You've just taken over WotC, what do you do?

[Micah Sweet]

1. Release all the WotC SRDs to the CC, unaltered.

2. Release all owned D&D settings to the DMsGuild for the public to produce content.

That's it. I don't care what else they do anymore.

 

[MichaelSomething]

Funny, instead of implementing a bunch of changes when I suddenly take over, I would take the time to understand the inner workings of the company and listen to the people who work in the "trenches" before doing anything...

 

[ssvegeta555]

-Release 3.0, 3.5, d20 Modern SRDs into CC but also 1e, 2e and 4e (and OGL for the new ones).

-Add all 3.5 content (minus IP of course) to the 3.5 SRD.

-Add them all to ORC as well because why not

-As for my pet project, get in contact with those who designed and wrote Fiendish Codex 1 and 2 for 3.5 to see if they can or know someone who can write the 3rd entry in the series detailing the Yugoloths. All this will be done for 3.5 of course.

-Get a new CRPG game in the works using 3.5 rules. It'll be realtime with pause but with the option to switch to turn based like the Pathfinder CRPGs. Best of both worlds.

As for 5e and 6e/OneD&D/5.5 eh... hire someone to manage that and yeah whatever. Don't care. I'll just stay in my 3.5 bubble and pump out more sourcebooks for that. Maybe a Celestial codex? That'll be fun.

 

[mamba]

Funny, instead of implementing a bunch of changes when I suddenly take over, I would take the time to understand the inner workings of the company and listen to the people who work in the "trenches" before doing anything...

you care too much about keeping the job and too little about your D&D pet project

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Reprint every MTG card from the reserved list and sell them for 1ct a piece.
And allow proxies to be played at unlimited tournaments.

Entry fee of 50k to play a game is dumb.

 

[Bagpuss]

I'm not seeing a huge number of actually profitable suggestions here. In fact a lot of the suggestions will lose money rapidly.

WotC is a company not a charity. Half the suggestions here the company will be backrupt within a year and not producing anything after that.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

I'm not seeing a huge number of actually profitable suggestions here. In fact a lot of the suggestions will lose money rapidly.

WotC is a company not a charity. Half the suggestions here the company will be backrupt within a year and not producing anything after that.

I thought that was the point of this thread... or the whole OGL and MTG thing. People don't want WotC to make money.

 

[Bagpuss]

I thought that was the point of this thread... or the whole OGL and MTG thing. People don't want WotC to make money.

I think most people want to see the products they love and enjoy stewarded well, even a company run as not-for-profit have to make money to cover their overheads. There is a difference between just seeking to gouge your customers, like the MTG Anniversary set, and running the company into the ground, with say..

Reprint every MTG card from the reserved list and sell them for 1ct a piece.

or

Bring everything ever officially printed for D&D up to snuff re: text, layout, etc, i.e. no more bad scans, aka go back and re-typeset the lot.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

I think most people want to see the products they love and enjoy stewarded well, even a company run as not-for-profit have to make money to cover their overheads. There is a difference between just seeking to gouge your customers, like the MTG Anniversary set, and running the company into the ground, with say..



or

I could not see the second quote. But the first one started as a joke and then I thought: why not? The number of happy people would far outweight the upset ones...

 

[Velderan]

A few things off the top of my head:

• Proceed with the 1D&D planned release, sticking to it being completely compatible with all things 5e.
• For 1D&D, I'd release 1 legitimate setting book per year with a large adventure book to support it. Bring in the original setting designer(s) as consultants for those projects if possible. Release a Xanathar's style book each year with new player and DM options. Release a creature book each year for a total of 4 hardcover books per year.
• Release smaller 1 shot adventures for each setting through D&D Beyond, maybe 2-3 per setting. Speaking of D&D Beyond..
• Open up D&D Beyond as a 3rd party marketplace. Work on licensing deals with the major VTTs to give a discount on material on those VTTs if purchased on D&D Beyond. No idea how much WotC currently gets if you buy a book on Roll20 for example, but basically waive that amount if the book is already in a customer's D&D Beyond account.
• Release the 3D VTT when it's ready, no subscription needed for a bare bones experience. If you buy an adventure on D&D Beyond, you get all the assets needed to run the adventure in it and can use those assets to homebrew your own material. Microtransactions would exist, but it would be stuff like $10 for a bunch of monsters or premade maps. Good value for the money stuff, nothing predatory like $1.99 for a costume. A subscription would also exist that unlocks some stuff each month to help you build out your library of assets and share material with your table.
• For the 50th anniversary, take a page out of Blizzard's playbook and launch a D&D Classic line of products. Unsure if I'd go with B/X or AD&D 1e but release the core material with a couple of the most famous adventures. Minimal changes to the material, fix typos and such. If they do well, continue to release old material and if demand is there design new adventures. Release a SRD for D&D Classic to CC.

