Does Wizards of the Coast know how you are destroying D&D brand?

wizardlvl80

Pretty much it.

With all the negativity Cryptic is creating and last fraud with Gamepedia stream, I am curious is WotC aware on how this company's actions might hurt overall D&D brand reputation?

kinamara

I honestly had the same thought when I first saw the stat changes in mod 16. They fly in they fly in the face of D&D rules each class is supposed to have a primary and secondary stat. Neverwinter have found a way to say nah Every class Charisma is not the most vital period. I was pretty shocked as WOTC usually do not allow companies a license to use any of their D&D names unless they agree to stay true to them most recent rule set, or switch to them within a reasonable time frame. This is the first time I have played a D&D based game that was not following the current rule set for the time the game was active. This means 2 things Either Wizards for some reason gave Cryptic a much more liberal terms on having the license to use Neverwinter and all the other D&D Content that has been added to the game. Or Cryptic decided they are done listening to the terms and went rogue.

aandrethegiant

WOTC has historically had a very tight working relationship with WB/Turbine/Standing Stone Games (DDO) and Cryptic (Neverwinter, obviously). Ive had more than one conversation with graphic designers that work in both companies. They talk weekly (or used to at least ), and the teams can talk about art details of the mobs, lore etc.

But I think WOTC has loosened the reigns compared to the old days and give MMO developers some creative license so they can cater to their audiences, which must entertain not only hardcore PnP roleplayers, but the global mmo crowd, and the PW/cryptic crowd, some of which may never have sat down at a table to play a D&D session.

mordekai

As someone who first played D&D about 40 years ago, and still maintain an interest even though I don;t get to sit down and play as often as I'd like, I have to say that WotC have had over the past year or two a bit of a quality control issue.

I don't know how far beyond their own offices that extends, and whether they hold their licensees to a tighter reign but their own philosophy has recently very clearly been about increasing their margins at the expense of quality product.

They skimped on the card quality on their biggest earner, M:TG and some of the D&D core rule books, (which are VERY expensive) have been printed and bound like they were done by a drunken amateur.

They apologised, of course, and did some typically remorseful PR, and of course promised to do better. But you don't build a company on card and book sales and NOT know that reducing the quality of card, paper, and printing/binding to shave points on your margin is pretty much the dictionary definition of HAMSTER customer service.

aandrethegiant

True, WOTC have made some big mistakes. They are the godfather/pioneer of practically every fantasy genre MMO and RPG.

COUNTLESS people have stole/borrowed their ideas to create their own product -- but to get them to make a GREAT computer game or movie has been TOO elusive. With all due respects to Neverwinter and DDO, which are great games at their core with some super talented developers and artists behind the scenes over the years. Since Im a D&D purist, I'll leave it at that ~~~

aandrethegiant

soulseeker#1880 said:

Haha I emailed wizard of the coast twice explaining all that especially they have destroyed the D&D name. . no reply everyone should flood their email then maybe they will do something They also have a Twitter make it public for all eyes then thru might not have a choice.

No one at WOTC will bother reading what you type. Do you know how many people complain?

The problems run deep there. Their books make them a ton of cash but they simply have never been able to score a true winner in the computer world or the silver screen, yet. (The brilliant SSI gold box games and original Baldurs Gate games were the brain child of TSR) Sad -- because they own the BEST LORE period.

malignantmind

It's adorable that you think Neverwinter has any real impact, positive or negative, on the D&D brand.