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  1. - Top - End - #61
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    Default Re: D&D will increase it's Cadence of Releases

    Quote Originally Posted by Vegan Squirrel View Post
    I know, as a business, WotC is going to try to make more money out of this edition of D&D. Obviously. And some of their customers absolutely want dozens more books and hundreds more character options. Congrats with that, I truly hope you have a lot of fun playing D&D.

    Personally, I can't help but feel that the edition would be better if they stopped now, with maybe another book or two in a couple years after there's time to see what still feels like it's missing. Setting-specific books and adventures are fine; those don't overlap with each other. But Tasha's really showed how niche they're getting with the subclasses, having filled all the iconic and obvious character archetypes already, and the content feels like it's right on that content bloat line already. They're at that point we'll look back on as when the edition was at its best, with a well-developed set of character options, but before the splatbook bloat overtook everything and sank the edition.

    Anyway, I know my opinion is not universal, and I respect that other people want the abundance of options they had with 2e, 3.5, 4e, and Pathfinder. I'd personally prefer a game where I can remember all the classes and subclasses without looking anything up, and where very few options would need to be excised from a standard medieval fantasy setting for not fitting the campaign world. The niche characters work better, in my view, when the players and DM work out custom mechanics to fit the character, rather than selecting obscure abilities from a vast portfolio of detailed options.
    increased release rate doesn't mean more XGTE and TCoE, it's mostly going to be more Setting Books, possibly yearly Adventure Anthology books, Casual Products, ect..., general with player option heavy books coming once every few years.

    I mean they can crank out tons of Setting books which don't really effect game balance XGTE or even more so TCoE did.

    I mean They still have Darksun, Planescape, Spelljammer, Mystara, Dragonlance, Nereth, Birthright, Council of Wurms, Ghostwalk, Greyhawk, to do and MtG Cross overs like Kaldheim, Eldraine, Ikoria, Alara, and subsettings like Kara Tur, Al Qadim, other contients in Eberron/FR/Exandia, ect..., heck you do all those you'll barely have enough a
    Subclasses to fill a TCoE style book.

  2. - Top - End - #62
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    Default Re: D&D will increase it's Cadence of Releases

    I'm all for more setting books even of I rarely use them in their entirety.

    The only stipulations I have:

    - I want original artwork.

    -I want books that provide material for everyone. Toss in some setting PC options and NPC blocks. ERLW is a good framework. editorial polishing aside.

    -go easy of the random tables. I don't judge a book on it thickness so more meat please.

    -more tear out maps. I have a new game room wall to cover

    - expand on group patron

    - go easy on nostalgia. If I just want a plain conversion from an old setting to 5e I can do that myself.
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  3. - Top - End - #63
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    Default Re: D&D will increase it's Cadence of Releases

    Quote Originally Posted by stoutstien View Post

    - go easy on nostalgia. If I just want a plain conversion from an old setting to 5e I can do that myself.
    This one I especially agree with.

    There's no doubt been a massive surge of new players coming into the hobby since 5E's release. I'd be incredibly curious to see the percentage of how many current D&D players have been playing for 5 years or less. Legitimately, I would not be shocked if it was 40-50%.

    So the reliance on nostalgia, on these 'classic' settings... I totally understand going back to that well because most of the lore is already written, it simply needs to be modernized. But to return to things simply for the sake of nostalgia... Look at your audience, its the chance to do some new things without being bound to anything just because 'that's how its always been'.

  4. - Top - End - #64
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    Default Re: D&D will increase it's Cadence of Releases

    Quote Originally Posted by Telesphoros View Post
    I think they've done a pretty good gob so far of balancing nostalgia settings and totally new ones.

    SCAG made sense as the first and early on since Forgotten Realms is basically 5e's default setting. I just wish it was meatier and would have been done in house instead of farmed out. I get it, early on the farmed a lot of Adventure books out too. Probably not realizing how big of hit 5e was going to be after 4th edition facing criticism. The only other classic/nostalgia setting released has been Eberron and that's been pretty positive, and since it was later in 3rd edition many people might have experienced it not to mention it's been well received. Lastly, the only other classic setting getting released soon is Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft, and Ravenloft has already been released (and boxed up and rereleased) for 5e as an Adventure book, so new players that came along in 5e should be at least passingly familiar with it to start out.

