KYRON45
Hero
You’re looking for an argument.
Most of what gets said around here is opinion and anecdotal.
I’m not sure of anything. Like everyone else; I’m just giving an opinion.
D&D General You're In Charge of D&D -- 2025 Edition
- Thread starter Reynard
- Start date
Most of what gets said around here is opinion and anecdotal.
I’m not sure of anything. Like everyone else; I’m just giving an opinion.
It is 2025. D&D has been a mainstay of podcatss and YouTube for 15 years. There are 5 beginner boxes, 2 of them based on licensed products for outreach. If people don't know how to play D&D, they aren't even looking.
KYRON45
Hero
The OP asks what i would do if i was in charge of the brand. Market it better is my response. Not sure why my comment is any less valuable than anyone else's.
I love this video.
Also, The Elusive Shift is probably THE BEST book on the history of the gaming community.
I just asked you why you though it was underperforming.
KYRON45
Hero
I wouldn't say its underperforming. Its doing what its doing.
I think the community does a better job of promoting the brand than Wotc does.
Critical Role and Dimension 20 is filling literal stadiums.....where the heck is Wotc?
I don't know the first thing about conventions but wasn't Wotc absent from most of the bigger ones for many years?
I'm neither pro nor con in general when it comes to Wotc. I'm just saying is that I'd hire better marketing staff. Do with that what you will. Wotc isn't.
Do you mean other than the D&D Live they just did in london, the YT video for which got 650K views? Or did you mean something else?I wouldn't say its underperforming. Its doing what its doing.
I think the community does a better job of promoting the brand than Wotc does.
Critical Role and Dimension 20 is filling literal stadiums.....where the heck is Wotc?
I don't know the first thing about conventions but wasn't Wotc absent from most of the bigger ones for many years?
I'm neither pro nor con in general when it comes to Wotc. I'm just saying is that I'd hire better marketing staff. Do with that what you will. Wotc isn't.
Look, I don't particularly care about WotC either. it just feels weird that you are suggesting they are fumbling around in the dark, accidentally stumbling upon ten years of unprecedented growth. They having been pushing hard for years now -- including making sure their partnership with Critical Role serves them. That is marketing too.
Stormonu
NeoGrognard
I don't have to imagine, I pulled the trigger and got my own version printed.
Too many changes to list fully, but I ended up rewriting just about everything, taking 2014 5E and pulling in everything from 2E & 3E that I felt fit.
Some of the bigger changes:
Anything that was a proficiency (weapon, armor, shield) was turned into a skill group, and each class has some skill they can get Expertise in (and with Expertise, it only applies to two subskills). For example, the Fighter can get Expertise in Melee Combat(Blades).
Too many changes to list fully, but I ended up rewriting just about everything, taking 2014 5E and pulling in everything from 2E & 3E that I felt fit.
Some of the bigger changes:
Anything that was a proficiency (weapon, armor, shield) was turned into a skill group, and each class has some skill they can get Expertise in (and with Expertise, it only applies to two subskills). For example, the Fighter can get Expertise in Melee Combat(Blades).
- Proficiency Bonus starts at +0 and goes up +1 every 3 levels.
- No multiclassing with class swapping. Multiclassing is instead handled by feats.
- Huge rewrites of the Monk and Ranger. The monk can gain Stances and can customize Ki ability selection much like spellcasters choose to prepare spells. Rangers can be build like a battlemaster (Martial path) or partial spelluser (Druid path). Added custom Ranger-only manuevers based on enemy selection that are generally useful but better against certain creatures (kind of like how Smite does extra damage to fiends)
- Added Battlemage (Fighter/Wizard hybrid) and Psion as base classes.
- More options for everything
- Went back to fixed ability modifiers for races.
- Spellcasting is a bit more difficult to pull off and Saves/Spell attacks have critical/fumble rules.
- 20 on any roll is auto-success. 1 on any roll is auto-fail.
KYRON45
Hero
I’m saying why are third parties putting on better D&D shows (live streams, podcasts, arenas) than the D&D people?
It seems like everything WotC does is aimed at people who are already playing the game.
Sure you get an article in Time Magazine every few years that read like someone’s grandma trying to explain the game to her sewing circle. But are regular people reading that article or is it the gamers who are just happy to see their thing out in the wild?
Here’s my final words on the subject….
Golden Arches….Guy with a monocle (both Mr Peanut and the Monopoly guy)…Where’s the beef?…the iPod adds with the dancing shadow people or….theres an app for that…Colonel Sanders…Geiko lizard…all iconic marketing. When you mention D&D to a casual bystander they don’t sing a jingle or recite a catch phrase they think….do you live in your mom’s basement.
