Wizards Website Survey

[AnthonyRoberson]

Has anyone else been prompted to complete a survey when visiting the Wizards website? I completed one yesterday. I wish I had copied off the quesstions. I was particularly amused by the one about whether or not I 'trusted Wizards to deliver digital content in a timely manner' or something like that...

EDIT: Oops. I just noticed the blurb at the top of the forums about taking the survey. I would definitely take the time to take it. Also, I wasn't trying to be snarky with my comment above. If the survy helps Wizards deliver better digital content, I am all for it!

 

[Shemeska]

I filled one out, and based on the questions they were asking, I suspect some combination of:

A) DDI subscriptions have not hit expectations

B) They're planning on dropping some or all of the still vaporware DDI elements like the visualizer, dungeon builder, and virtual game table. But they want to gauge interest in each before deciding which to quietly cancel for worry of alienating current or potential subscribers.

I might be wrong, but that's what I gathered from the spin and phrasing of the questions.

 

[Halivar]

B) They're planning on dropping some or all of the still vaporware DDI elements like the visualizer, dungeon builder, and virtual game table. But they want to gauge interest in each before deciding which to quietly cancel for worry of alienating current or potential subscribers.

I also get the impression that DDI is popular for reasons they did not anticipate, and some of the more "sexy" features are more "meh" for most folks. I, for one, am glad they are taking the time to research what efforts they ought to focus their efforts on.

EDIT: For me, I was excited about the questions that asked me about my interest in sharing custom monsters with other DDI subscribers, and using DDI to craft adventures for sharing. Building DDI into a "social-gaming network" tool would be awesome.

 

[Admiral Caine]

Has anyone else been prompted to complete a survey when visiting the Wizards website? I completed one yesterday. I wish I had copied off the quesstions. I was particularly amused by the one about whether or not I 'trusted Wizards to deliver digital content in a timely manner' or something like that...

EDIT: Oops. I just noticed the blurb at the top of the forums about taking the survey. I would definitely take the time to take it. Also, I wasn't trying to be snarky with my comment above. If the survy helps Wizards deliver better digital content, I am all for it!

I'm not going to pick on you Anthony, since you said you weren't being snarky.

I think addressing consumer trust is important though. Especially since investment in the game is tied to future sales.

 

[Moon_Goddess]

I also get the impression that DDI is popular for reasons they did not anticipate, and some of the more "sexy" features are more "meh" for most folks. I, for one, am glad they are taking the time to research what efforts they ought to focus their efforts on.

EDIT: For me, I was excited about the questions that asked me about my interest in sharing custom monsters with other DDI subscribers, and using DDI to craft adventures for sharing. Building DDI into a "social-gaming network" tool would be awesome.

See and I rated those items very low and bragged the compendium up the the highest heights.

 

[Umbran]

I might be wrong, but that's what I gathered from the spin and phrasing of the questions.

Let us note - any competent product manager would want this kind of data - not to know what to cancel, but to help prioritize.

 

[Admiral Caine]

Let us note - any competent product manager would want this kind of data - not to know what to cancel, but to help prioritize.

I agree. You don't ask people what they want from a pre-determined list that you provide, if you don't have a serious interest in trying to develop and sell those products.

Otherwise, all you do is draw their attention to something they might want and will be disappointed that they can't get (and thus be disappointed in your company).

Now competancy is key here, to quote Umbran..

But just based on the last 48 hours, I don't think WOTC is asleep at the switch. They might have made mistakes in the past, but I believe they are trying to fix their community communication issues and are out to capture some business.

Thus I believe WOTC has made some mistakes, but I don't think this survey suggests that the other DDI tools are vaporware. Not really..

It suggests to me that they're dusting themselves off and maybe getting their act together.

 

[mudbunny]

I also get the impression that DDI is popular for reasons they did not anticipate, and some of the more "sexy" features are more "meh" for most folks. I, for one, am glad they are taking the time to research what efforts they ought to focus their efforts on.

EDIT: For me, I was excited about the questions that asked me about my interest in sharing custom monsters with other DDI subscribers, and using DDI to craft adventures for sharing. Building DDI into a "social-gaming network" tool would be awesome.

On the official boards, when one of the DDI devs (I want to say Didier Monin, but may be wrong) mentioned wanting to make a tool that would let you build a dungeon, place the encounters (and automagically pull the stat blocks from the compendium), there was almost a unanimous cry of "ME WANT PLEEZE!!"

I honestly don't think that they realized how much people would want not only the tools themselves, but that the combination of the tools would prove to be more desireable than the tools by themselves. And that it is the combination of the tools (and the resulting interface/UI/presentation of results) that will be their big payoff.

I mean, imagine this. You have a suite of tools that let you build a dungeon, populate it with monsters (that link to the appropriate stat blocks), and save it as a folder that you can then share with people that all is uploadable into the Game Table.

I think that while there are some people at WotC who had this vision, that there were a lot who just couldn't see that far into the future and envision the desired connectivity of the tools.

 

[Keefe the Thief]

Just took the survey - my popup blocker killed it over at Wotc. I like that they seem to reasses their Digital Initiative. Currently DDI is of great value, it´s just that the next couple of tools will decide a lot. Kill the visualizer (who needs that?), build the dungeon builder.

And let users share content - even dungeons - through DDI!

 

[Umbran]

I think that while there are some people at WotC who had this vision, that there were a lot who just couldn't see that far into the future and envision the desired connectivity of the tools.

I personally think it is more likely that WotC, really, isn't a software house, such that grand visions are somewhat beyond their current resources.