    Ravnica, Acquisitions Incorporated, Wildemount, and Theros still outnumber older stuff (or equal them if you don't consider AI a true setting book), and if they're upping their release number I wouldn't doubt they'll keep releasing new settings along side some of the classic ones.
    The SCAG doesn't count, it was a regional book for the Swordcoast. It was insufficient for the Forgotten Realms. It did have more coherent lore then MTOFs, but it was too small. We needed a Forgotten Realms World Book before focusing on Regional setting books.

  5. - Top - End - #65
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    Default Re: D&D will increase it's Cadence of Releases

    Quote Originally Posted by Vegan Squirrel View Post
    I know, as a business, WotC is going to try to make more money out of this edition of D&D. Obviously. And some of their customers absolutely want dozens more books and hundreds more character options. Congrats with that, I truly hope you have a lot of fun playing D&D.

    Personally, I can't help but feel that the edition would be better if they stopped now, with maybe another book or two in a couple years after there's time to see what still feels like it's missing. Setting-specific books and adventures are fine; those don't overlap with each other. But Tasha's really showed how niche they're getting with the subclasses, having filled all the iconic and obvious character archetypes already, and the content feels like it's right on that content bloat line already. They're at that point we'll look back on as when the edition was at its best, with a well-developed set of character options, but before the splatbook bloat overtook everything and sank the edition.

    Anyway, I know my opinion is not universal, and I respect that other people want the abundance of options they had with 2e, 3.5, 4e, and Pathfinder. I'd personally prefer a game where I can remember all the classes and subclasses without looking anything up, and where very few options would need to be excised from a standard medieval fantasy setting for not fitting the campaign world. The niche characters work better, in my view, when the players and DM work out custom mechanics to fit the character, rather than selecting obscure abilities from a vast portfolio of detailed options.
    It's more setting lore I want more of then subclasses, so more Campaign Setting books and more novels again.

  6. - Top - End - #66
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    Default Re: D&D will increase it's Cadence of Releases

    Quote Originally Posted by Telesphoros View Post
    Definitely. Instead of the Sword Coast at least do all of Faerun and go back and do the other major areas later. And instead of 159 pages make it like 320 pages like Eberron, which only details a part of the world. Same thing with Wildemount and it was 304 pages. I use my own settings, but like many I imagine setting books are still valuable to mine ideas and get perspective on different settings to help build and improve your own. It almost feels like they wish they had a do over with SCAG. Hopefully they figure it out and do it right. Maybe they should even include ole Ed Greenwood in it. If Eberron can have Keith Baker and Wildemount has Matt Mercer, seems like the thing to do.



    All the setting books (sans SCAG of which many were rewritten elsewhere) only have 2-3 subclasses in them, so that should work. They need to care with novels though and not fall into the trap they did with 2nd Edition with ramping up and putting out so many supplements, books, computer games, and hundreds of books too. Profits and quality of material both start to suffer after awhile.
    Even just Faerun is bigger and more complex say Wildemount for example, so I could see the book being the same size as the Monster Manual, which is 352 pages.

    Side note: this is just speculation on my part, but I think they will ask Ed to do some or all of the web fiction for the MtG Forgotten Realms set.
    Last edited by Gyor; 2021-03-01 at 05:28 PM.

  7. - Top - End - #67
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    Default Re: D&D will increase it's Cadence of Releases

    If this just means they publish a lot more setting books, that's fine by me. I'll go on blissfully ignoring them. I do want you campaign setting fans to have fun toys to play with. But I don't have to feel bad about saying no to setting-specific content, so win-win.

    I've never understood the appeal of published campaign settings, but then worldbuilding's half the fun of DMing to me. On the player side, I cringe at the thought of the reading required to play in a big, unfamiliar published campaign setting like the Realms.

