Mark CMG
Creative Mountain Games
From http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?p=3481332#post3481332
Morrus said:As promised, here is the interview with WotC. Apparently, with so many people away at the GAMA tradeshow, it took a few days to get this together over email. One thing to note is that, in several places, Scott, Chris and Bill ask for opinions on what people would like to see happening regarding the planned online content model, and that they'll be watching the forums to see what people have to say. So, if you do have any thoughts, please feel free to drop in on the messageboards and have your say.
First of all Scott, welcome to EN World! Thanks for taking us up on our offer to speak to our readers. We know you've been getting a lot of heat on the boards lately and we understand from your email that you have browsed our site for some time. I’m sure I speak for all of us when I say that we hope to see you, and your fellow staffers at WotC, patrolling the virtual halls more often.
Scott Rouse, Senior Brand Manager for D&D: Glad to be here. In addition to myself, Bill Slavicsek (Director of R&D for D&D) and Chris Perkins (D&D Design Manager) are here to help answer your questions. We use a lot of different avenues to get a feel for what’s happening in the community, including message boards, product response cards, news sites, surveys, distributors and retailers, and our personal interaction with people at events and conventions. We have a lot of respect and appreciation of the EN World community and we’ll definitely poke our heads in from time to time.
Thank you for making time to answer these questions, which have been collected from fans on the EN World message boards and then compiled into - I hope - some semblance of order! I’ve tried to divide them into broad topical areas to make things a little easier. I hope you’ll feel free to expand on any areas where you feel the questions don’t quite hit the mark.
Scott: We have done our best to answer all the questions you have asked. There are some things we aren’t ready to reveal yet, but feel free to discuss what has been said, throw around ideas, and post your wish lists. We’ll work to incorporate everyone’s ideas into our plans as best we can.
Before we start, it would be great if you could introduce yourself, and tell us what it is a Senior brand Manager does at WotC? I understand also that other WotC staffers will be answering some of these questions, so if any of them feel like introducing themselves quickly, please feel free!
Scott: I’m the Senior Brand Manager for D&D. My team of five manages the marketing, product development, licensing, and overall business for D&D roleplaying and miniatures products.
I started work at Wizards of the Coast seven years ago. My first position was Associate Promotions Manager of Magic: The Gathering. Over the course of three years, I climbed the ranks to M:TG Brand Manger. I have also worked on Duel Masters, GI Joe, Legend of the Five Rings, and in New Business Development. I joined the D&D Brand Team in December, 2005, and have worked closely with Bill and the rest of the D&D team ever since.
Bill Slavicsek, Director of R&D for D&D: I lead the creative strategy and tactics for all things related to Dungeons & Dragons here at Wizards of the Coast, including roleplaying games, miniatures, and novels. My team works with Scott’s to craft business and creative strategies, then Scott’s team executes on the business tactics and my team executes on the creative tactics – in other words, we make the products.
I’ve been a game designer and editor for more than 20 years, working at West End Games and later TSR. For the past 10 years, I have been leading the creative process for D&D. My credits include a wide-range of roleplaying game and boardgame products, including the Eberron Campaign Setting and Dungeons & Dragons for Dummies.
Chris Perkins, D&D Design Manager: I report to Bill and oversee the game designers and editors that work on D&D products. I’m also leading the tactical planning and execution for our online offerings, making sure that they correspond directly to our physical products. Our creative team features the top talent in the industry, including Rich Baker, Logan Bonner, Bart Carroll, Michele Carter, Jennifer Clarke Wilkes, Andy Collins, Bruce Cordell, Rob Heinsoo, Gwen Kestrel, Mike Mearls, Kim Mohan, Dave Noonan, Steve Schubert, Matt Sernett, Chris Sims, Chris Thomasson, Rodney Thompson, Rob Watkins, Steve Winter, and James Wyatt.
I started out as a freelancer, writing dozens of adventures for Dungeon magazine. I was Editor-in-Chief of Dungeon magazine from 1997 to 2000, at which point I joined Bill’s R&D team.
First of all, were you surprised by the amount of emotion pouring out from fans in the last few days? What was the expected reaction from the online community?
Scott: No, we weren’t surprised by the reaction. We understand the emotions rippling through the community. In fact, there are a lot of people here at WotC that share those same emotions. Many of the people working on Bill’s team started their careers on the magazines, and it’s tough for some of them to accept the news. For those working on the online versions there is also a high level of excitement. We know that fans will have mixed reactions to this new format, but we hope that people will get excited as we begin to fully share the details of our plans.
