DRAGON+ Now Available For Ratings

I must admit, I don't personally get some of the reactions to DRAGON+, the mobile app from WotC which launched in April. It's described as "...your official mobile source for all-things Dungeons & Dragons. This free app for iPhone or iPad has everything you want to know about D&D in one easy place. In addition to ongoing up-to-the minute news updates, every second month you’ll enjoy a new issue of Dragon+ showcasing what’s new in Dungeons & Dragons – from backstory and world information to discussions about what’s coming next with the creators and developers of your favorite D&D products." I think it does pretty much exactly what is says it'll do; it's not a content platform, it's one of those "brand news" apps which every company has these days. Perfectly normal. I think it's the name which is causing issues, because - being named after a magazine which published gaming content - people were disappointed that this wasn't that. I'm not personally interested in it, but I don't resent its existence. It's not really designed for folks who are up to date with the latest morsel or tweet from the D&D team.

Anyhow, I know that many people disagree (some pretty strongly) with my take on the apps, so the first two issues are available on iOS and Android now, and both can be commented on and rated in the reviews section here on EN World. Enjoy! Feel free to rate each issue as it comes out, and leave comments.

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[Ashran]

To answer your unsaid question (Why do people in majority dislike this publication ?), I'll give you my take on it: the problem with this for me is twofold. First, I can't really understand the target of this app. It's clearly not me personnaly, since I am pretty up to date with the table top game, and also with the computer stuff there is out there. The rest just don't interest me at all. But then, who is the target ?

The second part of my dislike is the use of the name Dragon for a publication that has nothing to do with the Dragon magazine of old, which I am clamoring a return, be it online or on paper.

Add to this a percieved absence of real communication and support for the tabletop rpg and a will of not really answering the fans (many) questions about the future of the game, it's a reciepe for disaster in my opinion...

 

[tgmoore]

Well said Ashran!

The majority of the Dragon+ Content thus far seems to be focused on promoting video games I have marginal interest in. If I want to read about new video games I generally go to website dedicated to video game news.

Releasing a monthly tabletop content "magazine" first (electronic of otherwise) beyond the monthly Unearthed Arcana would go a long way toward mending trust with a D&D tabletop community that fears the implications of the WOTC/Hasbro strategy of marketing D&D as a entertainment brand.

Dragon+ thus far has reiterated to me that licensed stuff that costs more then RPG books is what is important to Wizards. I like what they have done with 5E but I don't know that pen and paper RPGs are a good fit with corporate business practices. Tabletop is a niche market that fits better in the hands of small business.

 

[Grimstaff]

There are always going to be people who complain there's not enough salt in their free lunch. Afaic, until you pay for it, why complain?

 

[tgmoore]

There are always going to be people who complain there's not enough salt in their free lunch. Afaic, until you pay for it, why complain?

Because there is nothing to pay for? All things in time yes but axing Dragon and Dungeon magazine without a replacement was a mistake and I was a paying subscriber to D&D Insider.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Using the name Dragon sets it up to be something that WotC isn't intending it to be. I think a big chunk of the ire is basically folks going up to an ice cream parlor and picking out the Chocolate+ because they like chocolate, only to find out that it's really some sort of raspberry sorbet and isn't really very chocolate-y at all. I mean, yeah, the description on the board says "It's a raspberry sorbet" but you call the thing Chocolate+ and you set up certain expectations that are failing to be met here.

If it was an app called, I dunno, Multiverse or something, you'd be seeing less nerdrage.

That's entirely separate, of course, from whether or not it is actually good raspberry sorbet. It could be great raspberry sorbet. But it's not what people expected when they saw the name.

 

[aramis erak]

My angst isn't the content - most free mags have low signal to noise - but instead with the app itself - which you don't have a rating spot for. The App is about 1 star, and until it actually WORKS right, rating the issues is like asking Mrs Lincoln, "So, aside from your husband being shot, how was the play?"

 

[ZeshinX]

It's a commercial you read. Really, that's all it is. That's why I have no use for it.

 

[Ashran]

If it's really just a long commercial I feel it's too much energy spent for about nothing, energy that would be better spent elsewhere, imho, like, maybe, working on new products to release and make money off, don't you think ?

 

[Morrus]

I know it's a commercial. It's basically a standard brand newsstand-style app - news, promotions, and info on the company's products and brands, and its described as such. There are thousands of them on the app store. I understand why people might not find those apps interesting - lack of interest is one thing; resentment is a curiosity, though. It's just not something I feel. I guess, like I said in the original post (and Kamikaze Midget expressed even better), it must be the name.