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Message: <blockquote data-quote="jsaving" data-source="post: 5880156" data-attributes="member: 16726">I do not think this is correct.In the early days of 3e, Ryan Dancey used to speak often about revenue drivers for WotC, arguing that -- contrary to what some believe -- their revenue came primarily from core rulebook sales rather than ancillary products like adventures.  As a result, WotC adopted a business strategy in which it stopped focusing on penny-ante accessories (for a while) and instead created the infrastructure for a third-party adventure marketplace (via the OGL).  There was a lot of opposition to this both internally and externally, on the grounds that it wouldn't directly help WotC's bottom line.  But what Ryan and others understood was that strong ancillary material would generate interest in 3e, driving up sales of the core books and thereby providing a sizable boost to WotC's profits.I think the current situation is broadly similar.  At least in my judgment, WotC went through a period where it forgot what its actual revenue drivers are and decided it could become a subscription-based enterprise.  The problem was, there wasn't nearly enough value-added for most customers to justify the subscription fee -- exactly the same problem newspapers across the country have run into when *they* have tried to charge for digital content.  To make matters worse, people who didn't already own the core books couldn't see the modest innovations on DDI that might have convinced them to give the core books a try, turning off a key channel through which core rulebook sales might have risen.  What I'm really saying is that ancillary materials like adventures and DDI are best viewed as commercials for WotC's bread and butter: core rulebook sales.  This is why I think the premise under which some people are thinking about DDI is exactly wrong: a free or reduced-cost DDI is what can best help WotC over the long run while the current high-monthly-cost model provides the least incentive for improvement.</blockquote>

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