Uder said:
$70-80 a month for our whole group to keep up with D&D? No. Give me back my dead-tree subscription so we can pass issues around during the pizza break and laugh at the cartoons and talk about the articles.
Good point!
wedgeski said:
Make no mistake that the DI *is* a marketing ploy to tie D&D players into a subscription model. Folks in this thread alone have put their finger on several secondary benefits for WotC, especially the fact that it may take a big dent out of the second-hand market and reduce the ability for players to share material around the table (unless only the DM needs to have bought a book for all players in his game to use the material... but that's doubtful given that you'll be able to run a game for just about anyone).
I, for one, am uncomfortable with this business model. I also would rather pay upfront and own the material. I don't want WotC to be (literally) perpetually draining my bank account with more peripheral expenses (minis, tiles, subscriptions to play). Similar to green slime, I'm beholden to way too many services that drain my bank account on a monthly basis as it is. I am uncomfortable being a slave to them.
Plus, I already spend way too much time in webspace. The DI will encourage users to spend more time on line accessing digital media and tools. If I can take a book to the park or the beach or the divan, I'm a much happier human. I also have a secret love affair with books. There is something ineffably wonderful about reading them. They're things of beauty, books.
I see how the "virtual kitchen table" is a nice service for folks who can't play in a regular gaming group, but it is not the same as interacting with people face to face. The face-to-face friendships are the most valuable part of Dungeons and Dragons for me, not leveling or strategy or even story. I fear that over a long enough timeline, this online game model may become the dominant role-play paradigm. Out of sheer laziness and logistics, it is conceivable that this tendency could take over years down the road and become the norm. That possibility leaves a sour taste in my mouth, and it indeed may be the taste of WoW's leftover "cookie."
EDIT: [FROTHY-MOUTHED RANT] This dovetails with one of my little technology rants ... networking and communications technology is often touted as improving communication. I personally cannot fathom how adding extra layers of technology between people can ever improve communication. When interacting in person, communication is maximized. Each layer dilutes and distorts the quality of interaction. Granted, if two people are separated by distance, communication via technological portals is better than nothing. There is a price, though, to be paid in taking this technology for granted as we absorb it into our everyday lives. For example, young people's social reliance on texting, l337speak, email, cell phones, myspace, facebook, iPods, MMORPGs, etc has given rise to a generation of kids who cannot effectively write or even communicate. This kind of social illiteracy is literally becoming a national epidemic. Accepting the virtual tabletop into your regular game may also have consequences, especially if you find yourself inclined towards using it more often than not. Even if you believe that you're having rich and wonderful relationships online, in the end you're in a room by yourself, closed off physically from the rest of the world ... from the pejorative meatspace (a space I personally believe to be much healthier). I wince to see that D&D is joining this trend, with both DI and MMORPGs. It is inevitable, admittedly, but still, I am not thrilled by the prospect. [/RANT]
