Exclusive interview WotC President Greg Leeds

[PaulofCthulhu]

I was disappointed in the corp. speak answers, though sadly not unexpected.

I had hoped for otherwise, but to me, the interview gave no further answers of substance. For me the removal of the older editions is telling.

I could say more, I see little point. I've given up on this matter and moving on.

I do wish Wizards the best, though.

 

[funkytable]

Please don't quit your gaming group.

I don't think I'll quit until it starts to get bad. I'll at least finish the game I'm in. In truth, The PHB & PHB2 is most of what I need. I was looking forward to the pretty drawings in the Monster Manual though. I've been a comic reader for years.

I really am ceasing to buy their products though, there is no hesitation there.

I really may quit when PHB3 comes out though, of course I'll be a happy gamer again if WotC starts selling some form of ebook that isn't too obnoxious.

Also, if WotC isn't worth it, is there any other popular RPG system that I could easily find people to play with that has stayed in the 21st century? I've heard about D20 and the vast market of genres it produces, but that's it.

To WotC:

This is a perfect example of the foolishness of your decisions. You have put a new customer, one of the very customers that 4E was designed to draw in, in the position of either no longer playing or pirating.

Brilliant!

My point exactly. I've emailed WotC with my grievances. Though I doubt it was passed on to the right department. Maybe I'll post some of this to their online forums.

 

[freyar]

Also, if WotC isn't worth it, is there any other popular RPG system that I could easily find people to play with that has stayed in the 21st century? I've heard about D20 and the vast market of genres it produces, but that's it.

If you are interested in d20, you might just be able to find players for that, depending where you live anyway. And you can check out the core rules on the web for free. Here and here are two popular html versions of the core rules (plus some!). If you want something currently under development, there are several options for "current" d20 rules, the most visible probably being the Pathfinder ruleset from Paizo publishing (that's the beta rules, final coming in August), available in PDF or print (beta rules PDF is free). And that's just the D&D genre. The General RPG Rules forum here is a good place to look for other games, too.

 

[El Mahdi]

Also, if WotC isn't worth it, is there any other popular RPG system that I could easily find people to play with that has stayed in the 21st century? I've heard about D20 and the vast market of genres it produces, but that's it.

Just because WotC isn't worth it, doesn't mean you have to stop playing 4E. I'd still expect some pretty good third party publisher (3pp) support, and there's already some good third party supplements out for 4E: (3pp_4E_products_at_RPGNow, The_Quintessential_Fighter, The_Quintessential_Wizard, Remarkable_Races_Series, Fang,_Fist,_and_Song, Feudal_Characters:_Noble, Advanced_Player's_Guide)

As far as finding games and gaming groups, there are lots of different games that are still played that have accessible material in pdf. There's tons of 3E/3.5E material for download, not to mention multiple online SRD's (System Reference Documents) that have all of the necessary rules (Players Handbook, Monster Manuals, Epic Handbook, Psionics Handbook, Unearthed Arcana alternate rules, etc.). Not to mention all of the D20 derivatives (True20, etc.) The best place to look for what people are playing in PbP games is here: Playing_the_Game.

You can also look for real live games in your area here: Gamers_Seeking_Gamers.


edit: also everything that freyar said above (I actually started on this post before freyar posted but I had to go deal with something for a few hours, before I got back to finishing the post.)

My point exactly. I've emailed WotC with my grievances. Though I doubt it was passed on to the right department. Maybe I'll post some of this to their online forums.

It probably wouldn't hurt to post over on the WotC forums, but it's possible you may get a somewhat more hostile response from posters there. The people at WotC that matter do read the threads here at ENWorld. In fact many of them are members here and actually post. Especially because of recent events, there are some of the good guys from WotC here, such as WotC Logan and Scott Rouse, who read these threads and pass pertinent info up the chain. Trust me, you post it here and WotC is just as likely to get it as if it was posted on the WotC boards.



Take care and, Keep on Gaming!

​

 

[funkytable]

If those guys do read this, I'll list a little more of my resons behind this decision:

1. I'm PBP only. Meeting up with a gaming group for 4 hours does not interest me, mostly because I'm a family man. 15-30 minutes of fun a day is wonderful though. Therefore, I have no interest in having a stack of books at my desk when I could have all appropriate files on my computer.

2. My wife and I do not like clutter. DND books are certainly clutter. We are very careful about the books we purchase because it's gotten to be too many latley.

3. I don't like subscription based services. DNDinsider will go away if I stop paying the money. I'd rather spend my money on ebooks I can keep forever.

