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Yesterday, Randy Buehler posted some news about the D&D Insider, which included their pricing structure. Almost immediately afterwards, the rpgblogosphere was atwitter with opinions of D&DI and their prices. For the most part, people were questioning why Wizards was charging what they were charging with some even going as far as stating that "Wizards will never see a penny from me."
Well you know what? Forget that. I will gladly buy a subscription to D&DI in a month. Let me tell you why.
reveal, with respect, do you really need to tell us every time your blog is updated?
__________________ "The last time I ran into myself, I kicked my own ass." Chasing the DM, a blog for DM's like me who really feel they should know what they're doing by now.
For DM's: 4E Dungeon Index (adventures, conversions, and sidetreks by level, last updated 16th Oct. through Dungeon #171).
I don't have to, no, but until people start going there regularly, I will. My plan is to stop after GenCon.
:chuckle:
__________________ "The last time I ran into myself, I kicked my own ass." Chasing the DM, a blog for DM's like me who really feel they should know what they're doing by now.
For DM's: 4E Dungeon Index (adventures, conversions, and sidetreks by level, last updated 16th Oct. through Dungeon #171).
Nice quick read...thanks for sharing your thoughts, but...
Quote:
Originally Posted by reveal
To be honest, I wouldn’t buy it either until I read this: Dragon and Dungeon magazine. When those magazines were in print, I paid a total of $77.90 per year. That’s $18.50 more than what I’d pay for content in D&DI. To me, everything else I get with the D&DI subscription is just icing on the cake.
Quote:
Originally Posted by reveal
So if you were one of those folks who bought Dragon and Dungeon magazines when they were in print, you really have no room to complain. You’re actually getting more for your money with D&DI. Now if you didn’t get the magazines, I can understand being wary about spending money for promises that may never be fulfilled. But as I’ve said, the content from Dragon and Dungeon more than makes up for it and I think you’ll be really happy with your purchase.
Uhm... gotta say I disagree with most of your argument in that blog. Your argument hinges around it being $18.50 more for just the magazines...
Yet the magazines were an actual hardcopy (which allowed such things as poster maps, counters, etc.), with 3.5 you had a free SRD (basically free PDF or word copy of the rules)...free character generators (which are no longer available under the new GSL), free articles and adventures on the website (so double the content of mag + free stuff), and a dungeon tile builder app. I mean my honest opinion is that you had everything the DDI was suppose to offer (ok with the exception of a 3D virtual gametable...but we've yet to see this materialize and there are free 2D versions) with the previous edition at a fraction of the estimated price for the full version of DDI.
__________________ Nobody built like me, I designed myself ...as an
I must agree with Imaro on this, nothing will change the fact that I love having the magazines, I would gladly pay for them as I can take them most places, read them on the subway, etc., but now I have to either break out my laptop... or print them out (in reduced quality, non-colour, unbound...etc...
I think they're going to be in for a rough ride, especially because if they pull support of it, you lose all the characters you've made, campaigns you've been running through their tabletop, access to the e-zines... etc.
So if you were one of those folks who bought Dragon and Dungeon magazines when they were in print, you really have no room to complain.
Pardon me?
Does that mean Dragon and Dungeon are coming back in print? No?
(Not that I'm personally complaining - I hate PDF period so I won't buy, but understand that others value what PDF has to offer. But the above statement is indeed more than a little silly and misguided.)
Uhm... gotta say I disagree with most of your argument in that blog. Your argument hinges around it being $18.50 more for just the magazines...
Yet the magazines were an actual hardcopy (which allowed such things as poster maps, counters, etc.), with 3.5 you had a free SRD (basically free PDF or word copy of the rules)...free character generators (which are no longer available under the new GSL), free articles and adventures on the website (so double the content of mag + free stuff), and a dungeon tile builder app. I mean my honest opinion is that you had everything the DDI was suppose to offer (ok with the exception of a 3D virtual gametable...but we've yet to see this materialize and there are free 2D versions) with the previous edition at a fraction of the estimated price for the full version of DDI.
I see what you're getting at but we have no estimated price for the full version of DDI in the future. Right now, you pay less for more. You pay less than the old cost to subscribe to two magazines and still get that content plus other online tools. Maybe in the future, the price will skyrocket once they come up with a long-term pricing scheme but, for now, it's worth the price.
Quote:
Originally Posted by renau1g
I must agree with Imaro on this, nothing will change the fact that I love having the magazines, I would gladly pay for them as I can take them most places, read them on the subway, etc., but now I have to either break out my laptop... or print them out (in reduced quality, non-colour, unbound...etc...
I don't see printing as big of a deal. I never once looked at Dragon or Dungeon and thought "The print quality is awesome!" If I have to print stuff out, staple it together, and take it with me, I'm good with that.
Quote:
I think they're going to be in for a rough ride, especially because if they pull support of it, you lose all the characters you've made, campaigns you've been running through their tabletop, access to the e-zines... etc.
