Joe Manganiello UNLOADS On D&D/WotC - Critical Role's Ticking Time Bomb - NEW Game Of Thrones! 

Is Joe Manganiello right about D&D going downhill? Are Bell's Hells just minutes away from total disaster? Does a 3rd Game of Thrones Spinoff have you hyped? Let us know in the comments!

Crazy how just a little while ago, Joe was basically hand in hand with them and his Dragonborn character and all that. Things can change in a heartbeat. Moreso with WotC and Hasbeen.

Me having all the material i need to make campaigns on 5e for the next at least 5 years, I don't need their tweaked 2024 edition. I spent hundreds of dollars in these books and miniatures and suddenly they keep messing their main brands (that includes magic). I got into 5e because of the free crossovers of the PLANE SHIFT series (zendikar, amonkhet, Innistrad etc) I was actually hyped for the Ravnica crossover even if it costed a lot, they had the material made for us. Now, fast forward 2022, and the mismanagement starts to appear, i did not notice at first Mearls' absence, but like...the virtual tabletop was definitely not my cup of tea, and it was too early to make a call if it was good or not. Spelljammer was out, after many years of anticipation and easter eggs (a spelljammer helm in *this* module, a nautiloid in *that* module). But it was received so poorly (with good reason, the amount of material given for the price was not worth at all). and then 2023 came up, and they definitely dropped the ball at that point and i don't need to explain further what happened on that awful year. 2024..., now we know it's all just corporate slugs and they don't care and they just want our hard-earned money at that point. I'm definitely gonna look into PF2eR games soon, and the Player Core 2 looks nice. Paizo definitely did what was right and too the opportunity to shove Hasbro/WotC what they did wrong in their face.

Where's the full interview with Joe Manganiello? We have a clip of it here.

Hey! :D 11sec in I'm the Iron Warrior Space Marine stomping along at Warhammer Fest :D

Mike Mearls and Chris Perkins. That's 5e for me. Now I'll be following where Mearls goes to.

I don't know if Joe is right, but I understand his perspective. This man lost his wife and his passion project in the same six months. Dragonlance is dead because the WOTC brass is FECKLESS and lack the guts to see it through. They are going to destroy the brand because they don't understand what D&D is. Digital tools are nice, but this is a pen & paper game. Tabletop top role-playing game. These microsoft a-holes trying to micro transaction us to death will kill the company instead. What the OGL debacle taught us is they need us more than we need them.

My group had no issues with 4th, but we've been happier with 5th. We do have occasional jaunts into other systems, but always come back to 5th as a constant. It might be going downhill, but so long as the system exists, we can just grab inspiration from any of the material in any edition and easily make our own stuff for another decade or more.

Thanks for this video and taking the time to share this info.

Joe bit into McD&D and was somehow surprised that it was cheap corporate sawdust instead of a juicy burger.

do we have a link to this full interview yet please

Happy that Joe Manganiello mentioned Gygax and Arneson. Somethign WOTC is not doing. If it was'nt for them, then Dungeons and Dragons would'nt be here.

I’ve been playing 5e for almost 8 years and I barely use the official dnd world. I use a homebrew world with homebrew people and monsters. The only thing I use of dnd is some of the rules and the system. Even those I’ve tweaked

I think it's slowly going down with them dropping the ball with the licensing, but I think it's still going to be successful but it won't be as peakfully it was during the 5th edition. I think there's going to be a slow shift to more people trying different tabletop games. For me I can't wait for tales of the valiant. (black flag )to come out.

Joe had great commentary here, a good and quick run down on D&D history around the changing editions.

Where can we find the full conversation euth Joe Manganiello?

There’s no WAY I will be watching anything else GRR Martin does until he gods damn finishes Game of Thrones. He can eff right off until then frankly

5E has definitely been going downhill in terms of quality the past couple years.

I'm actually pleasantly surprised that a big public figure in the dnd space actually just directly called out Twitter mobs and opportunistic people in WotC who wanted to subvert the game. From what I've seen, most dnd talking heads are quietly in favour of them.

I am so unreasonably excited for the Player Core 2! 8 classes is huge! And yes, I know, it's just a rerelease but I don't have the old books so...

I would like them to release novels again

As things are going now DnD will probably remain culturally impactful for a decade while slowly bleeding money and reputation. I don't think a remake of 5th edition with minor changes will generate much interest from fans. Maybe a spinoff edition where their designers have more freedom to deviate and experiment, might do the trick.

It all is adding up to them selling

I think Joe is saying what a lot of us were already thinking. I personally will be moving my table to Pathfinder 2e. I tried OSR, but it seems to be exclusively for homebrewers. Paizo has plenty of campaign books to choose from.