Given that you have a new online content plan which, presumably, is set to “replace” the licensed magazine format, do you feel it was a good idea, publicity-wise, to announce the end of DRAGON and DUNGEON before, if not the imminent launch of the new service, but even any serious promotion or marketing of it?
Bill: The decision to make the announcement at this time was worked out with Paizo, and at their request. Paizo has subscribers, printers, advertisers and circulation partners who all needed to know what was going on. As for the WotC part of all this, we never had any intention of launching our efforts before Paizo’s run with the magazines was complete. And, while we cannot yet share all the details of what’s to come, more information will be revealed before the last issues of Dungeon and Dragon magazines hit the stands.
Our understanding at present is that the online content is set to replace the magazines. What factors were involved in the decision to replace one with the other, rather than to allow the two media - the online platform and the magazines - to co-exist?
Chris: Our online content plans will replace the printed magazines. That aside, we are still very much in the business of producing printed products.
Bill: I also want to take a moment to quell some related rumors. D&D is not going away. In no way do our plans call for the end of face-to-face tabletop gaming. We are not making an MMORPG. We will continue to produce printed, for-sale, published products.
Rumors of the online content have floated around in a low-key manner for some time now; however, the cancellation of the magazines was seen as a complete surprise. How long has this particular move been circulating at WotC?
Scott: More than a year ago, after much discussion, WotC and Paizo mutually agreed to let the contract expire at the end of the current license. We extended that license a few months so that things like the current Adventure Path could reach a natural conclusion.
At what level was this decision made? While I’m not trying to get you to put forward a scapegoat, I’m curious as to the decision-making process behind it.
Bill: This decision followed the same process as anything we do related to D&D. Creative endeavors originate on my team, business initiatives originate on the Brand Team, and at the end of the day myself and the Brand Director come together to agree on a course of action, then we submit our plans to senior management for ultimate approval.
Would it be true to say that WotC communicates with the online community to a much lesser degree than it did in years past? Of course, we can all be nostalgic for the days when Monte Cook, Ryan Dancey, et al wandered the virtual halls of the internet, speaking with the fans on a regular basis; is there a particular change in WotC’s corporate culture which has discouraged this in recent years?
Scott: While WotC staff may not be as responsive on the boards as we were in the past, everyone on the product development and business teams reads the boards regularly, and we often discuss the postings and suggestions in various team meetings.
Chris: That said, we’re working to make WotC R&D and Brand team members more accessible and visible online, and this interview is a beginning step toward that long-term goal. We’re excited by this opportunity and look forward to participating more fully in the future.
What can an online platform offer to the customer that a magazine cannot?
Chris: We have a lot of ideas that we’re happy with, but let me turn the question around. What would you hope for? What would make this exciting and useful for you? Another question for the community: How much of the magazine content were you able to use in your campaign? How much work did you have to do to accomplish that? If this new incarnation of the magazines could encompass anything you could want, what would that be?
Would it be fair to say that the new platform will contain enough content to replace both DRAGON and DUNGEON magazines?
Bill: Yes, and more. The constraints of the printed page go away when we transfer this particular kind of content to an online platform.
Can we expect to see support for WotC’s games other than D&D? For example, d20 Modern, Star Wars, or DDM? What about older D&D settings, such as Greyhawk, Dark Sun and others?
Chris: We’re working on content details now, and we’re certainly interested in what the community thinks. It’s fair to say that all things related to D&D will be part of our content. We value all of our settings and the history behind them, and we’re fans of all these worlds, too. But we have to find a way to deliver this kind of content without fracturing our audience, which I believe was one of the factors that led to the end of 2nd Edition. As for non-D&D content, those plans are still being evaluated.
Which aspects of DRAGON and DUNGEON are owned by Paizo, and which by WotC? For example, does WotC own the title "Class Acts" or "Sage Advice"? And does Paizo own "Adventure Path"? Can we expect to see continuations of any regular DRAGON articles or columns in electronic format?
Scott: Everything produced by Paizo under the license agreement is owned by Wizards of the Coast, with the exception of some of the cartoons and certain articles that use other people’s trademarks or copyrights. For example, The Order of the Stick cartoon isn’t owned by either WotC or Paizo, but by Rich Burlew.
Chris: We expect some of the columns and features to continue, some to evolve, and new features to appear as well.
The big question: when can we expect to see the new online content?
Bill: Soon. As stated, Paizo keeps publishing until issue #150 and #359. We don’t want to get in the way of that. Keep an eye on our website for more details.