    More monster books (or DM-facing books, generally) would be welcome. Not necessary, but welcome.
    My 5e Monster Repository (a modest collection)
    5e Quick, ad-hoc task DCs — Simple: 8 | Normal: 13 | Challenging: 18 | Formidable: 23
    5e Quick, ad-hoc monsters — AC: 12 + level/2 | HP: 10 × level | To-Hit: 2 + level/2 | DPR: 4 × level
    1 monster v. 1 PC; for 4 v. 1 Solos — +2 to AC & To-Hit | HP: 25 × level | DPR: 10 × level
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  8. - Top - End - #68
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    Default Re: D&D will increase it's Cadence of Releases

    I wonder when the July book will be announced. Maybe in April or May.

  9. - Top - End - #69
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    Default Re: D&D will increase it's Cadence of Releases

    Responding to a point from another thread, my response really belongs here:
    Quote Originally Posted by Tanarii View Post
    Absolutely too much splat was the reason for the release of a new edition, in every singe case except AD&D, which was because of a lawsuit. But even for AD&D it was needed to consolidate too much splat (in Strategic review, multiple books, etc).
    Quote Originally Posted by OldTrees1 View Post
    Wait was that actually the reason? There is a much cheaper way to reduce the amount of splat. You can just have the users pick & choose which splat they want to include. Maybe even release recommended bundle lists.

    A new edition means you can make changes that are not backwards compatible. That might be a more plausible explanation.

    Of course the most plausible explanation is to print more $.
    Too much splat stagnates the game. A new edition consolidates & simplifies rules, takes the best innovations from the end of the last edition, and resets the base rules to a small useable amount so new players are attracted to the game again, creating sales through growth, which is the best way for the game to make money.

    5e is probably not growing much at the moment because of lockdowns. Or at least, if it's growing it's probably less than before. Before it was growing very fast for a long time, so too much splat was a real danger to the growth curve. If it's slowed down, this is certainly the time for them to start spinning up splat output for a few years. Then they can use the trained teams to start the next edition. Business wise, it makes some sense, as a 3-5 year plan.

    Doesn't mean I like it though.

  10. - Top - End - #70
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    Default Re: D&D will increase it's Cadence of Releases

    Quote Originally Posted by Tanarii View Post
    Responding to a point from another thread, my response really belongs here:

    Doesn't mean I like it though.
    That is a interesting a plausible theory for how to use splat speed.

    Thank you for elaborating, and on knowing to move it to this thread.

  11. - Top - End - #71
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    Default Re: D&D will increase it's Cadence of Releases

    Quote Originally Posted by Tanarii View Post
    Responding to a point from another thread, my response really belongs here:




    Too much splat stagnates the game. A new edition consolidates & simplifies rules, takes the best innovations from the end of the last edition, and resets the base rules to a small useable amount so new players are attracted to the game again, creating sales through growth, which is the best way for the game to make money.

    5e is probably not growing much at the moment because of lockdowns. Or at least, if it's growing it's probably less than before. Before it was growing very fast for a long time, so too much splat was a real danger to the growth curve. If it's slowed down, this is certainly the time for them to start spinning up splat output for a few years. Then they can use the trained teams to start the next edition. Business wise, it makes some sense, as a 3-5 year plan.

    Doesn't mean I like it though.
    Actually the pandemic has caused D&D sales to skyrocket, same with MtG. There is a reason why WotC has gotten so much attention and support all of a sudden from the parent company.

    It is also a reason why both MtG and D&D feel confident enough to increase the amount and types of products they are producing yearly. Its growing rapidly even in the pandemic with all indicators being growth will continue for years to come.

  12. - Top - End - #72
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    Default Re: D&D will increase it's Cadence of Releases

    Quote Originally Posted by Gyor View Post
    It's more setting lore I want more of then subclasses, so more Campaign Setting books and more novels again.
    Novels? By who? I thought most of the writers were panned.

    Setting lore I couldn't care less about, honestly. I think a lot of people (myself among them) generally prefer to craft their own settings and adventures. Probably something to do with the type of bookish nerd the game tends to attract. Unless the new setting is something that really breaks the Western fantasy mold (but still keeps the theme of medieval tech) like Dark Sun or Oriental Adventures, I'm probably gonna sleep on it.

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    Default Re: D&D will increase it's Cadence of Releases

    Quote Originally Posted by TrueAlphaGamer View Post
    Novels? By who? I thought most of the writers were panned.

