Geek Native » wizards of the coast http://www.geeknative.com From the land of Geek Fri, 30 Jul 2010 08:40:44 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 The 2010 Ennies nominations have been announced http://www.geeknative.com/10612/the-2010-ennies-nominations-have-been-announced/ http://www.geeknative.com/10612/the-2010-ennies-nominations-have-been-announced/#comments Fri, 09 Jul 2010 12:08:26 +0000 Andrew http://www.geeknative.com/?p=10612 The Ennies may well be the most significant of the RPG industry awards. Certainly, everyone who’s made it through to this round should be very happy with themselves and will hopefully see a rise in sales just because they’re a nominee.

You’ll see some of the products marked with HM – these are honourable mentions (not horrible monsters). These products didn’t make it through to the nomination stage but impressed the judges enough to get a mention here.

Winners will be announced on the evening of Friday, August 6th at Gen Con.

Best Adventure

Best Aid or Accessory

Best Art, Cover

Best Art, Interior

Best Blog

Best Cartography

Best Electronic Book

Best Free Product

Best Game

Best Miniature Product

Best Monster/Adversary

Best Podcast

Best Production Values

Best Regalia

Best Rules

Best Setting

Best Supplement

Best Website

Best Writing

Product of the Year

]]> http://www.geeknative.com/10612/the-2010-ennies-nominations-have-been-announced/feed/ 0 Hasbro, owner of Wizards of the Coast and Transformers, is forced to deny sale http://www.geeknative.com/9354/hasbro-owner-of-wizards-of-the-coast-and-transformers-is-forced-to-deny-sale/ http://www.geeknative.com/9354/hasbro-owner-of-wizards-of-the-coast-and-transformers-is-forced-to-deny-sale/#comments Thu, 24 Jun 2010 18:15:40 +0000 Andrew http://www.geeknative.com/?p=9354 Hasbro issued a press release to deny market rumours that it was for sale. However, the games company admitted it had been approached by a private equity firm about a possible deal – and that the Board of Directors had turned them down.

This is interesting as a private equity company might well decide there is more value in the parts of Hasbro than Hasbro has a whole.

For example, the PE firm might decide to sell the Transformers rights on to someone (Disney, for example) and then Playskool on to someone else – and it might not be so clear as to who would buy Wizards of the Coast but it could have been a computer games company.

Speculation that it the company is for sale woudl effect Hasbro’s share price.

I no wheeler and dealer of shares but as I understand it these rumours surfaced because the company’s forward looking statements (ie; what might happen in the future) talked about a dilution of shares (or a dilution, at least) given its joint venture with Discovery communications. Shares can become diluted as companies buy and sell one another.

A copy of the full press release is online for anyone bonkers and cool enough to decode it and leave meaningful comments below!

]]> http://www.geeknative.com/9354/hasbro-owner-of-wizards-of-the-coast-and-transformers-is-forced-to-deny-sale/feed/ 0 Unintentionally funny adventures from D&D Tiny Adventures http://www.geeknative.com/8367/unintentionally-funny-adventures-from-dd-tiny-adventures/ http://www.geeknative.com/8367/unintentionally-funny-adventures-from-dd-tiny-adventures/#comments Sat, 29 May 2010 22:43:34 +0000 Andrew http://www.geeknative.com/?p=8367 I had started to collect some of the worst text from Wizards of the Coast’s Dungeons and Dragons: Tiny Adventures. It’s not a huge list but I wanted to share.

It must have been hard writing all that conditional text for the game in the first place. I wonder how many words some poor writer? programmer? social media agency? had to supply for the Facebook app.

The Tiny Adventures project has stopped. Some people think that Wizards of the Coast did a poor job at letting people know that Tiny Adventures was to be removed from Facebook – but the fact is that the game is gone. As we can’t reach the game any more my collection of unintentionally funny adventures must also come to an end.

These quotes have been normalised in that the hero’s name has been changed to [Jack]. Whenever you see [Jack] in the quote please sub in your favourite hero’s name.

