Avast, ye lubbers! The good folks over at ICv2 have posted a two-part interview with the CEO of Wizards of the Coast, Greg Leeds. Part 1 is here and part 2 is here. There be some pretty interesting stuff there in general, and he had this to say about the possibility of more retro products. Yarrrr.
In terms of being sensitive to what the fans are saying, there are rumors that you are looking at some of your old products even all the way back to 1st edition D&D. Are you looking at bringing back any of those products in a collector format or on any other basis?
We are always on the lookout for what opportunities can come up based on what our fans are interested in from the past. I think the “red box” launch was a good example of trying to take advantage of interest in a retro product. We will always be looking for that, but at this point we have nothing to announce along those lines.
So, "we're looking for ways to abuse people's reminiscing of 'retro' products to sell more of our new edition crap."
Gotcha. Good to know nothing's changed. I can spend my cash on more innovative products that actually have personality instead of "Collectible D&D".
Way to non-answer a question! Those were not the words of a man who is holding something.
Dude! He should run for office:
'We must drive the sheep..uhh…cattle…ummm…CUSTOMERS! Yes, the CUSTOMERS!
hehehe
Hey, at least they outlawed knockers.
Possibly the worst interview I have read all year. Talk about a Captain going down with the ship…look…he's on the bow still saluting…
What are the results of that multi-year strategy?
Over-all our business is up significantly. I think anyone you talk to about what’s going on with Magic and D&D will tell you that we are having very, very strong sales. We are having very strong sales in digital, and we’re having strong sales in mass market, but our strongest sales are in the hobby shops. So that’s working. The best evidence of this is if you just talk to retailers about the last couple of years, the number of players that have been playing Magic and D&D, with a program like D&D Encounters, which is just completing its second season, the numbers are not falling off at all in terms of participation.
Did he see this?
http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/20743.html
"Did he see this?
http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/20743.html"
He stated that players are increasing at the in-store games. While it may have looked like he was implying that sales of paper books were also going up, he did not in fact say that. So your link is irrelevant to his comment.
However, the interview was mostly white-washing and Magic the Gathering hype. It really had no substance.
Nothing really new here, so nothing I'm going to get excited about — one way, or the other.
It's just about what I would have expected.
It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.