still selling, meaning this whole conversation is moot.

So, another post of hyperbole, WotC hate, and petty vengeful doomsaying? Nothing to see here folks. Move along.

 

[Lancelot]

...and Merric: please change your tagline from ENWorld Optimist.

Alanis Morissette is threatening to write a song about you, and nobody wants that.

 

[Almacov]

Okay, I hate what's happened to DDI, but I seriously doubt WotC will drop the D&D license, voluntarily or otherwise. They'll keep pushing product, and they'll find ways to make it sell.

Maybe they'll be selling less of it to me, but I'm sure they'll be profitable.

I'm sure they'll lose a few customers. I'm sure I'll be spending more elsewhere.

I don't wish them any ill though. There are moves I've liked and moves I haven't.
I just hope they learn from each of them.

 

[Mithreinmaethor]

The title and this thread is just full of fail.

Please change the title to "What I hope happens to WOTC because I am unhappy"

What made you think this was a worthwhile thing to post? Dropping in just to insult the thread starter is poor form, and you've been here long enough to know that.

 

[jonesy]

...Games Workshop...non-approved minis may not be used...

What does that refer to? I don't remember them ever putting that in the rules. Or did they?

 

[Kurtomatic]

Yep, time for a title change!

I have to agree that all the existential angst about the meaning of Essentials is on the wrong side of the signal-to-noise ratio. Essentials is for selling D&D in Target and Walmart (huge US retail chains) with a handful of idiot-proof SKUs. Period. Everything else related to Essentials is just icing, and while worth discussing, would not exist without this fact. I would expect you of all people to get that idea.

WotC can afford to screw up DDI if it nets enough volume from mass-retailers. (That wouldn't make that not suck, of course!)

I think all the problems we are seeing from D&D right now are the result of inadequate manpower and scrooged-down budgets. So I don't think its a crazy question to ask what the hell is going on, but I do think you're exaggerating some of your individual points.

 

[BobTheNob]

Wow. If your car gets a flat tire, do you assume its going to explode?

 

[Destil]

I think all the problems we are seeing from D&D right now are the result of inadequate manpower and scrooged-down budgets. So I don't think its a crazy question to ask what the hell is going on, but I do think you're exaggerating some of your individual points.

I'd wager quite a bit of the need for the online versions of CB and the like is entirely because of some decree from on high (either legal or corporate leadership) in regards to piracy. Remember, WotC pulled down ALL official PDF support because of piracy. It's the stupidest move they've made since they started 4E and really shows that they "just don't get it" when it comes to the realities of a modern digital marketplace.

The new CB is an improvement in many areas, but primarily UI and still lacks some of the under the hood features the offline one has. This is exactly what I'd expect from a team forced to bring the data onto their servers, and they at least made good use of the lessons learned from the original.

But the whole reason for the existence of it just shows how utterly incompetent Wizards leadership is when it comes to digital (aside from Magic Online, which I'm sure makes money hand over fist).

No question that they'll still be printing books. But their online strategy is something else entirely (how much effort are they spending on VTT? Have you even seen the most recent 4E maptools frameworks? Beaten to the market by years and for free).