    Setting lore I couldn't care less about, honestly. I think a lot of people (myself among them) generally prefer to craft their own settings and adventures. Probably something to do with the type of bookish nerd the game tends to attract. Unless the new setting is something that really breaks the Western fantasy mold (but still keeps the theme of medieval tech) like Dark Sun or Oriental Adventures, I'm probably gonna sleep on it.
    There are some people that still really love Dragonlance and Drizzt. I don't know of any popular D&D novels beyond that, but the DL writers resolved their lawsuit with WotC and are back to writing a new series.
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  14. - Top - End - #74
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    Default Re: D&D will increase it's Cadence of Releases

    Quote Originally Posted by TrueAlphaGamer View Post
    Novels? By who? I thought most of the writers were panned.

    Setting lore I couldn't care less about, honestly. I think a lot of people (myself among them) generally prefer to craft their own settings and adventures. Probably something to do with the type of bookish nerd the game tends to attract. Unless the new setting is something that really breaks the Western fantasy mold (but still keeps the theme of medieval tech) like Dark Sun or Oriental Adventures, I'm probably gonna sleep on it.
    Where did you get an like that?

    The Novels from what I hear outsold the rpg, why do you think there are so many of them?

    There are plenty of popular FR writers, Ed Greenwood, Erin M Evans, Paul S Kemp, Jeff Grubb, ect...
    Last edited by Gyor; 2021-03-02 at 09:34 PM.

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    Default Re: D&D will increase it's Cadence of Releases

    Quote Originally Posted by Gyor View Post
    Where did you get an like that?

    The Novels from what I hear outsold the rpg, why do you think there are so many of them?

    There are plenty of popular FR writers, Ed Greenwood, Erin M Evans, Paul S Kemp, Jeff Grubb, ect...
    The novels (or at least the setting as a vehicle for Ed Greenwood's stories) also predate the RPG adaptation of the setting (similar to Adventures In Middle Earth). This explains so much about the Forgotten Realms IMO--the D&D ruleset is not native to the setting any more than it is to Harry Potter!

  16. - Top - End - #76
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    Default Re: D&D will increase it's Cadence of Releases

    Quote Originally Posted by MaxWilson View Post
    The novels (or at least the setting as a vehicle for Ed Greenwood's stories) also predate the RPG adaptation of the setting (similar to Adventures In Middle Earth). This explains so much about the Forgotten Realms IMO--the D&D ruleset is not native to the setting any more than it is to Harry Potter!
    IMHO this is one of the reasons why the D&D movie should have been marketed as a Forgotten Realms Movie, this mentality would help avoid the mistakes of past D&D movies. D&D is a rule set, FR is actual setting with lore and its own kind of stories influenced by D&D, but it has so many none D&D rules products that its its own brand.

    Its also why removing The Forgotten Realms labels from FR products was a mistake.

  17. - Top - End - #77
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    Quote Originally Posted by Telesphoros View Post
    It was announced today that Hidden Path Entertainment is working on an open-world RPG version of D&D.

    So more computer games along with more novels (Dragonlance in July) are going to be released as well as D&D 5e material.
    I look forward to more details emerging. Hopefully it will be turned based.

  18. - Top - End - #78

    Default Re: D&D will increase it's Cadence of Releases

    Quote Originally Posted by Gyor View Post
    IMHO this is one of the reasons why the D&D movie should have been marketed as a Forgotten Realms Movie, this mentality would help avoid the mistakes of past D&D movies. D&D is a rule set, FR is actual setting with lore and its own kind of stories influenced by D&D, but it has so many none D&D rules products that its its own brand.

    Its also why removing The Forgotten Realms labels from FR products was a mistake.
    Totally agree. It's also one of the reasons GURPS struggles for mindshare--people develop emotional attachments to settings (Middle Earth) more than rulesets. Can you imagine someone trying to make "a GURPS movie"? I can't. Can you imagine someone trying to make a GURPS adaptation of Harry Potter, or Guardians of the Galaxy? I can too! Setting first, rules after.

