Lots of people have been saying it is like a punch in the gut. No it isn't. It is worse. It is like a kick in the balls...
I can't say that I've liked everything (or even many things) in Dungeon or Dragon, but I started subscribing again last year after a 10+ year hiatus because they were much better than in previous years. I specifically bought Dragon for those rare gems (things like the article on The Hordelands, Issues 315 and 318, etc.) I specifically bought Dungeon for the sheer variety in each issue.
While the idea of Pathfinder is cool, it just isn't for me. I want *variety* in each issue, not an adventure path as the only option.
WotC's reading of their customers is the same as the democrats' reading of the American public's reason for voting in the last election - that is - a complete misreading. How many of the foot soldiers at WotC threw up their hands and said "IDIOTS!" when they heard about this?
If (and this is a BIG if) WotC's concept for online Dungeon and Dragon content is as follows, then I'd consider it:
1. Fully-tagged PDFs and fully-linked HTML files that can be downloaded to my hard drive for local storage - I'm not gonna pay you to provide content that can be withdrawn or withheld at your whim, let alone the whim of the power or telecomm grids' stability.
2. Maps that are able to be printed out in 1" = 5' scale. This is the one problem with the "new" encounter format and is already evident. The battlemaps in the adventures are worthless and they won't post scaled maps online.
3. No mandatory advertisements. Your publishing costs just got cut (at least by half) since you have no printing costs - no paper, no inks, etc. I'm not paying to see online advertisements (and I use adblockers anyway).
4. New content every month. I'm not gonna pay for sporadic updates to a website.
5. No java-based, web-only tools. I'm not storing a character on your server. I'm not using your dice-roller. I'm not using any of your content "online" at my gaming table.
Somehow, I don't think that any of the above are going to be part of WotC's intent.
My plans:
1. I'll still buy WotC print products (if they don't suck).
2. I've no intention of paying for an online tool or content unless it is DRM/restriction-free and I can save it to my hard drive, print out relevant parts, etc.
3. For my Forgotten Realms fix, I'll go to Candlekeep.
4. Hopefully, WotC will just bleed and bleed until they have to sell the D&D brand or risk it becoming worth less than what they paid for it.
5. Whoever buys D&D turns paizo back on to do Dragon and Dungeon.
6. Whoever buys D&D will put out print products with a link to a secure website to download a free watermarked PDF of the book the customer just bought.
I certainly don't want to see paizo die, but I'm not sure that they won't also get caught in the backlash of hate. How many of the contributors to Dungeon and Dragon will refuse to supply content to WotC? Hopefully, all of them (yeah, yeah, I know starving writers still gotta make a living...)