DDI vs. books

[Echohawk]

I imagine the revenue streams are carefully balanced and that DDI + books results in a higher figure (or at least higher projections) than books only.

This is true for my 4e group. About half of the group has DDI accounts, and this has driven sales of books to those players. While using the Character Builder, they stumble onto some appealing powers from, say, Divine Power, or some interesting items from Adventurer's Vault 2. And then they want a copy of the book to page through for ideas for future character development.

DDI hasn't really influenced my buying habits as a 4e DM, but it has caused my players to buy more books than they used to. (As well as spending money on the DDI itself.)

 

[wedgeski]

While I love the DDI, I still don't like using a laptop at the table, and neither does anyone I play with, so the books still have a place. My players also still prefer to build their characters from the books than from the CB.

 

[Mathew_Freeman]

A friend of mine that hasn't looked at the books remarked when he started playing that the lack of fluff on the character builder power cards can make things a bit difficult.

Aside from that, and from missing out on the bits of implied-setting fluff that comes scattered throughout the books, I'm happy that my very small budget for D&D stuff can be spent very well on DDI rather than on books.

 

[Klaus]

This is one of those things where it's really the intangibles that can't be quantified that urge people to buy books AND subscribe to DDI.

I know I can't quite explain it, but as much as I love DDI (despite its many annoying bugs and lack of features), I still prefer to have the books, even if I rarely reference them.

I agree.

The Character Builder is great when you want to advance your character and see what options are available.

But when you're trying to create a character based on, say, the feats you want to take, book-browsing is better, since the Builder would automatically hide feats you don't qualify for, but which you might want to take later on in the campaign.

 

[Dykstrav]

I really hate people like this. I bet they all have more than enough money to buy the books too, right? They're just too cheap and scummy to do it and so the leach off everyone around them.

We've got one player that went through a nasty divorce where cash might be an issue, but yeah... Everybody could afford at least their own copy of the PHB I'm sure.

Players not having their own copy of the PHB used to get on my nerves, but it really doesn't bother me now. I just put a little thought into what I personally consider worth spending money on in entertainment products and my own place in the gaming industry.

On occasion, I'll go over to a friend's house and play Monopoly with him and his family. Doesn't make me feel like I am under any obligation to go out and purchase my own copy of Monopoly. I wouldn't play it anywhere else, it'd sit in the closet. I go over to another friend's house and watch the Matrix with her while we cook supper. Doesn't make me feel obligated to purchase my own copy just because I saw it at a friend's house and happened to enjoy it.

From this perspective, I can sorta understand why a player might consider their money better spent on other things. I'm sure when DDI was designed, they accounted for a certain amount of falloff for book sales due to this sort of thing. I'd prefer that my players be more interested in knowing the rules for themselves, but I'm not going to twist their arms about it.

On a more basic level, I'm a consumer in the RPG industry, not a producer. My role in the product chain is to buy product--not hustle books for WotC. Someone pays their bills by figuring out how to get D&D material into my hands and the hands of my players, and those people decided that DDI was a way to do it. Other consumers have decided that DDI meets their needs in this arena. When my players show up to my game with their Mountain Dew, should I really have an opinion as to whether they brought it in 12-ounce cans, 20-ounce bottles, or 2-liter bottles? Should I really care if they bought their own pencils or another player loans them one? It's not my business to tell other people in which format they need to purchase things, it's their money. Someone in a company decided to sell their product in that format and someone with money decided to buy it in that format. Same thing with their characters. I don't really care if they own their own books or a friend lets them use DDI. I figure I'll let they guys who make the product worry about getting it into our hands and relegate myself to playing the game.

 

[tuxgeo]

< snip >
Players not having their own copy of the PHB used to get on my nerves, but it really doesn't bother me now.
< major snip >
Someone in a company decided to sell their product in that format and someone with money decided to buy it in that format. Same thing with their characters. I don't really care if they own their own books or a friend lets them use DDI. I figure I'll let they guys who make the product worry about getting it into our hands and relegate myself to playing the game.

That clear, non-confrontational reply expressed in terms of personal experience pretty much says it all. More words could be added to that, but most of them wouldn't really add sense. A person could talk about walking a mile in someone's shoes, or living and letting live, etc., but most such platitudes would be like painting the lily. XP to Dykstrav for maturity.

 

[AllisterH]

There _IS_ that aspect of the books in that it's much easier to browse and find what you like. Ironically, the more books there are on DDI, the easier I find it to browse for specific items via the books rather than DDI.

Books I think one can just use the DDI for
Adventurer Vault
Arcane Power
Divine Power
Martial Power
Player's Handbook 2

Books you pretty much need to buy IMO
Dungeon Master Guide
Draconomicon I - Chromatic Dragons
Eberron Campaign & Player Guides
Forgotten Realms Campaign & Player Guides
Manual of the Planes
Open Grave - Secrets of the Undead
Player's Handbook
(Needless to say, all the adventures released fall here as well)

Books I waver about (the fluff interests me or it's not covered in DDI)
Adventurer Vault 2
Monster Manual
Monster Manual 2

 

[darjr]

I can't say that DDI hasn't affected my purchasing. It has. But in weird ways.

There are books I didn't buy or won't because they are mostly crunch that I would have bought before, there are books with a lot of verbiage that I will buy, that I might have skipped. I don't know how that averages out.

There are also books I've bought because of what I saw in the CB or compendium. Darn it.

The other weird side affect is I know players that don't have DDI and have gone out to purchase a book that has something they've seen in my materials from DDI.

Though I'd be willing to bet that sales of certain types of books are less than they would have been, I wonder if the fluff books sales are higher.

Oh, and I include DMG2 as a fluff book, which I thought I'd never say.

 

[Agamon]

Oh, and I include DMG2 as a fluff book, which I thought I'd never say.

That's odd. Aside from magic items, I've always seen all of the DMGs as fluff books.

 

[ggroy]

I've always seen all of the DMGs as fluff books.

I would disagree for the case of the 1E AD&D DMG.

It had very important crunch such as:

- the to-hit combat tables
- saving throw tables
- turning undead tables
- psionics tables