Watching this video just now on WoTC's plans for their VTT



AI DMs... no homebrew content at base tier... $30/month subscription fee...

I think the suggestion that WoTC are actively trying to burn down their existing player (and especially GM) base, to rebuild with a clean slate from the ashes, has a lot of merit.

Quote from: S'mon on January 17, 2023, 03:40:49 AM
Watching this video just now on WoTC's plans for their VTT

AI DMs... no homebrew content at base tier... $30/month subscription fee...

I think the suggestion that WoTC are actively trying to burn down their existing player (and especially GM) base, to rebuild with a clean slate from the ashes, has a lot of merit.

I have watched a few of her videos now, and her delivery is quite good and effective.  Her channel is unique. 

My takeaway: WOTC is betting HARD on Digital being the future; and they are willing to lose now, to win later.  As long as WOTC gains total control of all D&D content, before the coming Digital Domination; they can't help but win.

Quote from: S'mon on January 17, 2023, 03:40:49 AM
Watching this video just now on WoTC's plans for their VTT

AI DMs... no homebrew content at base tier... $30/month subscription fee...

I think the suggestion that WoTC are actively trying to burn down their existing player (and especially GM) base, to rebuild with a clean slate from the ashes, has a lot of merit.

So their payer base will be a tiny bunch of skeevy people with more money than sense. I wish I thought it wouldn't work, but mobile games have shown that those people are out there. And it will have the Official Brand Recognition.

Quote from: Ratman_tf on January 17, 2023, 04:39:00 AM

So their payer base will be a tiny bunch of skeevy people with more money than sense. I wish I thought it wouldn't work, but mobile games have shown that those people are out there. And it will have the Official Brand Recognition.

But also competition. People who more recently came into D&D aren't going to have the same attachment to the brand as those who started with TSR (or even 3.x). Those who have the attachment to the brand aren't going to like the direction it's going at all. So while it does have the potential to succeed, it also has the potential to fail terribly.

Also if WotC changes D&D into an online experience, then TTRPGs no longer get explained as being like D&D, except... They start being described on their own merits because D&D is no longer a useful comparison, and the network externality changes.

As she says in the video, Wotc could well see profits rise from D&D even if the player base greatly declines.

Quote from: Rhymer88 on January 17, 2023, 06:36:18 AM
As she says in the video, Wotc could well see profits rise from D&D even if the player base greatly declines.

'Zactly. If true, this is about maximizing income and leaving the hobby behind to cater to a very niche group. Which is their business, but would put D&D One outside of my interests.

Time will tell, I guess. I hope somebody is keeping receipts. Youtubers seem to be doing very well through all of this.

So, AI DMs and no homebrew content (note - an adventure that isn't a module is homebrew content)... that's called an MMO. Except they want to charge twice what a AAA-tier MMO charges for their top tier subscriptions as the BASE tier?

If this is true... they are literally insane. Anyone wanting a scripted fantasy experience could snag a hundred times the content from an MMO like ESO for a one-time $20 purchase during a Steam sale... I guarantee better graphics and a wider player base and plenty of custom skins you can choose from for a fraction of what this insane OneD&D plan could possibly offer.

Throw in a flop in the making movie (for reasons that have nothing to do with the OGL controversy) and this whole debacle needs to be called SingularityD&D... as in its collapsing into a black hole.

To be fair, the $30/month is the top tier cost, not the base.  It's still all shit though.

I think this is probably clickbait. I don't believe WOTC top brass even know what "homebrew" means in a game context. For internal use it would have been called "custom content generation" or something.

Not to say they aren't planning basically this, but I find this specific leak suspect.

Quote from: Shrieking Banshee on January 17, 2023, 10:08:41 AM
I think this is probably clickbait. I don't believe WOTC top brass even know what "homebrew" means in a game context.

Consider if the base subscription gives you access to a character builder that contains all the official classes, races, spells, equipment, etc. But if you want to add custom races or classes, you need to upgrade to gain access to the editor software. This is a perfectly reasonable pricing system yet it can also be declared as "NO HOMEBREW AT THE BASE LEVEL! OMG!"

Quote from: hedgehobbit on January 17, 2023, 10:15:38 AM
Consider if the base subscription gives you access to a character builder that contains all the official classes, races, spells, equipment, etc. But if you want to add custom races or classes, you need to upgrade to gain access to the editor software. This is a perfectly reasonable pricing system yet it can also be declared as "NO HOMEBREW AT THE BASE LEVEL! OMG!"

In foundry I can pay 20$ once to get interlinked and operational automation for all classes, races and other such stuff while always having homebrew and even mod support. I also get to keep it forever even if all servers go down, with recurring fees of like 10 bucks for 1 person only if I want to host on a server online. And 1 player can have like 8 other players play for free.

This leak is probably fake as heck, but it's absolutely a crap deal.

Quote from: Shrieking Banshee on January 17, 2023, 10:08:41 AM
I think this is probably clickbait. I don't believe WOTC top brass even know what "homebrew" means in a game context. For internal use it would have been called "custom content generation" or something.

Not to say they aren't planning basically this, but I find this specific leak suspect.

The actual wording comes from this tweet. As to its veracity, who knows?

https://twitter.com/DungeonScribe/status/1615094844048936960

I'm glad I have no investment in this mess of a game.

Quote from: Shrieking Banshee on January 17, 2023, 10:20:18 AM
This leak is probably fake as heck, but it's absolutely a crap deal.

DnD Shorts confirmed the leak, he has a record of having very reliable info from WoTC employees. https://twitter.com/DnD_Shorts/status/1615134661419896832?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet