The Business: The Play Is The Pivot From Product To Platform

The shills did their thing.

Timed to coincide with the launch of Forever this past Wednesday, as any half-competent corporate alliance would do.

Will this work? You better believe it, so long as you're concerned with corporate priorities such as revenue and user retention metrics. Will this get crossover action? Some, as it did when this was done 20ish years ago. What I want to mention is that I am already seeing issues that should have been avoided because it happened last time.

The question needs to be answered: "What do I do with this?"

The answer is going to be "Throw it in the pot." We'll see the same with Star Wars. Current Edition is not a distinct environment. It is a platform. Azeroth is just another option for Places To Go and another source for Things To Be and Stuff To Get. No different from the Realms, Greyhawk, Krynn, Athas, and anything else aligned with that edition.

The entire point of pivoting from Product to Platform is to achieve the same aim that Dancey stated openly with the d20 System, but with the technical infrastructure enforcing the aims in a manner that social pressure alone cannot achieve. D&D as a Platform does not need to answer why you would adventure on Azeroth anymore that it does on Coruscant because it is not there to ask that question. It is there to make it acceptable in the minds of Normies to do any such thing at all.

Recall that "D&D" is, in the minds of Normies, a generic term for the hobby. It is in the same place as "Xerox" and "Kleenex", and like those latter two brands Wizards of the Coast simultaneously wants to wield the power of that degree of identification while maintaining the legal priveledge of a distinct trademark. Pursuing a Platform pivot, what I have also called "The Fortnite Strategy", does exactly that.

The technical side, being that this is incorporated into Beyond, means that it is enforcable on WOTC's part. Moreso as the Super Intelligence elements go from pipedream to practical, allowing for bot Referees and Players to fill out tables, and the mobile app development severs the need to work off a PC or laptop; play anywhere, at any time, for as long as you like without needing to Schedule Your Fun or play Mother May I with some Dexter.

By going over to a platform business model, erected on a technical infrastructure permitting (even encouraging) solo play, C-Suite intends to replicate Epic's successes. There is good reason to be confident of success if they can get the bot Referee working, and nothing the new leadership in C-Suite indicates that this is not on the table- not when the bot-loving Hasbro CEO is backing the new WOTC CEO.

These shills are not merely pushing a new Current Edition product. They are pushing a business model pivot, wittingly or not. Expect more of this over the next few years, and expect all official communications to begin pushing the shameless remixing of things from every single Current Edition publication (at least WOTC or those it officially allies with, like this WOW product). The business logic for segregation of content within a platform has long been shown to be a loser, from a commercial perspective and especially a corporate one, so that will be the case here. Mark my words; they will start saying so slyly sooner than later, and you can start watching for it after the Star Wars product arrives.