While it sucks, Mearls was his own reason for getting kicked out. That being said it would be wise to try and get him back because the others there have ruined it. Everything from dumping any lore not 5e and rewritten to lazy work on products (spelljammer, planescape). Otherwise i agree with Joe. Although one thing i should mention is also the mass amount of hipsters that seemed to join and be loud have finally started to die down a bit. Theyve probably moved on to new fads which is another reason for drops in viewing and sales. Just my 2 cents.

What a great football metaphor from Joe. So true.

I honestly wouldn’t be upset if hasbro D&D went in the drink. Personally I have all the content I need to make campaigns and stories until I die. If I need anything else I’ll just go to DM guild. That being said I would love if there was a big shift back to before some of this new stuff came out.

I love dnd talk and referencing football at the same time.

As a Cowboy fan, I understood his analogy. I don't know D&D that much, but I do know my Cowboys. Was it really that bad?

Manganiello is spot-on with his assessment of D&D's decline. Tasha's Cauldron of Everything was really the beginning of the end, and that trend is dramatically accelerating. It resembles D&D less with every passing day. NONE of the current D&D players I know (inlcuding my 8yr campaign members) are planning to purchase any of the new releases. We'll keep using our existing 5E materials, but nothing released past this point.

And here I am thinking 5e is better than 4e but is otherwise pretty sad.

My favorite story was the D&D Joe Manganiello story.

I think that Joe's thoughts are interesting. I wasn't on Twitter in 2019 and don't know what happened there, but I may look into things when I have time. Regarding GOT, I unfortunately think I'm done with the franchise and G.R.R.M. I find GoT unwatchable because of how bad Season 8 is. I gave HotD a try, and really liked season 1. However, I've been hearing that George is now spewing vitriol at his fans, blaming them for his inability to finish his books. I'm not sure what the fans have said or done, but I feel he needs to ignore the haters, write what he wants to, and publish his work for his own sake, and for the sake of the people who have stuck around and supported him. As a writer, I know that rejection is hard, but that, at the same time, I ultimately write because I love stories and I have to tell them. I hope at least some people love what I do, but if they don't, it's okay because I've grown as a writer and done a project that I love. I don't think I can support him or watch his projects going forward because of his "I give up because of my fans" mentality. I really hope he can learn from this and continue his books.

Joe is 100% correct. D&D has gone downhill since losing Mike Mearls and the other foundation creators of D&D Next. Listening to social media mobs instead of the fans has ensured it can't recover.

what is the best gaming system? it depends on the people. the 5th is for me a good mix between simplicity and complexity. for those who want RP without stats, Fatecore works. One thing is certain, when people or companies start listening to crowds or too nostalgic, it happens what we see in DND or even in Star Wars or Star Trek or other successful franchise. It gets shitty quickly.

Even if D&D is going downhill, I have 1st Edition AD&D copies, my collection of 2nd Edition AD&D and 3.5 books, the main three books of Castles and Crusades... All I'm hoping is the new owners aren't Larian/Tencent, or any foreign company for that matter.

It peaked at 2nd ed advanced, THACO was awesome, 5th is power gaming, end of.

Joe is literally complicit in this 😂

What do y'all have a beep on "1"!? There's never a beep on 1.

Dragonlance! C'mon Joe, make it happen cap'n

I first played DandD when all there was, was the first boxset and played through 3.5, loved Dragonlance, Tanis is a great character. Now DandD just seems to be pushing out more and more books in a money grab, I left and found a new path.

I honestly would not be surprised if Hasbro sells off WoTC soon. They are dying as a company and need to raise funds.

People said critical role sucks, is scripted, etc and is going nowhere. Um, EIGHT years later... Still pushing strong. You notice they don't do everything perfect, but oh wait, it's scripted, so shouldn't everything be perfect then? Hmmmmmm??? So maybe it's not because otherwise it would be... perfect. But since it's not, that assumption is now thrown out and impossible. Just like any season of a show that goes on 7 to 8 seasons, some are not as liked, but doesn't mean it's going to go away any time soon. Now the animated show they put on amazon; now THAT is scripted.

Better than Gygax???

What did mike mearls do?

"....has become the dominant imperisalist power on the moon, subjugating other races on the planet...." that really bothers me

I agree with Joe that Mike should have gotten a lot more support from Wizards 2019. But he also got a daughter around that time if I´m not mistaken and I guess he is happy overall. While there might be still some people at Wizards who know what they are doing (Chris), I fell like mostly the younger people have no idea about the campaign worlds of D&D or how to create complex new adventures. Many modules since 2020 are basically old stuff, just less complex and more streamlined. The Adventure in the Planescape Box was horrible and the art compared to Toni Di Terlizzi really bad. And all Forgotten Realms stuff is basically swordcoast. So yes, Joe is right, the golden years are over I guess.

