Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #WOTC
Most recents (12)
Let me tell you a story about fighting dragons and how #WotC and @Wizards_DnD don't understand NFTs, or perhaps they do, and wish to keep them all to themselves.
Time to go on an adventure đ§”
Time to go on an adventure đ§”
First a bit of background for those who don't know me. I'm the co-founder and CEO of @Gripnr. We're bringing #TTRPG to the blockchain, starting with our first game world, @The_Glimmering
I've never had more fun building a company, but it's not been without its detractors.
I've never had more fun building a company, but it's not been without its detractors.
After building The Glimmering for nearly 6 months, mostly in private, we got some attention right as we were about to formally announce the project and launch our site, theglimmering.com
Unpacking a whole lot of data around #dungeonsanddragons
Last week I wasn't expecting to study the implosion of the Dungeons & Dragons brand owned by Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro Gaming.
#Hasbro #wotc #criticalrole #wizardsofthecoast #dnd5e #dnd #ttrpg #pathfinder
Last week I wasn't expecting to study the implosion of the Dungeons & Dragons brand owned by Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro Gaming.
#Hasbro #wotc #criticalrole #wizardsofthecoast #dnd5e #dnd #ttrpg #pathfinder
As a company Wizards of the Coast did over a billion dollars in revenue last year.
After one week of brand damage millions of dollars have been shaved off this revenue and it appears to be getting worse day by day. It will likely evolve into double-digit percentages.
After one week of brand damage millions of dollars have been shaved off this revenue and it appears to be getting worse day by day. It will likely evolve into double-digit percentages.
Just on Youtube there were 500+ videos covering the topic this week. Fan creators and influencers generated over 10M views across hundreds of videos that generated millions of hours of view time and 110K+ comments spreading to every other platform.
Interesting news in the #RPG world:
D&D has been under an open license for 20+ years which has allowed content creators to publish #DnD-compatible material free & clear, but the giant corporation which owns the game (Hasbro) tried yanking the rights & the community is revolting:
D&D has been under an open license for 20+ years which has allowed content creators to publish #DnD-compatible material free & clear, but the giant corporation which owns the game (Hasbro) tried yanking the rights & the community is revolting:
This is an interesting study in a situation where a game really has become community property (socialized, you might say), and a mega-company tries to step in & pocket all of the third-party content -- not just "fan art" but a huge cottage industry of writers, designers, etc #dnd
The D&D third-party content producers range from people making $1/year off of some monster stats to people raising $100K off of a Kickstarter for a major project employing dozens of writers, artists, etc. The license change would've destroyed that overnight -- currently on pause.
Wizards of the Coast is doing everything in its power to turn the camera away from itself in this moment. At its heart, this is nothing more than classic corporate greed corrupting a beautiful game enjoyed by millions of players.
Read more below đ
#OpenDnD #DnDBegone
Read more below đ
#OpenDnD #DnDBegone
Under the OGL 2.0, it STILL:
- Renders Kickstarters unfeasible - If Wizards had to pay 20% of their revenue, they'd be bankrupt
- Is not an Open license by definition, open means open
- Forces creators into a one-sided contract to continue making content they've made for years
- Renders Kickstarters unfeasible - If Wizards had to pay 20% of their revenue, they'd be bankrupt
- Is not an Open license by definition, open means open
- Forces creators into a one-sided contract to continue making content they've made for years
- Claims that large companies are the reason for these changes, despite the fact that no company has taken money, or even threatened to remotely overshadow them, by using D&D's Open ContentâNOT their protected IP. Even Pathfinder is miniscule compared to the scale of WotC.
So i finally got my hands on the full legal text of the OGL 1.1, and now I can safely look at all of its parts, and how they would affect me as a publisher (and other small publishers) #DnD #OneDnD #dnd5e #wotc
Starting from the top, they really go out of their way to define commercial and non-commercial.
especially when it comes to KS and patreon
especially when it comes to KS and patreon
"If youâre giving your work away for free, on Patreon or otherwise, and asking that people support your work if they enjoy it, thatâs not commercial. But your work must be given without strings attached if itâs going to be considered ânoncommercial.â
Last week, @Gizmodo's @lincodega caught a killer scoop - a leake Hasbro's plan to revoke the decades-old #OpenGamingLicense, which subsidiary @Wizards promulgated as an allegedly #open sandbox for people seeking to extend #DungeonsAndDragons:
gizmodo.com/dnd-wizards-of⊠1/
gizmodo.com/dnd-wizards-of⊠1/
The report set off a shitstorm among #DandD fans and the broader #TTRPG community - not just because it was evidence of yet more #enshittification of D&D by a faceless corporate monopolist, but because Hasbro was seemingly poised to take back a #commons. 2/
Was asked what I thought might happen next with #WotC and the #OGL. Here it goes.
