Quote from: Bones McCoy on February 15, 2024, 07:51:33 PM
You're right, it doesn't matter, although I think it's Gung-Ho because of the tattoo on his chest.

Leatherneck is a more homo-erotic sounding name though.

No, you're right, it's Gung-Ho. But, again, does it even matter?

Quote from: Bones McCoy on February 15, 2024, 07:51:33 PM
You're right, it doesn't matter, although I think it's Gung-Ho because of the tattoo on his chest.

Leatherneck is a more homo-erotic sounding name though.

I dare you to say that out loud at your local veteran bar.  Marines love being called gay.  Go ahead.  I'll look for the story in the news.

Quote from: BadApple on February 15, 2024, 08:28:09 PM
I dare you to say that out loud at your local veteran bar.  Marines love being called gay.  Go ahead.  I'll look for the story in the news.

Sounds like something a sailor would say...

Quote from: Brad on February 15, 2024, 07:32:17 PM

Quote from: honeydipperdavid on February 14, 2024, 07:30:39 PM
I mean look at the package shripwreck is packing and Ripper is just asking for it.  What father and mother wouldn't want their 10 year old boy learning about intersectionalism, communism and buggerey from Hasbro?

That's not the worst art I've ever seen, but it's close.

Also that's Leatherneck (PROBABLY), not Shipwreck. But does it even matter? I can see they are shitting all over the property, but what else is new?

Shipwreck, Leatherneck what's the difference, the sailors pick out their dancing partner by pulling out the marines pants out the laundry and look at the name tag on their butt pocket.

I did a joint service school in the military, the interservice jokes never ended.

Quote from: Brad on February 15, 2024, 08:53:42 PM

Quote from: BadApple on February 15, 2024, 08:28:09 PM
I dare you to say that out loud at your local veteran bar.  Marines love being called gay.  Go ahead.  I'll look for the story in the news.

Sounds like something a sailor would say...

No intelligent sailor would. 

Greetings!

Ahh, yes. LEATHERNECK! "Leatherneck", for Marines, is a long-standing general nickname for any and all US Marines. The expression has been honoured amongst the US Marines for many years, in honour of when Marines fought on board ships of sail of the US Navy. During such an era, Marines onboard the US Navy ships habitually wore a special, durable collar, crafted of leather, around their necks as part of the regular uniform. The Leatherneck collar helped to reduce damage while Marines engaged in hand-to-hand combat, which during this time featured swords, daggers, and axes as common weapons amongst sailors of all kinds.

"Leatherneck" has been an honoured nickname for all Marines ever since those times, remembering and honouring our days of service onboard sailing ships of the US Navy, and fighting with swords and daggers in the Age of Sail.

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/56771/tabletop-games-including-magic-up-hasbro?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook


TABLETOP GAMES, INCLUDING 'MAGIC,' UP AT HASBRO

As Company Recovers from Post-Covid Issues
Posted by Milton Griepp on April 24, 2024 @ 2:15 pm CT

Hasbro's total gaming sales, including Magic: The Gathering, were up for Q1 2024, as the overall company began to recover from post-Covid issues.

Hasbro total gaming sales, which include Magic: The Gathering, Dungeons & Dragons, and the game products in the company's consumer products segment (i.e., Monopoly et. al.), were up 6%, from $386.5 million in Q1 2023 to $408.0 million in Q1 this year. Magic: The Gathering sales (including digital) grew 4% to $237.9 million from $229.1 million in the year ago quarter.

Sales in the Wizards of the Coast and Digital Gaming segment were up 7%, from $295.2 million to $316.3 million, behind the segment's blockbuster licensed games, Baldur's Gate 3 and Monopoly Go!, and the growth in Magic: The Gathering.

Wizards of the Coast tabletop game sales (i.e., Magic: The Gathering plus Dungeons & Dragons) were up 5%, from $217.9 million to $228.2 million. The timing of Outlaws of Thunder Junction sales, some of which hit Q1 revenues, and the success of the Fallout set were cited as factors.

In the conference call, CEO Chris Cocks said that Magic: The Gathering tabletop sales were up about 4%, and since the overall tabletop sales in the segment were up 5%, there's some indication that sales of Dungeons & Dragons on the tabletop were recovering from Q1 2023, when the OGL controversy was turning off long-term customers. We estimated that year over year sales of D&D were down substantially in 2023, due in part to the OGL issue (see "Hasbro Loses $1.06B in Q4").

