D&D 5E Artist Mike Schley running a sale on all digital artwork (including adventure maps)

[Louis Brenton]

Not cool Louise. THis was supposed to be just for returning customers which is in bold in the email. Please either delete this forum post or modify your original post.

Hm. I genuinely thought I was being helpful to Mike by drawing attention to a promotion he was running. I love Mike's work & I have or will be purchasing everything he produces for D&D 5E, because I want to support him & I think excellent work should be rewarded.

I don't see anything in bold in the email except the the coupon code itself.

If I discover that I'm going against Mike's intentions or desires, I'll change or delete my original post. Again, my intention is to be helpful to him & promote his products.

 

[Umbran]

Hm. I genuinely thought I was being helpful to Mike by drawing attention to a promotion he was running. I love Mike's work & I have or will be purchasing everything he produces for D&D 5E, because I want to support him & I think excellent work should be rewarded.

I don't see anything in bold in the email except the the coupon code itself.

If I discover that I'm going against Mike's intentions or desires, I'll change or delete my original post. Again, my intention is to be helpful to him & promote his products.

The code has been removed.

If the sender had wanted it passed around, his e-mail would have said, "Please pass this around." Really, if he wanted to offer a flat discount to everybody to drum up business, he probably would just have cut prices on all his wares for a while, and advertised a general sale.

 

[DEFCON 1]

If you are buying the campaign book... you are buying what is in the campaign book. You AREN'T buying the campaign book plus a whole bunch of other stuff that the company decides to hand out (if anything.)

If WotC posted lo-res files of their maps in the past, those were given to us for free, and NOT as part of our purchase of whatever product they came from. That's why people who didn't buy the product still could download the maps.

So WotC is under not obligation or expectation to release digital copies of the maps included in the books they publish as part of the cost to buy said product. Yeah, it might piss people off because they are no longer given freebies they once were... but WotC should in no way feel guilty about that and customers who get upset about it can either get over it or just not buy the product in the first place.

And using an excuse along the lines of "Well, if they don't release these maps for free, then people are just going to go looking for them illegally" is complete B.S. You basically are saying that you WILL break the law if you have to to get what you want, but if WotC is NICE to you, then you won't. That's not exactly a moral high ground WotC should feel the need to grant. It's not THEIR job to keep you from being a dick.

 

[Agamon]

What's not cool is how WotC has apparently talked itself into believing it is reasonable to ask us to pay more to get maps as digital files even after having purchased the campaign book.

Mike is a freelancer. WotC is not asking for anything. They are being cool about leaving the rights for distribution if the maps with the artist, though. I don't know for sure, of course, but I'd imagine Mike gets paid less per piece to retain these rights, and who can blame him for selling the maps digitally, rather than just giving them away for free.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

So is this all the maps from the book?

Nevermind, found the site that has the battle maps. Pricey.

 

[jayoungr]

Er...why would you print any dungeon map for use on the table? Why not just draw the relevant bits (as in, what the PC party actually knows about) on a pre-gridded whiteboard or chalkboard or similar, and put the minis on that?

You absolutely can do that, of course. But the artwork of the maps is evocative and cool, so I can see why people like to print the maps when they can. I usually run D&D over Roll20, and when I manage to get together face to face with my group, I admit that I miss the beautiful maps just a little.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

I print maps to mark them up and put notes and all that stuff. Would be best if they would put up non artsy maps, old school black and white, but at least if I have a download I can print it out and have it ready to go without having to constantly flip back and forth.

 

[jayoungr]

BTW, I actually am a returning customer for Mike Schley, but I apparently didn't get the e-mail. *pouts*

 

[Agamon]

You absolutely can do that, of course. But the artwork of the maps is evocative and cool, so I can see why people like to print the maps when they can. I usually run D&D over Roll20, and when I manage to get together face to face with my group, I admit that I miss the beautiful maps just a little.

I've printed and laminated world/overland maps, and they cost in the $15-20 range. I can't imagine spending that for a few encounters. But I agree, it is a bonus to playing online.

 

[joshinminn]

Mike is a freelancer. WotC is not asking for anything. They are being cool about leaving the rights for distribution if the maps with the artist, though. I don't know for sure, of course, but I'd imagine Mike gets paid less per piece to retain these rights, and who can blame him for selling the maps digitally, rather than just giving them away for free.

I've never understood why people assume that freelancers are raking in the dough. Also, the pervasive sense of entitlement for free digital content is tiresome.