WotC Hasbro gains big time from D&D, Magic, Monopoly, and Baldur's Gate 3

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

"If Hasbro is making so much money, how come they're not (insert pet issue here)?!"

 

[Reynard]

Not incompatible: WotC is focused on new players, but we already see in the polls thst most on this forum plan to buy the new books anyways. When push comes to shove, though, existing players buying or not likely will have more to with art and marketing, since the rules are still compatible.

I'm just saying that the refrain around here has been "they aren't for you" when concerns about errata level revisions are voiced. I don't actually care since WotC will never see another dollar from me, but it has definitely been a line of reasoning here.

 

[MoonSong]

News Release: Hasbro releases D&D the Gathering Monopoly on PC. Players roll dice to move around the board, collecting mana from colored spaces and drawing community chest cards to summon monsters to attack the other players. Beware the Banishment spell that sends you to Jail, do not pass Go, do not collect mana!

"Why isn't this selling?"

I kind of "designed" something like this. A mix of MTG fighting, dice rolling and Catan-like space management. The thing came to me in a dream and the rules were very clear and precise.

 

[Parmandur]

I'm just saying that the refrain around here has been "they aren't for you" when concerns about errata level revisions are voiced. I don't actually care since WotC will never see another dollar from me, but it has definitely been a line of reasoning here.

Right, because that's true. But just because that's the case doesn't mean there won't be a big rush of people upgrading. As I said, the art and marketing will be a bigger for that than the conservative changes. Indeed, the conservative changes are likely to increase sales.

 

[TheSword]

But the new books aren't for us, they are for hypothetical future players since they are designed to be perfectly compatible with 2014 5E. If ENWorld's WotC defenders are right, there shouldn't be a surge due to the new core books.

People will pay for alternative covers, will pay for plastic replicas of the yawning portal, for transparent miniatures to represent invisible PCs. They pay for character portfolios, a million varieties of dice, half a dozen clones of the 5e system, and for exactly the same IP in the medium of hardback book, electronic database and VTT…

… why on earth do you think we wouldn’t buy the latest version of 5e, compatible or not.

 

[DarkCrisis]

I never saw any LotR's Magic stuff at my store. Sold out to fast. Same with Warhammer 40K MtG

 

[DarkCrisis]

I wonder if the next step should be acquiring other videogame studio, or a merger, for example with LEGO or playmobil. Why not a licenced pack of D&D for playmobil? I don't advice expensive big boxes, but cheaper and littler, as bait for children who start to collect. I doubt seriously a merger with GW. If Mattel is making money with Barbie, then they will want to keep their independence.

I suspect this and the next will be years with a lot of troubles, changes and surprises, and not only in the entertaiment industry. We will can see true giants to fall, and mergers we couldn't guess now.

Maybe Hasbro needs a mon ( = collectable and trained monsters) franchise as Pokemon or Digimon.

If a 3PP can't be survive for a long time, like a vulture WotC could ask a meeting to talk about buying their IPs.

If the rumors of Fortnite 2 are true, with a new creative mode allowing different styles, then Hasbro could be very interested into talking with Epic Game about partnership.

I imagine licenced IPs in D&D Beyond, even Disney franchises in D&DB using other game system. But then the VTT would need the creation of no-medieval fantasy scenery.

How would be D&DB if players could created horror "interactive novels" based in the comingsoon Duskmourn? It would work like a gamebook but with images and some motion picture.

There is a bet of D&D as a webcomic, but currently it is a little bet. Birthright could be a better option for a hypotetical future D&D romance manhwa.

My theory is D&D to be more popular in Japan it needs a new setting created by Japaneses with their own style, with a Western culture look but Japanese essence. (Sorry if I can't find better words to explain it). A D&D anime version of Power Ranger is not so impossible, it would be like a medieval version of Mystic Force and mixed with mystic knights of tir na nog. (it is a crazy idea, of course, but it is so crazy even it could work).

5e is not ready for Gamma World franchise to be added to D&D Multiverse, but with Magic: the Gathering the things can be different. Gamma World as IP could work as "hidden pilot episode" of other franchises.

Japan already has their own favored fantasy RPG called Sword World. Which is derived from old D&D.

 

[Parmandur]

People will pay for alternative covers, will pay for plastic replicas of the yawning portal, for transparent miniatures to represent invisible PCs. They pay for character portfolios, a million varieties of dice, half a dozen clones of the 5e system, and for exactly the same IP in the medium of hardback book, electronic database and VTT…

… why on earth do you think we wouldn’t buy the latest version of 5e, compatible or not.

The current speculation is that the new DMG will have a write-up of Greyhawk and a poster map: that will probsvly get a bunch of feet in the door. The Monster Manual will have 200 new Monaters. That will get a lot of tables where the players don't feel like upgrading immediately.

Juat because the rules are staying fairly stable and just addressing big issues rather than reinventing the game doesn't mean that people won't buy it: but people who want a big change are not moat people.

 

[Mirrorrorrim]

Maybe Hasbro needs a mon ( = collectable and trained monsters) franchise as Pokemon or Digimon.

I made a little side rule for my campaign setting that uses the Find Familiar spell to bind the spirits of little creatures for fighting purposes, and there is a subculture of "familiar fighters" that use them for combat, including pet fights.

They are all spirits rather than true living creatures. A caster can summon a familiar spirit (fey, fiend, nature, undead, etc.) as normal, or they can bond with small creatures upon their death (can be willing or forced, allowing for villainous Familiar collectors). When they cast Find Familiar, they can choose one of any of the spirits from their "collection" to manifest.

It's a little dark to require that the creature die to become a familiar, but in my world life energy that can be wielded as power, and death is the most common release of that power. Villains like to sacrifice things, and heroes often turn to martyrdom when things get too rough. (Sorry!) Also, death is also not seen as the end of the spirit, just a transition point to a different story (afterlife).

 

[doctorbadwolf]

But the new books aren't for us, they are for hypothetical future players since they are designed to be perfectly compatible with 2014 5E. If ENWorld's WotC defenders are right, there shouldn't be a surge due to the new core books.

That isn’t what any of that means.

I'm just saying that the refrain around here has been "they aren't for you" when concerns about errata level revisions are voiced. I don't actually care since WotC will never see another dollar from me, but it has definitely been a line of reasoning here.

You’re hearing “grass is green” and jumping to “only grass is green!”

makes no sense.

The books aren’t primarily meant to draw in older gamers, and they will sell like absolutely crazy. Most gamers that already have the PHB will still want the new one, because it’s more easily readable, has more and better art, improved subclasses and origin design, other QoL improvements, a solid index, etc. I don’t need them, but I still want them.