Poll
Question:
When WotC releases a product how likely are you to buy it?
Option 1: I always buy it. (100%)
Option 2: I almost always buy it (75%)
Option 3: I buy it half the time (50%)
Option 4: I rarely buy it (25%)
Option 5: I never buy any Official WotC products (0%)
I am/was cautious D&D collector, I will buy something mediocre because it's official D&D. I stopped doing that in 3e because I feel the bar for mediocrity lowered. I own more 4e products than 3e, despite playing more 3e. Whatever can be said about 4e, and a lot can be, I can say the writing was better than during the 3e era. For me this is not an Edition War™ but a trend in WotC products. I own most of the 5e official products because most of them are at least are low-bar mediocre. But recently, they've been releasing really bad products and I find myself waiting to buy them so I can read them off the shelf and see if it's worth the investment. If I can't see myself using it, I can't bring myself to buy it. Sadly, I purchased Strixhaven because after reading and discussing the Unearthed Arcana articles I was excited for the direction they were going with subclasses and roleplaying mechanics. Instead, they ditched that for something completely different and lazily hand out free stuff that's not usable anywhere else because it's "optional" power creep. I can't stress enough how bad the student mechanics are for the game. The entire experience has left me cautious so I'm dropping from a 75% buyer to a 50%. Right now I'm leaning away from buying Radiant Citadel. Why? I know there's great writing in Planescape from the past that I'd rather continue using, and Tales from the Yawning Portal is a good conversion with some improvements (I like Sunless Citadel more in that than the original and the original is very good). Radiant Citadel doesn't seem to offer anything that hasn't been done before, and we know was done well.
Edit: if you vote say why. I'm curious to know where people are coming from with their nuDnD experiences.
None.
I have not bought a single official WotC product since 4E came out and that dog turd went straight to the used book store after reading it.
Last DnD product I bought for myself was AD&D 2e and that was MANY years ago.,
I bought my youngest son a few years ago the PH, DMG and MM for 5e, he still plays with his friends, but I've been showing home the old B/X stuff I have, then the rest of the gaming group started talking about the old days so now I'm about to kill some characters run some old B/X OSR!
I've bought very few books from wotc since 4e came out and have gotten rid of almost all of them. The only thing they have published in the past 20 years that's worth keeping is the Art & Arcana book - which a 3rd party actually wrote for them.
The last WotC product I bought was the 5E PHB, and before that the 4E core books.
Bought and will buy are two very different answers. I bought a fair amount of 3E stuff, the basics for the 4E stuff, the 3 core 5E books + starter set, and then 3 5E supplements. I regret all 3 of those last purchases, even before WotC went off the woke deep end. Quality of the content was not good. So I was already on my way out when they put the final nails in.
In some hypothetical future where some other company owns the D&D license and/or all the current WotC employees no longer have the slightest say in anything D&D, I might buy again. Might.
Zero, zilch, nada, I'm not into giving my hard earned pesos to people that hate me.
I bought the 5th DMG, MM, and PG all used. Don't use them much. I think they were later printings. A rat chewed up the MM a little bit on the edges out in the garage on my utility shelving.
The last WotC product I brought was Waterdeep before the end times.
I bought quite a bit up until Tasha's Crock of Excrement turned me off on 5e for good. Now I don't even pay attention to D&D other than when new shit gets talked about here.
I bought the 5e core books and two of the early adventure books, Princes of the Apocalypse and Out of the Abyss. That's the last of my money I've given to WotC and the last I intend to.
My WOTC material consists off...
4e D&D Gamma World: If you want to see 4e done right and Gamma World done wrong. This is it. A disaster epic appropriate for the setting. Such as it is on this version.
5e D&D core books: PHB DMG MM: Its a pretty good system but it has glaring flaws. Most can be either easily fixed or just ignored, or use the options in the DMG.
5e Boxed Sets: Basic and Essentials: Basic is a little too basic. But Essentials does a fair job of it.
5e D&D Expansions: Sword Coast, Xanithar, Mordenkainen, Volo, Tasha: These are all pretty good and add this or that to the game. Some are more monster focused and others more class focused.
5e D&D Settings: Sword Coast, Eberron: Both of these for me were rather weak as they did not really tell me alot about the places and world. More like updates in Sword Coasts case.
5e D&D Modues: Hoard+Rise, Saltmarsh, Strahd, Avernus, Witchlight, Tomb: I DMed the two Tiamat campaign modules and had alot of fun. Definitly better if you discard the rails as its a very railroady set in the worst ways. Strahd is not bad. Just ignore Weiss and Hickmans virtue signalling at the start. Tomb is interesting but a bit too open in a way considering the dire situation. I plan to DM this soon. Witchlight I am still puzzling over. Avernus in no way lived up to the road warrior hype. Very let down on that part. Saltmarsh have not gotten much chance to look at yet.
