An idea from the Eric Noah News Thread

[Hussar]

I'm not going to dig up the exact quote, but there was an idea in the Eric Noah's news thread that caught my eye and I wonder if it would work. The idea was an online subscription to WOTC where the subscriber would gain online access to the entire WOTC library.

Here's how it would work in my world. Note, hardcopy books would still be sold in stores. This is meant to supplement, not replace hardcopy books.

The subscriber pays a nominal fee per month, say 5 bucks, and gets access to a (probably) flash designed site so that people cannot download the books. At the site, all of the WOTC books in print are available to read online and are hyperlinked throughout. In addition, the site would come with a few other bonuses like a character generator linked to the library, PC sheet storage, perhaps a DM's corner with an NPC generator, and monster generator as well. Another possibility would be an mapping program.

Heck, toss in a virtual gaming table like Fantasy Grounds or OpenRPG as well.

Do you think this would make money? I know I'd pay about 5-7 dollars a month for this. I couldn't really see myself paying 10/month, just because 120 bucks a year is about 4 books and that's pretty much all I spend in a year anyway. Maybe 10, but, that would be my upper limit and the site would have to be pretty darn sweet for that.

 

[rounser]

Do you think this would make money?

I very much doubt it. Newspapers and magazines still need hardcopy form in order to be viable. If Paizo can't operate this way, there's no way WotC could.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

Newspapers and magazines still need hardcopy form in order to be viable.

Actually, Slate seems to work just fine merely by being ad-supported...

 

[Hussar]

Oh, I didn't mean that this would REPLACE hardcopy books. Not at all. Sorry, I should edit my original post. My bad. No, this would supplement, not replace. I agree that you couldn't go entirely online with this. You'd miss out on far too many consumers who are not terribly computer literate.

 

[delericho]

That sounds like the sort of thing I would jump at the chance to subscibe to, and then proceed never to use.

If it was offered in addition to the books, it might make money. If it was the only way to get the material, it would mean the end of gaming for me. (Okay, not true - I would continue playing the current edition, assuming I ever get to actually play again.)

 

[philreed]

One thing they could do is plan to release quarterly rules updates in Dragon and then offer a special Dragon subscription (one in which you receive only the rules updates issues). Just drop a coupon in 4e for this special subscription service and allow people to join that way.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

I doubt it would support itself on subscriptions -- a flash-based rules site is a little hard to use when you're sitting at the gaming table.

Couple it with ads on each page and it might be able to support itself, though.

 

[Scribble]

I doubt it would support itself on subscriptions -- a flash-based rules site is a little hard to use when you're sitting at the gaming table.

Couple it with ads on each page and it might be able to support itself, though.

I use my laptop every game session. It sits to the right of me with an SRD open with one tab for every section I tend to refference a lot, and a couple of my more frequently used PDFs open in additional tabs. (I use firefox.)

I find it much quicker and more efficient then the books. They only get opened when I'm giving out experience really...

 

[Hussar]

I doubt it would support itself on subscriptions -- a flash-based rules site is a little hard to use when you're sitting at the gaming table.

Couple it with ads on each page and it might be able to support itself, though.

I play over OpenRPG, so my computer is ALWAYS on when I game.

Along with the online SRD, my notes and everything else. By and large, I don't touch a book during the game. However, I realize I'm in the minority with that though.

But, I remember another thread about the market research they did before 3e saying that 50 per cent of gamers had internet access at home. Imagine being able to design your adventures with a fully searchable WOTC library. I don't mean the core books or even the SRD, I mean EVERY book WOTC publishes.

Maybe a feature for designing adventures online. You go to the site, use the tools provided, and it spits out a pdf of your adventure complete with all the rules and whatnot that you need to run that adventure. Sort of a do-it-yourself Dungeon magazine adventure.

I would like to see WOTC tap into the online gamers as well. With so many people complaining about how its difficult to find groups, why not provide a central area where gamers can come together online and game?

Just some ideas.

 

[jmucchiello]

The startup costs for this would be huge. At $120 a year I wonder just how many subscriptions would be needed to break even.