D&D 5E WTF Wizards of the Coast? *RANT* (video link)

[Shasarak]

Somehow the point of this went completely past me. Or my point went past you, perhaps. We passed right by each other. How's that?

The point that there is already some one doing what you thought could not (should not?) be done?

From what I gathered from the interview with Ed Greenwood on the Tome Show, if people want digital support for his novels then they can have them. If they want to play the games that are played in the novels then they can have them. If they want the music or sound effects to play while reading the books then they can have them.

 

[Guest 6801328]

The point that there is already some one doing what you thought could not (should not?) be done?

Ah...got it. Yeah, that wasn't my point.

My point was to mock the idea that I'm entitled to digital support for print products, and that I should throw a hissy fit and conclude that they're bad at business if they don't provide it.

Sure, some publishers DO blend print and digital. Some people interpret that to mean that it's always a good idea, and that they're entitled to it.

 

[Shasarak]

Ah...got it. Yeah, that wasn't my point.

My point was to mock the idea that I'm entitled to digital support for print products, and that I should throw a hissy fit and conclude that they're bad at business if they don't provide it.

Sure, some publishers DO blend print and digital. Some people interpret that to mean that it's always a good idea, and that they're entitled to it.

I am sure that Vinyl Record manufacturers thought that people asking to listen to music in their car or while they walked or exercised were being 'entitled' and they probably even mocked them for their 'hissy fit complaints' as well.

 

[Guest 6801328]

I am sure that Vinyl Record manufacturers thought that people asking to listen to music in their car or while they walked or exercised were being 'entitled' and they probably even mocked them for their 'hissy fit complaints' as well.

Yeah, digital music has been such a boon for record producers. How could they have been so stupid as to have resisted it?

Oh, wait....

In any event, you're apparently still missing the point. I'm not saying that (insert old-fashioned producer here) should or should not embrace technology, or that fans shouldn't ask for what they want. I'm rolling my eyes at:
a) Said fans thinking they understand the internals of those businesses based on scant information
b) The angry, petulant, self-righteous form that the "asking" can take

 

[captcorajus]

The tenor of this thread is NOT GOOD.

The OP was indicated as a "RANT". Not a solidly reasoned position, but an emotional, angry response. .

I would challenge you to actually WATCH the video before coming to a conclusion based on a lack of information.

My position is unequivocally solid, the RANT portion come in regards to WOTC's failure to act, and if you watched the entire video.. its not just me talking... i don't even appear on screen.. you might have a better understanding of what it is I'm talking about.

The whole problem with this thread is that most of the people didn't even watch the video and started commenting. Oh well.. internet.

 

[captcorajus]

Why does WotC need to provide one? What will slapping the official logo provide that hours of fan support cannot?
(Of course, they already have a form fillable digital character sheet.)

If you had actually WATCHED my video you would know the answer to this question.

All the apps you listed only have information from the SRD. WOTC has exclusive rights to produce a full version with
all relevant data from the PHB. THAT'S the issue.

Clearly, making the app isn't difficult, as you already demonstrated with your links list.

 

[Guest 6801328]

Ok, I listened to your whole video. I can't say it's very persuasive. It really is just a "rant" and not really a compelling case. Dramatic emphasis (e.g. "SIXTEEN years..." ) doesn't really qualify as evidence or argument. (Ever notice that NPR reporters do this whenever a dollar amount gets mentioned? "...and used SEVENTEEN dollars of taxpayer money...")

Yes, it's easy to crank out partially complete, low-feature apps that you don't have to support, that don't get much traffic, and doesn't require payments. Heck, I could whip out a nifty js/css based character sheet by tomorrow morning. By evening it would auto-populate with sub-class info, spells, skill and attack bonuses, etc. Easy and fun project.

Check out my spell index that I whipped up about 15 months ago: http://salty-ridge-7989.herokuapp.com/

Took under 3 hours, largely because somebody else had already typed everything into a spreadsheet.