Witchlight will probably be the last WOTC product I buy. I stopped playtesting or giving them money after the way they acted on Drive-thru in treating older works. And pretty much have cut them off totally after they went into full dive outrage marketing exploiting minorities and the handicapped on top of deceptive marketing as well.
It was fun while it lasted. But like playing Neverwinter Online. Im done with being lied to and fucked with.
I try to avoid buying WoTC stuff now. I've avoided the campaigns/adventures since Dragon Heist (didn't buy), but I was fooled into buying the very mediocre Fizban's Treasury of Dragons by people telling me it was 'old school'. At full price from Blackwells bookshop that was a painful mistake.
I didn't want to buy Tasha's but I have to deal with it being integrated into the e-tools my players used, and I allowed it for one campaign so when I saw it new on amazon for £13 I bought it. At that price I don't particularly regret it.
I voted 25% as that seems to be my current purchase rate, but it may be closer to 0% going forward. The last WoTC* product I bought that I was really happy with was Xanathar's. Conversely I'm happy with at least 2/3 of the Kobold Press 5e stuff I buy, so I generally look to them these days.
*I do buy old TSR stuff from Drivethru, which WoTC makes money from of course.
Quote from: AtomicPope on March 24, 2022, 08:30:09 PM
I am/was cautious D&D collector, I will buy something mediocre because it's official D&D.
Quote from: AtomicPope on March 24, 2022, 08:30:09 PM
The entire experience has left me cautious so I'm dropping from a 75% buyer to a 50%. Right now I'm leaning away from buying Radiant Citadel. Why? I know there's great writing in Planescape from the past that I'd rather continue using, and Tales from the Yawning Portal is a good conversion with some improvements (I like Sunless Citadel more in that than the original and the original is very good). Radiant Citadel doesn't seem to offer anything that hasn't been done before, and we know was done well.
I understand that you're a collector - but I think to most people, anything over 25% is a huge amount. Personally, I'm not a collector - I buy books mainly if I think I'll actually use them in a game. So for virtually any company, I'm less than 25%. That's true even if I enjoy the game line. I own three different editions of Call of Cthulhu and a score of modules, but that is far less than 25% of Chaosium's output.
I'm running a 5E campaign now, but that means that I'm unlikely to buy new setting books or adventure books, since it's unlikely for them to fit in my existing campaign.
I bought the 5th ed core books for my brother with his money. Does that count?
I bought a bit of 4th edition, especially all of the Dark Sun for that edition.
Haven't bought any 5th ed for myself.
So I put 'rarely'.
Quote from: S'mon on March 25, 2022, 03:24:30 AM
*I do buy old TSR stuff from Drivethru, which WoTC makes money from of course.
Oh no. That would change my reply. I've bought a ton of TSR stuff from drivethru to replace old and lost books.
Last WotC official product I bought was probably an adventure for 3e. Since 3.5 was released I haven't bought anything WotC, although I did take a look at the D&D Next playtest. Haven't bought any old TSR stuff from OBS either.
I'm quite happy Ryan Dancey - whether intentionally or not - preserved D&D for eternity for the players with the OGL.
Probably the 3E stuff. I got the 5E books as gifts.
And if I for some reason need more 5E, I'm sailing the seven seas. Period.
I had most of the original D&D stuff (basic, expert). Then I had a lot of the AD&D material.
But I've never bought anything since then. The only thing I might be interested in is some of the old TSR adventures such as the Isle of Dread. Assuming they made an actual electronic version and not some shitty scan.
Ever since the fall of a certain website that allowed you to view a game book before you bought it, I have been very careful about what I buy. Doubly so with anything from Hazards of the Bro.
After their shenanegans with Strixhaven, where Amazon listed it as a "Bestseller" in the Greek & Roman mythology category, I don't trust anything they make.
I would, and do buy the .pdf's of the older editions though.
Yeah, if there was some older reference I wanted I'd probably buy a pdf too. But I'd never buy any of their newer stuff.
Beyond two possibly three more titles that I may need to round off my collection nothing else. Given the apparent train wreck that the 50th anniversary looks to be I will pass.
More interested in the Kobold Press stuff anyway. More bang for one buck and imo better designed even if they are woke.
I bought the 5e PHB back in 2014. Everything else for 5e has been 3rd party.
The last WotC-owned products I bought were POD reprints of I6, I10, and the first Ravenloft boxed sets back in 2019. Thenewest WotC products I bought were Curse of Strahd and the accompanying Tarokka deck in 2016. Those are also the only 5E products I own, and I'm planning to sell them off once I get around to sending a list to Noble Knight or taking things over to a Half Price Books. When playing 5E (because it's what friends want to run), I've relied on the Basic rules and the SRD, or borrowing someone else's PHB.
I haven't bought a thing from them since they made it plain that they didn't want me as a customer. That was 2012.
