Quote from: BadApple on October 28, 2024, 08:32:02 AM6. invest in/build gaming stores akin to GW stores
8. hold DM training classes to onboard new DMs

Yes, and yes. Add Open Tables in those game stores. I'm sure there are a ton of gaming stores that aren't doing well that could be bought, or franchised or something.

Nuke it from orbit.  It's the only way to be sure.

Quote from: jeff37923 on October 28, 2024, 04:12:42 PM

Quote from: BadApple on October 28, 2024, 08:32:02 AM8. hold DM training classes to onboard new DMs

Oh, fucking Hell, no!

Even with a sweeping staff change, I would not trust WotC to train new DMs.

This is a fantasy of "what would I do."  Refer to line 1.  I would start by bringing a flame thrower to WOTC and do a purge.  Then I would build a good company.

As far as DM instructors, I would hire some of the best DM/GMs I've known over the years as well as some of the better content creators that teach running games.

As for as current WOTC?  Well, it needs that flamethrower first...

Quote from: Ruprecht on October 28, 2024, 05:32:56 PM

Quote from: BadApple on October 28, 2024, 08:32:02 AM6. invest in/build gaming stores akin to GW stores
8. hold DM training classes to onboard new DMs

Yes, and yes. Add Open Tables in those game stores. I'm sure there are a ton of gaming stores that aren't doing well that could be bought, or franchised or something.

One of the biggest things I've noticed is that there's a noticeable trend in things players and GMs bring and use that aren't sold by most FLGS.

food and drinks
pencils
paper
copy and printer service
dry erase stuff

I absolutely believe a FLGS combined with a pizza parlor would make money.

Fire everyone and start fresh.

Quote from: BadApple on October 28, 2024, 05:53:06 PM

Quote from: Ruprecht on October 28, 2024, 05:32:56 PM

Quote from: BadApple on October 28, 2024, 08:32:02 AM6. invest in/build gaming stores akin to GW stores
8. hold DM training classes to onboard new DMs

Yes, and yes. Add Open Tables in those game stores. I'm sure there are a ton of gaming stores that aren't doing well that could be bought, or franchised or something.

One of the biggest things I've noticed is that there's a noticeable trend in things players and GMs bring and use that aren't sold by most FLGS.

food and drinks
pencils
paper
copy and printer service
dry erase stuff

I absolutely believe a FLGS combined with a pizza parlor would make money.

Greetings!

Hey there, BadApple! When I was active duty in the Marines, our base had a local E-Club. Some E-Clubs can be different, offering different features, but usually a restaurant, bar, pool hall, along with lounges and game rooms. A group of fellow Marines and myself would sometimes go to our local E-Club to game. We used one of the smaller game rooms, and had a waitress that would check on us periodically. We had a constant flow of pizza, sandwiches, sodas, and various snacks, from candy bars to French Fries, Nachos, and so on.

Just about every area of the base had their own E-Club. Some were bigger than others, and some offered different features. A very popular E-Club down the road a ways from my unit had a huge dance floor, a full bar, and Wednesdays through Sundays was *packed* with women from off base. That was definitely the place to go when you wanted to dance and mingle with the women. My local E-Club, besides having a restaurant, bar, pool tables, and game rooms, also had a small theater room--big screen for movies, and seating about 50 people or so. So, it was always fun! An E-Club over on Mainside--a very large section of the base, with the Navy Hospital and more--also had like, a 20-lane bowling alley! So, different E-Clubs sometimes provided different things. Always a good time going to the E-Club though! Understandably, it was a favourite place to hang out at!

Great times, for sure! *Laughing*

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

Quote from: BadApple on October 28, 2024, 05:43:00 PM

Quote from: jeff37923 on October 28, 2024, 04:12:42 PM

Quote from: BadApple on October 28, 2024, 08:32:02 AM8. hold DM training classes to onboard new DMs

Oh, fucking Hell, no!

Even with a sweeping staff change, I would not trust WotC to train new DMs.

This is a fantasy of "what would I do."  Refer to line 1.  I would start by bringing a flame thrower to WOTC and do a purge.  Then I would build a good company.

As far as DM instructors, I would hire some of the best DM/GMs I've known over the years as well as some of the better content creators that teach running games.

As for as current WOTC?  Well, it needs that flamethrower first...

I guess I just have a tough time seeing GM game mastery coming from a single game company. Some of my best lessons learned came from playing games made by different publishers and comparing/contrasting how they handled events in games with the rules.

Quote from: jeff37923 on October 28, 2024, 06:53:18 PM

Quote from: BadApple on October 28, 2024, 05:43:00 PM

Quote from: jeff37923 on October 28, 2024, 04:12:42 PM

Quote from: BadApple on October 28, 2024, 08:32:02 AM8. hold DM training classes to onboard new DMs

Oh, fucking Hell, no!

Even with a sweeping staff change, I would not trust WotC to train new DMs.

This is a fantasy of "what would I do."  Refer to line 1.  I would start by bringing a flame thrower to WOTC and do a purge.  Then I would build a good company.

As far as DM instructors, I would hire some of the best DM/GMs I've known over the years as well as some of the better content creators that teach running games.

As for as current WOTC?  Well, it needs that flamethrower first...

I guess I just have a tough time seeing GM game mastery coming from a single game company. Some of my best lessons learned came from playing games made by different publishers and comparing/contrasting how they handled events in games with the rules.

I agree that a single source of game knowledge would be bad.  The strange thing is, I believe that the best hope D&D has for growth is that WOTC start seeing all the other publishers as potential allies in a larger effort to grow the hobby and thereby grow the pool of potential customers.  Friendly competition rather than aggression and economic warfare would be better for WOTC and Hasbro.  (I also believe that they would be better off trying to expand the products they offer to the things that gamers use and consume that they currently don't offer rather than change the market into something else that they have more control over.)

