What would WotC need to do to win back the disenchanted?

[Olaf the Stout]

Bring back PDF's from editions prior to 4E would get me to give them some of my money. The fact that the only way to get the older edition stuff is via eBay or torrents is frustrating to me.

Heck, if they added all of the older edition stuff to the DDI it may even get me to sign up for a subscription, even though I don't play 4E.

Releasing some more D&D pre-painted minis will get me buying them. Dungeon Tiles will probably perk my interest too (although I haven't bought the last few sets).

Other than that though I don't plan on buying 4E. It's not that I think WotC is doing anything wrong at the moment. It is just that I'm happy enough with the 3.xE stuff I have. What I currently own for 3.xE is enough to keep my group playing for several years. When 5E eventually gets released X years from now they will probably get my business again.

Olaf the Stout

 

[Theo R Cwithin]

Old PDFs would bring me in on occasion.
DDI 3e almost certainly would.
Cheaper softcover manuals would make me more likely to check out 4e. New Red Box almost had me when it was 3 levels, but now it sounds like it's 2 levels again (?) so I'm backing off the fence. GW is sounding less intersting to me for some reason, too.

So, meh. Frankly, I've got enough to game with for a long time, and my imagination is vaster than any company could ever hope to be. If I end up in a group interested in new WotC stuff, I'll take a look. Otherwise, I'm likely done for good. :shrug:

 

[bagger245]

Thing is, they do want lapsed players to come back being a customer again, but to play their current edition..

 

[Ourph]

But even more than the system itself, I've been completely turned off to Wizards of the Coast's marketing tactics, business strategy, and PR.

Over the past 24 months or so, they've been mediocre at best, and outright bunglers at worst when comes to PR, and only a staunch Wizards defender would disagree.

I'm not much of a Wizards defender (I was more of a striker during the 3e era ), but I think "the past 24 months" is inaccurate. During the 24 months surrounding the the 4e launch (before and after), perhaps. But I think the last year has seen a lot of really positive things (DM rewards programs, the Encounters program, Robot Chicken videos, solid e-tools, etc.) and few if any bungles on the scale of Gleemax or pulling the .pdfs. I realize a lot of those things might not appeal to you personally, but for people who aren't actively angry at WotC I think those things have done a lot to create goodwill and loyal customers.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

So how could Wizards best extend an olive branch to us, the Disenchanted?

In all honesty, while I'm one of the people who really disliked 4Ed's rollout (it violated a lot of principles I learned getting my MBA), and I don't particularly care for 4Ed (I've bought a few books, mostly on deep-ish discounts, in order to maintain my status as the librarian for my group- currently playing a startup 4Ed game), I'm not particularly anti-WotC. So basically, there really isn't anything they could do to change my opinion of the company.

I will say that the idea to have D&D's entire history available through DDI would be pretty damn smart, though. Sammael gets XP for that.

 

[Ycore Rixle]

To get me back, they'd need to publish something that gives me ideas, fills me with a sense of wonder, and makes me excited about reading or playing D&D. I'm pretty easy about that too: 1e, 2e to a lesser extent, and 3.x all do that for me. So do Traveller in almost all its incarnations, ASOIF, WHFRPG, Dogs in the Vineyard, My Life with Master, Savage Worlds, Exalted, CoC, Unhallowed Metropolis, even Nicotine Girls.

What can I say, I'm a pushover. I *want* to believe in your RPG world. I *want* to have fun in it. I believe, like Kurt Vonnegut, that a critic is someone who attacks a hot fudge sundae while wearing a full suit of plate armor.

And yet I find myself a 4e critic. I'm sure the people making it tried to make a hot fudge sundae. But to me, it's like they made it out of mustard and mushroom ice cream.

To win me back, WOTC would have to show me what I consider intelligence. (Note: This is my own opinion, yours may differ, and yet we can still both agree that the world is a great place and that Gen Con should have vuvuzelas in the RPGA hall.) The way that 4e has been designed, written, and marketed demonstrates to me (maybe not you) muddy, weak, and often misguided thinking.

So WOTC needs to show me something smart. Maybe use more than an 8th-grade level vocabulary in their books. Maybe not make bone-headed marketing moves. Maybe try to have some themes, foreshadowing, character depth, or challenging ideas in their adventures. Maybe some allusions. I'm not sure. But to bring me back, I'd need to see something that makes me feel like the person writing the book is a smart guy and has something to say that is worth listening to.

 

[Indagare Nogitsune]

Personally, I do not think there's much they can do to get people back. After what they did to the Forgotten Realms, I think it's pretty clear they'd rather destroy all that came before than ask what their players actually want.

 

[I'm A Banana]

I hear sex sells.

They could try including more of that?

But I guess the BoEF didn't do so well...

 

[hutchback]

I am honestly curious, so please don't think I am trying to be snarky.

Doesn't Paizo more or less offer all of what you are asking for through their Pathfinder line? I don't know much about Pathfinder, so perhaps I have an inaccurate perception.

I there something about Pathfinder that makes one reluctant to jump on board?

 

[Dandu]

I hear sex sells.

They could try including more of that?

But I guess the BoEF didn't do so well...

Couldn't get a rise out of the sales. The book was a bit of a flop. Came up a bit short in the sex department, felt a little forced at some points.