Magic: The Gathering "engagement," which we interpret as largely referring to organized play participation, is back at pre-pandemic levels, Cocks said in the conference call.

Digital and licensed game sales in the WotC and Digital Gaming segment were up 14% in Q1, from $77.3 million in 2023 to $88.1 million in Q1 2024.

Operating profit in the segment exploded, up 60% to $122.8 million from $76.8 million in Q1 2023, behind the growth in digital licensing revenue and "cost management" (translation: layoffs, see "Cocks on Layoffs"). Operating profit margins in the WotC and Digital Gaming segment were 38.8% of sales for the quarter.

Hasbro's overall revenues were down 24% for the quarter, from $1.0 billion in Q1 2023 to $757.3 million this year. Some of the decline was due to the fact that Hasbro included eOne revenues in Q1 2023, but did not in Q1 2024 (see "Lionsgate Closes on Hasbro's eOne"). Without that change, company-wide sales declined 9%.

Sales in the consumer products segment (toys, mass games, etc.) were down 21%, due to declines in the category and lower closeout sales compared to Q1 2023, when the company was dumping excess inventory at higher rates.

Hasbro's net earnings were $59.1 million in Q1 2024, compared to a $21.7 million loss in Q1 2023.

Hasbro declined to move its guidance for the year (which includes a predicted 3-5% decline in sales in the Wizards of the Coast and Digital Gaming segment) despite a relatively good quarter, indicating that its cautious predictions for the year have not changed, yet.

Mistwell,

It's "earnings" came at the expense of massive cuts that ensure that they will not be able to keep this up for very long.  Anyone really looking at the company over all, their public releases, total holdings, active projects, and open partnerships will see a company that dying. 

BG3 is the only reason why Q1 saw earnings.  Everything else was mitigating the flooding coming in through the holes in the hull.  Now the partnership with Larian (the actual makers of BG3) is over.  They aren't profitable with toys, they aren't profitable with board games, their Renegade Studios RPGs are tapering off.  WOTC is on fire, and none of their digital projects are on time or on budget. 

MtG sales have increased from last quarter but not nearly at the same rate of the rest of the CCG market.  Looking at the reception the latest releases, it's bleak in the long term.

Over all, they've drained their creative talent pool and the business management side is saying stupid things and making even dumber decisions.

I don't say this with glee.  Many of my happiest moments were brought to me by Hasbro.  It's like watching my favorite uncle die of cancer.

Quote from: Brad on February 15, 2024, 08:53:42 PM

Quote from: BadApple on February 15, 2024, 08:28:09 PMI dare you to say that out loud at your local veteran bar.  Marines love being called gay.  Go ahead.  I'll look for the story in the news.

Sounds like something a sailor would say...

bwahah!

I'm from a Marine Corps family... even reading this on the screen has my skin crawling at the potential violence of such utterances would incur in the presence of my brother or father. Holy crap. And NONE of you are wrong.

Quote from: BadApple on April 25, 2024, 02:41:12 PMMistwell,

It's "earnings" came at the expense of massive cuts that ensure that they will not be able to keep this up for very long.  Anyone really looking at the company over all, their public releases, total holdings, active projects, and open partnerships will see a company that dying. 

BG3 is the only reason why Q1 saw earnings.  Everything else was mitigating the flooding coming in through the holes in the hull.  Now the partnership with Larian (the actual makers of BG3) is over.  They aren't profitable with toys, they aren't profitable with board games, their Renegade Studios RPGs are tapering off.  WOTC is on fire, and none of their digital projects are on time or on budget. 

MtG sales have increased from last quarter but not nearly at the same rate of the rest of the CCG market.  Looking at the reception the latest releases, it's bleak in the long term.

Over all, they've drained their creative talent pool and the business management side is saying stupid things and making even dumber decisions.

I don't say this with glee.  Many of my happiest moments were brought to me by Hasbro.  It's like watching my favorite uncle die of cancer.

It's revenue was up. They're quoting SALES. So this isn't from layoffs saving them money. They specified for example that MtG sales were up - that's not BG3. There is zero indication their offerings are over budget or not on time in this?

