Eberron and Discoveries Novel Lines CUT

My younger brother's buddy (a guy he gamed with before moving to Texas), sent him the following:

In the last week or two, Wizards has made it clear that they wish to refocus their efforts on just Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering. First, they cut a number of novels, including their entire Discoveries line. Then they announced that Gleemax will end in September. Now, they’ve put out a press release that states it clearly, at least as far as their novels are concerned.

I’m interested to see how this will affect the entire company. It’s not unusual to see a business contract like this in more challenging economic times. I suspect the new president of Wizards, originally from Hasbro, is putting on the brakes here. He may even be wondering why Wizards does anything other than publish Magic and D&D. Here’s hoping the wonderful creators at Wizards (seriously, I have an immense amount of respect for them and their work) can come up with excellent answers for them.

Anyway, I just thought this would be something folks found interesting.

I wasn't aware that the Eberron lines were being cut, and it doesn't actually say that. As far as I can tell, they are focussing on the D&D line and cutting the "Discoveries" line (whatever that was - I've never heard of it) which presumably was a series for younger readers. Given that it didn't seem to set the world on fire particularly I would suggest that it represents a decision to concentrate their marketing effort on their core products (D&D and Magic) to maximise the synergies and get out of more peripheral activities. This is fairly standard business practice and I would not read too much into it as a response to the current economic conditions. Instead, it shows (as other things do) a desire to maximise the value of the D&D brand. This seems entirely in line with their past activities and stated aims.

EDIT: Just checked - Discoveries is a novel line with less well-known writers and based in a genre of horror/fantasy/science fiction, but with no ties to roleplaying games. As such it was a peripheral activity, especially for a toy/games company.

I wasn't aware that the Eberron lines were being cut, and it doesn't actually say that.

Yeah, now that you mention it, I think my brother told me that when we were on the phone. But I needed a Thread Title, and I just copied the subject line from the email his friend sent.

My bad!

In my defense, however, I was running late for a meeting with an Admiral. So the thread was a rush job.

I'm glad that Eberron novels weren't cut. I've enjoyed almost all of them I've read so far. Another victim of the cuts were the briefly back from the dead Ravenloft novel line.

Aubrey the Malformed wrote:

I wasn't aware that the Eberron lines were being cut, and it doesn't actually say that.

Yeah, now that you mention it, I think my brother told me that when we were on the phone. But I needed a Thread Title, and I just copied the subject line from the email his friend sent.

My bad!

In my defense, however, I was running late for a meeting with an Admiral. So the thread was a rush job.

I think some Eberron novels were cut, but not the entire line. But I will admit I am uncertain of that.

So wait ... they actually believe there is "more to discover" in Magic? really? seriously? I don't think there has been anything "new" in Magic in about a decade ... just rehashing the same ole same ole.

So wait ... they actually believe there is "more to discover" in Magic? really? seriously? I don't think there has been anything "new" in Magic in about a decade ... just rehashing the same ole same ole.

I don't read them myself, but obviously they're selling in enough numbers to keep the line profitable (or is considered an important loss leader).

So wait ... they actually believe there is "more to discover" in Magic? really? seriously? I don't think there has been anything "new" in Magic in about a decade ... just rehashing the same ole same ole.

That's not true.

I just picked up Magic again as a two-player card game pastime with my wife after quitting nearly a decade ago. I started playing when 4th Edition (Magic) had just come out and quit after "Mirage".

The game has a ton of different mechanics (Conspire, Wither, multi-colored cards, etc...) I'd never encountered before and lots of strategies that are new to me.

Ixancoatl wrote:

So wait ... they actually believe there is "more to discover" in Magic? really? seriously? I don't think there has been anything "new" in Magic in about a decade ... just rehashing the same ole same ole.

That's not true.

I just picked up Magic again as a two-player card game pastime with my wife after quitting nearly a decade ago. I started playing when 4th Edition (Magic) had just come out and quit after "Mirage".

The game has a ton of different mechanics (Conspire, Wither, multi-colored cards, etc...) I'd never encountered before and lots of strategies that are new to me.

I guess Time Spiral was good for something.

The issue is more the books than the games.