    Therefore a "D&D movie" per se is a terrible idea. I don't have any good ideas for alternatives to strengthen the D&D brand though, except maybe reviving Dragonlance. (I do think it's important to have "Dragon" in the name.) But a D&D movie, per se, is at best a Hail Mary and at worst a complete waste of hundreds of millions of dollars.

    Maybe the best strategy is give up on movies and monetize an MMORPG instead. Same basic experience as 5E, but a vastly expanded user base that scales with available hardware budget instead of number of humans interested in DMing. Keep the brands separate (e.g. "Iron Dragon" for online play vs. "Dungeons and Dragons" for the TTRPG) and use the TTRPG experience to drive design but the MMORPG version to drive scalable revenue.

    Agreed about the FR label.
    Last edited by MaxWilson; 2021-03-04 at 01:18 PM.

  19. - Top - End - #79
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    Default Re: D&D will increase it's Cadence of Releases

    Quote Originally Posted by Gyor View Post
    IMHO this is one of the reasons why the D&D movie should have been marketed as a Forgotten Realms Movie, this mentality would help avoid the mistakes of past D&D movies. D&D is a rule set, FR is actual setting with lore and its own kind of stories influenced by D&D, but it has so many none D&D rules products that its its own brand.

    Its also why removing The Forgotten Realms labels from FR products was a mistake.
    I mostly agree. The game doesn't translate well to the screen, but the worlds can. And that lets you use film conventions instead of TTRPG ones.
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    Default Re: D&D will increase it's Cadence of Releases

    Quote Originally Posted by PhoenixPhyre View Post
    I mostly agree. The game doesn't translate well to the screen, but the worlds can. And that lets you use film conventions instead of TTRPG ones.
    To what end though? Let's say the movie Dark Sun: The Crimson Legion takes off and becomes wildly popular, a la Guardians of the Galaxy. What does Hasbro/WotC gain from this?

    (1) They now can sell Crimson Legion merchandise.
    (2) They can make a Crimson Legion game without paying merchandising fees. They can sell more Dark Sun books.

    Is that really any different from or better than building a successful movie franchise from ground zero, or adapting one from a novel (or set of comic books), and just licensing the IP? Either way it probably doesn't really strengthen the D&D brand per se, it just strengthens the Dark Sun brand. What is the D&D brand really bringing to the table here, in terms of making a better or more popular movie?

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    Quote Originally Posted by MaxWilson View Post
    Is that really any different from or better than building a successful movie franchise from ground zero, or adapting one from a novel (or set of comic books), and just licensing the IP? Either way it probably doesn't really strengthen the D&D brand per se, it just strengthens the Dark Sun brand. What is the D&D brand really bringing to the table here, in terms of making a better or more popular movie?
    I guess they could make cool-looking implementations of spells from D&D or, uh, make martials look cooler (creative license? :P). But really, I think it's that we'll see those short and long rests with 6-8 encounters per long rest on average to get some dramatic resource management excitement! I'm eager for health bars à la TierZoo in the parody of the movie though.

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    Default Re: D&D will increase it's Cadence of Releases

    Maybe they should make a movie about two iconic D&D characters battling to the death: Aleena vs. Bargle.

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    Default Re: D&D will increase it's Cadence of Releases

    Honestly, if they really put the effort into it, I just hope it will at least be a glorious disaster. I mean, mostly I hope we get something surprisingly good, but if it's not gonna be that at least make it something enjoyably bad.

    I actually think you could make a "generic D&D" film if you treated like a fantasy heist movie focused on, you know, dungeon delving for treasure. But that's probably more niche than WotC and Hasbro are willing to go.
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    Default Re: D&D will increase it's Cadence of Releases

    Quote Originally Posted by TrueAlphaGamer View Post
    Novels? By who? I thought most of the writers were panned.

