DDI - 8000 subscribers and counting - When will it stop?

[carmachu]

With the release of Wizbook, we have gained somewhat an idea about the numbers of DDI subscribers. Or rather, we now know how many subscribers there is at the very least.

At the time of writing, it's 7972 members. As people log on to their Wizbook account, the number has been rising on a daily basis with around 500 per day after the initial surge when the core posters and subscribers logged in.

Honestly? 8K seems awfully small for the game wotc. I would have expected alot more then that from the 4e fan base considering how often were tiold 4e sold well and how many print runs there were.

 

[The Little Raven]

8K seems awfully small for the game wotc.

That's because, as stated, it's only a small fraction of the actual DDI subscription numbers.

 

[thecasualoblivion]

That is a good point, and one (with my D&D blinkers on) that I hadn't considered...

So looking at the official "product" groups, I can't see one for Avalon Hill or the Star Wars RPG (or any other WotC "products" for that matter). There appear to be 2 product related ones - D&D at just under 700 members and MTG at under 400 - I'm assuming no-one was automatically signed up for them. Looking at the various other regional and fan created groups, it seems like the ratio of just under 2:1 for D&D:MTG seems to be reasonably accurate.

So if we assume that 700/1100 = ~63% of the board members are interested in D&D, then that still means the DDI subscriber base is 8000/(63% x 174000) or just over 7%. A slightly better number, but still not huge...

I don't know that I agree with that math. D&D is much more of a social game than M:tG. Your math also does not include inactive accounts, as you don't join the DDI group until you set up your profile, which if you haven't logged on in the last few weeks, wouldn't have happened.

 

[Shemeska]

Yes, but how much did it cost to create DDI and how much does the ongoing development of the DDI Tools cost?

I've been told a number for how much the original outsourcing for Gleemax and the DDI cost. If they were right with what they quoted me, there's no way they'll recoup that value on DDI subscriptions anytime soon IMO.

For judging success of the DDI subs, I'd compare any numbers to the circulation of print Dragon and Dungeon prior to being cancelled, and their circulation around the time 3e started or so. Of course we don't have a clue what Hasbro's expectations are for subscription numbers of the DDI which may have been estimated around the same time that Gleemax was initially being pushed through.

 

[catsclaw227]

I noticed that I had to not only go to the wizards community, I had to also make sure I had some basic profile information before it would let me go to the DDI page. Once I filled it out and went there (DDI group) it added me. Well, assume it did, because we saw the number of members jump (from a friend's account) after I entered the group.

It's now 8183 at the time of this writing.

EDIT: So it looks like it jumped 200 members in like a 1/2 day or so. It will be interesting to see where the number tables off at.

 

[Dannager]

Seems to me the relevant statistic then is the size of the DDI group compared to the size of the WotC Community. I.e.: ~8000 out of ~174000, or under 5%... that still seems sort of poor to me.

You are only made part of the D&D Insider group once you log in and register with the new forum system. There are 174,000 people who have joined the Wizards forums, but nowhere near that many have logged in and registered with the new community in the past week.

 

[Majoru Oakheart]

You are only made part of the D&D Insider group once you log in and register with the new forum system. There are 174,000 people who have joined the Wizards forums, but nowhere near that many have logged in and registered with the new community in the past week.

Plus, I really do think the Magic population outnumbers the D&D population significantly. All of the most active threads on the forums are ALL Magic related. There is simply more people on the WOTC message boards talking about Magic than anything else they do.

I know a lot of D&D players I know refuse to discuss D&D on the internet. They don't like other people's opinions on how to play or how the game works.

On the other hand, almost all my Magic playing friends(who outnumber the D&D players at our FLGS 2:1) spend most of their time on the internet in forums discussing deck strategy.

 

[FireLance]

I know a lot of D&D players I know refuse to discuss D&D on the internet. They don't like other people's opinions on how to play or how the game works.

[cynical]They're doing it wrong. The whole point to discussing D&D on the internet is not to listen to other peoples' opinions. It's to tell other people that what they are doing, thinking or feeling is wrong.[/cynical]

 

[MerricB]

Plus, I really do think the Magic population outnumbers the D&D population significantly. All of the most active threads on the forums are ALL Magic related. There is simply more people on the WOTC message boards talking about Magic than anything else they do.

IIRC, there was a time when it was said that the D&D population outnumbered the Magic population by 10:1, but Magic gave 10:1 revenue...

Cheers!

 

[Vorput]

Huh... I honestly thought it'd be much higher than that.