D&D Insider and Costing

[BlueBlackRed]

I don't see the DI being all that useful to me.
I've bought one Dragon Mag the past 7 years.
I've bought no Dungeon Mags the past 7 years.
My group has a good gaming table, and we all play in person.

Given that, is there any reason I'd want the DI?

I might get it for $5 a month just to keep me current. Then again, I have ENWorld for that.

 

[Hussar]

The one very sweet deal with the online Dungeon content is that prepping a game for the VTT is amazingly simple. You can cut and paste room descriptions directly from the PDF, maps will be a snap and you can probably turn the art into tokens with a minimum of work (if its not already done for you).

How would you like to be able to play a full module in about 20 minutes, complete with battle maps, minis and macro'd die rollers? I know I would. It currently takes me about two hours to translate a Dungeon adventure into OpenRPG. Mostly because of the boxed text. Having it all directly online would be jammy.

 

[BASHMAN]

Now we have to pay $9.95 per month just to get "better" web enhancements and errata (oh and some tools that may or may not be useful)?

Regards,
D

Yes. 4E = WoW

 

[BASHMAN]

The one very sweet deal with the online Dungeon content is that prepping a game for the VTT is amazingly simple. You can cut and paste room descriptions directly from the PDF, maps will be a snap and you can probably turn the art into tokens with a minimum of work (if its not already done for you).

How would you like to be able to play a full module in about 20 minutes, complete with battle maps, minis and macro'd die rollers? I know I would. It currently takes me about two hours to translate a Dungeon adventure into OpenRPG. Mostly because of the boxed text. Having it all directly online would be jammy.

Don't forget that to get those map tiles you'll probably have to buy the actual hard-copy tiles and imput the code that comes with them. And to get minis for your map you'll have to buy virtual random miniature packs. Oh boy! I can hardly wait to give WOTC my hard earned blood... er money for all this wonderful virtual content. And only 10 dollars a month for the privilege of being allowed to buy this stuff from them.

Maybe for my left arm or first born I could get the entire set of virtual tiles & minis... Then what do I do when the next set comes out...

 

[CharlesRyan]

Don't forget that to get those map tiles you'll probably have to buy the actual hard-copy tiles and imput the code that comes with them. And to get minis for your map you'll have to buy virtual random miniature packs.

I'm not sure that either of those statements is true. What I've heard so far is "you will get some minis for free (with the account); you'll get some tiles for free; and there will be some mechanism for getting more."

That mechanism has not, to my knowledge, been announced. It's true that purchasing virtual packs is one mechanism that has been discussed, but it's equally true that getting minis and tiles with the magazine/adventure has also been discussed.

 

[dvvega]

Well after reading all of this I sat down and did "some numbers". And I am guessing WOTC probably sat down and thought along these same lines.

Currently they release AT LEAST one book a month that I buy. Average book price $35 (?? I'm doing an in my head calculation from AUD to US).

They want to sell me 3 books a year (PHB, DMG, MM) with 4e @ around $40 each (?? memory)

Spreading the cost over the year means that I come out in front using DDI and 3 books per year - as long as those 3 books provide everything the complete books provided etc.

I very rarely buy adventures or world-specific books.

So it isn't like I'd be paying out more money. What do I get for the money? Errata, web enhancements, designer insider notes.

However I generally buy most of my books in bulk when there are specials on ... so that makes the DDI plan expensive again because there won't be any specials. And having to pay for "virtual" minis is something you can count me out of - I want to pay for something I own physically not virtually.

All that said, I'm disappointed in the route WOTC are taking (even beyond the "we are not working on 4e - surprise! 2.5 years of work on 4e"). They're most likely hoping that they will get a sign up with every purchase of the first book and get a multiplying of their money like WoW does with its 6 million subscribers - however there are not that many D&D players out there I would hazzard to say.

And it gets worse for me with the conversion rates between AUD and US ... that 9.95 is really 15.00

Regards,
D

 

[Scribble]

The NYT model is pretty different...

For one thing, the NYT is offering news... Something I can get just about anywhere else for free... cnn, bbc, etc.

DDI is offering (in addition to it's articles) tools to help your game run faster/smoother.