 

[mamba]

I'm not seeing a huge number of actually profitable suggestions here. In fact a lot of the suggestions will lose money rapidly.

You should not be expecting many, these kinds of threads usually end up with people pushing through their pet projects or correcting one of their pet peeves

 

[Aldarc]

I’m going to Disney World!

 

[Bacon Bits]

Break the Magic reserve list then quit.

 

[Cadence]

Break the Magic reserve list then quit.

My favorite is when people think that means we'd get cheap versions of any of those cards instead of $150 single card ABUR dual Secret Lairs, for example

{Which now sadly has me wondering if I'd resist picking up the four blue ones...}

 

[dave2008]

1. Sell off Magic the Gathering. I don't care about that, so I shouldn't be in charge of it!
2. Rebuild Trust: release SRDs of all editions to CC & OGL; join ORC - release SRDs to ORC
3. Continue with 2024 D&D: minor updates, backward compatible, improved DMG, & better dragons!
4. Provide splat book "modules" 2x / year. Deliver on the idea of modularity discussed in the playtest
5. Release all settings to DMsGuild & reduce fee.
6. Update DMsGuild Adepts program.
7. Update / revise D&D Beyond so 3PP can sell stuff on the platform.
8. 2 setting support books / year (of already released settings): possible Beyond or Guild only (print on demand). Possibly KS as suggested by another poster
9. Update 1 "classic" 5e adventures per year. Update with feedback to make the adventure better, not simply errata and typos.
10. One lvl 1 - 20 book or books (each book covering different levels) per year.
11. One lore book per year (like Fizban's and the upcoming giants book)
12. Release Dragon and Dudgeon mags as part of DnD Beyond subscription, with print on demand option

 

[Bacon Bits]

My favorite is when people think that means we'd get cheap versions of any of those cards instead of $150 single card ABUR dual Secret Lairs, for example

The fact that they could do that is why is why the reserve list is bad for business. Imagine owning a game and being unable to reprint the most iconic cards. The only people who it benefits at this point are speculators. Not collectors. They've mostly cashed out. Speculators.

And I say this as someone who owns some of the Power 9 and has a full set of 40 duals.

 

[mamba]

Imagine owning a game and being unable to reprint the most iconic cards. The only people who it benefits at this point are speculators. Not collectors. They've mostly cashed out. Speculators.

is MtG a game? it mostly seems to be a vehicle for collectors and speculators at this point, not unlike NFTs

Would be interesting to know which part of the market is players vs collectors vs speculators (and I realize that the boundaries are fluid). I assume MtG is a hybrid.
Whenever YT suggests a MtG video, it always is about the investment angle, never saw one about how to play, etc

 

[Cadence]

is MtG a game? it mostly seems to be a vehicle for collectors and speculators at this point, not unlike NFTs

Would be interesting to know which part of the market is players vs collectors vs speculators (and I realize that the boundaries are fluid). I assume MtG is a hybrid.

It feels like the casual play market (especially with EDH/Commander) is still going pretty well and that playability drives the prices of everything not either on the reserved list or alpha/beta.

 

[Bacon Bits]

is MtG a game? it mostly seems to be a vehicle for speculators at this point, not unlike NFTs

I haven't played it in over a decade, although I still do follow the game on streaming services. It was too expensive then, and it's even more too expensive now. The current set has twelve variants of a single card if you count the promos.

That said, proxies have never been more popular since the Magic 30th Anniversary debacle.

 

[Cadence]

I haven't played it in over a decade, although I still do follow the game on streaming services. It was too expensive then, and it's even more too expensive now. The current set has twelve variants of a single card if you count the promos.

Luckily you only need one for an EDH deck, the deck should be good for years if you have a good play group, and all the variants play the same