I first played DnD in the late seventies and early eighties - but due to working overseas and family commitments, haven’t played since. Now retired, I started to look at getting involved in games again but with everything that has been reported about the absolute disaster Hasbro has been overseeing with DnD (and MTG) decided to look at other platforms like Pathfinder (but being old and cranky, with “not much time left” found the Rule Books far too long and complicated to fully absorb). Then I remembered I still had books and things in a trunk from my early days and am now revisiting the 1983 Basic Rules and solo game (can’t find anyone my age that still plays DnD locally at present). Sadly for DnD, letting “woke” CEO’s and Accountants run previously successful companies always ends in abject failure. Hopefully, people like Joe M. can band together pick up the pieces at a “fire sale” after it all falls apart and make it great again.

Joe who?

I honestly don't care where D&D is going from here on out. I just play whichever edition I find to be the most fun and screw the rest.

More Targaryens... yay... I'd much rather see The Long Night. If you're going to do more Targaryens then at least do Robert's Rebellion or The Doom of Valyria.

You should never listen to or apologize to, The Mob.

🏴‍☠️

I still play first edition. I play Pathfinder 1st edition as well. D&D should go back to 3, and 3.5 and build on that.

Joe M. Is spot on. Mearls is awesome and DnD has gone straight downhill since they let him go. Noticeable difference for sure.

I really like Joe but if he champions Mike Mearls, it worries me. Mearls allegedly did some fucked up shit.

OMG! The only way D&D will go down hill is if the players and DM's let it! We control it's playability and it's longevity!

This is spot on , from a player from 1981 , I do see people with passion , but there is too many people with agenda , box ticking exercises , when all it was about you and your mates getting round a table and having a laugh . Now you have toxic youtubers making daft money and the twitter verse trying to destroy the game we love , there are a lot of us that loved and still love the when not many did . ~So what do we do , we play dnd with our mates of course . Peace

5E was and will never be the best edition. It just had a low bar after 4E and a boost from the lockdowns. Without covid it probably would have continued the 4E death spiral

I wonder if this means we will also never get a Drizz't Series ever... :(

The 5e design team is very different from how it started. I don't feel like the current designers understand what was appealing about 5e and are effectively taking the game in a more clunky, pf2e inspired direction (which makes sense given their current staff).

Its okay if D&D goes downhill. Monopolies are awful, and D&D has been a monopoly for too long. D&D may be the best system for some, but not for most. There are much better systems out there. Try FATE, Cypher System, Pathfinder, anything Powered by the Apocalypse, Call of Cthulu. You'll find something you like more.

Yeah, I ditched D&D for Pathfinder after how crappy they've been.

Sophia made a phone call and got it shot down me thinks....

4E was great.

Mike Mearls had some not great allegations against him

Joe is the best! I value his opinion and insight! He's so much more than just a Hollywood actor... he's a nerd, he's intelligent and he's super handsome! I personally don't care about the handsome, but he's definitely easy to watch...

I've always been a huge fan of 3.5e and it will always be my favorite. But 5e is what got my current gaming groups together and when we started playing it was amazing and fun. But these past few years the content has been lackluster. Once I get finished all of the 5e campaigns me and my group will be switching to 3.5e for the foreseeable future. D&D One or 5.5 w.e it is they are calling it is just another money grab that I will not be participating in. I'll only support wizards from here on by buying miniatures.

Thumbs up if you've binge-watched this creator's entire video library!

The editions are totally irrelevant, if you are not just using the source material as a guideline and adapting it to fit your group you are kind of missing the best part of AD&D or DnD, creating your own world and campaign.

Somebody gotta tell Joe that Vanilla Ice wants his '89 hair doo back.

NOBODY asked for another edition of D&D, NOBODY!

Joe said Mike's version of 5E D&D was better then Gary's version. 3.58

Nah, I don't agree with Joe. The quality of 5e/5e Revised materials is so much better than early 5e. The early campaigns were pretty badly written, other than Curse of Strahd (which has its own issues), but all the ones recently have been quality (so much that I am willing to run them, when I spent 20 years swearing off published campaigns). Crawford and Perkins are awesome.

4 > 5 > 3.X > the rest. Much of what you like from 5th is renamed stuff from 4th. D&D is not the only RPG.

The best thing we can do for GoT is not watch it.

a little unfair to the work Chris and Jeremy have put in but I think the problems have everything to do with Hasbro taking over.

