Sadly, adter watching this video I now know what "Dungeons & Dragons" means - recycled fiction, 2 MMORPGS, lego like ugly ass crap with one recognizable character from the Drizzt series of books and it isnt even him, iOS Battlegames, iOS Boardgames, re-released 20+ year old computer games and if you are lucky there might be an RPG - but that's just to drive sales for all of the previously listed money makers.
Yes, I know this shit is a business, but WotC has gotten so corporate it's scary.
They will never sell the D&D trademark, but perhaps, one day, an RPG titled Dungeons & Dragons will live up to it's heritage in the hands of others.
Wow, that is just sad. It really does seem that the tabletop game is the very last thing on their mind...
ReplyDeleteOr it could be that they understand that print RPGs area niche market item and that the future of most role-playing games is in electronic media, something TSR seems to have always embraced.
ReplyDeleteThat's true. TSR had at least cartoon, one mmorpg, and propably more computer games than has been made during WotC era.
DeleteDungeons & Dragons lives up to it's heritage... when I play it! Don't get to hung up on what others are doing. Be happy with the game you play.
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ReplyDeleteTook them long enough.
ReplyDeleteD&D is now a brand they're merchandising, but to do so they have to have a "core product", the thing they're actually merchandising. That's the RPG. It's pretty clear they intended 4E to fill this role, but it wasn't D&D enough and nobody liked it.
ReplyDeleteI liked it. But I also liked "Cyborg Commando".
DeleteNobody liked Cyborg Commando!
DeleteThe corporate dark side was strong in that presentation. The whole portion where they talked about Champions of Mystara was really awkward, too...or maybe it was just me from reading the Steam forums about how badly that game was botched on release. I honestly can't recall the last time...if ever...that the actual RPG took a back seat to almost everything else with D&D branded on it.
ReplyDeleteThey have no rpg game to market or sell right now...it is in playtest and design.
ReplyDeleteAll this other stuff is them attempting to generate some revenue. Its not that they are dismissing the rpg or giving it a lower priority.
Hasbro see the trademark as something they will keep, but won't give people what they really want. So their best bet is 3rd party the license out to someone else, and make money off someone that cares about the game instead of how much value they can drive out of the product.
ReplyDeleteHasbro might not care...but WotC does care about the game. Does that mean WotC is the 3rd party you are looking for?
DeleteThey're not licensing anything to anyone on any terms, except vast multibillion-dollar corporations that they already have relationships with (like movie studios). I speak not only from personal experience but also having talked to a number of other people who've tried.
Delete"lego like ugly ass crap", I agree with you but don't say lego in the same breath as kre-o. Cheap rip off. It would have been quality if the danish had got their hands on it! ;)
ReplyDeleteI'd totally buy the "Lego D&D Tomé of horrors"-series.
ReplyDeleteI was going to comment over here but ended up writing it out on my blog. If you're interested you can read it here: http://dyverscampaign.blogspot.com/2013/08/dungeons-and-dragons-2013-gen-con.html
ReplyDeleteI think the Kre-O stuff looks pretty cool...
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