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What do you think of WotC past, present, and future business model when it comes to 3.xE, 4E, and 5E?

We know from 4E and DDi that they are known liers.

We know from 3.xE that 5E has nearly identical design goals.

We know they have bad business sense.

What do you think?

Jun 27, 2012 -- 7:53AM, Jim11735 wrote:

I am thankful WotC has kept D&D going, even if it's not the most profitable product.

And I think the D&D Brand is more valuable than the RPG.  I think there business model should be to produce a solid RPG that is the premiere TTRPG without trying to make a million dollars off it.  If the RPG is good and everyone who plays it loves it, that will help the brand.  When D&D online went free with charges for extras, everyone loved it.  The business model should be to get everyone to love the brand.  Milking kids for new core books every month isn't gonna get the love.  A new edition or edition revision every 3 years isn't gonna get the love. 

+1. That's what should be the goal.
I think that trying to "unify" everyone behind one game, one "version" of D&D is foolish. the name "D&D", the brand, covers very different games, very different play styles and "rpg philosophies". I think they try to hard to make D&D one game, while they should try to make the brand unescapable by producing many products with different D&D flavors, that players of every kind, even those who play non-D&D games, would lokk at with pleasure and a desire to use it.
They should spend their energy giving some support (new ideas,etc) to all old editions, and trying to explore new grounds for everyone, rather than trying to "perpetuate" the rules themselves with new editions. Each new edition creates too much discontentment, because there are too much different ways to play D&D for a given rule set to satisfy everyone...

I think that like most companies, WotC has some good ideas and some bad ideas. They are trying to keep a product line alive and evolving.

While I don't always like the direction it takes (4E) many others do like it so it's not fair for me to blast them, and I realize that many of my least favorite things about newer editions are exactly the same elements that my son sees as a selling point. I know that I used to buy pretty much everything for D&D back in the OD&D/AD&D/2E days and less material in the 3E/4E days, but that reflects a personal preference in style.

• I don't like the way they killed paper magazines Dungeon and Dragon. I don't like the online model for my magazines. (I'll admit that I lost a lot of interest as the magazine turned to 3E, but I still subscribed. Something cool about getting a game magazine in the mailbox every month.)

• I like the fact that they were bringing gaming online with the character generator, but don't like the fact that it became web-based only. I want something I can control from home without internet, not something I have to continue to subscribe to forever.

• I don't like the trend of thicker rulebooks, thicker modules. Reading a module to prep for game play shouldn't take as long as reading a novel. Prepping for an adventure should be fun and not a chore, and longer modules tax my patience and it's like doing homework in school again. Ugh.

• I like the fact that they bring back new editions of older games (Gamma World) but then get frustrated when they don't want to continue to support them.

• I like the fact that they are trying to bring the "old school" gamers back into the herd with 5E.  I hope they can do it without running off the 3E/4E players, but I appreciate the fact that they are trying to bring everyone together again after so many years of driving the old-timers away.

• I like the fact that they are reprinting 1E and 3.5E rulebooks, particularly the 1E ones. I still hope they decide to provide additional support by reprinting old modules, etc. I really would love to see a revised OD&D ('74) rules set reprint that uses old artwork, etc. Dungeons and Dragons has a long history, and I hate to see the older editions be ignored.

When it's all done, I'm not sure I can identify a simple "business model" for WotC becasue they have so many things they do in different ways.

Jun 27, 2012 -- 7:39AM, lokiare wrote:

What do you think of WotC past, present, and future business model when it comes to 3.xE, 4E, and 5E?

3x:  I think they saved D&D's butt so to speak.  TSR was sunk at the time.  If they had not stepped in when they did, the brand would have disappeared.  Back then, the guys and gals at WotC were percieved as "Gamers, just like us.  Heck the name is even from a D&D home game."

4e:  I think they bit off more than they could chew with D&D Insider, the VT and all that jazz.  They are in the business of RPGs and such, they're not a software company.  There was also a personal tragedy involving a team member that had to mean bad luck for WotC.

DDN:  It's my personal belief that WotC does not want to leave the legacy of D&D in the hands of Pathfinder.  The 40th anniversary is right around the corner.  4e was a re-imagining (as I call it); they don't need that-- they need something more 'classical'.

We know from 4E and DDi that they are known liers.

I don't believe they are liars.  I believe they have things they need to keep to themselves (just like any other business).  At the time 3e was going strong, they weren't gonna tell us exactly when they started working on 4e.  Businesses simply don't advertise those sorta things.  It's best to just assume that a business is always looking forward to what's next.  I mean the day the Playstation 4 hits the stores (if not before), Sony is thinking about the Playstation 5.  Heck, they prolly have the name trademarked - copyrighted already.

We know from 3.xE that 5E has nearly identical design goals.

I don't see it.  I see much more 1e/2e in the playtest.  I've noticed that though, everyone sees something a bit different.  That's good though; they want to appeal to lots of differnt players.

We know they have bad business sense.

I absolutely agree with you here .  I personally think WotC is incompetent when it comes to customer service.  

For instance, they kept forgetting to manually turn off my monthly DDI account each month, allowing me access for the next month.  They called this an 'undead account'.  Think about that:  The glitch was common enough to give a nick-name to?  Anyway, the real problem was, I didn't know if I was gonna be billed for another cycle or not.  I finally broke down and bought a yearly sub.  Guess the glitch has been fixed .

There have been other issues and pet peeves with my DDI account.  For a long time, I had to use a 'work-around' to open and read DDI articles.  Otherwise, the pages just opened as gibberish.  Once again, the problem was acknowledged by customer service (and eventually fixed, thankfully).  The problem was, I wasn't the only one with this issue; lots and lots of posts in the Dragon/Dungeon ezine forums indicated it occurred regularly, with different browsers, operating systems.

Anyway, those are my two biggest problems with customer service at WotC.  There are some minor ones but I've said enough already.  Bottom line, it has been my XP that they are incompetent when it comes to customer service.

= = =

That all said, I have a lot of respect for the people who actually work on the game:  The designers, artists, article writers, the whole team.  These guys and gals are wonderfully creative and really love the game.  I don't doubt that.  I just wish D&D was in the hands of some other company.