[Jack] heard some rustling from behind him. An angry looking bear came into view. Sighing with relief that it wasn’t a dreaded gnome, Fire pulled his dagger and prepared for a fight.

[Jack] saw a kitten shaking in the corner of a small room. When he went to pet its tentacle, he noticed two odd things. First, his hand passed through the air where his eyes could have sworn the kitten should have been and, second, kittens shouldn’t have tentacles.

The unicorn took a liking to [Jack]. He was able to fulfill his dream of petting such a magnificent creature. This had gone on for several minutes when the unicorn became spooked and ran off into the woods. Sensing a presence, [Jack] turned to find a small band of goblins and their dire wolves, probably hunting the unicorn for its horn. Outraged, [Jack] devastated them all with his legendary axe in record time.

While [Jack] was busy fending off the drake’s claws and fangs, the kobold slipped around behind him for a dirty twin slash.

Swords can be very dangerous. [Jack] faced another in what was sure to be a very long line of swords pointed at him. The hilt of the particular sword in question was held by a tiefling warrior. The sword itself was approaching him with alarming celerity.

[Jack] must have been very distracted, because he found himself standing on top of a small green dragon.

]]> http://www.geeknative.com/8367/unintentionally-funny-adventures-from-dd-tiny-adventures/feed/ 0 Dungeons & Dragons: Tiny Adventures gone from Facebook http://www.geeknative.com/8345/dungeons-dragons-tiny-adventures-gone-from-facebook/ http://www.geeknative.com/8345/dungeons-dragons-tiny-adventures-gone-from-facebook/#comments Fri, 28 May 2010 12:43:39 +0000 Andrew http://www.geeknative.com/?p=8345 There you have it. Wizards of the Coast’s Facebook D&D game has been removed from Facebook.

This comes as a surprise to me as despite playing it a lot (hey; I travel) I was totally unaware that the game was about to retire.

If you go to the old URL for the game application at www.facebook.com/TinyAdventures then you’ll simply be redirected back to Facebook.

I’m sure I’m not the only one wondering if D&D Tiny Adventures has been removed from Facebook on purpose.

It has. Using Google’s cache I’ve been able to take this farewell message from the game’s old installation page.

Thank you all for participating in our promotional application of Dungeons & Dragons Tiny Adventures – it proved to be a tremendous success. Now that this promotion has run its course, you can look forward to many more great D&D experiences from both Wizards of the Coast and our partners in the future. Be sure to send your adventurer off on one last quest before the application comes down at 11 pm PST tonight.

I know the game didn’t make Hasbro or WoTC any money. Perhaps that’s why they pulled it? It never made them any money though; I thought it was designed as a marketing activity rather than an earner – so what’s changed?

I think WoTC have made a mistake pulling it (unless the costs are really high) as it was their own computer and social success.

What do you think?

]]> http://www.geeknative.com/8345/dungeons-dragons-tiny-adventures-gone-from-facebook/feed/ 17 D&D for Kids: Cute monsters but disappointing reach? http://www.geeknative.com/7872/dd-for-kids-cute-monsters-but-disappointing-reach/ http://www.geeknative.com/7872/dd-for-kids-cute-monsters-but-disappointing-reach/#comments Sat, 01 May 2010 17:26:44 +0000 Andrew http://www.geeknative.com/?p=7872 This isn’t a full play test as I’ve not had a bunch of kids play through The Heroes of Hesiod for me. I can’t think of much worse than mixing the escapism of my roleplaying with the real world horrors of kids.

Of course, loads of gamers have happy and busy families. It makes sense to convert the kids to gamers.

It’s long been said that RPGs are educational. As Wizards of the Coast point out in their The Heroes of Hesiod announcement the are a range of life skills that this baby adventure will help you with.

  • Math skills
  • Reading skills
  • Writing skills
  • Cooperation and leadership
  • Problem-solving
  • Creative thinking

So what’s this “disappointing reach” that I mention in the title. To understand let’s quickly check out the basic “plot” of the game.

