666Sinner666
First Post
Pretty sure they have always been there as well. Now the question is how much do you like a good conspiracy? Personally, not to much. I'd rather sit quietly and see what happens. *folds his hands and twirls his thumbs*
Possible DDI Tiered Pricing...
Pretty sure they have always been there as well. Now the question is how much do you like a good conspiracy? Personally, not to much. I'd rather sit quietly and see what happens. *folds his hands and twirls his thumbs*
delericho
Legend
Given the recent troubles with the DDI, WotC would be unwise to try to introduce price rises at this time - they really need to rebuild a bit of goodwill first.
The Character Builder is probably in the wrong level - it should either be considered a basic DDI tool (and so in the copper level), or it should be considered the 'killer app' (and so be in the gold level). Placing it in silver just doesn't seem to fit either way. (But, I suppose as a compromise between these two positions...)
Unless the 'magazines' improve significantly, they can't be considered a selling point at any tier of pricing.
And, finally, it's not really a good idea making DMs pay more to use the tools. Although players come and go, for the game to expand it really needs more DMs. As far as possible, then, WotC should be looking to minimise the costs being imposed on players who wish to make the jump to DMing. Putting all the DM tools in the most expensive tier of payments is precisely the wrong way to go.
All IMO, of course.
The Character Builder is probably in the wrong level - it should either be considered a basic DDI tool (and so in the copper level), or it should be considered the 'killer app' (and so be in the gold level). Placing it in silver just doesn't seem to fit either way. (But, I suppose as a compromise between these two positions...)
Unless the 'magazines' improve significantly, they can't be considered a selling point at any tier of pricing.
And, finally, it's not really a good idea making DMs pay more to use the tools. Although players come and go, for the game to expand it really needs more DMs. As far as possible, then, WotC should be looking to minimise the costs being imposed on players who wish to make the jump to DMing. Putting all the DM tools in the most expensive tier of payments is precisely the wrong way to go.
All IMO, of course.
Obryn
Hero
As a guess? Gold + Adventure Tools lets you run a VTT game.
To play in a game, you'd just need Compendium access to get all your rules text populated.
I dunno, but it's a thought. You might well need Character Builder access for that. In fact, I think that's a strong possibility, too. I very much doubt everyone at the VTT would need the top tier of material available to them.
-O
To play in a game, you'd just need Compendium access to get all your rules text populated.
I dunno, but it's a thought. You might well need Character Builder access for that. In fact, I think that's a strong possibility, too. I very much doubt everyone at the VTT would need the top tier of material available to them.
-O
Nahat Anoj
First Post
As far as I recall, the colors have always been that way. I never intrepreted it as suggestive of tiered pricing, but I don't think it's unreasonable that they had plans on doing that earlier on (or that they still might).
Dungeoneer
First Post
Bronze/Silver/Gold as a pricing structure is SO played out. I want to sign up for Heroic/Paragon and Epic membership tiers!
I'm pretty sure you're barking up the wrong tree. I mean, we've got three things here:
Personally, I would bet on the tiers being content-driven rather than app-driven. Something like, lowest tier gets the Essentials books; middle tier gets all published books but not Dragon/Dungeon content; top tier gets the whole shebang.
Why are we all talking about DDI tiers suddenly, anyway? Seems like every week there's a new thread on the subject. As far as I know, Wizards has not given any indication of planning to do this in the near future... is it just because of all the changes to DDI?
- Character Builder. Extremely helpful tool for newbie players to get into the game. (It's handy for veterans too.)
- Adventure Tools. Helpful tool for DMs, both newbie and veteran.
- Compendium. Very little use to newbies; value is primarily to the hardcore gamer seeking the perfect monster, power, or feat, or trying to adjudicate some arcane rules dispute.
Personally, I would bet on the tiers being content-driven rather than app-driven. Something like, lowest tier gets the Essentials books; middle tier gets all published books but not Dragon/Dungeon content; top tier gets the whole shebang.
Why are we all talking about DDI tiers suddenly, anyway? Seems like every week there's a new thread on the subject. As far as I know, Wizards has not given any indication of planning to do this in the near future... is it just because of all the changes to DDI?
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I'm A Banana
Potassium-Rich
I don't believe the icons have always been that way. They've changed a bit over the months and years, though they've certainly been this way since about December, IIRC. The other icons either had no dragon on the border (the border was just a line), or didn't have a "metallic" dragon on the border. Of course, that doesn't mean anything on the face of it.
