WotC and Hasbro NEWS

[Gordo]

I wonder how much playing the game will cost after the recent "independent creator destruction" ideas coming from these clowns. Monetizing "imagination" because you (WotC and Hasbro) can't create content quickly enough or as efficiently as smaller groups? Sad...
DDO will get the same levy placed on it and then will force costs to go up or what little players there are left, to spend less.

"Hey, I just thought of adding a 4 headed Kobold/Dragon mix to the game!"
*phone rings*
"Hello, this is WotC, please mail a check to:

We Only Take Cash (WotC)
666 FU Street
Prime Material Plane"

[GoldyGopher]

I wonder how much playing the game will cost after the recent "independent creator destruction" ideas coming from these clowns. Monetizing "imagination" because you (WotC and Hasbro) can't create content quickly enough or as efficiently as smaller groups? Sad...
DDO will get the same levy placed on it and then will force costs to go up or what little players there are left, to spend less.

"Hey, I just thought of adding a 4 headed Kobold/Dragon mix to the game!"
*phone rings*
"Hello, this is WotC, please mail a check to:

We Only Take Cash (WotC)
666 FU Street
Prime Material Plane"

Why do you think the cost of playing DDO is going to change?
Standing Stone Games has an Official License to make this game with a license negotiated years ago. The changes to the Open Gaming License and looks at ways to monetize Hasbro IPs in new ways, including at least one new D&D Live Action TV Show and a Magic the Gathering Live Action TV Show.

[Arkat]

Why do you think the cost of playing DDO is going to change?
Standing Stone Games has an Official License to make this game with a license negotiated years ago. The changes to the Open Gaming License and looks at ways to monetize Hasbro IPs in new ways, including at least one new D&D Live Action TV Show and a Magic the Gathering Live Action TV Show.

Yes

Material made under the old OGL (1.0a) will not be affected no matter what WotC says, and the new OGL (1.1) will only affect OneD&D and possibly 5th Edition. DDO will not be affected for several reasons, including SSG's current license with WotC.

[Ereshkigal]

I wonder how much playing the game will cost after the recent "independent creator destruction" ideas coming from these clowns. Monetizing "imagination" because you (WotC and Hasbro) can't create content quickly enough or as efficiently as smaller groups? Sad...
DDO will get the same levy placed on it and then will force costs to go up or what little players there are left, to spend less.

"Hey, I just thought of adding a 4 headed Kobold/Dragon mix to the game!"
*phone rings*
"Hello, this is WotC, please mail a check to:

We Only Take Cash (WotC)
666 FU Street
Prime Material Plane"

Maybe wait for an official draft of the proposed changes to the OGL before panicking. All we have now is a "leaked memo" situation. This kind of reaction is why we had to wipe our buts on plant leaves for a year during Covid... my arse has barely recovered.

Also, DDO doesn't use the OGL. They have their own license, so any changes to an OGL will not affect DDO.

[Gordo]

Based upon the lack of real monetization that WotC/Hasbro have done to date with D&D, from a business perspective only, I am not hopeful that they will not want to revamp their involvement with DDO as well. I think the inflation in DDO based upon narrowing windows between "points" and "shards" sales indicates a desire to expand margins via (the limited amount it helps in DDO) a PTW or "pay to make easier model".

There used to be maybe 2 points/shards sales a year? How often is it now? How many times are they releasing Otto boxes now as opposed to the past?

The investors want to raid the till in DDO but appear to not have anything more than a passing interest in the bare minimum of new content, new ideas, bug fixes, and quality.

This is not an indictment. It is part of the normal business cycle for mature companies, looking to bleed a name, and conversely invest as little as possible. Where is the desire to expand the player base? marketing? WoW's recent expansion is suspect on how profitable that will be so I'm sure other companies are watching.

Maybe DDO won't be affected but the "economics to otput ratio of new, bug free content" indicates a labor shortage, inflation, and margin creep IMO.

[GoldyGopher]

SNIP

WotC is NOT an investor in DDO. All WotC does is collect "royalty" checks on a quarterly basis from SSG/Daybreak/ENAD7.

Since the change to DDO Eberron Unlimited: Point sales used to be a quarterly basis situated around the American Holidays. We used to get Triple Points once a year, but that hasn't happened recently.

As for Otto's Boxes (and Traveler's Trunk, and ..) This year we returned to the normal schedule because they have created a technological method of blocking their sales on the Hard Core Server.

[merridyan]

Maybe wait for an official draft of the proposed changes to the OGL before panicking. All we have now is a "leaked memo" situation. This kind of reaction is why we had to wipe our buts on plant leaves for a year during Covid... my arse has barely recovered.

It is not a leaked memo, it is part of many contracts and has been confirmed by multiple parties that have received them.

[Arkat]

It is not a leaked memo, it is part of many contracts and has been confirmed by multiple parties that have received them.

Yes, the entire OGL 1.1 agreement is out there.

If someone wants to go read it, all they have to do is Google it.

[GoldyGopher]

It is not a leaked memo, it is part of many contracts and has been confirmed by multiple parties that have received them.

Yes, the entire OGL 1.1 agreement is out there.

If someone wants to go read it, all they have to do is Google it.

Yes, it is out there because it was leaked. Us small time developers haven't officially received it yet.