To finish their training a bunch of kids are brought to the semi-mysterious training hut the village uses. Inside they’re given weapons and are set on a small arena. In this cave-arena are there are monsters in cages which they’ve got to kill.

It’s a dungeon crawl. It’s a very basic dungeon crawl; with out even a left or right decision to make.

It’s a wise start in that the adventure also clearly the start of the kid’s adventuring career – an adventuring career which could be based around keeping their loved ones safe.

What’s missing from the game is choice. Sure there’s tactical choice but that’s it. Surely one of the great things – perhaps greatest – that a roleplaying game can help kids discover is making ethical choices – learning right from the wrong.

The only “right versus wrong” choice in The Heroes of Hesiod are whether the kids are going to slay “monsters” currently safely held in cages and not terrorising anyone.

I think parents running The Heroes of Hesiod might be able to carefully inject an element of choice – and the consciences of a choice – but it’s a shame the game designers didn’t offer up a carefully constructed, safe and well balanced choice?

Anyway; this childless blogger is probably out of his depths which such suggestions. So, in the meantime, here’s the free to download Dungeons and Dragons for children. You’ll be able to check out the cute monsters.

Download (PDF, 744.27KB)

]]> http://www.geeknative.com/7872/dd-for-kids-cute-monsters-but-disappointing-reach/feed/ 1 Lord of the Rings and D&D Online owner bought by Warner Bros http://www.geeknative.com/6974/lord-of-the-rings-and-dd-online-owner-bought-by-warner-bros/ http://www.geeknative.com/6974/lord-of-the-rings-and-dd-online-owner-bought-by-warner-bros/#comments Wed, 21 Apr 2010 00:26:58 +0000 Andrew http://www.geeknative.com/?p=6974 Turbine Inc, the company responsible for Lord of the Rings Online, Dungeons & Dragons Online and Asheron’s Call has been bought.

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment Inc – part of the giant Time Warner Inc – is believed to be paying up to as much as $160 million for the Boston based company. The final figure will depend on Turbine’s financial success.

Turbine, which until today was privately-held and venture-backed, has a strong card with the prestigious Lord of the Rings franchise – keep in mind that Time Warner also own New Line Cinema who produced the Lord of the Rings movies.

D&D Online has also been something of a success for the company. The Wizards of the Coast license famously shot to strength after Turbine removed membership fees for the MMORG.

Warner has been on a bit of a computer game developer buying rush. Just a few months ago they bought UK based Rocksteady Studios; the heroes behind the fantastic Batman: Arkham Asylum game.

Industry analysts suggest that these aren’t just tactical buys for Warner. The company isn’t just looking to wrap up names like Lord of the Rings – it’s looking to bring on board programmers and game designers with the skills to make great games in today’s hugely competitive market.

Let there be no doubt; games are as big as movies.

]]> http://www.geeknative.com/6974/lord-of-the-rings-and-dd-online-owner-bought-by-warner-bros/feed/ 2 New Dungeons and Dragons comic book series http://www.geeknative.com/6860/new-dungeons-and-dragons-comic-book-series/ http://www.geeknative.com/6860/new-dungeons-and-dragons-comic-book-series/#comments Fri, 16 Apr 2010 16:53:28 +0000 Andrew http://www.geeknative.com/?p=6860 Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast have granted IDW Publishing a license to launch several new DUngeons and Dragons comic book lines.

We’re expecting the first one to be available in August.

IDW’s Dungeons and Dragons contribution is expected to be set in the “core” world but then grow to include Dark Sun (January 2011) and later Forgotten Realms.

“We are delighted to partner with IDW.

“Together, we will bring great D&D stories to our fans, told through IDW’s high quality comics.”

Wizards of the Coast are clearly keen on keeping the comics very much in line with the carefully set D&D feel. Wayne Reynolds, the fantasy painter, has been hired to supply the covers for the new series. We’re yet to hear about the rest of the team. It’s likely to have a WotC influence.

