Wizards of the Coast, under the ownership of Hasbro, are the corporate overlords of the Dungeons and Dragons brand. A year and a half ago, they announced that they would be releasing a new edition of D&D. Rather than call it 6th Edition (as the current version of D&D rules is referred to as 5th Edition), they announced that they were branding it "One D&D" which immediately brought to mind the Lord of the Rings phrase of "One ring to rule them all."
Sadly, as we are now a year away from this new edition's launch, it seems that Wizards of the Coast is making other changes that have the gaming community gathering pitchforks and lighting torches. In the past couple of weeks, they have released, then backtracked, then retaliated, then apologized, and then tried to swindle their way through new business tactics that were seen as an attack of the creative shared community built around D&D--especially in the past 20 years (when my favorite rules set--3rd Edition--was released). Ultimately, it will probably not affect me in any way personally, but it does have me wondering if 5th edition might be the last edition of D&D that I purchase (at least for another decade or so). Certainly, it makes me glad that I didn't get a subscription to D&D Beyond (which I was THIS close to doing last year).
I understand that it's a business, but I still preferred it when the business understood its customer base and encouraged creativity.
Sadly, as we are now a year away from this new edition's launch, it seems that Wizards of the Coast is making other changes that have the gaming community gathering pitchforks and lighting torches. In the past couple of weeks, they have released, then backtracked, then retaliated, then apologized, and then tried to swindle their way through new business tactics that were seen as an attack of the creative shared community built around D&D--especially in the past 20 years (when my favorite rules set--3rd Edition--was released). Ultimately, it will probably not affect me in any way personally, but it does have me wondering if 5th edition might be the last edition of D&D that I purchase (at least for another decade or so). Certainly, it makes me glad that I didn't get a subscription to D&D Beyond (which I was THIS close to doing last year).
I understand that it's a business, but I still preferred it when the business understood its customer base and encouraged creativity.
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