Possible DDI Tiered Pricing...

[Dausuul]

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 tech/money investment is irrelevant. Nobody pays a premium for something just because it costs the company more to make; if you want to charge a premium, you have to offer more value to the consumer*. Besides, the marginal cost of granting access to any DDI tool is next to nothing. As with most electronic offerings, DDI is almost all overhead.

Now, it's obviously true that Character Builder plus Compendium offers greater value than Compendium alone. So you could justify a premium for that. But I don't see where the demand for a Compendium-only tier is supposed to come from. How many people are there who want to use a computer at the gaming table to look up rules, yet don't want to use a computer away from the table to make their characters?

The whole point of a tiered system is to bring in as much revenue as possible, by giving customers a variety of options based on their willingness to pay for value. The lowest tier is by definition aimed at the customers with the smallest budget for your product. Therefore, you have to ask, "Out of what we've got for sale, what do these cheapskate customers value enough to pay for?" I'm not seeing a lot of cases where the answer is "the Compendium" and nothing else.

[size=-2]*Admittedly, in some cases the value to the consumer is the social status conferred by being able to say "I paid the premium for this." In other cases, consumers who have difficulty judging the relative value of products may use price as a guide to quality, paying a premium because they assume it indicates value. But I don't see that either of these situations applies here.[/size]

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.

I could see them splitting it out by content because it would mesh better with their business goals and there would be more demand for it. "Access to all D&D products" offers value mainly to the hardcore gamer. To the casual gamer, it's not that useful and may even be a hindrance--I know novice gamers often feel overwhelmed by the number of options.

The high barrier to entry has always been one of D&D's biggest challenges. What casual gamers need most are things to lower that barrier, and e-tools are one of WotC's best means of accomplishing that. Give them an introductory tier with access to all the tools but a limited subset of the content. Once you've got them hooked, you can entice them with the lure of new options. It's the same "core plus splatbooks" model that RPGs have relied on since the dawn of the industry, just updated for new technology.

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.

I didn't say I don't want to talk about it; I enjoy shooting the bull about WotC's future prospects and business decisions as much as anybody. I'm just wondering where the sudden influx of "DDI tiers" threads is coming from.

 

[Ktulu]

He's right! Look at the other things I've found on the site!

Surprise!
Intrigue
The rule of three!
The!


I'll bet the catholic church is behind this; someone call Dan Brown!

 

[Zaran]

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.

I've always been amazed at how #3 doesnt get used more often. Supply and demand was the most basic lesson in my economics class in high school. When people buy less of your product you lower the price. This is why it amazes me when I see normal sized comics at 4 dollars a piece!

 

[Nemesis Destiny]

That's the thing about supply and demand in a digital economy - supply is literally infinite, so demand is (or should be) the sole factor. If demand is not what you would like it to be then your expectations are flawed with respect to the value proposition of your product. You want to sell more? Lower your price, provide more value, or do a combination of those things. End of story.

 

[mudbunny]

Just poked WotC, and the answer I got back was that the colours on the icons denote nothing at all. They are just colours.

 

[Nemesis Destiny]

That is, of course, the "official" line until the big reveal. *removes tinfoil hat*

 

[the Jester]

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.

No kidding! If there was any move to increase DDI sub costs without returning the value of the sub to where it was, I could see even more of an implosion in WotC's digital offerings.

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.[/quote]

I agree with everything you say here.

Really, when most subscribers pay for DDI, what are they paying for in their mind (NOT the legalistic approach that so many take when discussing this topic)? I would wager the biggest element is the Character Builder (too bad it doesn't work for crap) followed by the Adventure Tools (too bad they don't work for crap), followed by the e-mags (too bad their content is so sparse and crappy lately). I would wager the compendium is the last element most folks think of- it's only handy for reference, it's not designed for easy cut & paste or actual game play use- it's a prep tool. And even it is no longer complete!

So if the hypothetical lowest pricing tier does NOT include the CB, I think WotC shoots itself in the foot, because to get someone to buy the premium version, you usually have to make them see the value in the basic PLUS THIS OTHER STUFF!!, versus saying, "Oh, you only get the value if you pony up for Epic Tier Pricing!"

More than anything, though, I think that WotC needs to build goodwill badly. The complete buggering of pretty much all of DDI for half a subscription period now is very disheartening. My sub lapsed a couple of days ago; I had been an early adopter and a strong advocate of using the online tools and so forth. Now I can't see resubbing unless there is a HUGE increase in quality- at least back to where we were.

I just cannot fathom how on earth anyone at WotC, even the suits, thought the various changes they are making to DDI are a good idea. I understand that a lot of it has to do with combating piracy, but I DON'T CARE. That doesn't help me, the customer, one bit. It just makes me keep my money in pocket.

 

[mudbunny]

Assuming that there are tiers, I fully expect that the Compendium will be the lowest tier. Why?? Access to it for various 3rd party programs like iPlay4E, MasterPlan, etc that have Compendium access as an integral part of their functioning.

 

[Herschel]

 

[the Jester]

Assuming that there are tiers, I fully expect that the Compendium will be the lowest tier. Why?? Access to it for various 3rd party programs like iPlay4E, MasterPlan, etc that have Compendium access as an integral part of their functioning.

Huh- I honestly wouldn't expect helping 3rd party products to enter into WotC's calculations, based on their handling of them so far (GSL, Masterplan C&D, etc).