You are in charge of WOTC.......

[TheGM]

- I would make a single 1E/2E version of the game and sell it.
A single game does not suit all tastes, why ignore a market segment?

- I would second the recommended "electronic support division" they're going to need it.

- Ways to bring new players to the games lines need to be explored, but I'm still working on how. I've got some ideas, but they're ill-formed and not suited to the limelight yet.

- Like it or not, for profitability sake I would make 4E licensed material that vendors paid a percentage on. No more oversight than they have now, but a per-dollar fee to use the core system in your products. I'm aware of what it would do to the market, you asked what I would do if I ran WoTC, not what the market needs .

- A real basic set is a must.

- Return of "Rule zero" is a good idea for older gamers, a bad idea for very young/immature ones.

- Design 4E for online play first, and tabletop second. Any game can be played online, but providing tools to make it easy would facilitate the increasing online movement.

- Make a decision, are you marketing to younger players whose parents may object to things like Libris Mortis, or are you marketing to a more mature group? A third party publisher could license books of questionable (for kids) propriety, and you can keep your marketing image clean. Players still get options, the company still gets licensing revenue, and 'normal' parents don't gasp when their kids bring a Wizards book home.

That's it for now, but there is more... You're never done when you're in charge of a business unit that is so diverse.

The games market is tiny by revenue compared to most markets. Growing it has got to be first priority. That's a big piece of the reason that we got 3E, and should be a driver for 4E.

 

[Waldorf]

If I were in charge, I would fire everyone at Wotc, starting with Andy Collins. Then I'd cast wish and make Gygax about 21 years old again. Then I would give him Greyhawk, not to mention complete creative control over D&D. Oh, and I'd make Monte Cook his creative assistant. I'd also put Gary Holian and Erik Mona on the payroll fulltime. Then I would sit back and be the proverbial fly on the wall. I'd also make sure I could participate in any and all playtesting that went on...

Would Gary keep elements of 3e? Yeah, I'd have to say probably, but we'd get something far more streamlined and something far cooler. Something more like Castles and Crusades, methinks, but in the kick ass way it should have been. I imagine he'd steer clear of ad infinitum prestige class nonsense, too, not to mention the deluge of feats that seem to litter the landscape these days.

We'd have ourselves a renaissance the likes of which have not been seen in some time. Oh, and we'd finally get to see the real Castle Greyhawk, set in Oerth, with all the trimmings.

Yeah, that's the ticket.

 

[francisca]

About the only thing I can think of is to make sure they don't botch the re-release of RoboRally like they did with Cosmic.

Then I'd make sure they didn't trash the rest of the old AH catalog.

edit: Don't take this as tacit approval of the way things are going with D&D. I do understand, however, that my views of what D&D should be seem to be the minority, so I wouldn't mess with it too much.

--grumpy, up too late, gotta wake up in 3 hours, spikey

 

[Numion]

Would Gary keep elements of 3e? Yeah, I'd have to say probably, but we'd get something far more streamlined and something far cooler. Something more like Castles and Crusades, methinks, but in the kick ass way it should have been. I imagine he'd steer clear of ad infinitum prestige class nonsense, too, not to mention the deluge of feats that seem to litter the landscape these days.

In my eyes 3E is the streamlined version of D&D, while AD&D is an inconsistent hodgepogde of different mechanics. Not streamlined at all. So I'm surprised why Gygax would streamline D&D further.

 

[delericho]

I'd probably do pretty much what Wizards are doing now, with just a few changes:

1) Officially announce an end for Star Wars d20. Don't get me wrong, I like the game (with reservations). However, if it were profitable enough, they'd be supporting it actively, and if it's not, better to just put the fans out of their misery.

2) Look very closely at how to expand the youth market. I don't think a licensed product is the answer, since such a product would likely be very expensive to produce. Instead, I think the answer is to revert back to the Red Box/Blue Box model of basic sets, only building towards the full version of the latest edition of the rules. I think the current Basic Set is a worthy effort, but I think the jump to the PHB is just too big - kids are not going to absorb 1,000 pages of rules to play the 'adult' version of the game.

Note that any new Basic Set should either be done right away - with a guarantee that 4e is at least 3 years away - or should wait until 4e is ready, and be released at the same time, with the Expert Set no more than 3 months behind.

I think there's also a need to get good DMs running demo games in all the places the game is sold. This includes the game stores, of course, but it would also benefit the game if demos could be run in the Borders of the world as well. How that would be done, I have no idea.

3) When the next edition is to be produced, I would insist that the electronic tools be developed alongside the new edition, and be given the same priority as the DMG itself. Ideally, Mastertools should be bundled with the DMG, but as that's likely too expensive to contemplate, it should at least be released simultaneously.

4) I would keep the OGL in place, with a new SRD available alongside the new books. However, I might consider requiring publishers to register themselves with me before gaining access to it, both to stay current on the details of who's doing what with the game, and also so that players can't substitute the SRD for the PHB. Or I might not - I would have to think more on this.

5) I'd probably do a Greyhawk hardback (or, better, get Paizo to do it). I would not bring back any of the defunct settings. And I might consider winding down RPG support for the Forgotten Realms in favour of Eberron. (Sacrilidge, I know, but what is there in the Realms that hasn't been covered - and I mean in general, not just in the current edition?)

6) Start a push for better pay for designers across the industry. Which would probably necessitate higher prices.

 

[Teflon Billy]

1) Star Frontiers hardcover for D20 Future

2) Advertise in comics, Sci-Fi monthlies and on appropriate TV

3) Celebrity Spokesman: William Shatner

4) Challenge Andy Collins to an arm wrestling match to double or half his wage (he looks semi-buff)

5) Bring back the Castle at Gen Con

6) Rehire Gygax in some capacity, possibly "Loud Mouthed Sidekick" or "Hatchet Man" oif he didn't feel like doing design work

7) Ride around WotC Headquarters on a pony

8) Build WotC headquarters as a giant, undersea bubble-city

9) Spike the water-cooler with LSD

10) Insist that all employees were business suits made of chainmail (Except for Gygax and Shatner; Gygax can wear whatever he wants, Shatner must wear his "James T. Kirk" getup from the original Star Trek (or alternately his LCPD Outift from T.J. Hooker)

 

[Thanee]

1. Find someone to put up a decent concept for errata/FAQ/etc.
2. Publish D&D the collectible card game and use the billions of funds it will generate to support the RPG market.
3. Use the left-over funds from the DNDCCG to produce a reality TV show, where cool people are roleplaying all day long.

Bye
Thanee

 

[ColonelHardisson]

In my eyes 3E is the streamlined version of D&D, while AD&D is an inconsistent hodgepogde of different mechanics. Not streamlined at all. So I'm surprised why Gygax would streamline D&D further.

Because he's stated a number of times recently that he likes more rules-light games now. Take a look at his Lejendary Adventures game.

 

[Ozmar]

I would change my business plans every week based on the latest advice I read on EN World.

And I'd also skip 4E and get right to work on 5E. I'm thinking, if d20 was so hot, then why not replace it with d100? Expand the skill list, using multiple point costs for different classes, adopt the psionic method for all spells by making it a point-based spell casting system, include psionics in the core (although it now uses the same mechanics as divine and arcane magic), add 4 more ability scores, give unlimited flexibity in character creation, and add weapon attack tables and critical hit charts to describe combat in mind-bending detail.

Hmmm... I think I just re-created Rolemaster.

Ozmar the Complete Squirrel

 

[diaglo]

If I was in charge of WotC, I'd promptly find a new line of work. Those poor guys just can't win.

if you were in charge of WotC...

read the JoeGKushner quote in my sig.