I've been enjoying the Dragon content, but no. I simply can't justify the expense.
Even if I hadn't been left in a situation where I've been watching things break and wear down without the money to replace them, to the point where I'm replacing my cell phone with a disposable pay-as-you-go phone, have a TV antenna instead of cable now, and have to "borrow" an internet connection off my neighbor's Wi-fi... it's been an ugly two years financially... I still don't know if I could justify the expense to myself.
Paying someone for an online experience where I'm testing game mechanics and online features that will be gradually rolled out over the course of possibly a year or so, and then a lot of that game mechanics content will then be sold to me again when it is printed in a book, when I could be doing something else with that money... I just can't see it.
Even if, if I still had my gaming PC working and a reliable broadband Internet connection, and I had the money to subscribe to something, it would probably be spent on a fully developed MMO or other online content. I know we had the debate over comparing the cost of DDI to the cost of an MMO and we all agreed they're not the same thing, but it's the same "opportunity cost"... similar prices for gaming-oriented online entertainment. Even though they're somewhat different, they share that opportunity cost (ie, I could do this or I could do that) and in that respect there are so many other things that would offer me more content with higher production values for my money. I think that all of the objections - official or otherwise - that DDI and MMOs aren't the same thing and so therefore you can't compare the price are based on a bad premise. It's not that they're the same, it's that economically speaking, people make choices about how to spend their money, they evaluate opportunity costs. Hamburgers and chicken sandwiches aren't the same thing either, but ultimately most people make a choice on which one to consume at any given time. There's a similar cost involved and a choice is made about which you'll spend money on.
DDI would have to be a lot lower in price for me to consider it. And fully developed with decent support.
Even if I hadn't been left in a situation where I've been watching things break and wear down without the money to replace them, to the point where I'm replacing my cell phone with a disposable pay-as-you-go phone, have a TV antenna instead of cable now, and have to "borrow" an internet connection off my neighbor's Wi-fi... it's been an ugly two years financially... I still don't know if I could justify the expense to myself.
Paying someone for an online experience where I'm testing game mechanics and online features that will be gradually rolled out over the course of possibly a year or so, and then a lot of that game mechanics content will then be sold to me again when it is printed in a book, when I could be doing something else with that money... I just can't see it.
Even if, if I still had my gaming PC working and a reliable broadband Internet connection, and I had the money to subscribe to something, it would probably be spent on a fully developed MMO or other online content. I know we had the debate over comparing the cost of DDI to the cost of an MMO and we all agreed they're not the same thing, but it's the same "opportunity cost"... similar prices for gaming-oriented online entertainment. Even though they're somewhat different, they share that opportunity cost (ie, I could do this or I could do that) and in that respect there are so many other things that would offer me more content with higher production values for my money. I think that all of the objections - official or otherwise - that DDI and MMOs aren't the same thing and so therefore you can't compare the price are based on a bad premise. It's not that they're the same, it's that economically speaking, people make choices about how to spend their money, they evaluate opportunity costs. Hamburgers and chicken sandwiches aren't the same thing either, but ultimately most people make a choice on which one to consume at any given time. There's a similar cost involved and a choice is made about which you'll spend money on.
DDI would have to be a lot lower in price for me to consider it. And fully developed with decent support.
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