Uh. no Joe. 5e is definitely not better than Gary's version.

No, it isn't. I know more people starting the game for the first time. D&D isn't going downhill just because a bunch of celebrities say so. Look at the sales figures; Pathfinder sales are a distant second

I'm very pessimistic about Aegon's project. Half of the people watching their shows can't even understand the difference between a conquest and a colonization, and considering HBO's history antagonizing GoT characters but using them because they give them money, you know we will get twisted versions of each character in order to make them seem lame or relatable as they require

What exactly is he referring when talking about the twitter mob? All I remember is the guy that was abusive with his partner, if my memory doesn't fail me. Also maybe changing races to ancestry, which is fine as a change in my opinion.

I agree with him on most everything but he plays a different brand of D&D than I do and did. He is more about the storytelling and less about the game side of things. So for him 5th Edition is great but for my taste it's the ruin of good old D&D and a hot mess of powergaming character builds instead of rolling one up and letting the dice decide.

Their names are not in the credits, but, it was the fans who stuck by D&D when it was on it's death bed and out of print who are the true architects of 5E. The new playtests are proof of that. That is why the OGL battle was so important. We need to be able to develop 5E while WotC takes it off the rails. D&D is a game where anything you can dream can happen. The new edition is not focused on improving the game, but, is focused on money and compatibility with their VTT platform. A VTT simply can not account for anything anyone can dream and therefore is not really D&D. As long as compatibility with their VTT is a design requirement WotC will drag the game into a downward spiral. Real D&D requires a real table with a real top surrounded by real friends. And we don't need their woke rules, online tools, or to pay them any money to play real D&D.

The Game of Thrones universe doesn't have enough diverse races for me to be interested.

This makes me like Joe even less than before.

I disagree with Manganiello here. It's not Mike Mearls and co that can be credited with the success. I think it's a combination of things. #1 is Critical Role and 5th edition hitting the mainstream there. #2 I think is userfriendliness. #3 Is right place, right time. He is NOT wrong about D&D going downhill though. #1 Because they have flooded the market with stuff and really not many ways they can add more to 5th edition. #2 The super woke BS they are pushing. #3 The natural decline in popularity due to "new shiny thing" factor.

4th edition was crap, nuff said. 5th was okay. Go back to your roots, simple rules, open ended plug in modules, know your shit. ICRPG is a great stand in for 5th, nearly free, easy to build in, easy to run, easy to modify. No splat books, no bullshit.

D&D has been dead for Decades, since before the fall of TSR. (I mean, that is WHY TSR died)

Hey there. So, now that I've been kidnapped for over 12+ years and today is the day I found out kd Lang became Miss Chatelaine because I stole Bubbles, you doggie, and hid in Paris and put her on the "The New York Times" to pee while I went out. Anyway, I digress. How are the folks in television like Seth Meyers, Stephen Colbert and others doing as we're in some "Multi-decade" conspiracy to make me the New "Zillionaire Sugar Daddy?" Love, Don xoxo

Joe has no idea what he's talking about 5th edition isn't the "best" edition. It was a victim of circumstance. Critical Role, Covid; those are what boosted the fan base. 5th edition had nothing to do with that outside of simple benefit of perfect timing.

So Joe does not get what he wants and he starts crying about it and of course content creators are happy to spread how upset Joe. Because yea its the in thing to complain about WotC/Hasbro.

this is just a bit too much click bait. is ruining your credibility really worth the views?

WHO is this D&D and who is WOTC 🤷🏻‍♂️

Stop gassing up Mearls, he's highly problematic

D&D is Fueled by DEI and other Social nonsense, I say, just make and play your own games!

Couldn’t give a rats behind what Joe thinks. Can’t wait for season 3 of Critrole to come to an end, it is hella boring to me.

Joe just sounds salty that his project got cut. Mearls is pretty good and he and his team did a great job creating 5e. What exactly has gone down hill though? the adventures? the first couple made for 5e were by third parties. while ill agree some of the new stuff has problems, some of the old stuff did too. theres also been some pretty good stuff. i agree the twitter mob is annoying but that's always been a thing in one form or another. is he forgetting the satanic panic?

5e is better profits wise, but that's because they literally watered down the game to where ~70 IQ people can barely play it. Now don't get me wrong, it's an alright system, but has the least amount of complexity and customization that any other edition before it has. This is why I'm slowing down on 5e and getting more into Pathfinder 2e.

Ya.. keeping a reported sexual harrasser rug sweeper is what they should have done joe.. come on dude, I thought he was better than.that

Also, defending Mearls is...super problematic. Bad form, Joe.