Any news on DTRPG?

[Morrus]

Mr. Weick, in the short months that DTRPG has been online, much of the praise as to DTRPG's usability and conveinience that has appeared on online message boards have come from people who either currently work for or who freelance for White Wolf or one of it's subsidiaries or business partners. Is this an "astroturf" campaign, like the one that Microsoft launched, in which employees of Microsoft were enticed to give positive opinions of Microsoft products?

I don't think there's much point asking that question - does anyone think that Mr. Wieck is going to say anything other than "No"? He's hardly going to say "Yes".

 

[Psion]

But you see, DRM vendors don't care about you. They think everyone has to have a squeaky-clean internet connection, a good computer that is less than three years old

Tell. Me. About. It.

I was downloading something a couple of weeks ago and the phone clicked.

Caller ID said it was my wife. I didn't want to stop my download, but it MIGHT be important. It wasn't.

Going to the site, it said I could continue the download by clicking on the product. No such luck.

I was able to get customer service to help me out and authorize a new download, but it was a hassle I should not have had to put up with. DRM is not ready for prime time.

 

[Kesh]

Mostly been getting the free products, and a few Malhavoc ones. Haven't had any trouble at all, and I'm going to keep buying stuff from them in the future.

Actually, rumor has it that FanPro is in talks with 'someone' to put up PDFs of OOP Shadowrun books. I'm guessing it's DTRPG, but I'm sure Mr. Weick can't confirm that, so no point in asking. It has me very excited, though.

 

[Funksaw]

I don't think there's much point asking that question - does anyone think that Mr. Wieck is going to say anything other than "No"? He's hardly going to say "Yes".

But watching non-denial denials coming out of squirming game developers is fun.

 

[Crothian]

But watching non-denial denials coming out of squirming game developers is fun.

Unless you have a secret camera to watch and broadcast his typing its going to be a boring show.

 

[Patrick O'Duffy]

General FYI:
http://www.pen-paper.net/rpgdb.php?op=showcreator&creatorid=1213

General FYI Part Two: I have no relationship with DriveThruRPG in any way. I write for White Wolf, yes, and some books that I have worked on are sold through DTRPG. I don't make any additional money from those sales, and don't recieve any kind of discount or preferential treatment from DTRPG. Hell, I doubt anyone at DTRPG even knows who I am; the emails I've had from their customer service section had a remarkable lack of "dude, your stuff rocks!" comments.

I pay my money and download my stuff the same way anyone else does, and if the company closed up tomorrow my working relationship with WW would be completely unaffected.

But hey, thanks for the implication that I'm a corporate shill, and that I've been encouraged or even ordered to say good things about DTRPG. That's real nice of you.

 

[Ottergame]

General FYI Part Two: I have no relationship with DriveThruRPG in any way. I write for White Wolf, yes, and some books that I have worked on are sold through DTRPG. I don't make any additional money from those sales, and don't recieve any kind of discount or preferential treatment from DTRPG. Hell, I doubt anyone at DTRPG even knows who I am; the emails I've had from their customer service section had a remarkable lack of "dude, your stuff rocks!" comments.

I pay my money and download my stuff the same way anyone else does, and if the company closed up tomorrow my working relationship with WW would be completely unaffected.

But hey, thanks for the implication that I'm a corporate shill, and that I've been encouraged or even ordered to say good things about DTRPG. That's real nice of you.

You have to admit it looks mighty fishy that the biggest supporters of Drivethrurpg work for, or freelance for, White Wolf. Especially considering DTRPG is owned by White Wolf, despite what any party might say.

 

[Arcane Runes Press]

But watching non-denial denials coming out of squirming game developers is fun.

Unless, of course, he's not issuing non-denial denials at all.

He might just say "No", and really mean no.

People seem to have this very strange conception of the relationship between freelancers, or even staff writers, and the companies they work for.


And finally, expecting him to be "squirming" because of your question is really self-aggrandizing, Funksaw.

Patrick Y.

 

[Crothian]

You have to admit it looks mighty fishy that the biggest supporters of Drivethrurpg work for, or freelance for, White Wolf. Especially considering DTRPG is owned by White Wolf, despite what any party might say.

Looks to me that Mr O'Duffy had the exact experience from them that I did; a positive one. I think you might be reading into his writing for White Wolf a little too much. :\

 

[reanjr]

I'm arranging an interview with Steve Wieck of DTRPG. If anyone has any (polite) questions they'd like asked, feel free to post 'em here.

Difference in profit margins (PDF vs. Book)?

Was marketing research done to assess the cost of piracy vs. the cost of lost customers for using DRM?

He may not be the person to ask, but worth a shot.