    Setting lore I couldn't care less about, honestly. I think a lot of people (myself among them) generally prefer to craft their own settings and adventures. Probably something to do with the type of bookish nerd the game tends to attract. Unless the new setting is something that really breaks the Western fantasy mold (but still keeps the theme of medieval tech) like Dark Sun or Oriental Adventures, I'm probably gonna sleep on it.
    https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/....Pages_of_Pain

    I once had a hardback copy of this that I let a friend borrow... and now I no longer have a copy. Thus I haven't reread it, but it was actually pretty well put together story. Which was a bit surprising, because I expect virtually all genre fiction to be terrible; it's part of why I love it so much. Troy Denning, who has a catalogue where he churned out volumes of books for Star Wars, Halo, and Kim Possible. In addition to the entire pile of fiction he made for TSR. You could probably stack his paperbacks to the ceiling of the room you're reading this in. And if you're outside, probably it would just be a alot of books. But for a career that seems to be about drawing inside the lines, he put together at least one story that actually succeeded in grabbing my attention.

    If you're into licensed novels... you could well have come across him. And if you're not into it... look, if you can't get behind a book where Duncan Macleod of the Clan Macleod basically solves the Israeli/Palestinian crisis in a little less than two hundred pages, then clearly you are most people. If you can't find joy reading the novelization of Harry and the Hendersons, then maybe your life was better spent than mine. I'd even go out on a limb and say probably better spent than mine. He didn't write those, but he probably could have with a different agent.

    I'm just saying, my bookshelf is weird and is a perfect example of how literacy doesn't inherently make people tasteful. Basically, I read garbage, dude. Straight garbage. I am the trash panda of the literati, and I probably have the equivalent of reading rabies. I own a copy of the novelization of Rambo: First Blood, Part II. And reading it was a special joy.

    So when I tell you that I got more time thinking out of Pages of Pain than I did out of To Kill A Mockingbird or The Red Badge of Courage, that is not necessarily a statement about inherent quality of any of the mentioned titles.

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    Default Re: D&D will increase it's Cadence of Releases

    Quote Originally Posted by MaxWilson View Post
    Totally agree. It's also one of the reasons GURPS struggles for mindshare--people develop emotional attachments to settings (Middle Earth) more than rulesets. Can you imagine someone trying to make "a GURPS movie"? I can't. Can you imagine someone trying to make a GURPS adaptation of Harry Potter, Guardians if the Galaxy? I can too! Setting first, rules after.

    Therefore a "D&D movie" per se is a terrible idea. I don't have any good ideas for alternatives to strengthen the D&D brand though, except maybe reviving Dragonlance. (I do think it's important to have "Dragon" in the name.) But a D&D movie, per se, is at best a Hail Mary and at worst a complete waste of hundreds of millions of dollars.

    Maybe the best strategy is give up on movies and monetize an MMORPG instead. Same basic experience as 5E, but a vastly expanded user base that scales with available hardware budget instead of number of humans interested in DMing. Keep the brands separate (e.g. "Iron Dragon" for online play vs. "Dungeons and Dragons" for the TTRPG) and use the TTRPG experience to drive design but the MMORPG version to drive scalable revenue.

    Agreed about the FR label.
    Exactly. Focus on what makes FR great for stories, like in the novels, which is influenced by, but trans the rule set.

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    Default Re: D&D will increase it's Cadence of Releases

    Quote Originally Posted by Vegan Squirrel View Post
    I know, as a business, WotC is going to try to make more money out of this edition of D&D. Obviously. And some of their customers absolutely want dozens more books and hundreds more character options. Congrats with that, I truly hope you have a lot of fun playing D&D.

    Personally, I can't help but feel that the edition would be better if they stopped now, with maybe another book or two in a couple years after there's time to see what still feels like it's missing. Setting-specific books and adventures are fine; those don't overlap with each other. But Tasha's really showed how niche they're getting with the subclasses, having filled all the iconic and obvious character archetypes already, and the content feels like it's right on that content bloat line already. They're at that point we'll look back on as when the edition was at its best, with a well-developed set of character options, but before the splatbook bloat overtook everything and sank the edition.

    Anyway, I know my opinion is not universal, and I respect that other people want the abundance of options they had with 2e, 3.5, 4e, and Pathfinder. I'd personally prefer a game where I can remember all the classes and subclasses without looking anything up, and where very few options would need to be excised from a standard medieval fantasy setting for not fitting the campaign world. The niche characters work better, in my view, when the players and DM work out custom mechanics to fit the character, rather than selecting obscure abilities from a vast portfolio of detailed options.
    I know I shouldn't be, but I think I would be resentful that there is so much new, niche content but none of the stuff I actually want and want to play with. It kind of hurts to feel I won't personally get want because they gave out enough stuff to others.

