A Technical Look at D&D Insider Applications

A new Design and Development on D&D Insider by Didier Monin.

Edit: after reading through this I can't say I'm feeling the awesome.

I can hear the echo of outrage building and getting ready to explode over the net due to this part...

Didier Monin said:

When you purchase the printed book, a code will grant access to the E-version of the book for a nominal fee.

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How unhappy I'll be about paying for the book twice depends entirely on how nominal their fee is ...

Phoenix8008 said:

How unhappy I'll be about paying for the book twice depends entirely on how nominal their fee is ...

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Wizards have mentioned the fee before. They said "Nominal" means "about the price of a cup of coffee."

I have no problem with that part of DDI, or even the Dragon and Dungeon online as long as the content improves.

I must admit that so far I'm thrilled and exited about almost everything 4ed so far. But the D&D Insider - It just sounds like something I would never use.

I think a lot of the thoughs about the virtual gametable looks good though, such as the ability to customize it depending on playstyle. Looks like they're trying to make a practical tool for online gaming instead of making a lavish, advanced application that in return dictates how to play the game. A good approach in my opinion.

The encounter builder looks interesting, too.

But (and this have been mentioned before, I think), nominal fees for using books you already bought, even the thought of random boosters of digital miniatures etc. Not so good.

In the end, I think that I don't really need all that stuff - but it's interesting to follow. If they're able to make a really good suite of applications, that are easy to use, very customizable etc. it will be great.

They said "Nominal" means "about the price of a cup of coffee."

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A cup of coffee can vary wildly. Is it Starbucks? Gas station? How much you would actually pay to make a cup of coffee at home?

It sounds to me not only do they want a different, younger target audience, but they want one with more money, as well.

JediSoth

Phoenix8008 said:

I can hear the echo of outrage building and getting ready to explode over the net due to this part...

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Eh. I have an honest question.

Why shouldn't WotC charge a "nominal fee" for such things?

For those who don't want to pay it, you still have the book--exactly what you paid for, and exactly what you would've gotten if the DDI didn't exist.

But if WotC is offering extras such as an online copy of the book--and that is an extra, above and beyond what anyone has any right to expect when buying a hardcopy of said book--I believe they're well within their rights to charge for it.

How unhappy I'll be about paying for the book twice depends entirely on how nominal their fee is ...

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I agree that I certainly wouldn't pay full price for the same book twice. (Not that WotC's given any indication they're charging anywhere near that much.) But even if they did, I wouldn't be "outraged." I just wouldn't take advantage of the option.

If it's a couple of bucks per book, that's more than reasonable, given the average cost of electronic/PDF books in the industry.

I'm happy to pay the cost of even an expensive cup of coffee for access to electronic versions of crunch I've already paid for. Based on my experience with RPG tools like E-Tools and PC Gen, entering data for anything more than a handful of new spells/classes is a major pain.

I'm also significantly more likely to use the book that a new spell/class/feat comes from if I can see that spell/class/feat as an option in the electronic tools. So I'll be getting more mileage out of my books too.

Keep in mind also that the nominal fee creates accountability that, in the end, protects you.

By charging a small fee, WotC makes it impossible to anonymously take ownership of the digital version of the book. Anyone who enters a code to get the digital version must identify themselves in a real, positive manner (through the use of a credit card or other verifiable payment scheme). That makes the fee one of (probably several) roadblocks to piracy.

[And before this blossoms into a discussion of intellectual property rights, remember this: What you're downloading is a unique digital object assigned to the book you bought. If somebody steals that, they've stolen your right to access the digital version of the book. YOU are the loser in a very real way, not some giant corporation is a very intangible way.]

[And before this blossoms into a discussion of how the pirates always find a way, remember this: This will not be perfect in preventing piracy, and neither will any of the other steps WotC takes. But, combined, they're intended to keep theft to a minimum. WotC has a lot of experience with digital objects (via Magic Online), so their overall system will probably be pretty effective.]

So the requirement to purchase increases the likelihood that when I buy a book, the code to obtain the digital version is likely to still be valid when I take the book home and type it into DDI. That alone seems to be worth an extra buck or two.

Mouseferatu said:

Eh. I have an honest question.

Why shouldn't WotC charge a "nominal fee" for such things?

For those who don't want to pay it, you still have the book--exactly what you paid for, and exactly what you would've gotten if the DDI didn't exist.

But if WotC is offering extras such as an online copy of the book--and that is an extra, above and beyond what anyone has any right to expect when buying a hardcopy of said book--I believe they're well within their rights to charge for it.



I agree that I certainly wouldn't pay full price for the same book twice. (Not that WotC's given any indication they're charging anywhere near that much.) But even if they did, I wouldn't be "outraged." I just wouldn't take advantage of the option.

If it's a couple of bucks per book, that's more than reasonable, given the average cost of electronic/PDF books in the industry.

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Of course Wizards can charge any price they want for anything they sell. However, Paizo, a much smaller company, offers free PDFs to me when I buy the paper copy of Pathfinder by subscription.

If I'm already paying for online content why not get my PDFs free from Wizards as well if I buy the paper copy of a book? As a consumer I think that is a very good question. Why does Paizo give me a better deal than Wizards when Wizards is bigger, sells more, and controls a large portion of the market?

Nothing new here, just the standard info we've known for weeks, reposted.

Wizards said they range from cheap deli coffee to Starbucks in price. They were attaching it to a variable.