But it's a vastly different proposition to roll out a commercial product that has to keep lots of customers happy, bill them securely, and be maintained.

Let's say they build this amazing character database and...oops! Sorry, little unexpected glitch...all your characters got corrupted. Independent and free "fan" projects don't really have to worry about this. Caveat emptor and all. Wizards would very, very much have to worry about this. And staying on top of everything that can go wrong gets expensive.

I know, I know...there are lots of gamers on this site who code. And I wish when hiring engineers I could know which of them post things on gaming forums like "this would be cheap and easy to build and maintain" because I'd know which ones to never hire.

Honestly I think your insistence on pretending to know exactly what decisions constitutes "responsible" business practices, in a business to which you are not privy to any actual data, is more than a little naive.

I'd love to have something like the digital tools we were promised, too. Guess what? Technology projects go off the rails a lot.

MM and JC aren't idiots. And Wizards isn't a technology company.

 

[Jester David]

If you had actually WATCHED my video you would know the answer to this question.

I watched enough.

All the apps you listed only have information from the SRD. WOTC has exclusive rights to produce a full version with all relevant data from the PHB. THAT'S the issue.

HeroLabs only includes the SRD. But you can import data done by anyone. 30-seconds on their forum will get you to a fan who did the rest of the PHB. It's all there. Not official but complete.
And Fanatasy Grounds is done under licence. It has *everything* as well, not just SRD.

WotC didn't have to do anything. Making their own app is pointless, expensive, and likely a failure.

Clearly, making the app isn't difficult, as you already demonstrated with your links list.

Not for software companies that do it full time and have spent a decade building foundational software.
Lone Wolf also had over a year to do the 5e toolset expecting the SRD. And we don't know how long Fanatsy Grounds was working on their data before going live. Trapdoor Tech also spent months working on their product.

WotC is a Card Game Publisher. And 5% of the company is also dedicated to making books. None of that translates to writing code, designing apps, or creating digital assets. The skill set of the people at the company are as relevant for making digital tools as they are for making birdhouses or flying planes. I'm not going to trust WotC to pilot an aircraft and I'm not going to trust them to write software for D&D.

Online tools are something done by a licencee. A programming company that pays WotC for the rights. Again, the lack of online tools is thus a failure for anyone to buy the rights and successfully release e-tools. The fault lies in the licencee companies not with WotC.
Just like the lack of owlbear plushies. I'd love some, but I doubt WotC would even know how to start designing one. And unlike digital tools, I can't replicate the efforts of a plushie with 5 minutes of work and a pencil.

 

[Shasarak]

Come on, WotC - just do the thing.


That would be great.

 

[Nylanfs]

One thing about ASSume.

You would assume incorrectly. I am using my own personal success in running first a corporate business for 10 years, and then my own personal business for the last 10 years, thus 20 years experience as my assessment of WOTC's failure here.

I am also using my knowledge of exactly how digital apps through apple are written and marketed, which in reality very little cost involved.

We are talking about DATA organizational apps here, not reinventing the wheel. The apps have already been written, and the cost to use them is nominal in
that even a 'start up' can afford to utilize the software engine for their own commercial apps.

Any well versed scripter can manage this application as what we are talking about is data manipulation. The equivalent of writing an excel spread sheet, and giving it a pretty skin.

Furthermore, DIGITAL is the way the industry, and business in general is moving. EVERYBODY has an 'app'. This is called a TREND. You might want to look it up, as its a very important term when it comes to running a business. Its probably the single most important business trend in history, which only further serves to underscore WOTC's utter failure to find a revenue model that capitalizes on it.

You would seriously have to be a complete WOTC apologist to not recognize this.

This shows a shocking lack of code experience and how it relates to RPG systems.

EVERY book creates exceptions which have to be built into the code. Then the data needs to be written to utilize the code. This takes a team of dedicated people, and that takes money.