First, despite an opposing opinion than I, I want to commend Imaro and Alzrius on providing calm and specific responses that reflect their viewpoints.
That said..
..
I can't recall the exact quotes from the Gencon announcement regarding online Dungeon and Dragon, nor the exact quotes from WOTC when the announcement of what the transition would be like between the hand-off from Paizo and the paid online subscription services. But I wonder whether we have taken a few specific sentences and built expectations because of the numerous threads that sprouted up around within the community, causing a small snowball of expectation to become an avalance of expectation. It wouldn't be the first time nor will it be the last. I am guilty as charged in a few cases myself.
If I recall what I remember, they stated that they would try to maintain the quality of articles that are provided online that the audience had come to expect from Paizo, but that it would be free while they were trying to get the online magazine portion of the DDI up to snuff.
From the
Welcome to Dragon article on 8-16-2007:
Chris Thomasson - 8-16-07 said:
Sometime in the spring, when all of D&D Insider’s digital components go live, we’ll begin charging a monthly subscription fee to access some of our online content. We don’t have final pricing details ready to share, but one subscription fee will cover all aspects of D&D Insider, including more than two print issues’ worth of editorial content each month. You’ll get access to the amazing set of tools
D&D Insider will provide—the
D&D Game Table, the
D&D Character Creator, and the
Dungeon Master’s Toolkit, details of which will be unveiled in the coming months. You’ll also get more of the great content you’ve come to expect from Dragon and Dungeon over the past umpteen-dozen years.
In the meantime, we want to start showing you the type of editorial content you’ll get for your money, and help you understand what constitutes subscription-level content (that is, something you need an account to access). And that’s where the current log-in system fits in.
Over these next few months, we’ll be keeping an eye on the things you like and don’t like, making adjustments based on your feedback. Feel free to drop us a line at
dndinsider@wizards.com or post on the new Dragon and Dungeon forum. Your voice will help shape future content.
Chris Thomasson said:
Which leads me to the next few months. From now to the 4th Edition launch, Dragon is going to give you the latest 4th Edition developments. We’ve revamped the Design & Development column, which has run on the site now for some time, and we’re using it to show you now not only what is coming, but why and how. Several times each week, we’ll give a detailed look at one specific part of the new system, with commentary by the folks doing the design and development of the game. At the same time, Dragon will continue to bring you favorites such as Ecology articles, campaign setting support, and other great content written, as always, by members of the D&D community. You’ll see this in Dragon #360, which, among other things, includes a spectacular 360-degree panoramic view of the D&D game.
Need adventures? Check out the new Dungeon pages for a sneak peek at issue #151, which also comes out in October. This issue heralds the return of Dungeoncraft. James Wyatt—D&D game designer, co-author of the Eberron Campaign Setting, and Eberron novelist—takes over as the new master of Dungeoncraft, and I can’t want to show what he’s up to.
Then there’s the comics, the free maps, Sage Advice, all the stuff Bart already talked about, and more I'm probably forgetting. Every Monday we’ll have a weekly update to tell you what’s in store for D&D Insider in the coming week, as well as new editorial content every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. We’ll also use these newfangled tubes we call the “Interweb” to bring a new spin to classic D&D content. We’re looking at more innovative ways to leverage the technology at our disposal and bring your game to new heights of cool.
I am not sure if the last paragraph refers to the paid subscription Dragon and Dungeon when it comes out or not, but the paragraph with...
Which leads me to the next few months. From now to the 4th Edition launch, Dragon is going to give you the latest 4th Edition developments.
It seems that they have been doing this already. I wonder if Chris' article is stating that this will all stop, or if he is saying that we aren't gonna get a lot of 3.5e crunch between now and 4e release. I would love to see another Ecology article or a Demonomicon/Infernal article.
Maybe if they gave us a Core Beliefs article with one of the new Dieties? Awesome! But that would simply raise expectations (again) to an unreasonable level if they only give one in the next six months.
Issue 360 preview shows what they will give, and they delivered everything promised.
I don't know.... I get the feeling that many of the expectations people have are rooted in a single smaller promise that has bloated under the weight of many long heated threads. It happens a lot around the web, and this place, while the most civil and my favorite d20/D&D community, is just as guilty.
Alzrius said:
Back when they were releasing everything you listed, the fans were mostly satisfied. True, they weren't being released in as timely a manner as people were used to, but they were still given to us, and for free.
Now, however, WotC has just announced that they're removing everything from that list except for the adventures and the previews. This is after telling us that Dragon would be just as good, if not better, on the web than it was in print format - that seeing what it was like over the coming months would convince us to purchase D&DI subscriptions.
From the most recent and offending Chris Thommason article:
What does this mean? Well, for now, not much. You won't see much of a change in the free content (yes, I felt compelled to point out that we're dropping a hefty dime to get this content contracted, commission art, and pay freelance editors and typesetters to get it to you without expecting any compensation) in the next few months.
He is saying....
not much will change over what they are offering now. He didn't say that they are dropping all the content that you mentions that they are dropping. Now, others will think that they are dropping all that content, consider it a reliable quote and run with it. New expectation created from a quote that is NOT accurate to what was stated in the column.
Imaro said:
As far as our "oversized expectations" WotC had a fair amount of influence in shaping those. The problem is they aren't ready to put up after all the hype and customers are rightly mad.
Alzrius said:
WotC is expected to provide us with exactly that - they deliberately crafted this expectation from when the new format for the magazines was announced.
Plesae help me understand your position. If you can find the deliberately crafted expectation in the things that have come specifically from WOTC, I will humbly recant my position. As I have stated, the expectations they crafted were initially smaller, but were bloated by the internet.
Believe me, I loved Dragon and Dungeon, Paizo style. They have elevated themselves, in my eyes, as the best 3rd party publishing house in the d20/OGL business. That says alot considering my respect for Necro, GR, Paradigm and Goodman.
I am willing to eat massive crow if it comes August next year and WOTC is sucking lemons with DDI. But when I look at the evidence, they're getting hammered for what amounts to simply tightening the reigns for a few months while they prep for the biggest RPG launch in the past 7 years.
