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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Solvarn" data-source="post: 5505238" data-attributes="member: 59666">I'm a fledgling business analyst and don't have any particular insight into the goings on of WotC. Growing Pains Publishing books and creating software are different types of businesses. While the people that create content can do so it needs to be converted in a way that is accessible and relevant to the consumers or users of the product. WotC has some really good creative minds at work but based on what we have seen with DDI I do not feel like they have a real clue about how to publish software. This can change, but until it does they will continue to alienate their subscriber base with substandard offerings. Money WotC is supposed to use the D&D brand to deliver a profit to Hasbro shareholders. I don't think that the DDI offerings will ever be as good as they could be for the same reason that has always hampered the D&D brand, it is a niche market. This plan with the DDI is never going to work because they lack the subscriber base in order to justify the required development budget and residual subscription fees to put out a product of a quality that today's gamers expect. For the brand to explode digitally they need to bring something that can simulate the tabletop experience and add animation, voiceovers, and any other number of features that make the digital experience superior to regular tabletop play. Solution WotC should have made an effort to include other companies in their electronic offerings. They should have made a platform that independent artists and developers could contribute content and get paid for it. This allows them to artificially boost the level of content without having to front the bill upfront for the costs of said development. All risk is being taken by potential developers. WotC collects the subscription fee and offers their own products to compete in this marketplace. They might even take a little piece of the developers profit. If they set themselves up like Apple then they could put out guidelines and have the final say on what is included so the marketplace isn't cluttered with crap. Unfortunately until something like the above solution is presented or a massive influx of capital is invested in the DDI project I think that situations like the Monster Builder will be par for the course.</blockquote>

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