WotC Names 10 "Adepts" On Their DMs Guild Store

WotC's Dungeon Masters Guild store launched 18-months ago, and was a vehicle for D&D fans to produce material and sell it to other fans in one convenient online mega-store; WotC's version of the App Store, essentially. WotC's Chris Lindsay comments that the store now has thousands of new publishers on the store - something which is both bug and feature. One of the problems with such a large body of content is that it can be tough to find the really good stuff, and WotC has tried to address this is in past with columns highlighting certain products (and, indeed, there are websites which do that very well too, including the ENnie-nominated Loot the Room which posts a monthly Best of the DM's Guild column).

WotC has just launched a new initiative. They have picked ten DMs Guild creators, who they are calling "Adepts", and will be highlighting them in their podcasts and other media going forward, as well as giving them early copies of adventures like the upcoming Tomb of Annihilation so that they can produce content to go with that product on launch day. They even get a special gold badge so you can spot them on the store!

So who are WotC's first Adepts? They are:

• Lysa Chen
• Will Doyle
• Claire Hoffman
• James Introcaso
• Rich Lescouflair
• Shawn Merwin
• Cindy Moore
• Satine Phoenix
• Ruty Rutenberg
• Monica Valentinelli

I did a quick search at DMs Guild and linked to those authors I could find, though I failed my search-fu on three of them. But you can check out the ones which did work.

From what WotC is saying, it looks like this group will change periodically -- "It won’t always be the same group, and the group won’t always be the same number of folks, but it will be fun and exciting to see what wonders they create." There's more information in WotC's announcement.

One of the important take-aways for most is that there will be third-party content for new adventures on launch day.

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[Jester David]

did not even know it was her profession until it was mentioned (the makes sense part was I . Reference to her appearance and comparison to a "booth girl"). The implication was "she has a profession" , she should stick with it because her D&D knowledge seems very limited. Just like I"m better off in Health Care than running marathons in my spare time.

So, because she doesn't LOOK like how you think a D&D fan should look, and didn't present herself as a D&D fan in an interview where she was trying to highlight the guest host in the one video you have seen on her, she should give up on writing D&D material?

 

[JeffB]

I fail to see how "she should stick to stripping/porn" could be taken the *right* way.

Keep going around in circles.

 

[JeffB]

So, because she doesn't LOOK like how you think a D&D fan should look, and didn't present herself as a D&D fan in an interview where she was trying to highlight the guest host in the one video you have seen on her, she should give up on writing D&D material?

Again, you are all over the place. Go read the very first post and stop taking it to whatever illogical extreme makes you feel justified.

 

[Morrus]

OK, that’s enough. Jeff, your comment *was* inappropriate. Everybody else, please get back to discussing the new Adept program.

 

[Jester David]

Keep going around in circles.

I believe the phrase you're actually looking for is "Oops, I'm sorry and apologise." Or maybe "I shouldn't have judged her based on her appearance".

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

So, out of curiosity, what is the standard of stage presence that you require from all D&D creators you buy from? I assume your collection is very small. This comment came across really poorly. I can't imagine anybody saying the same thing about a male D&D creator.

Really? I can imagine a lot of disparaging comments being thrown at a D&D creator of any gender. :-/

 

[LordEntrails]

Now this makes sense. Maybe she should stick to that instead of the DMs Guild.

Attacks on a woman with sexual innuendos. Just what our hobby needs.

Questions her professionalism, her ability, her knowledge. But don't belittle someone and imply sexual ... deviances just to try and show how cool you are.

Uncool, sophomoric and plain right piggish.

 

[LordEntrails]

So, back to the topic at hand (Sorry [MENTION=1]Morrus[/MENTION], replied before I saw your post to move on. I was quite ... put out about the comment I quoted and posted on to read all the replies before replying myself.).

I do agree with the previous comment that I don't see how this helps build community. It might help give confidence to new people as to how to find good content, but I'm still not sure about that.

IMO, good reviews and ratings, and perhaps a few trustworthy bloggers doing detailed reviews might actually help much more than this. But, at least it's something. Kudos to WotC to adapting and trying new things. They've been doing much more of this (trying new things) since the inception of 5E, and the pace is only quickening.

 

[Seramus]

Except all it does it take people who are already known and have something of an "IN" and give them a higher profile rather than actually finding and raising up new talent.

That's completely normal. You start with the known quantities who have worked hard and deserve acknowledgement, then you branch out to the creative and more unknown authors in subsequent months. Countless companies do it this way.

 

[SkidAce]

See, I think the Adept program should include some folks like Marc Altfuldisch, or M.T. Black, in addition to they types they chose.

Their products show an understanding of what DMGuild shoppers and the hobby are looking for. (Hence staying near the top of the list)