Of course you say it with glee. You just said a huge amount of unsupported bullshit. Only reason someone says that is for their personal gratification. Oh yes, poor you, you gleefully lying outright about facts is like you watching your uncle die of cancer - showing you're not just a liar but a drama queen to boot. You're such a victim of [checks notes] not liking a gaming company.

Quote from: Mistwell on April 25, 2024, 06:22:26 PM

Quote from: BadApple on April 25, 2024, 02:41:12 PMMistwell,

It's "earnings" came at the expense of massive cuts that ensure that they will not be able to keep this up for very long.  Anyone really looking at the company over all, their public releases, total holdings, active projects, and open partnerships will see a company that dying. 

BG3 is the only reason why Q1 saw earnings.  Everything else was mitigating the flooding coming in through the holes in the hull.  Now the partnership with Larian (the actual makers of BG3) is over.  They aren't profitable with toys, they aren't profitable with board games, their Renegade Studios RPGs are tapering off.  WOTC is on fire, and none of their digital projects are on time or on budget. 

MtG sales have increased from last quarter but not nearly at the same rate of the rest of the CCG market.  Looking at the reception the latest releases, it's bleak in the long term.

Over all, they've drained their creative talent pool and the business management side is saying stupid things and making even dumber decisions.

I don't say this with glee.  Many of my happiest moments were brought to me by Hasbro.  It's like watching my favorite uncle die of cancer.

It's revenue was up. They're quoting SALES. So this isn't from layoffs saving them money. They specified for example that MtG sales were up - that's not BG3. There is zero indication their offerings are over budget or not on time in this?

Of course you say it with glee. You just said a huge amount of unsupported bullshit. Only reason someone says that is for their personal gratification. Oh yes, poor you, you gleefully lying outright about facts is like you watching your uncle die of cancer - showing you're not just a liar but a drama queen to boot. You're such a victim of [checks notes] not liking a gaming company.

First, what I've said IS supported by multiple news outlets in both the financial sector and the gaming sector.  In fact, the issue is so extreme that it's shown up as major headlines in general news.  Whether you believe the reporting is accurate, complete, or biased is another thing but it is there.  Maybe Chris Cox has some super plan that we don't know that will make the company more successful and the rest of us just don't see it.

Second, revenue isn't up, profits are.  They didn't sell more stuff, they cut expenses.  They fired a bunch of people and shut down several departments so that the company didn't have as many mouths to feed.  I'm not saying they didn't sell anything, I'm saying that what they sold didn't cover their expenses last quarter and they made up for it this quarter by not spending as much.  This is all stated in their own earnings report, even if they buried the lead.


Finally, why the meltdown?  Is your mental health really tied to how a toy company performs?  It's just a company.  Are you really that attached to the soulless bureaucracy that makes your plastic baubles? 

Quote from: Brad on February 13, 2024, 12:07:20 PMSee what you do is make a beer commercial with a tranny in it, even though 99% of your customer base is a bunch of rednecks and Catholics, then wonder why your company tanks. This just reminds me of the JRRT "superfans" who made videos on Youtube to push the Amazon Rings of Power and it was obvious they had no clue wtf they were even talking about. The only requirement for being a "superfan" was apparently having blue hair and writing a blog post about how LotR is misogynistic because you discovered it has like two female characters after you hatewatched half of the Peter Jackson movies.

This made me laugh pretty loudly, but the actual matter at hand is much more serious.  Whatever motivation has caused a bunch of ostensibly intelligent and well meaning people to embark on these absolutely disgusting missions- where profit is thrown away in exchange for what they earnestly believe is an unalloyed good, but is, in fact, socially ruinous- is really quite dire.

When it comes to Hasbro as a whole or even D&D in particular, I'm not even sure if the go-woke-go-broke is the main factor, or even all that large of a factor.  Certainly, assuredly, it is a factor, and when I see a video with a guy in it doubting that it matters at all, I know he's trying to take a politically neutral tract when the reality is actually somewhat political.

What I think is interesting though is that it's the players and DMs with the most passion, the ones who were bought in the most to the older, superior stuff, that are the ones who offer the pushback and then switch to some system that doesn't give the offender money.  We also see this in other adjacent things, such as players of miniatures games trying to find ways to set up offbrand, older, and 3D printed alternatives.  Tabletop has an advantage in that every real game is ultimately a circle of people; if you go to some competitive miniature event, arguably the ultimate use of such a collection, you are gonna have to play by all the corporate rules.  D&D doesn't have this, and won't unless it achieves incredible success with a virtual tabletop- and I don't think that they will.

