Mike Shea

So that I thought was really interesting. Ray brought up the idea of the change in demographics, the increase in women playing games, but said like it wasn't because men quit playing the game. Women came into the game and it increased the overall amount of people that were playing, which is interesting. I mean, it makes sense when you think about it, but like I never really thought of it that way.

The answer is that women came in with the overall popularity of gaming and brought it up to a demographic that's much closer to 50-50 than it was in the past. That's pretty fascinating. As D&D got popular, other parts of the company started to pay more attention to it than people would want. And they started to treat it like other products. This is something that Ray mentioned.

The answer is that women came in with the overall popularity of gaming and brought it up to a demographic that's much closer to 50-50 than it was in the past. That's pretty fascinating. As D&D got popular, other parts of the company started to pay more attention to it than people would want. And they started to treat it like other products. This is something that Ray mentioned.

The answer is that women came in with the overall popularity of gaming and brought it up to a demographic that's much closer to 50-50 than it was in the past. That's pretty fascinating. As D&D got popular, other parts of the company started to pay more attention to it than people would want. And they started to treat it like other products. This is something that Ray mentioned.

He mentioned this also in some of the comments that we had on this thread, which is, I will link to the thread because there's some interesting topics there. But really like, you know, when this gets to a philosophy, and I think it was DM David, David Hartledge wrote an article about this recently. It was really good. I will link to it in the show notes.

He mentioned this also in some of the comments that we had on this thread, which is, I will link to the thread because there's some interesting topics there. But really like, you know, when this gets to a philosophy, and I think it was DM David, David Hartledge wrote an article about this recently. It was really good. I will link to it in the show notes.

He mentioned this also in some of the comments that we had on this thread, which is, I will link to the thread because there's some interesting topics there. But really like, you know, when this gets to a philosophy, and I think it was DM David, David Hartledge wrote an article about this recently. It was really good. I will link to it in the show notes.

Where he talked about like, does D&D thrive when management's not looking at it, right? Something along the lines, like when the VPs aren't looking at it, does it do better? And I think this kind of falls into that idea that it does tend to do better because your VPs are thinking of it as a product, right? They're thinking of it as a product like every other product.

Where he talked about like, does D&D thrive when management's not looking at it, right? Something along the lines, like when the VPs aren't looking at it, does it do better? And I think this kind of falls into that idea that it does tend to do better because your VPs are thinking of it as a product, right? They're thinking of it as a product like every other product.

Where he talked about like, does D&D thrive when management's not looking at it, right? Something along the lines, like when the VPs aren't looking at it, does it do better? And I think this kind of falls into that idea that it does tend to do better because your VPs are thinking of it as a product, right? They're thinking of it as a product like every other product.

not as D and D and what D and D means. And they talked about this in that interview when Stan was like, they look at it and think like you're selling a book when people will work on D and D recognize that you're like building a lifestyle around it. The game is this game of people around the table, having fun with their friends. The book is just kind of there to help guide that. Right.

not as D and D and what D and D means. And they talked about this in that interview when Stan was like, they look at it and think like you're selling a book when people will work on D and D recognize that you're like building a lifestyle around it. The game is this game of people around the table, having fun with their friends. The book is just kind of there to help guide that. Right.

not as D and D and what D and D means. And they talked about this in that interview when Stan was like, they look at it and think like you're selling a book when people will work on D and D recognize that you're like building a lifestyle around it. The game is this game of people around the table, having fun with their friends. The book is just kind of there to help guide that. Right.

He confirmed, and we've heard this before, that the OGL discussions had happened much earlier than when we saw the event occur at the beginning of 2023. 2023, I think, right? It was late 2022, early 2023 when the whole OGL catastrophe occurred. And that that was really a longtime conversation, but that it just meant that certain powers that be got the angle on it to try it.

He confirmed, and we've heard this before, that the OGL discussions had happened much earlier than when we saw the event occur at the beginning of 2023. 2023, I think, right? It was late 2022, early 2023 when the whole OGL catastrophe occurred. And that that was really a longtime conversation, but that it just meant that certain powers that be got the angle on it to try it.

He confirmed, and we've heard this before, that the OGL discussions had happened much earlier than when we saw the event occur at the beginning of 2023. 2023, I think, right? It was late 2022, early 2023 when the whole OGL catastrophe occurred. And that that was really a longtime conversation, but that it just meant that certain powers that be got the angle on it to try it.

And what a mistake it was. And Ray, of course, said like, you know, he was he was definitely not for it at the time. He was not no longer working at Wizards when that happened. And I remember he was pretty vocal about what was going on when it was going on. One thing he said was that when he left, about 50% of the players were using D&D Beyond regularly.

And what a mistake it was. And Ray, of course, said like, you know, he was he was definitely not for it at the time. He was not no longer working at Wizards when that happened. And I remember he was pretty vocal about what was going on when it was going on. One thing he said was that when he left, about 50% of the players were using D&D Beyond regularly.

And what a mistake it was. And Ray, of course, said like, you know, he was he was definitely not for it at the time. He was not no longer working at Wizards when that happened. And I remember he was pretty vocal about what was going on when it was going on. One thing he said was that when he left, about 50% of the players were using D&D Beyond regularly.

He actually thinks like the digital side of this is really important. It's really important to executives at Wizards, but it's important for the game too. And it's important because people are using it. And to him, and this is 2020, 2022. So this is, you know, three years ago, two to three years ago now. was that 50% of players were using D&D Beyond.