More thoughts from designing characters and flipping through the ToV PDFs today.
I can understand the people who say, "Nothing special" and ignore this and other Open 5E games. People who are down the river with 5E so far bought into D&D Beyond, and their perceptions of what tabletop gaming is are welded to what they purchased and played with for ten years—I get it. I am bought in over here; this is where I play, I can't create core-book-only characters, etc. Even the perception of the game can be linked to a few power-gaming combos, and without them, it isn't the game anymore.
So why do we need ToV? Because it offers a fresh perspective on tabletop gaming, with unique mechanics and a vibrant community. It's a game system that's not afraid to challenge the status quo, and that's exactly what we need in this changing landscape of D&D.
D&D is changing, and not necessarily for the better. It's becoming more corporate, and the game is being monetized in ways that could harm the community. With the current state of the video game industry, who's to say D&D won't follow this Wall Street path? Could D&D Beyond be shut down or sold? These are real concerns that we need to address.
Who knows?
The tabletop gaming industry has crashed a few times in history. TSR went bankrupt. D&D 4E was a disaster. Xbox and PlayStation these days are on life support, and they could "never fail." Wizards laid off massive amounts of people.
D&D is in the Wall Street AAA gaming space now. It isn't good for third parties, and the "shots were fired" during the OGL fiasco. I do not blame them for making their own cross-compatible games to support the large D&D player base while cultivating their communities of players who choose to play the non-D&D games.
This is the original Paizo Pathfinder 1e strategy, supporting the outgoing 3.5E game (with a CR+1 balance model); we won't know how things will be until D&D 2024(5) comes out and how D&D Beyond monetizes that version of the game. We haven't seen the "next huge mistake" yet, and that will be the thing that forces people to leave that game and support the one they started with—which will be an independent ToV and building a new one to pick up the torch for people who like things exactly how they are now.
So, we are in the building phase. You can't have a game for people to flee to as a valid option if you don't have a game. For people dismissing ToV, wait until the next colossal outrage and be happy it is here. Pathfinder 2e was like that; they built a game many dismissed, and then the OGL fiasco hit, and they instantly benefitted.
ToV is in the perfect position now to capitalize on any small or big mistake, blown out of proportion or not. ToV will be the Pathfinder 1e to the mistakes D&D Beyond will make. And I don't feel 5.5 will make many mistakes; given how conservative the team is, they will most all be in online support now. Or, again, something stupid that the parent company does or says.
And don't discount Wall Street's "firing customers" mentality. If you are not a whale spender, no mobile game or monetized platform wants you, and they will actively work to fire you as a customer since you lose money for them.
Don't laugh.
Just wait. ToV's day will come. We are far too early to dismiss this game.
We should be happy that a major third-party publisher is investing this much money and effort into providing a valid alternative for our community. This means they can keep making amazing adventures and books, which helps everyone. ToV is the company's lifeboat, which they will happily take us into in case something horrible happens.
But it is more than just a lifeboat; it is an entire cruise liner with many fun adventures, worlds, activities, and things to do. You can be over here and have the same fun you do over there. It is still early, and there is paint on the walls in places and a few pieces of scaffolding up, but this will be a fun place very soon. We have the basics and more is coming. Our old stuff works.
The most significant weakness right now is in the online character builders, specifically Hero Lab. Hero Lab is excellent, but I want more. I need more options, classes, spells, and choices. Again, it is way too early the first week in, and we have a great start with a pair of solid books.
But again, I don't want tons of garbage. That ruined 5E for me and why I wanted to get as far away from that game as possible. It felt like playing Skyrim with too many junk mods.
D&D Beyond forcing you to buy entire books will ruin the game. People were able to buy only what they wanted. Now, you are forcing them to take hundreds of garbage options that will clutter up their character creation tools. This happened to me but in an offline sense, and it also happened with my offline Hero Lab and Pathfinder 1e. Pretty soon, the tools will be unusable, with 10 years of junk options littering the character builder and a few items people need or want.
Tales of the Valiant saved a few 5E books for me and got them out of my sell boxes.
That is huge.
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