No one's said THIS IS GOING TO HAPPEN OMG EVERYONE WATCH OUT!
It's a curiosity I noticed, and something of a reason to talk about what you'd like/expect to see in a tiered pricing scheme, if one were to come out of WotC. I bet it's at least something they've been bandying about, whether or not it's something they're seriously considering (or already have a vague plan for implementing).
If they did go with "compendium < character builder + mags < monster builder" motif, I could see the line being the amount of tech/money investment WotC had to make to get it right, and how "digital realm" the offering is. The Compendium is a basic data entry project, and aids anyone with a laptop at the table for rules look-up. You can't very easily do much with it other than look up rules, though (and, currently, you can't even look up all the key rules, like the fighter's combat challenge). The character builder and the mags are significantly greater cost to WotC, and are a more robust "playing on the web" thing. You make your character on the computer, you're spending more time at the thing thinking about D&D than you are if you just hand-crank your character. The Adventure Tools, of course, reflect the highest investment in using webtools.
Why would they do that, when the biggest selling point for DDI so far has been "all of your information, and tools to help you manage it?" Better to charge more for more tools than to charge more for more info, I'd think. But we're rampantly speculating so your idea has as much merit as mine, I guess.
You didn't HAVE to click on the thread. It says right in the title it's about DDI tiered pricing. You didn't have to post in it if you're annoyed by the subject matter. If you don't want to talk about it, posting in the thread and bumping it is a strange way to discourage conversation.
Also, if you'd like to link to a few of those hundreds of other threads, I'm sure the mods could merge 'em and make the world an easier place for you, if there's too many. I did a quick scan of the first few pages and didn't see one relating to tiered pricing or the icons possible hint at all, but I certainly could have missed it.
No one's said THIS IS GOING TO HAPPEN OMG EVERYONE WATCH OUT!
It's a curiosity I noticed, and something of a reason to talk about what you'd like/expect to see in a tiered pricing scheme, if one were to come out of WotC. I bet it's at least something they've been bandying about, whether or not it's something they're seriously considering (or already have a vague plan for implementing).
If they did go with "compendium < character builder + mags < monster builder" motif, I could see the line being the amount of tech/money investment WotC had to make to get it right, and how "digital realm" the offering is. The Compendium is a basic data entry project, and aids anyone with a laptop at the table for rules look-up. You can't very easily do much with it other than look up rules, though (and, currently, you can't even look up all the key rules, like the fighter's combat challenge). The character builder and the mags are significantly greater cost to WotC, and are a more robust "playing on the web" thing. You make your character on the computer, you're spending more time at the thing thinking about D&D than you are if you just hand-crank your character. The Adventure Tools, of course, reflect the highest investment in using webtools.
Why would they do that, when the biggest selling point for DDI so far has been "all of your information, and tools to help you manage it?" Better to charge more for more tools than to charge more for more info, I'd think. But we're rampantly speculating so your idea has as much merit as mine, I guess.
You didn't HAVE to click on the thread. It says right in the title it's about DDI tiered pricing. You didn't have to post in it if you're annoyed by the subject matter. If you don't want to talk about it, posting in the thread and bumping it is a strange way to discourage conversation.
Also, if you'd like to link to a few of those hundreds of other threads, I'm sure the mods could merge 'em and make the world an easier place for you, if there's too many. I did a quick scan of the first few pages and didn't see one relating to tiered pricing or the icons possible hint at all, but I certainly could have missed it.
webrunner
First Post
When profitability is down, there's a few things a company can do:
1. reduce overhead by reducing quality/quantity of product (this is what they've been doing)
2. increase price to recoup losses (this is usually the route companies take)
3. decrease price to increase sales (this is something that's proving to be extremely profitable, see Steam and iPhone sales. but a lot of companies haven't keyed in to lower price = more money yet)
Hopefully Wizards understands that #3 is the way to go for everything.
1. reduce overhead by reducing quality/quantity of product (this is what they've been doing)
2. increase price to recoup losses (this is usually the route companies take)
3. decrease price to increase sales (this is something that's proving to be extremely profitable, see Steam and iPhone sales. but a lot of companies haven't keyed in to lower price = more money yet)
Hopefully Wizards understands that #3 is the way to go for everything.
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