To be fair though there's been exactly one edition of D&D that really catered to my preferred playstyle so it's not like I've had much use for any edition of D&D.
Everything at first, and then nothing.
I bought the starter set, and then the core 5e books and I was very pleased.
At first, I got almost everything, skipping only two or three campaigns that got negative reviews. I have CoS, Volo's, ToA, Saltmarsh, Ravnica, etc. Some were good, some bad - usually both at the same time (awesome ideas lost in a sea of blandness and awful organization).
I love the art/layout and the rules are decent enough IMO. Better than 3e and 4e.
Then I started skipping a book or two that were not to my taste...
I think it was Tasha's that made me realize 5e was no longer for me:
https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2020/11/tasha-and-d-5e-is-for-experts-and.html
(Before 5e? well, I bought a lot less. I used to play GURPS! :D )
With that said, I am ready to jump back on the bandwagon if they ever get their business straightened. But it seems they are going some other way, and I'm not really interested in 5.5 e coming soon.
I got the 3 core 5e books for a discount on amazon like.. I forget how many years ago, not after they were out, but they're still old enough to have RPGPundit in the credits. Haven't gotten any other official products. 3e was the same. Didn't get any 4e.
As a total of my collection I guess you'd say WoTC is less than 25% of my collection.
Quote from: HappyDaze on March 24, 2022, 11:59:48 PM
I bought quite a bit up until Tasha's Crock of Excrement turned me off on 5e for good. Now I don't even pay attention to D&D other than when new shit gets talked about here.
oh gawd Happy, you made me laugh. Needed that today. "Tasha's Crock of Excrement"...ah sigh
For me, I'm done giving money to people that hate me. My gaming dollar lately has been picking up 2e AD&D and a few oddities. Like I picked up The Fantasy Trip Legacy based on pundits video.
Quote from: Svenhelgrim on March 25, 2022, 08:36:57 AM
After their shenanegans with Strixhaven, where Amazon listed it as a "Bestseller" in the Greek & Roman mythology category, I don't trust anything they make.
Seriously? Holy shit.
Quote from: S'mon on March 25, 2022, 03:24:30 AM
.....
*I do buy old TSR stuff from Drivethru, which WoTC makes money from of course.
Good point. I too, buy old stuff through Drivethru....forgot about that.
None, because they continue to sell and profit off of racist products. They say so themselves! :o
Also, they keep calling the Referee/Storyteller/Day Care Attendant, the Dungeon Master... yikes.
I have original printings of the 5e PHB, MM, and DMG but I don't really use them. I find that ACKS does what I want a lot better and Alexander Macris actually likes his customers.
Zero.
I haven't purchased an official WotC product in years. But I'm not in their demographic - so, it's not really a surprise.
Quote from: Thorn Drumheller on March 25, 2022, 10:50:16 AM
Quote from: S'mon on March 25, 2022, 03:24:30 AM
.....
*I do buy old TSR stuff from Drivethru, which WoTC makes money from of course.
Good point. I too, buy old stuff through Drivethru....forgot about that.
Same though I wish Drivethrurpg would be consist with their 2E reprints. The Complete and blue book DMG series are still only in PDF for the most part. Daddy wants his Complete Ninja 🥷 Handbook.
Ah yes, DTRPG stuff, I do buy some classics from time to time.
I own the following books. 1. D&D players handbook 3.5. D&D Monster Manual for 3.5. Forgotten Realms for 3.5.
None have ever been used for play.
Now, if you want me to list my entire Palladium Books collection, we're going to need some patience. I'm sure it's over 100 books at this point.
Zero. Won't spend a dime with the wokesters.
For me, a steadily decreasing percentage as the quality of the product decreases.
I'm at 0% for their latest thing: "Sigil, but..."
My last WotC purchase was "I'll take it off your hands" for a friend. And that book was 75% useless pages.
Quote from: weirdguy564 on March 25, 2022, 01:39:46 PM
I own the following books. 1. D&D players handbook 3.5. D&D Monster Manual for 3.5. Forgotten Realms for 3.5.
None have ever been used for play.
Now, if you want me to list my entire Palladium Books collection, we're going to need some patience. I'm sure it's over 100 books at this point.
100 pffah you are like leetle baby,
Quote from: Svenhelgrim on March 25, 2022, 08:36:57 AM
After their shenanegans with Strixhaven, where Amazon listed it as a "Bestseller" in the Greek & Roman mythology category, I don't trust anything they make.
Amazon Lists Wildspace for DragonStrike as a published product when it never was. Some years ago they were really bad about that and there would be product listed ever few months for WOTC for example that did not exist. WOTC apparently did not even know. If thats true then just how lax is Amazon's security that anyone can add fake products for a company?
Addendum. Quick check shows it no longer listed.
