Weaning Off the Sauce

[Mallus]

I've recentkly discovered the wonders of Mutants & Masterminds, so I think I'll be spending time and money on that.

M&M2e rocks! There's a fantasy source book for it called Warriors and Warlocks. The PDF is available now, the print copy is coming soon.

 

[Remathilis]

I'm on the fence; I haven't bought too many 4e books because of personal financial reasons (the last book I bought before PHB2 was Adventurers Vault). However, this has made me a bit less inclined to want to go out and buy new WotC stuff.

HOWEVER

I still enjoy 4e (and SW Saga, FWIW) and as much as I will support Paizo when Pathfinder comes out, I'm not sure I could switch from being a "solely WotC and occasional 3PP" guy to "No WotC, all 3PP" guy.

 

[Aberzanzorax]

@ Twowolves:

Let us not forget zero fansite policy in over a year, but the interest in shutting down more than one fansite already.

They might have been justified, but they sure weren't "cuddly" about it.



Again, it falls under the lines of just because you CAN do it, doesn't mean you SHOULD do it.


WotC still hasn't (and may never) learn this lesson. If fans support them despite all of their gaffes/flubs/miscommunications/lies/takeovers....then they WILL JUST KEEP ON DOING IT.

I'll not help that venture, even if it has nothing to do with baby seals (which frankly, I couldn't give a darn about. Respect PEOPLE, or GO away, IMHO)

 

[Aberzanzorax]

@ Remathilis:

It could be: "a usually 3pp guy and a sometimes, but rarely WotC guy" if that rocks your boat.

 

[Xyxox]

M&M2e rocks! There's a fantasy source book for it called Warriors and Warlocks. The PDF is available now, the print copy is coming soon.

I've been a fan of the Wild Cards books for more than two decades (I have a copy of all 19). When I found out John J. Miller had written the Wild Cards campaign book for M&M, I knew I'd get hooked.

 

[Nellisir]

For personal and financial reasons, I have not and will not buy any 4e books beyond the core 3 and FR campaign setting (my last RPG purchase). I haven't signed up for DDI, and I haven't been on the WotC website for about 6 months. I don't have a particularly huge hatred for 4e; it was just a combination of circumstances that led me to decide not to invest in a game I never expect to play.

That said, a few months ago I...acquired...a large digital collection of official 4e material. Honestly, I thought it would make a good, helpful, or interesting reference for my current game building exercise, or at least be interesting reading. I didn't really set out looking for it, but it came up and I grabbed it. I thought about getting more.

After WotC's recent actions and statements, I'm not going to. And I'm deleting the files I do have. And I'll likely sell my physical books.

I don't feel guilty, and I don't feel vindictive. But I have realized that 4e just doesn't interest me at all. I'd rather have $$$ and my drive space back. My digital acquisitions have gathered digital dust on my hard drive. I haven't even "cracked open" most of them. I've looked at PH2 on the shelves, and I can't even work up the interest to pirate it.

Pirating something at least hints at interest, and I don't have any. I'd actually love it if pirating of 4e stopped altogether - maybe then, if sales decline as well, WotC will pull back and think about making a game that excited me again. I'm not betting on it, though.

Ah, well. Swords & Wizardry is pretty darned cool.

 

[GAAAHHH]

I'm going to try to base my purchasing decisions on whether the company in question is selling a product I'd like to consume. If so, then yes. I will exceptions for companies that club baby seals, exploit children, and poison tracts of land.

In the case of companies that make business decisions that consider fundamentally dumb, but violate no principle that I consider important (outside of "don't do dumb things"), I'll give them a pass. After all, they're selling something I want.

What about companies that club children and exploit baby seals?

I'm going to stop buying 4th edition books. Right after I get PH2. And Arcane Power. And the P3 adventure. And Manual of the Planes.

Really, I can stop anytime I want to...

 

[wilrich]

I'm going to try to base my purchasing decisions on whether the company in question is selling a product I'd like to consume. If so, then yes. I will exceptions for companies that club baby seals, exploit children, and poison tracts of land.

In the case of companies that make business decisions that consider fundamentally dumb, but violate no principle that I consider important (outside of "don't do dumb things"), I'll give them a pass. After all, they're selling something I want.

This.

I just don't get the rage over this. I don't know if discontinuing PDF sales is a good or bad business decision and, when it comes to what I will purchase in the future, I don't care. Me personally, I happen to hate PDFs, strongly prefer physical books (luddite that I am) and I like 4th edition. Therefore, because the company that makes the books with the content I like is not, as far as I know, exploiting children or poisoning the land, I will continue to buy the products I want from that company.

To me, refusing to purchase product I otherwise would want based primarily on WOTC's discontinuation of PDF sales would elevate the discontinuation to exploiting children or poisoning the land (i.e. serious, harmful, truly "evil" actions would stop me from doing business from a company even if I wanted what it was selling). To me, discontinuing PDF sales is just not that serious of an issue.

YMMV.

 

[haakon1]

If I feel disrespected, I'll not support the one disrespecting me. That's not an economic decision, it is a personal one.

I agree, and I don't even buy PDF's on a regular basis. It's just that I REALLY liked it that WotC was still "supporting" 3rd edition and earlier editions, in a cheap to them format. It was a "nice" thing they were doing, I thought, and though I hadn't bought any YET, I had thought about getting some.

That and, somehow, WotC just seems customer hostile these days. I thought it was just me having some weird lens on things since I don't play 4e (yet, an old DM of mine is saying he'll run it in September, and if he does I'll play). But I feel validated in feeling disrespected, due to the great echo chamber of nerd rage here.

Maybe I am just being silly to feel upset, but maybe not.

 

[Remathilis]

@ Remathilis:

It could be: "a usually 3pp guy and a sometimes, but rarely WotC guy" if that rocks your boat.

Depends.

If GSL support for 4e was better, I'd argue yes. So far though, we have Goodman Games (whom I adore) and potentially Necromancer Games (some point down the line). Otherwise, 4e is all WotC's baby, which I what I expect they wanted from how the GSL turned out.

If I want good 3PP support, I'd need to go 3.5/Pathfhinder, which (even though I've yet to see the final PF) I'm less apt to do. I'd get some real good 3PP stuff from Paizo plus an entire older catalog of good material (S&SS, Goodman, Necro, GR, Malhavoc/Dungeonaday) but my hearts not really in 3e-based D&D.

As for Star Wars, I'm SoL on that one. WotC or forget it.

So there is my conundrum; stay with the system I like (and thus support WotC) or drift back to a system I'm not so hot on* (and support more 3PP)?

* And to be fair, Pathfinder MIGHT blow me away, but from what I saw so far, it hasn't yet.