Not worth it at all...
That's the price you must be willing to pay for anything you do online. If you store anything at any site, you have to realize that it might not be around forever. If it's that important to you, the onus is on you to make a backup of some sort to store yourself.
Does that mean Dragon and Dungeon are coming back in print? No?
(Not that I'm personally complaining - I hate PDF period so I won't buy, but understand that others value what PDF has to offer. But the above statement is indeed more than a little silly and misguided.)
Why? People were more than willing to pay more for subs to the magazine. Now they get all of the content, which is still printable and portable, plus other tools for a lower cost. Why is my statement "silly and misguided?"
Why? People were more than willing to pay more for subs to the magazine. Now they get all of the content, which is still printable and portable, plus other tools for a lower cost. Why is my statement "silly and misguided?"
This really brings up another point, first I didn't have to print Dragon or Dungeon so it isn't "still printable"...the fact of the matter is that even though you raise the issue of an $18 decrease in price...how much are you spending on ink and paper to print out (in a much lower quality) these magazines? A color and B/w cartridge for my printer runs in the realm of $40.
__________________ Nobody built like me, I designed myself ...as an
Why? People were more than willing to pay more for subs to the magazine. Now they get all of the content, which is still printable and portable, plus other tools for a lower cost. Why is my statement "silly and misguided?"
Because content isn't enough. In any case, Imaro (and others) have covered it well. Print is better ("printable" is also not enough).
Thus, the "you have no room to complain" statement of yours is, indeed, inappropriate.
This really brings up another point, first I didn't have to print Dragon or Dungeon so it isn't "still printable"...the fact of the matter is that even though you raise the issue of an $18 decrease in price...how much are you spending on ink and paper to print out (in a much lower quality) these magazines? A color and B/w cartridge for my printer runs in the realm of $40.
The question is how many pages do you get out of an inkjet cartridge before it runs dry? If you print in draft mode and get, say, 500 pages out of it, that's about $.08/page. If there are 50 pages to a file, that's $4. So a total of $8 in ink to print out both mags.
The question is how many pages do you get out of an inkjet cartridge before it runs dry? If you print in draft mode and get, say, 500 pages out of it, that's about $.08/page. If there are 50 pages to a file, that's $4. So a total of $8 in ink to print out both mags.
Given your assumption, let's go a little further. Taking $8 to print out both magazines... times 12 for a year...$96 on top of my subscription fee. And were not even adding in cost of paper. Suddenly that deal isn't sounding all that great anymore.
__________________ Nobody built like me, I designed myself ...as an
Given your assumption, let's go a little further. Taking $8 to print out both magazines... times 12 for a year...$96 on top of my subscription fee. And were not even adding in cost of paper. Suddenly that deal isn't sounding all that great anymore.
That's a good point. I still think it would be worth it, though, especially with laser printers as cheap as they are and the fact that you get more pages out of a laser than an inkjet.
I will say that with the proliferation of laptops, mini-laptops like the EEE PC, phones like the iPhone and Tilt, pocket pcs like the iTouch, and things like that, I think less people will actually be printing them out.
I really don't understand people that spend a lot of time on a message board complaining about digital content. This is the new medium. The future.
Maybe it's a generational thing, but I have no problem reading from a screen. I've read PDFs of all sorts, comic books, and even novels. There's still room for improvement in display technology and form factor, but it's not bad right now.
You don't have to print the whole thing, just the parts you might want to use. And only then if you can't stand to run things off screen. Back up your data and it's just as durable as paper. You can also search the text of a PDF for that one article you read a few years ago but can't remember the issue number of.
I don't see printing as big of a deal. I never once looked at Dragon or Dungeon and thought "The print quality is awesome!" If I have to print stuff out, staple it together, and take it with me, I'm good with that.
Well... I guess you're ok with a stapled together set of stuff... by that token why would you even buy the books? Buy the pdfs and print them out... I guess some people like having the pdfs, and I do too, but to me the magazines are a higher value... that's my personal preference, you have yours. I'd like them to print them AND offer it as a PDF (which I also wish they did with the books)
Quote:
Originally Posted by reveal
That's the price you must be willing to pay for anything you do online. If you store anything at any site, you have to realize that it might not be around forever. If it's that important to you, the onus is on you to make a backup of some sort to store yourself.
Unfortunately... with DDI you Can't back it up on your HD... that's the problem I have with it... there's no onus, it's the lack of an option.
I'd like them to print them AND offer it as a PDF (which I also wish they did with the books)
I would love that as well.
Quote:
Unfortunately... with DDI you Can't back it up on your HD... that's the problem I have with it... there's no onus, it's the lack of an option.
Why not? I can download both mags to my computer and do something with them (burn them to CD, put them on tape, put on a back HD, etc.). I have no idea what I can or cannot do with the other tools that are not online yet.
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