The Culture: No, Wizards Ain't Going To Change Anytime Soon

Pundit talks about WOTC's recent personnel changes for The Only Game That Matters.

TLDR: Don't expect WOTC to stop sucking anytime soon. Too many Molech Cultists fighting with Mammon Mobsters.

That doesn't mean that WOTC doesn't dominate and rule. That's sorted, permanently, in WOTC's favor; yes, the D&D Network Effect is that strong.

What needs to be done is to pivot towards competing within the Network Effect. You can't beat D&D. You can beat Current Edition if you use Past Editions to do it.

Because the hobbyist audience at-large is still Normie-adjacent, that means they still think and act like Normies; Normies rely on Brands and Networks to discern value, so that's why Temu D&D (all you OSR clones) doesn't get the draw that the real thing does.

Within the Brand you can compete, but you can't use the old Endless Product Slop model. You have to compete on Service and Connection to win; you have to teach people how to play the Real Game, not the Cargo Cult Just So fake game you think you know (but you don't).

The Bros get this. That's why they focused on AD&D1e, and still do. Some are also drawing connections to Chainmail/OD&D to show continuity from the origins of the hobby in order to fully comprehend the flow of the game, and realizing that indeed AD&D1e is fully capable in just the three core rulebooks of replicating what Chainmail and OD&D put down first and then proceding to a perfected form.

The Clubhouse is the model that provides a service (secure locations, vetted membership) and connection (fellow hobbyists, not randos and clout-chasing poseurs).

All we need to complete the arrangement is to secure independent access to the materials required for play perpetually, and that's now possible.