The other thing that isn't considered is this; you take 100 gamers and DMs, and you push your shitty political agenda on them.  Some of them like it- say, 10.  Many don't care- say, 50.  Of the remaining 40, you have people who will just shrug and get over it, and then you have a small core who become, for lack of a better term, radicalized.  Even if that's just 1 guy in that 100, he'll lead his group away from that, suggest other games, find ways to deny WotC a revenue stream from himself and his buddies.  By doing this, they create a non-ignorable group that will continue to push back against them.  In other words, it's not just a matter of dollars, you end up making some people in the community simply opposed to you. 

And there's no way that's a smart call in the long term, and yet, that's what so very many companies are doing.  Why create "brand unembassadors" or whatever?  How does that help?

Greetings!

It is all about corrupting everything in society, and forcing the culture to embrace the ideological changes into Marxism and Wokism. There are articles and such where executives and politicians have admitted that it isn't about money or profit--none of that matters. What matters is changing the culture as a whole--one way or the other.

This ideological foundation is what so many "normies" and middle-of-the-road mushy fence-sitters never really want to confront. There IS NO MIDDLE GROUND. CENTRISM IS A DELUSION. You are either on one side or the other. Either you embrace the Woke Utopia--or you will be destroyed.

Everyone must resist and fight against all of the Woke BS, everywhere it shows up.

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

Quote from: Venka on April 26, 2024, 01:57:30 AM

Quote from: Brad on February 13, 2024, 12:07:20 PMSee what you do is make a beer commercial with a tranny in it, even though 99% of your customer base is a bunch of rednecks and Catholics, then wonder why your company tanks. This just reminds me of the JRRT "superfans" who made videos on Youtube to push the Amazon Rings of Power and it was obvious they had no clue wtf they were even talking about. The only requirement for being a "superfan" was apparently having blue hair and writing a blog post about how LotR is misogynistic because you discovered it has like two female characters after you hatewatched half of the Peter Jackson movies.

This made me laugh pretty loudly, but the actual matter at hand is much more serious.  Whatever motivation has caused a bunch of ostensibly intelligent and well meaning people to embark on these absolutely disgusting missions- where profit is thrown away in exchange for what they earnestly believe is an unalloyed good, but is, in fact, socially ruinous- is really quite dire.

When it comes to Hasbro as a whole or even D&D in particular, I'm not even sure if the go-woke-go-broke is the main factor, or even all that large of a factor.  Certainly, assuredly, it is a factor, and when I see a video with a guy in it doubting that it matters at all, I know he's trying to take a politically neutral tract when the reality is actually somewhat political.

What I think is interesting though is that it's the players and DMs with the most passion, the ones who were bought in the most to the older, superior stuff, that are the ones who offer the pushback and then switch to some system that doesn't give the offender money.  We also see this in other adjacent things, such as players of miniatures games trying to find ways to set up offbrand, older, and 3D printed alternatives.  Tabletop has an advantage in that every real game is ultimately a circle of people; if you go to some competitive miniature event, arguably the ultimate use of such a collection, you are gonna have to play by all the corporate rules.  D&D doesn't have this, and won't unless it achieves incredible success with a virtual tabletop- and I don't think that they will.

The other thing that isn't considered is this; you take 100 gamers and DMs, and you push your shitty political agenda on them.  Some of them like it- say, 10.  Many don't care- say, 50.  Of the remaining 40, you have people who will just shrug and get over it, and then you have a small core who become, for lack of a better term, radicalized.  Even if that's just 1 guy in that 100, he'll lead his group away from that, suggest other games, find ways to deny WotC a revenue stream from himself and his buddies.  By doing this, they create a non-ignorable group that will continue to push back against them.  In other words, it's not just a matter of dollars, you end up making some people in the community simply opposed to you. 

And there's no way that's a smart call in the long term, and yet, that's what so very many companies are doing.  Why create "brand unembassadors" or whatever?  How does that help?

  It looks a lot more to me like a humiliation ritual than a business plan to be honest.

I'm just afraid of more companies copying WOTC's playbook with worse results...