What do you want to ask WotC?

[delericho]

1) What functionality will the DI have? Is it just an e-zine equivalent of Dragon and Dungeon, plus online character generator and virtual tabletop, or is there more?

2) When will it be made available? At launch, will all the functionality be available, or will it be phased in over time?

3) How much will it cost? And are you going to offer different levels of membership for different levels of access?

4) When a new book is released, how quickly will the new options be added to the character generator and equivalent? You do realise that if this is 'immediate' then a lot of motivation for buying the new books is gone, but if it is not close to 'immediate' then the value of the DI is significnatly reduced? How do you plan to resolve that conundrum?

About the announcement:

5) When did you learn about the end of Dragon as a print entity? If it was this past week, did you warn the people telling you to expect this reaction? If it was before now, why has Wizards not been more proactive in damage control (Shouldn't there have been some sort of preview of the 'new' Dragon available on Friday)? Or did you not expect this level of response?

6) Sad to say, recent WotC product has suffered a lot of editing and layout mistakes. I point you to the Cambion entry in "Expedition to the Demonweb Pits" and, perhaps more seriously, the page backgrounds in "Scourge of the Howling Horde". By contrast, Dragon has seemed better put together for the past year. That being the case, what assurances can you give us that the quality of the new Dragon will be up to the standard of the old?

(Morrus: I hope these last two don't come off as overly snarky. If you feel otherwise, please accept my apologies, and withdraw the questions.)

About the future:

7) How does this move impact 4e? Is it notably nearer now than it was before, further away, or no different? Also, does this indicate a move to a different delivery mechanism for 4e (as in, primarily online)?

Oh, and thanks for taking the time to answer questions, guys, especially given the hostility shown here and elsewhere of late.

 

[WhatGravitas]

-> Will there be a print-on-demand or a monthy/bi-yearly/years print collection of online material?

-> Will a possible subscription-based program include more contact to the designers, similar to Baur's Open Adventure, perhaps even giving us the possibility to voice our design concerns for a possible 4th Edition?

(My idea behind is, that this initiative is a project for a "collaborated" new D&D, similar to OGL, but orchestrated by WotC alone)

-> Will this Digital Initiative also include more free material, similar to the current D&D homepage?

-> Is this related to the MtG-"MySpace"-like idea of individualized pages for gamers/gaming groups, making a "campaign-website" an easy endeavour for non-web-savvy people?

-> Dungeon-Adventures were RPGA-sanctioned - will this Digital Initiative have tie-ins with the RPGA, perhaps even including virtual tabletop into it (like adventure-packages with art, battlemaps and so on)?

-> Will this probably allow more tie-in with published books, like giving access to all tactical maps in adventures as a PDF to print it as battlemap?

-> Will this Digital Initiative also, somehow, have support for local game stores, since Wizards promotes game stores heavily with their collectible lines, will something similar be included for RPGs?

EDIT: Add this one:
-> If the digital initiative includes support for online gaming and similar things, how well will you support house rules, like the Unearthed Arcana variant rules or even totally homebrewed rules, basing on D&D?

-> Will there be any support for OGL or be OGC?

 

[Alnag]

How are you going to calm down evident alienation of players?

Is there any "chance" to print at least annual "the best of" this planned digital initiative for the old fashioned fans?

Do you think, that current situation give you some lesson, so that you will be able to manage similar future situations in less explosive way?

Do you think, that WotC stuff communicate less with the community in past years than before and why?

 

[Muad'dib Pendragon]

1. Given WoTC's less than stellar track record with previous electronic D&D content (e-tools, promised web enhancements that never appeared, broken search function, etc), what evidence do consumers have to lead us to believe your latest digital initiative will fare any better?

2. In light of the lack of a readily available replacement product, what drove the timing of the press release?

3. Why was there not more of a WoTC PR presence on-line from the beginning to field questions, dispel rumors, etc?

4. Given the backlash, would WoTC have approached this change differently?

5. Does this move mark the beginning of the end of WoTC's tabletop gaming support?

6. In digital initiative terms, who is WoTC's target audience?

7. How will you continue to support those who do not use computers or the Internet as a RPG mechanism at their gaming tables?

8. How will the subscription work? Month-to-month, credit card only, etc?

9. Will WoTC require customers to subscribe to the digital initiative to obtain errata?

10. Will WoTC offer a tiered subscription scheme (full access, limited content, or a la carte)?

11. Will WoTC offer free trial subscriptions to give prospective customers an opportunity to try before we buy?

12. Will WoTC's current online D&D content (web enhancements, etc) remain free?

13. What is the digital initiative's target date to go live? Is it firm?

14. Will the digital initiative include access to back content from previous Dungeon and Dragon magazines?

15. What, exactly, can we expect to see? Virtual gaming tables, SRD hotlink access, online character creation/tracking, etc?

16. How will Dungeon and Dragon inserts (maps, cards, etc) be replaced?

 

[DK]

Who own the copyrights of materials published by Paizo? Would you be able to use/publish/continue their material? (AoW, demonomion....)

 

[blargney the second]

Will the Digital Initiative be a place for new writers to get published like the magazines were?

-blarg

 

[Mr Vergee]

- If you make a digital replacement of Dungeon, what will it look like? It seems that one thing that made Dungeon magazine grow during the last couple of years were the adventure paths. Will you be publishing complete campaign adventures as well, especially with Paizo offering an alternative for that market already. If not, how do you hope to gain a firm customerbase?

- Will your digital magazines come in printer friendly form? Will I be able to copy-paste from them to keep my own printing cost at a minimum? Please allow me to say that this last question is very important to me. As someone has already pointed out, being a DM is not only time-consuming, but also very money-consuming. Unlike the lucky few who can print out stuff at their jobs, I have to pay for my ink myself, so printer friendliness is a very important topic for me. Otherwise you'll have us paying twice, once for the digital magazine, and once for the print out.

 

[amethal]

Will the best bits of the digital initiative eventually find their way into future published books?

If new monsters, feats etc. from the digital initiative find their way into WotC adventures, will enough information be included to enable those people who don't subscribe to still use the adventure?

Do you think that when we have all the information in respect of the digital initiative, the majority of people's fears and concerns will be proved to be groundless?

What will happen to Class Acts?

 

[dougmander]

Was the decision to cancel Dragon and Dungeon data-driven? If so, what data was used, and how was it collected?

If it was not data-driven, what assumptions about how these magazines did or did not contribute to the strength of the brand influenced the decision?

 

[Najo]

My questions are:

1) How does the digital initative affect the OGL and D20 license?

2) How does the dragon and dungeon going digital affect article contributors and advertisers?

3) Is there any connections between the digital initative and a 4th edition to D&D?

4) Will the future of D&D and the digital initative still be done in a manner that 3rd parties can be involved (i.e. d20 license)?