This is one of those articles I am hesitant to write.

Three things have happened recently in the world of Dungeons & Dragons that I am feeling somewhat obligated to touch on despite my utter disdain for this new/not-new edition that’s coming. I will continue to avoid any discussion of the art previews except to say “Euww” and move on. Today I want to briefly mention the new CEO of Wizards of the Coast and also drop a huge I-told-you-so. Oh, and Kyle Brink is gone from WotC.

July 18, 2024, Hasbro announced John Hight, former Blizzard honcho in charge of the Warcraft and Diablo 3 lines would be stepping in as the new CEO at Wizards of the Coast. Link to the GeekWire article here. Allegedly he’s a fan of both Magic: the Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons. According to the GeekWire article, Hight will also be in charge of Hasbro’s digital gaming. Does anyone sense a trend with this?

Disclaimer: Statements expressed in this article are strictly my opinion. If you disagree or have a different opinion, that’s okay. I’m not an expert on everything. I’m not always right. I’m just writing from my experience as I know it. Your mileage may vary.

As a conspiracy theorist, I feel somewhat vindicated now.

Photo by Dids . on Pexels.com

I saw it coming clear back in February of 2023. WotC/Hasbro has finally admitted to buying off YouTubers with product (and possibly cash,) to shill their wares on that platform. I will not link or release the list because I absolutely DO NOT endorse the harassment or denigration of said D&DTubers.

I’m absolutely shocked at the names that aren’t on the list. There are too many to effectively go into here and I can only speculate why they were excluded. I won’t go with the most obvious reason that springs to mind, but if you look at the list there is one feature that sticks out. Again, I don’t really feel like rehashing WotC’s DEI problems from any angle.

In all fairness, I’m a shill too. Just not for WotC. Followers of this blog know I’m a huge Free League Publishing fan these days. I’ll totally talk about something I enjoy. I low key respect the D&DTubers working for WotC openly. I’m a shill for free for something I love. No compensation needed nor requested. I’m not going to get too specific here because we’re talking about WotC and their junk.

Note: Kyle Brink is gone from Wizards of the Coast.

I hate reporting on anyone being unemployed. The story broke a little while back and I was biting my tongue because I think a lot of people expected me to gloat. Honestly, I have nothing against the guy personally. I’m sure he’s a nice guy. I wish him all the best of luck with his future endeavors.

I hope Kyle is still playing RPGs. I don’t think anyone should feel obligated to step away from a long-loved hobby because of social media pressures. Yes, he made that infamous comment that I shall never repost again. I think WotC probably orchestrated that entire debacle on one level or another. In the end, they sorta hung poor Kyle out to dry. His leaving the company doesn’t really shock me that much.

I’ll put out a couple of theories but I’m hesitant to speculate too much.

Back to being unpopular again.

I think the best approach to all of the changes at WotC is to wait and see what happens next. A lot of us believe that the future of D&D is going to look like some kind of app that works on PC, Mac, console, and smart phone. All of us who are fans of physical books are cringing at this notion.

Given the list of D&DTubers given early access and the FOMO being generated by the early release of the Player’s Handbook at Gen Con, I predict that the list of D&D YouTube shills is only going to grow larger. I think from what I’ve seen D&D Beyond is going to end up being the home of the DMsGuild. My guess is that Hasbro/WotC is going to pull that property from Roll20/OneBookShelf any time now. Their contract with anyone published on D&D Beyond will allow them to data mine adventures with an AI to generate more adventures for their digital platform.

I still hold fast to the notion that AI generated art, writing and even Dungeon Masters are going to be a thing with WotC. Their new CEO was in charge of the biggest MMORPG in the world prior to coming to Hasbro. Most of the creative team in charge of the actual D&D physical game is gone. Crawford and Perkins are basically spokesmen at this point. I think human creativity is rapidly leaving D&D as we know it. The AI shenanigans are already becoming apparent in the core books, and I think it will only get worse from here. 

It kinda breaks my heart that the D&D game is going downhill.

It’s time just to let it go.

I don’t always adapt well to change. There is almost nothing WotC could do to convince me to DM or play this… thing they’re calling the “new” D&D. The art I’ve seen is atrocious. The PHB previews are being crammed down our throats from every angle already. The harder they push, the less substance I see. We haven’t even really gotten to the Dungeon Master’s Guide or the Monster Manual beyond some art yet.

The new/not-new D&D really looks sad to me. It’s obviously not aimed at my demographic, which is different from editions past. I’m sure the corporate hivemind at WotC expects this new lifestyle brand will appease their Reptilian Overlords at WotC when they slap the logo on a video game. Is it D&D anymore? Not really in any way I recognize it.

I’m still holding onto other games from other companies. I don’t want to name anything here because I’ll shill for them elsewhere today. There’s no getting through to WotC as far as I can tell, so any opinion I would express to them is lost in the static. As far as I can see, this 2024 Edition is a lost cause and will probably die worse than 4E did. Maybe there’s hope for whatever they do in 2027.

Thank you for being here today with me. I appreciate you. Please embrace the things that bring you the most joy.