It’s hard to phrase questions about the purchasing model without knowing the basic setup. This means that some of the following questions may be rendered redundant by a previous question, or the answers may overlap. Apologies in advance if you find yourself repeating yourself:
Scott: So there is a big block of questions here [below] that cover the “how” as in “how will you do this stuff online?” There is quite a bit here that we can’t really get into yet because details are either in flux and may change several times or we just can’t talk about yet. So what we have done here is try to talk about our thoughts at this point in time and provide detail wherever we can.
Another question hidden here is why don’t we have our plans ready now to share with the audience, just like Paizo did? Paizo needed to have information available now to discuss things important to their subscribers, such as what happens to their money. That’s a much more important and timely message at this moment than what WotC plans to do down the road. We will tell you. Have no fears about that. But the message has to come at the right time, and that time isn’t today.
What sort of purchase model will you be using? Will the online content be a subscription plan, or a la carte purchases of selected items?
In the case of a magazine, we can flick through it in the store before we decide whether or not we want it. How do you plan to compensate for that lack of “previewability”?
If it is possible for me to buy a single “issue” of the new format before deciding whether or not it’s for me?
What happens to the content I have purchased when I stop paying? Do I lose access to my purchases, or am I purchasing something which can be used offline (for example, in a downloadable format)?
OK, this question I’m sure you won’t be able to answer right now, but I’m going to throw it out there anyway: how much will it cost me? Lacking specific figures, how would you compare the cost to, say, a year’s subscription of DRAGON and DUNGEON?
What Digital Rights Management issues will I stumble across when interacting with the online content?
Will accounts be “per PC” or “per user”? For example, can I log into the system when playing a D&D game at a friend’s house?
Will you be accommodating gamers who don’t own a credit card (whether because they’re too young to have one, live in a country where such things aren’t as common, etc.)? What about gamers without internet access?
Scott: We are looking at various types of payment methods, subscription periods, and pricing options. Our overall goal is to offer a good value to consumers in terms of what they will get for the price paid. The magazines were a great value when you compare price vs content and I don’t foresee this changing as we move online. We have some experience with payment options for consumers without credit cards and we are evaluating several options. Accounts will be user based and can move with you from machine to machine.
Chris: We don’t foresee any lack of “previewability.” There will be ways to preview content and we will be testing a couple preview different options. It would be great to hear how customers would like to preview content. We have not come up with a solution for “portability” of content after your subscription has ended but we are discussing ideas with in our development team. We do not have a DRM solution yet but have a range of options available to us.
Bill: The content will be updated very frequently, but we can’t get into specifics on this yet. Expect constant small bursts of content that later get collected for ease of reference. As with the magazines, the online content represents only one part of our D&D efforts, and those without Internet access will have other options. We have a great stable of D&D staff and freelancers that we be generating the content.
It has been said, both by fans and by those in the industry (including some ex-WotC staffers) that the magazines were an invaluable marketing tool during the run-up to 3E. Given that 4E is going to come sometime, how does this affect WotC plans to successfully market the new edition - or, for that matter, any other large product launches on the horizon.
Bill: The Internet is a great delivery system for news of this kind. It’s more timely. It reaches more eyeballs than the magazines, even at the height of their readership. We believe that any messages we want to get out will not be harmed or hindered by the change in venue for the magazine content.
What will happen to the DRAGON and DUNGEON brand names? Will they be transferred directly across to the new platform in some manner, or will they become defunct?
Chris: These brand names have tremendous value and we intend to use them moving forward.
What is the likelihood of seeing new online material being compiled in hardcopy format - perhaps an annual magazine, book or compendium?
Bill: Sounds like a great idea! In fact, it’s been part of our plans all along.
Will the large quantity of regularly updated, excellent free content on the official website be affected by all this? There are, understandably, some concerns that people will now be expected to pay for something they were previously getting for free.
Bill: There will always be a free portion of our website. Some of the material that appears there now will continue as free content. But as we bring the magazine content over, content that you already pay for, expect that that content will continue to have some kind of fees associated with it.
DRAGON and DUNGEON have always been stepping stones for writers and artists breaking into the RPG industry. Will this still be the case with the online content? Will you continue to accept submissions from freelance writers?
Chris: Yes. This is exactly how I broke into the industry, and we’re always looking for new talent to complement our core team.
Is the non-renewal of Margaret Weis’ DRAGONLANCE license connected to this or is it just a coincidence?
Scott: No decisions have been made regarding the Dragonlance license, and we don’t discuss the details of ongoing negotiations.
And that’s the end of the questions! I’ve attempted to cover as many of the broad areas that people seem concerned about as possible. Thank you for your time, and your willingness to talk to the community - it’s always appreciated!
Scott: To Russ [Morrus] and the EN World community,
Thanks for the great questions and providing the forum for us to talk about our plans.
