Responses to Questions about the DI

[amethal]

Still saying very little. I wonder if they're really scrambling for time and making it up as they go along, as it sometimes seems, or whether they've actually got developers, plans, in-house beta versions etc and are just waiting for the right time to show them off?

Especially when you consider that the magazines were supposed to be cancelled several months ago, and they granted Paizo an extension "as a favour" so they could finish the Savage Tide.

 

[Mark Hope]

Especially when you consider that the magazines were supposed to be cancelled several months ago, and they granted Paizo an extension "as a favour" so they could finish the Savage Tide.

Of all the issues connected to the DI, I find this one the most baffling. The linked thread contains a few questions related to the actual content of the DI (will it have a character generator, will it have mapping software?), which are answered with "sorry, can't tell you that yet".

Why can't WotC give any clues as to the specific content of the DI? I'd love to see someone from WotC (Scott?) step up and answer this rather glaring issue.

 

[Hussar]

While I'm not Scott, I have seen them state repeatedly that they are NDA'd out the wazoo. That would explain pretty much why they can't talk about specifics. My feeling is that this is going to be the big thing at Gen Con.

Especially when you consider that the magazines were supposed to be cancelled several months ago, and they granted Paizo an extension "as a favour" so they could finish the Savage Tide.

Actually, they were given a three month extention IIRC. Which would mean that July would have been the last issue. Not exactly several months ago.

Why does, "I'm sorry, I can't talk about that yet" get automatically equated with, "We are complete morons and we have nothing of substance to talk about"?

 

[Mark Hope]

While I'm not Scott, I have seen them state repeatedly that they are NDA'd out the wazoo. That would explain pretty much why they can't talk about specifics.

Fair enough - I do understand the NDA side of things from personal experience. What I am getting at, I suppose, is that iron-clad NDAs seem somewhat counterproductive in this situation. This lead-in time is ripe with opportunities for attracting customers by telling them about the cool stuff that the DI will include. Each answer of "sorry, can't tell you that" is a missed opportunity.

 

[PatEllis15]

You should also keep in mind that as a publicly traded company, they are limited in what they can/cannot say about future products/services, as their announcement (in the eyes of the SEC) could be seen as an attempt to manipulate their stock price. I don't know the FULL extent of those restrictions, but they are out there.


Pat E

 

[w_earle_wheeler]

DRM means "Don't Rely on Me" to support the DI.

 

[jgbrowning]

Why does, "I'm sorry, I can't talk about that yet" get automatically equated with, "We are complete morons and we have nothing of substance to talk about"?

Because not taking the opportunity to talk about your product when presented the opportunity is stupid.

There are situations when that is not the case, however: such as when you don't know what the product is or when you think your product is composed of suck.

joe b.

 

[kenmarable]

Books, are exactly that. Books. I separate books from support the same way WotC does. According to WotC, the economics that support the decision to eliminate the magazines and go 100% DI are not valid when applied to core books. The 2 are distinct in my eyes and WotC's. Dragon and Dungeon supplied support in various ways for the D&D community. The DI is designed to replace that support and hopefully enhance it. You might not consider D&D players who do not have access to computers or the net to be marginalized by the reality of the DI, but I do.

Of course this is all subjective opinion.

The Complete books support D&D. Adventure modules, campaign settings, and all that support D&D. If you are talking about supporting the sales of the books or something and not supporting the actual gameplay, then I guess that's understandable. But I can't see how the magazines can be seen as the only support of D&D. I guess our definitions of "support" are vastly different. 90% of the support for my games are the books.

Even going back to what the WotC rep said, "the DI is focused on those with internet access" is a long way from "players who don't have access to computers and the net are not part of WotC's plans for supporting D&D." Your phrasing is a tad misleading.


In other topics, is this weird wording (especially considering the question isn't asking "when" but "how much") or did he say that DI is coming right after the magazines stop?

Q. How many adventures will be published in a months time with in the DI?

A. Since the magazines are moving online, you can expect the same article and adventure content to start arriving about the same time as the last magazines come out, and lots of it.

I thought they've been saying all along (and he even said further up the message) that they aren't announcing when it will be released. Considering they haven't even announced it yet or been building up any interest by talking about actual features, I would think it's further out than September. Something as major as they are making this sound warrants at least 4 months of promotion. *shrug* But hopefully we'll get some concrete details at Gen Con.

 

[mhacdebhandia]

Joe, you're cool and successful, but I'm not sure that your experiences - as a publisher or otherwise - are necessarily as relevant to this situation as you think.

 

[theredrobedwizard]

There are people without computers and/or internet access that play D&D? Color me baffled.

I know actual Homeless people who have internet access (via public libraries and the like). Homeless. I mean, unless it's some sort of personal choice issue, then by all means do what you feel like and all. Still, people under the age of 80 who don't have internet access? *confused*

(ninja edit: Watermarked PDFs wouldn't be so bad, but anything more and it'll definitely hurt sales.)

-TRRW