  27. - Top - End - #87
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    DwarfFighterGuy

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    Default Re: D&D will increase it's Cadence of Releases

    Alternative title:

    D&D will increase its CR.

    -DF

  28. - Top - End - #88
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    DwarfFighterGuy

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    Default Re: D&D will increase it's Cadence of Releases

    Quote Originally Posted by MaxWilson View Post
    Therefore a "D&D movie" per se is a terrible idea. I don't have any good ideas for alternatives to strengthen the D&D brand though, except maybe reviving Dragonlance. (I do think it's important to have "Dragon" in the name.) But a D&D movie, per se, is at best a Hail Mary and at worst a complete waste of hundreds of millions of dollars.
    I agree. How is one going to make a fantasy movie that doesn't brand itself with an established setting? The path of least effort is making some sort of standard Hero's Journey variant that fits into any fantasy genre but builds on none. If you're going to make the D&D movie special, then it has to stand out with compelling characters and unique setting.

    And I also disagree: The new D&D movie is going to have to push the brand "D&D" at the front: People have heard of D&D and have an idea of what it's about, but only people already "in the know" are going to find the settings of Forgotten Reals, Dark Sun or Planescape to be appealing enough to draw them in. And while it is good to flatter the fanbase, a D&D movie has got to be about drawing in more customers. And that means advertising the D&D logo big-time.

    I am however curious to see if they are brave enough to present D&D for what it is: A game of the imagination. Will there be some acknowledgment that the characters that are fighting monsters and dragons on screen are fictional characters in a fantasy world, played by real people in the real world?

    -DF

  29. - Top - End - #89
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    DwarfClericGuy

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    Default Re: D&D will increase it's Cadence of Releases

    I'm not so sure building on an established setting will be a wise move either. Say they pick Eberron. How many non-gamers are going to see the setting and be all 'ohh, this is nice, I'd like to live there'. A few, sure, but the vast majority are just going to see a setting like Pandora or Tattooine - it's just a place where the story takes place.

    However, how many folks who've played in, read about and LOVE Eberron are going to pan it, nitpick every little piece of not-lore and general gaffs (StarBucks cup, anyone?)

    Look at established settings turned into movies/tv serials. Story has to be greater than setting.

    The best thing WotC/Hasbro could do would be create an entire setting out of whole cloth and do a massive media blitz with tie-in setting books, a new 'cool rule' for the setting and make bank on the flood of new players wanting to play the cute not-elf new race or the wickedly powerful not-Wizard.
    Trollbait extraordinaire

  30. - Top - End - #90
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    Default Re: D&D will increase it's Cadence of Releases

    Quote Originally Posted by Tanarii View Post
    They won't be able to make a decent D&D movie. Even a TV show would be a stretch. D&D isn't really about telling stories, so it doesn't translate into good books or movies any more than books or movies translate into good sessions of D&D.
    It is not impossible.

    But there is nothing, absolutely zero about what we players love about D&D in terms of playing experience that translates into a significant positive in terms of writing a script that can be made into a genuinely good film. There there is little point in Hollywood making such a movie, rather than starting from scratch,...except to take advantage of the coffers and marketing budget of Hasbro. Milking Hasbro is not a bad thing in itself, but it does not get the project off on the best footing.

    That said, the 2000 film did not have to be bad. It could easily have been a decent B film, as it had enough budget and acting talent involved. But they decided to make it a (fan service) dragons and (fan service) dungeons movie and (fan service) rehash other movies, rather than write a good script first and be willing to throw out most game material. (Did we really need a cheesy appearance of a beholder just because it would make for a weird guard dog?)

    But if you want to see a half decent "D&Dish" movie, go to Amazon Prime Video and watch a couple Mythica movies. It just shows it is possible to do this genre and accomplish "okay" without a lot of effort. (I do not really recommend watching the whole series, as it starts feeling predictable very quickly.)

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