Again, my version would be I would revamp and reintroduce FASRIP and other systems that TSR used to offer.  While I would keep and market D&D 5e as the flagship product, offering other types of gaming experiences make a lot of sense to me.

WOTC is right now a massive waste of potential.  It's sad to see something I loved years ago just rot away. 

Quote from: JeremyR on October 28, 2024, 02:20:31 AM

Quote from: David Johansen on October 28, 2024, 12:07:47 AMAs ever, release Rolemaster Standard System under the D&D brand name, scuttle all other editions and remove them from Drivethru Rpg.  Watch the fans go to war the "the name D&D makes it sacred/The Company Is Always Right" crowd might even revolt a little.

Isn't that what kinda happened with 3rd Edition? It was made mostly by a Rolemaster guy. The skill system, the painful math, the hit point inflation, the critical hits were all borrowed from Rolemaster

Sort of? Kinda?  They did it while leaving out the best parts and ditching the functionality of the system.  No attack tables, no critical tables, no skill / category split, no skill costs by profession, no spell lists.

Quote from: yabaziou on October 28, 2024, 05:30:52 PMIf someone is as follish as given to me, free reign on the D&D IP, I would perform the following evil deeds :

- Offer a sum of money, large enough, to convinced Kevin Siembieda to reveal all the mysteries of his Palladium world, and make it the official default game universe of D&D, to the end of times ;

As a backer of Palladium's Robotech Tactics kickstarter who lost out on hundreds of dollars worth of minis after being mislead for five years until the clock ran out on their license for the product at which point they just threw their hands up and said oh well, I suspect he'd do the same with your sum of money as well.   Zero stars, do not recommend.

Quote from: BadApple on October 28, 2024, 05:53:06 PM

Quote from: Ruprecht on October 28, 2024, 05:32:56 PM

Quote from: BadApple on October 28, 2024, 08:32:02 AM6. invest in/build gaming stores akin to GW stores
8. hold DM training classes to onboard new DMs

Yes, and yes. Add Open Tables in those game stores. I'm sure there are a ton of gaming stores that aren't doing well that could be bought, or franchised or something.

One of the biggest things I've noticed is that there's a noticeable trend in things players and GMs bring and use that aren't sold by most FLGS.

food and drinks
pencils
paper
copy and printer service
dry erase stuff

I absolutely believe a FLGS combined with a pizza parlor would make money.

We have a few like that here in the Seattle area. My local gaming site sells booze (ciders and ales and whatnot) ice cream and toaster oven food like mozzarella sticks.

https://www.attgamepub.com/

Mox is straight up attached to a resteraunt.

https://www.moxboardinghouse.com/bellevue/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw7Py4BhCbARIsAMMx-_Lh7yioUpiH_CYtO2_4ONwjFdC4Y7DyCUVM2N6KkBd_E1kWrdiBDLgaAp4WEALw_wcB

Quote from: RNGm on October 28, 2024, 09:05:27 PM

Quote from: yabaziou on October 28, 2024, 05:30:52 PMIf someone is as follish as given to me, free reign on the D&D IP, I would perform the following evil deeds :

- Offer a sum of money, large enough, to convinced Kevin Siembieda to reveal all the mysteries of his Palladium world, and make it the official default game universe of D&D, to the end of times ;

As a backer of Palladium's Robotech Tactics kickstarter who lost out on hundreds of dollars worth of minis after being mislead for five years until the clock ran out on their license for the product at which point they just threw their hands up and said oh well, I suspect he'd do the same with your sum of money as well.   Zero stars, do not recommend.

Yeah,I was not fully aware of the shit show that is this specific KS, where Kevin and his associates have shown a great deal of incompetence, to say the least ... I am sorry you are part of this terrible shit show, but I still do admire Kevin Siembieda's body of works.

Quote from: David Johansen on October 28, 2024, 07:17:10 PM

Quote from: JeremyR on October 28, 2024, 02:20:31 AM

Quote from: David Johansen on October 28, 2024, 12:07:47 AMAs ever, release Rolemaster Standard System under the D&D brand name, scuttle all other editions and remove them from Drivethru Rpg.  Watch the fans go to war the "the name D&D makes it sacred/The Company Is Always Right" crowd might even revolt a little.

Isn't that what kinda happened with 3rd Edition? It was made mostly by a Rolemaster guy. The skill system, the painful math, the hit point inflation, the critical hits were all borrowed from Rolemaster

Sort of? Kinda?  They did it while leaving out the best parts and ditching the functionality of the system.  No attack tables, no critical tables, no skill / category split, no skill costs by profession, no spell lists.

Yeah, I honestly think 3e would have been a better game is they had leaned more on making it a kind of Rolemaster lite. Instead of making classes predominantly defined by "class features" and leaving the skill system as a kind of afterthought, they should have stripped away most of those features and had classes be more defined by how they interact with the skill system.

Quote from: yabaziou on October 29, 2024, 05:09:40 AMYeah,I was not fully aware of the shit show that is this specific KS, where Kevin and his associates have shown a great deal of incompetence, to say the least ... I am sorry you are part of this terrible shit show, but I still do admire Kevin Siembieda's body of works.

Thanks and I agree with the appreciation for the works he created in the past though they're forever tainted for me now personally (and not just by the nonsensical rules anymore that I used to just laugh off and keep playing despite).   The art (of Robotech and early Rifts) and worldbuilding kept me playing for about 15 years and his stuff was my first and, for most of that time, only real experience with RPGs outside of conventions.

Publish the entire TSR and WOTC catalogue to Creative Commons, late one afternoon.  Then resign, the morning of the following day.  (Sleep well, the night between.)