D&D 5E The new Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set - and online tools?

[Morrus]

And by the way, do we know yet if the Starter Set comes in a real box with a lid, or a flimsy box that opens from the end? Honestly, that's a huge deal for me. I actually think it makes more of a psychological difference to me than the presence or absence of character creation. A sturdy box with a real lid feels like a complete product that the company expects you to store stuff in and come back to again and again. A thin box that opens from the end feels like a piece of junk the company expects you to use once or twice and then recycle. I play a lot of board games, so I have a lot of feelings about boxes. Here's hoping.

But the core rules will come in no box at all! How will that feel?

 

[MerricB]

But the core rules will come in no box at all! How will that feel?

I'll be fine as long as there's a ribbon.

What do you mean, there'll be no ribbon?

 

[thalmin]

Sorry.

 

[pickin_grinnin]

We've already dealt with this issue. By common parlance, it's not crippleware. By your personal definition, which is not common parlance, it is. OK, fair enough. Let's move on then.

To quote from just one source, crippleware is:

"software distributed with reduced functionality with a view to attracting payment for a fully functional version."

D&D isn't software, but we all know that. The starter set will be released with reduced functionality with a view to attracting payment for a fully functional version, though. That's the definition of crippleware in common parlance, regardless of what Mearls says.

 

[pickin_grinnin]

It's not an ad. Pundit already went to some lengths to explain that.

Pundit is wrong.

 

[GX.Sigma]

To quote from just one source, crippleware is:

"software distributed with reduced functionality with a view to attracting payment for a fully functional version."

D&D isn't software, but we all know that. The starter set will be released with reduced functionality with a view to attracting payment for a fully functional version, though. That's the definition of crippleware in common parlance, regardless of what Mearls says.

By that definition, any possible kind of starter set is crippleware.

 

[Morrus]

To quote from just one source, crippleware is:

"software distributed with reduced functionality with a view to attracting payment for a fully functional version."

D&D isn't software, but we all know that. The starter set will be released with reduced functionality with a view to attracting payment for a fully functional version, though. That's the definition of crippleware in common parlance, regardless of what Mearls says.

Then any starter set is "crippleware". At that point, the issue isn't with the product, it's with whoever invents and defines these ridiculous excitable emotive terms for ordinary products rather than just saying "that thing for sale doesn't appeal to me" like any regular person would.

 

[pickin_grinnin]

Yes, the point of that decision is that they could have made a $30 or $40 product with character creation or a $20 one without it.

They could have put character creation in it and retained the $20 price tag. You can buy a complete role-playing game that's a couple of hundred pages long for $20-25.

 

[pickin_grinnin]

I think WotC's reasoning is they want to create the quickest, easiest path to get people who have never played the game into playing the game, even without anyone with RPG experience.

To be honest, I'll be very surprised if the total number of people playing D&D 5e in a couple of years is significantly higher than the number playing Pathfinder today. This is a niche hobby that has seen it's golden age. New people will try it, but the number that become long-term customers after that is questionable.

You can see the same thing at work every time Marvel or DC does a big universe reboot. They get a lot of media attention, and sales improve a lot for a year or so. A large number of the people who try them out don't stick around, though, and they lose a certain number of long-term customers, so they just end up right back where they started.

 

[pickin_grinnin]

Then any starter set is "crippleware". At that point, the issue isn't with the product, it's with whoever invents and defines these ridiculous excitable emotive terms for ordinary products rather than just saying "that thing for sale doesn't appeal to me" like any regular person would.

Yes, most starter sets for RPG projects are crippleware.

Crippleware isn't necessarily a pejorative term. The term comes from the software industry, where crippled products are common, and often free, or at a significantly reduced cost.

My objection is with Pundit claiming that the term "crippleware" doesn't fit. It does. Buying a crippled product may be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on the savings and the perspective of the person buying it. I don't buy crippleware in general, and certainly wouldn't at that price point, but evidently others will. There's nothing wrong with that.