D&D 5E 5e digital offerings?

[Filcher]

Background: So under 4e I kept my subscription to the DDI for a while because of the utility of the online tools. I grew tired of 4e after a while, and when i accidentally paid twice for the same period of time, and was told by customer service, no, that I couldn't have a refund for one of the payments, I joined the ranks of disaffected former customers. Haven't logged on since.

Rant aside, while I played 4e I relied on the digital tools. Judging from the number of printed official character sheets at cons, this was a value to a number of folks.

But now the game seems pretty simple. Or at least this "module" is simpler. I could record a character on a scrap of blue-lined paper and not feel like I was missing something.

In short, I could play without the DDI. And I don't need a game table, I have G+. What's to lure me, next time around, to subscribe?

Does Hasbro intend for the DDI business model die with 4e? Doubtful.

Will a subscription allow me access to D&D's entire back catalog? Alluring, but unlikely. But if it did, I might just start mailing in my $$$ again.

What sort of digital offerings would make you re-up? What are the financial implications of a simpler D&D? And even if it were possible, given their track record, do you think WotC could pull it off?

 

[Janaxstrus]

There is almost nothing they could offer that would make me want to pay them to re-access my own material EXCEPT, pdf copies of all owned books when you pay for an X month subscription.

And to be fair, I'd rather just be able to pay a small fee (because free would be too awesome) to get copies of my owned books in PDF format.

 

[BobTheNob]

Ditto Janaxstrus.

I am hooked on having my digital property out there on the cloud. I want PDF's. Lets hope they can do a better job managing DRM this time around.

 

[Sunseeker]

There is almost nothing they could offer that would make me want to pay them to re-access my own material EXCEPT, pdf copies of all owned books when you pay for an X month subscription.

And to be fair, I'd rather just be able to pay a small fee (because free would be too awesome) to get copies of my owned books in PDF format.

For once I actually agree with you.

I am not a real big fan of "the cloud", it's a fairly obvious attempt to control what you can and cannot do because you ostensibly don't "own" your own materials.

I think free PDFs with the purchase of each book, through redeeming some kind of code would be a good way to go. I want to see the Character/Monster/Dungeon Builder go back to an offline version with regular content updates.

When I pay for something, I like to own it. Paying for something I can't ever own makes me question why I'm paying for it.

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I certainly hope, above all else, that Wizards doesn't start releasing online-subscriber-only material.

 

[Janaxstrus]

I did think of one thing they might get a few bucks out of me for. A WELL designed Kinect/XBL interface for online gaming.

I might pay a small fee for that. I'd love to be able to use the Kinect for that.

 

[mudbunny]

Background: So under 4e I kept my subscription to the DDI for a while because of the utility of the online tools. I grew tired of 4e after a while, and when i accidentally paid twice for the same period of time, and was told by customer service, no, that I couldn't have a refund for one of the payments, I joined the ranks of disaffected former customers. Haven't logged on since.

Wait. What?? Please please, please PM me your WotC userId and the time period for the problem, and I will pass it on to my contact at WotC so that he can do some poking.

 

[BobTheNob]

Dont get me wrong, I still like having paper books, though since getting the ipad, its not books I read when I go to bed anymore, its digitals on the pad.

I think its just a reality of our age that printed material is more and more becoming a novelty. The entire idea of "selling print" is becoming a difficult business model. In Australia, We have had bookstores, massive chains, disappear overnight, because they believed they could survive in the digital age.

Im sort of of the belief that WOTC could be taking an alternate approach. No charge for the material what-so-ever. Then make there money on suplamentals such as
a) Decent digital offering. Hell, I would pay for that alone. I payed for the 4e offerings and used them alot. Lets also include decent online play support.
b) Licensed third party moldings for minitures, moldings dice e.t.c. (the "real world" things that dont come out of a printer)

Use the core material to get people playing, then, once you have a fan base, sell them the support stuff.

Just one idea, but I think trying to make their money through print wont see much income.