How about; "I Used to Buy It Sometimes, back before They Fucked it All Up with Social Justice."
I think that would be a popular poll option.
According to my wife; I have a LOT of Books, DM Screens, Maps, Miniatures, and Dice. I'm sure some here have much more than I do.
I was buying all the 5e stuff up until Waterdeep Dragon Heist. The books became more blatantly woke around that time. So that's when I stopped giving WotC my money, and I haven't bought a 5e product since.
I can't say "never" but I'm certainly being a lot more selective.
Curse of Strahd was the last 5E thing I bought, and the only things on my horizon are reprints of older editions.
I own nothing for 5e, nothing anymore for 3.5, and am planning on purchasing a lot of 4e in the future as it's the only WotC edition worth playing and investing in. And since I'll be buying from the used market, this means WotC isn't getting a dime from me, which is how I like it.
Bought the core books for 5e. And 4e. 3e. Never read any of them save to flick through and confirm why I still don't play D&D. 2e was a semi read to skim through and make sure the basics weren't changed much. I keep convincing myself that D&D should be revisited because it's where I started with Moldvay but... I dunno. Big hardback tomes that glaze my eyes over are attracting my attention less and less these days.
Much more likely to buy the old school stuff on Drivethru as reprints. I couldn't care less that they apologise for the writing. Their apology means little to me whilst they continue to sell the books.
Last stuff I bought was the starter and essential boxes to introduce my 12 y/o son to. They are both still in shrink and I'm thinking Basic, T&T or one of the zillion clones are better bets.
(https://i.postimg.cc/85cJ2h56/bollocks.png)
(https://i.postimg.cc/XJPG4pGD/voletar-ojos-girar-ojos.gif)
I enjoyed 4e, but most of the books were meh or crap. The Dark Sun books and 4e Gamma World were rare gems during that era, but 100gp gems, not irreplaceable diamonds.
5e is the first time in 44 years I don't own the core books of a D&D edition and I highly doubt that trend will change.
Fuck WotC. There's a 1000 other fantasy RPGs and many of them are excellent so there's no reason to buy their warmed over SJW shit.
5e is what I have players for and it works pretty well. Last campaign I got to run OSR-inflected (dungeoncrawling through Dwimmermount), this one is Candlekeep shared with co-DMs but I'm able to improve things a bit & steer us away from some of the worse adventures in the WotC book.
Theros is great for reading & inspires ideas, but I'm hoping our next campaign is a third-party hexcrawl, if not completely homebrew: The High Moors, Symbaroum, or Runewild.
My oldest son DMs multiple 5e games, so some of what I buy is to support him; he wanted the dragon book for Christmas/his birthday, which I wouldn't have been interested in myself. Things I don't intend to get are most of the recent adventure volumes: Avernus, Strixhaven, Witchlight, Radiant Citadel, in part because of how underwhelming Candlekeep is as a mixed-author poorly-edited anthology.
The last paper products I bought were the 3E PBH, DMG, and MM.
The only DTRPG purchases I have made are the 1E PHB, DMG, and MM, Oriental Adventures, and Greyhawk Ruins. All were purchased at a discount.
Quote from: palaeomerus on March 25, 2022, 08:08:49 PM
Quote from: weirdguy564 on March 25, 2022, 01:39:46 PM
I own the following books. 1. D&D players handbook 3.5. D&D Monster Manual for 3.5. Forgotten Realms for 3.5.
None have ever been used for play.
Now, if you want me to list my entire Palladium Books collection, we're going to need some patience. I'm sure it's over 100 books at this point.
100 pffah you are like leetle baby,
No argument, but I have nearly everything for RoboTech, Rifts, Heroes Unlimited, and Palladium Fantasy, as well as a few lesser games like Recon and Night Spawn/Bane.
These days I've moved onto rules lite games that many people have never heard of like Pocket Fantasy and Dungeons and Delvers: Dice Pool Edition.
I have the TMNT stuff. most of the robotech stuff (expeditionary marines is hard to get)
I have 2nd ed of revised recon because my old one fell apart or so I am told.
Didn't get the Nightspawn version of Nightbane.
I do have the Rifts movie script and the Justice Machine book for 1st ed Heroes Unlimited though and 1st ed Villaisn limited..
And I used to have an original comic book sized Mechanoids II. I have the trilogy reprint. I have Systems Failure, and Splicers and the Legion add on for it.
I have Beyond the Supernatural 1st and 2nd and the Crated Nightmares book. 1st ed is pretty beat up.
I was looking for Dimension Book 9 until the internet clued me in that i was never released. Heh. Palladium is fun stuff. I have the Macross II Sourcebook too. Most of what I am missing ignoring RIFTER issues is Palladium Fanatasy stuff. I think I have 1st edition revided, monsters and animals, and 2nd edition and that's it. I also have an old copy of Old Ones.