Challenge to WotC: Initiative

[Jhaelen]

It's "Thane" too in French.

Doesn't Thane translate into 'warlord'? How is that any better than just using warlord?! If translating the class name is a solution, I'll hereby propose to call the class 'Kriegsfürst'.

 

[Raven Crowking]

Because we all know dares always work on corporations.

BTW, do you recall when the tuna industry was dared by its consumers to change fishing practices that were netting dolphins? Have you noticed how many companies are now trying to look "Green" in reaction to consumer awareness? You've never seen an oil company commercial about how they didn't drill because of an endangered spotted owl? Or Coca-Cola returning original Coke to your store shelves?

Corporations take on consumer "dares" quite frequently. Doing so promotes good will and consumer confidence. That is part of what makes a corporation successful.

RC

 

[Cadfan]

BTW, do you recall when the tuna industry was dared by its consumers to change fishing practices that were netting dolphins? Have you noticed how many companies are now trying to look "Green" in reaction to consumer awareness? You've never seen an oil company commercial about how they didn't drill because of an endangered spotted owl? Or Coca-Cola returning original Coke to your store shelves?RC

[channel Hong]Wow.[/channel Hong]

 

[Raven Crowking]

[channel Hong]Wow.[/channel Hong]

[channel Ignore].....[/chanel Ignore]



It amazes me that anyone can think that both (1) WotC is bending over backwards to give information to its customers, and (2) that WotC won't give you requested information because it is a big corporation.

Big corporations routinely modify practices when doing so makes sense. They don't respond to every single call or complaint, but they do respond to some of them. For example, when my son was younger, I made a complaint to McDonalds because he kept expecting the toys he saw on the US stations to be available with his Happy Meal here in Canada. They now are. Time from complaint to permanent action? Less than one month.

Corporations care what their customers think of them. The tuna example, of course, meant that the companies involved would be incurring increased expenses, and thus they required stronger reason to change their behaviour. Corporations, just like individuals, must access the risks and rewards of any given course, and then do what seems best/prudent to them.

Is divulging Initiative going to ruin anything for WotC? I doubt it. I actually have quite a bit of faith that WotC will meet this challenge.

RC

 

[Cadfan]

I just think its bizarre that you'd compare not disclosing the initiative system to killing dolphins, and suggest that they're equivalent because they're both "consumer dares." The dolphin thing wasn't a "consumer dare," it was an enraged boycott and bad press in the mainstream news all over the globe that led to the passage of a federal laws in the United States regulating tuna fishing, regulating the use of the "dolphin safe" label, and placing an embargo on imports from countries where certain tuna capture practices are used.

You accomplish that, and I'll lead a cavalry charge right through the front doors of WOTC's office complex, and FORCE them to disclose the initiative system.

 

[Raven Crowking]

I just think its bizarre that you'd compare not disclosing the initiative system to killing dolphins, and suggest that they're equivalent because they're both "consumer dares."

I wasn't intending to imply that WotC was killing dolphins. Orcs and trolls maybe; gnomes from the PHB maybe; dolphins no.

It was merely a memorable, and well-known, example of corporate (and, as you point out, govermental) change of policy due to consumers. It was meant only as a counter to ThirdWizard, and only in the context of what was quoted by ThirdWizard in my post.

You are taking this way out of context.

RC

 

[Qualidar]

WotC aren't going to tell you about initiative because initiative is boring. Nobody's going to be jazzed about the new (?) initiative rules, and they don't want to release anything that's not going to excite people about the new game.

Why won't they tell us how many pages the Table of Contents takes up???!?!???

 

[Cadfan]

I'm not comparing the importance of the issue. I'm comparing the accuracy of the characterization of the dolphin question as a "dare."

 

[Brown Jenkin]

Because we all know dares always work on corporations.

Well then, we should double dog dare them. Lets see them get out of that.

 

[Raven Crowking]

Initiative is slightly more important, I think, to most players than is the number of pages the Table of Contents takes up. It is also something that should be in place before the ToC, which may not be final until the final draft.

In any event, it seems that some folks are saying

(1) WotC won't release any jazzy info because if they do, you won't buy the game (?) and

(2) WotC won't release any non-jazzy info because it isn't jazzy.

Init is one of those things that has changed many, many times over the course of D&D's existence. The topic may be dull to you; it isn't to me.

I think that the reason some of you are jumping on this thread (ThirdWizard, Cadfan, yourself) is that you think WotC won't release the information, and you want to preemptively make this seem as though it was a good thing. Again, looking at the release of 3.0, I see that WotC released a heck of a lot of mechanical information by this time through Dragon, was answering specific questions, and I note that doing so increased the interest of gamers for that edition.

Given that (1) WotC is in the title of this thread, (2) it is in the 4e forum, (3) WotC employees visit this site, and (4) the number of views on this thread, I think that WotC is already aware that this thread exists, and will respond. That WotC is generally responsive is one thing that I don't think is in question. What they will respond with, and how is, OTOH, a big question.

I am guessing that the answer to this thread will appear slipped into a blog, and/or on the Gleemax site.

RC