Weaning Off the Sauce

[I'm A Banana]

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)?

I'm mostly resolving this issue with the DDI.

I've got maybe 3-4 sessions between the time that Aracne Power is released and the time its info gets dumped to the Compendium. Am I going to need Arcane Power in the next 3-4 sessions? Nah. I'm pretty good with what I've already got.

I enjoy reading the new books, but I guess if I want to scratch that itch, I can pick up a 3PP product (it doesn't have to be 4e), and I can at least wait...at least a few weeks...before picking up Wizard's next offering.

Just long enough to maybe add to the "not selling out in the first week" crowd.

I can support 4e (which, while I'm more critical of it, is the game I'm playing, so will be the game I'm supporting) while resolving in my mind to deny -- at least from me -- the very thing that this move is intended to generate: book sales.

I don't NEED Arcane Power in the next 4 weeks.

I'd hope that anyone who feels similarly that doesn't NEED Arcane Power will at least do likewise and hold off on that purchase.

You don't need to not support 4e, just maybe wait a bit before you buy the New Hot Thing, if you can.

 

[CardinalXimenes]

I used to buy WotC PDFs because they were most convenient to me. Now I will buy WotC hardbounds, because that is the only option. WotC is not "disrespecting" me by refraining to sell me what I want them to sell, nor do I feel the urge to somehow personalize the motivations of a large number of people whom I have never even met, and who frankly have no personal reason to care whether I live or die.

I am in the market for a game that is fun, not a life partner or an emotionally supportive friend. If they keep selling me fun things, I will keep giving them my money- and so far, that is exactly what they are doing.

 

[hong]

I'm going to start small myself. Little steps, right?

Step 1: Don't Buy Arcane Power Until It Shows Up In The DDI.

So you're going to wait... one week... to buy Arcane Power.

Wasn't there someone here a few years back who was going to show George Lucas how much he thought Ep 1 sucked, by boycotting opening night for Ep 2?

 

[Hairfoot]

You're the ideal WotC customer, CardinalXimenes!

Many of us are attached to the principle that the manufacturer of the game should be a responsible and considerate member of the gaming community. But we got shafted by TSR, WotC and doubtless by whoever comes next.

Back to the freeware OD&D clones for me.

 

[S'mon]

I don't need to boycott, since the only money I was giving WoTC was through purchase of old pdfs, and they've cut that off. I have the 3 4e core books, I'm not planning to buy more.

 

[Byronic]

Goodbye buying anything other then Core!

And I might stop that after PHB 2 as well. I should have more then enough rules to get people INTO roleplaying with the first two years of Core.

After this, it's all about graduating their game.

 

[Jack99]

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 used to buy WotC PDFs because they were most convenient to me. Now I will buy WotC hardbounds, because that is the only option. WotC is not "disrespecting" me by refraining to sell me what I want them to sell, nor do I feel the urge to somehow personalize the motivations of a large number of people whom I have never even met, and who frankly have no personal reason to care whether I live or die.

I am in the market for a game that is fun, not a life partner or an emotionally supportive friend. If they keep selling me fun things, I will keep giving them my money- and so far, that is exactly what they are doing.

And this.

I support the message of the OP.


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

I feel disrespected.


Tonight, I bought mayfair games "chill" off of ebay for $2.99, including shipping. My group is going to try that for a while.


Maybe we'll come back.


We'll see.

Not only are you quitting 4e, but you have convinced your whole group to switch to another game, based on WotC pulling their PDF's? Sorry, I am not buying your propaganda. Something else is the cause. You can still play while not buying any more products.

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.

Do not forget OBE, they rock!

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.

I am curious. What kind of great 3PP support does Pathfinder have? Paizo's stuff is good, but with regards to Pathfinder, they aren't third party, but rather first party. I know NG will eventually do something, but aside from NG, who in the industry who makes great stuff have announced their official support for Pathfinder?

 

[CleverNickName]

All of the books and gaming materials that I have bought over the last year have all been from Ebay, Paizo, or the local used bookstore.

It's not my agenda; it's just that these are the only places I know of where I can find the products that interest me. If WotC starts publishing 3.x-compatible material again, I will start buying from them again. It's not a complicated issue for me.

 

[Wayside]

Not only are you quitting 4e, but you have convinced your whole group to switch to another game, based on WotC pulling their PDF's? Sorry, I am not buying your propaganda. Something else is the cause. You can still play while not buying any more products.

I don't think it's too uncommon for one person in a group to be the go-to guy when it comes to game selection or general outlook on the hobby.

 

[Pbartender]

So you're going to wait... one week... to buy Arcane Power.

Wasn't there someone here a few years back who was going to show George Lucas how much he thought Ep 1 sucked, by boycotting opening night for Ep 2?

For that matter, about a year ago, there was a big movement to protest high gas prices by getting huge numbers of people to boycott gas stations for one day.

It didn't work, partially because not a whole lot of people went for it, and partially because everyone who did decide to boycott either filled up the day before or waited until the day after and then bought gas. Over the course of the week, there was no change in sales and gas companies didn't even notice that single daily blip.

The lesson is, delaying a purchase is not boycotting. It's simply spreading out the company's profits over a longer period of time... Not a bad deal for them, since now you're helping make that product an "evergreen" product, which looks good to the bosses.

If you're going to boycott, you have stop purchasing the product. Period.

For example, my family hasn't watched broadcast, cable or satellite television for ten years, because the stuff they air is garbage. We haven't ordered a pizza from Pizza Hut for nearly 8 years, because a new Pizza Hut franchise forced out a small locally-owned hot-dog shop, just so they could have that particular location in a strip-mall.