Again, I do enjoy RPG gaming. I don't want to leave DND, but I am left without choice if you don't sell the product that suits my style. It will either be switch RPG system/publisher or leave RPG gaming when PHB3 comes out.

Please reconsider your decision.

 

[Beckett]

3. I don't like subscription based services. DNDinsider will go away if I stop paying the money. I'd rather spend my money on ebooks I can keep forever.

Buy one month, download the Character Builder, update it and get all the information currently available. With the minimum one month subscription, you'll be able to snag the Arcane Power update in two weeks.

Buy a new subscription every few months to stay current, or after the release of a book that interests you. The CB works even if you're not a subscriber, and doesn't even require an internet connection except for the updates.

You get to keep up with the rest of your group, and I'm pretty sure you'd save money compared to what WotC priced their PDFs at.

 

[ExploderWizard]

2. My wife and I do not like clutter. DND books are certainly clutter. We are very careful about the books we purchase because it's gotten to be too many latley.

Emphasis mine. This man is no gamer.

 

[funkytable]

Buy one month, download the Character Builder, update it and get all the information currently available. With the minimum one month subscription, you'll be able to snag the Arcane Power update in two weeks.

Buy a new subscription every few months to stay current, or after the release of a book that interests you. The CB works even if you're not a subscriber, and doesn't even require an internet connection except for the updates.

You get to keep up with the rest of your group, and I'm pretty sure you'd save money compared to what WotC priced their PDFs at.

I give a reeeealy big hmmmm to that. I thought you couldn't access stuff after level 3 once your subscription lapses. If I could do this, I certainly would once Divine Power comes out. Very interested in this method.

Emphasis mine. This man is no gamer.

lol. Yeah, I enjoy games and comics, but I don't have as strong a collectors bone in me. I'd be happy if everything that could be stored virtually, would be. I eagerly await the day itunes begins selling Marvel comics entire catalog. It will come.

But does that really put me at odds with the gaming community? There are certain games I will never play (Warhammer 40K) because of the ludicrous storage needs.

Is a healthy lack of desire for tiny plastic fighting men really mean I can't get emersed in a world of gaming?

I'm not picking on this one guy, I am honestly curious because he isn't the first person who has teased me about this. One person even suggested my wife had castrated me. I'm pretty sure he didn't get it last night like I did.

 

[mudbunny]

I give a reeeealy big hmmmm to that. I thought you couldn't access stuff after level 3 once your subscription lapses. If I could do this, I certainly would once Divine Power comes out. Very interested in this method.

The way the subscription works is the following:

(Taken from the WOtC forums)

You don't need to be online to use the application, just to update it each month if you want the new monthly content.

There is an updater, which gives you an update button you can press to download the new version each month. You have to log into your DDI account to update each month.

You also have to log in for the first big update which converts it from level 1-3 to a level 1-30 program.

Each subscriber can only do this 5 times. This means that if account details are accidentally made public the cap will be reached right away.

The limit of 5 installs will be for each monthly update. The number of installs allowed will not be reduced if you later choose to uninstall the application with a monthly update after having installing it, but once the next data update is available, the limit will be reset.

If you reach this five install limit during a given month, and for some reasons you need extra installs, you will be able to contact our Customer Service department, and make your case about getting more installs for this month. We will closely monitor these requests, and this number of 5 for any given month's update should provide the right balance for everybody.

Because of the nature of the application, both the code and the data set will be updated every month. The update process will in fact be proceeding to update both the code and the data, without needing a full re-installation.

 

[El Mahdi]

... lol. Yeah, I enjoy games and comics, but I don't have as strong a collectors bone in me. I'd be happy if everything that could be stored virtually, would be. I eagerly await the day itunes begins selling Marvel comics entire catalog. It will come.

But does that really put me at odds with the gaming community? There are certain games I will never play (Warhammer 40K) because of the ludicrous storage needs.

Is a healthy lack of desire for tiny plastic fighting men really mean I can't get emersed in a world of gaming?

I'm not picking on this one guy, I am honestly curious because he isn't the first person who has teased me about this. One person even suggested my wife had castrated me. I'm pretty sure he didn't get it last night like I did. ...

Don't sweat them, Man. Just as there are multitudes of different types, genres, and formats of games, there are just as many different ways to game or to be a gamer.

Do what works for you. There is no such thing as the wrong way to play (although there will be no shortage of people who will still try to tell you you're doing just that).

As long as you and the people you are playing with are having fun, you're doing it right, and you're just as much of a gamer as anyone else.

Game On, Man! Game On!