1) ITâS UNLIKELY THEY CAN WALK THIS BACK: The new #CEO is hanging his hat on this, so I just donât see them going âjust foolingâ!â without him being canned.
1) ITâS UNLIKELY THEY CAN WALK THIS BACK: The new #CEO is hanging his hat on this, so I just donât see them going âjust foolingâ!â without him being canned.
2) LARGE COMPANIES USING THE OGL WILL MOVE AWAY FROM THE OGL AS FAST AS THEY CAN: This is already seemingly happening. Signing OGL 1.1 is like placing a self-destruct in your business and giving the detonator to WotC. They can destroy you at any time.
3) A NEW OPEN GAME WHICH DOES PRECISELY WHAT DND DOES ONLY PROBABLY SLIGHTLY BETTER WILL BE CREATED: Again, already underway in multiple places, and it wonât take long. The ranks of those designing such things will be filled with people who helped make #DND what it is today.
WOTC's NDAs expired Jan. 4, when the new " #OGL " was supposed to drop. #wotc is wavering and might be in negotiations with larger 3rd parties to make separate licenses, to legally bind them before dropping new language. Let's put CR and other creators on BLAST to announce (1/3)
they will NOT make any agreement with WOTC before the language affecting the majority of third parties drops. #2: After the final language is out and if it is predatory, these creators should NOT make a separate peace w WOTC: this concedes the principle that one doesn't (2/3)
need to submit to WOTC's terms to publish compatible content. It leaves littler guys out to dry. #OpenDnD (3/3)
It was never my intention to release this experience because I did not want to make my footprint in this industry this way. But in light of two dangerous people threatening and slandering some of my closest friends . Itâs time I share my experience⊠a thread âŠ
⊠For context; I tattooed @satinephoenix and @StoneJamison years ago. They flew me and my partner to their home where we also stayed. There was zero conversation of contracts - just the understanding that Jamison wanted 3 days worth of tattoosâŠ.
@satinephoenix @StoneJamison âŠDuring my time there i witnessed the contrast of shared laughs and demonstrable domestic gaslighting from @StoneJamison towards @satinephoenix . At this point, Satine and I had a very distant but kind friendshipâŠ
(Thread) Hasbro released their Q4 2021 financial results, and #MTG was the brightest spot in Hasbro's entire company! There are some some extremely interesting takeaways from the report. Let's discuss! (/1)
1) Tabletop gaming and digital gaming revenue accounted for 74% and 26% of total revenue for WOTC. No matter what doomsayers are putting out there, physical play is essential to the long-term health of #MTG. Hasbro recognizes this! (/2)
2) WoTC growth in 2022 is expected to be mid-single digits. 2021 was WoTC's best year ever, with $1.287 billion in revenue (up 42% year over year). Hasbro forecasting a much slower growth this year means that Hasbro feels they have found the equilibrium for product releases. (/3)
(Thread) Innistrad: Crimson Vow is almost on us, so let's talk about Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty! Yesterday, @wizards_magic put up all of the important launch and release dates for KND on their website (articles.starcitygames.com/news/importantâŠ). #MTG (/1)
The original Kamigawa block was not a success for Wizards of the Coast. While some facets were popular (Shrines, Ninjas, Dragons), several parts of the set fell flat. At the time, the set was designed to pull in a rapidly-growing Japanese #MTG audience. (/2)
This made the names a little hard to parse for non-Japanese audiences. Every rare creature in the set was Legendary. This is back when this was viewed as strictly a drawback, as Commander wasn't really a thing yet. This made it discouraging to open most Rares in multiples. (/3)
(1/3) #WOTC announced Secret Lair: Extra Life, with proceeds going to the Seattle Children's Hospital. "The...cards in this Secret Lair drop illustrate the importance of family and children"
Pictured is Teferi with his daughter Niambi.
Pictured is Teferi with his daughter Niambi.
(2/3) Within the day, people began photoshopping Niambi into various previous MTG cards, featuring her being killed in various ways (crucifixion, put into an oven, blown up, and unfortunately more).
This represents the most disgusting, repugnant elements of the MTG community.
This represents the most disgusting, repugnant elements of the MTG community.
(3/3) If you see a post with these types of imagery, report it as hate speech. Denounce it.
Call out the people who take imagery of Black father/daughter and use it for lols.
The people creating these images are putting evil into this world. It needs to be identified as such.
Call out the people who take imagery of Black father/daughter and use it for lols.
The people creating these images are putting evil into this world. It needs to be identified as such.