IDW have certainly being doing well for themselves of late. They’ve got the Angel franchise, EA’s Dragon Age comic book franchise, the Transformers gig, and even the Doctor Who comic book deal.

]]> http://www.geeknative.com/6860/new-dungeons-and-dragons-comic-book-series/feed/ 1 Wizards of the Coast sues gamers; seeks to ban them from games http://www.geeknative.com/6770/wizards-of-the-coast-sues-gamers-seeks-to-ban-them-from-games/ http://www.geeknative.com/6770/wizards-of-the-coast-sues-gamers-seeks-to-ban-them-from-games/#comments Tue, 13 Apr 2010 20:29:30 +0000 Andrew http://www.geeknative.com/?p=6770 Wizards of the Coast have taken an Alabama couple and two of their friends to Court.

The producers of Magic: The Gathering have asked the Court to ban Jonathan and Jennifer Clifton, Jason Bailey and Adam Schlagether from using any Wizards of the Coast products and $75,000 in damages.

So, what happened that’s made Wizards this angry?

They claim that the Cliftons and friends used fake names, addresses and fictional Magic: The Gathering tournaments to collect special reward cards. Wizards claim the group then sold the rare cards on eBay.

The lawsuit states;

Their actions have undermined the integrity and brand proposition of the Magic trading card game and its tournament system.

Wizards of the Coast have already taken their own action and have banned the group from playing in any Magic tournaments.

]]> http://www.geeknative.com/6770/wizards-of-the-coast-sues-gamers-seeks-to-ban-them-from-games/feed/ 1 Magechantry publishes the Book of Darkness: Guide to Shadow Magick http://www.geeknative.com/6573/magechantry-publishes-the-book-of-darkness-guide-to-shadow-magick/ http://www.geeknative.com/6573/magechantry-publishes-the-book-of-darkness-guide-to-shadow-magick/#comments Thu, 08 Apr 2010 18:16:50 +0000 Andrew http://www.geeknative.com/?p=6573 The Book of Darkness: Guide to Shadow Magick is now available in PDF form. Publishers Magechantry promise the book will be in print before the end of April.

The book is the first in a series and targets the Pathfinder and Wizards of the Coast OGL. As key aspects of the book are OGL it means other products can be built using the additional rules inside.

The book promises over 100 new spells and features. It hawks fluff as well as crunch and introduces the new Shadow Mage base class.

Download (PDF, 404.11KB)

]]> http://www.geeknative.com/6573/magechantry-publishes-the-book-of-darkness-guide-to-shadow-magick/feed/ 1 Rules change: Is Mattel really letting proper nounds into Scrabble? http://www.geeknative.com/6546/rules-change-is-mattel-really-letting-proper-nounds-into-scrabble/ http://www.geeknative.com/6546/rules-change-is-mattel-really-letting-proper-nounds-into-scrabble/#comments Wed, 07 Apr 2010 20:53:33 +0000 Andrew http://www.geeknative.com/?p=6546 Yesterday a number of very good news sites ran the story that Mattel would be changing the rules of Scrabble. We’re talking about people like the BBC and The Telegraph.

If this is true it means people’s names and place names are valid scores in Scrabble.

Shakira, for example, would be worth 64 points (as it uses all seven letters).

My gosh! It’s so close to April Fools’. Do you think there could be a connection?

Many people did.

The truth, however, is somewhere in between. Mattel are bringing out a new game called Scrabble Trickster.

With Scrabble Trickster players will have other tricks too; such as stealing letters or spelling backwards.

You may also notice that the two sources above are both British. That’s because Mattel owns the rights to Scrabble in Europe.

They don’t own the rights in the US. Hasbro, parents of Wizards of the Coast, do. You might remember how this contributed to the drama around the unofficial Facebook version of the game.

Hasbro have said they’ve no plans to introduce Scrabble Trickster to the US.

There will be no rule change but nor is this an April Fools’. It’s a new version of Scrabble.

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