Hasbro in Freefall? D&D 50th Anniversary Looking Grim

RPGPundit · February 13, 2024, 09:26:44 PM

Hasbro's new numbers are in, and they are not good. And neither is their timetable for the 50th anniversary of D&D.
#dnd #ttrpg #osr #onednd #wotc

Zenoguy3 · February 14, 2024, 01:19:04 AM

Hard to monetize FOMO when it's the supplier that's missing out.

Omega · February 14, 2024, 01:48:59 AM

Grim is an understatement.

RNGm · February 14, 2024, 12:49:37 PM

We clearly need more slice of life and prom adventure arcs in official supplements to capture that modern diverse audience. Also, as part of their inclusion initiatives, it seems obvious that they need to institute a corporate wide rite of the Carousel to renew their brands. This is the equitable way forward.

Banjo Destructo · February 14, 2024, 01:42:50 PM

50th anniversary that won't celebrate the stuff that made D&D great to begin with because they're too busy pandering to people who are a small micro-audience. They should be pandering to people who are like 30-50 with kids who are nostalgic about D&D from the 80's and 90's and who just want normal fun games and not... whatever the last 4 years of D&D have been.

I play "D&D" with my oldest kid, he's only 5 years old, he doesn't understand rules but we roll dice and he attacks wandering monsters. We also play some Heroquest and he is able to grok that level of rules and loves it. Thought he does set up the board and "make my own heroquest" a lot, which is cool, he's a kid its what he does.

orbitalair · February 14, 2024, 03:44:41 PM

Quote from: Banjo Destructo on February 14, 2024, 01:42:50 PM
50th anniversary that won't celebrate the stuff that made D&D great to begin with because they're too busy pandering to people who are a small micro-audience. They should be pandering to people who are like 30-50 with kids who are nostalgic about D&D from the 80's and 90's and who just want normal fun games and not... whatever the last 4 years of D&D have been.

I play "D&D" with my oldest kid, he's only 5 years old, he doesn't understand rules but we roll dice and he attacks wandering monsters. We also play some Heroquest and he is able to grok that level of rules and loves it. Thought he does set up the board and "make my own heroquest" a lot, which is cool, he's a kid its what he does.

Hasbro did this really badly, well nonexistent, with all thier Avalon Hill/SPI properties, and I dont mean crummy axis and allies. I mean the games that peaked in 1982-1985, and classic wargames of the 70s. Nostalgic players would be buying these over the past 10 years. I've been slowly completing my collection of things I couldnt afford way back then.

Then again Compass games has been redoing old GDW properties and stuff, and well, they are terribly expensive to print these days.

But really, how expensive would a reprint of Holmes basic cost today?

In any case, I print from pdfs and bind them myself, so whatever. Hopefully more great games and addons will come from the fanbase.

RPGPundit · February 15, 2024, 07:16:54 AM

On a related note, a public service announcement: Don't buy the Vecna supplement. Don't be stupid. It's not going to be an awesome homage to every great game world TSR ever did, it's going to be a critical theory subversion of all of them. It's going to be garbage written by garbage writers, just drizzled in 'memberberries so that spergs will feel like they must have it "for their collection".

Zenoguy3 · February 15, 2024, 10:36:57 AM

Rudy seems to have a different and interesting take.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZeIaGR3ptQ&pp=ygURYWxwaGEgaW52ZXN0bWVudHM%3D

Mistwell · February 15, 2024, 01:17:35 PM

WOTC's most recent D&D History video.

RPGPundit · February 15, 2024, 02:53:50 PM

Quote from: Zenoguy3 on February 15, 2024, 10:36:57 AM
Rudy seems to have a different and interesting take.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZeIaGR3ptQ&pp=ygURYWxwaGEgaW52ZXN0bWVudHM%3D

That dude seems unstable to me. If he's sharing these numbers and is "happy", it's because he's stuck up to his ass in the sunken costs fallacy.

Zenoguy3 · February 15, 2024, 03:39:38 PM

Quote from: RPGPundit on February 15, 2024, 02:53:50 PM
That dude seems unstable to me. If he's sharing these numbers and is "happy", it's because he's stuck up to his ass in the sunken costs fallacy.

I think he's less concerned with the numbers and more about the changes they're making to business practices in terms of overproduction and inventory. He's more concerned about MTG than D&D.

Mistwell · February 15, 2024, 04:18:52 PM

Quote from: Banjo Destructo on February 14, 2024, 01:42:50 PM
50th anniversary that won't celebrate the stuff that made D&D great to begin with ...

You might be interested in the video I posted.