Dragon 361 Editorial

[HeavenShallBurn]

It isn't horrible or indefensible -- it is just a bad idea. Six months is a long time. There is plenty of 3.x gaming left to be had. What's more, making people think of e-Dragon as the first, best place to get their D&D fix is good for the future of the magazine and therefore the D&DI and therefore D&D. Simply ignoring a segment of the player/consumer base -- the people that like to use new crunch, even if they homebrew their own setting and adventures -- in hopes that they'll stick around anyway strikes me as both dubious reasoning and more than a little insulting to that player/customer base.

But then, it seems that WotC's attitude has been, since the announcement of 4E, that D&D players and DMs will go along with whatever, simply following the brand without question. I hope they are wrong. I hope everyone who is dissatisfied with the electronic Dragon refuses to subscribe to the D&DI; I hope that everyone who doesn't like the 4E design philosophy simply doesn't buy the new edition; I hope that those that prefer D&D as it is support those companies that continue to produce quality 3.x materials. Whether or not these people are enough to make a dent in WotC's bottom line is irrelevent -- the point is that no company, especially one that produces entertainment, should feel so confident in their brand power that they are willing to wager a portion of their paying customer base without suffering the consequences for doing so.

To respond to Vigilance, what he said. I would have pointed out the same things just probably not as well.

 

[Vigilance]

It isn't horrible or indefensible -- it is just a bad idea. Six months is a long time. There is plenty of 3.x gaming left to be had.

And they are giving folks more 3.5 gaming to have, in the form of free adventures.

I just don't think now is the time someone really, really, needs a shiny new 3.5 PrC or some other piece of Dragon crunch.

So no, it's not a bad idea.

 

[WayneLigon]

I notice they didn't stop putting in 2E rules when they were ramping up to 3E for a year in the Dragon. That explanation doesn't make a lot of sense. I can understand it in some degree, but really it seems to suggest ... something. It's not their time, since as I understood it they're still working through the Paizo pile of submissions. I could understand them not producing crunch content because they don't have the time to create and playtest new crunch but if they're still working through the slush pile.. what then?

 

[Khairn]

The editorial came across to me as a clear attempt at damage control. But an attempt that went astray.

When Chris wrote ...

This wasn't a decision we arrived at easily, but we knew that the only thing we stood to gain from continuing with the status quo was the goodwill of the readers, especially following the migration of the magazines to a digital medium.

he lost any sympathy I might have had for WotC's plight.

Making the decision that gaining the goodwill of your customers might come at too steep a cost, is something I can understand. Sharing that with me while trying to explain how the poor quality of your newest product line is all part of a deliberate plan that I need to understand and get excited about, seems ... like it was not the best customer relations move.

All things considered this is just yet another poor decision, in a long line of poor decisions, that illustrate (to me at least) how disconnected WotC is from many of their customers.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

Wow, that article is basically saying to me, "don't expect much from the online version of Dragon for the next 6 months." I thought that until 4E is released D&D Insider was free to give us a look at what it offered so as to entice us to pay for it later. If it is then WotC sure aren't trying very hard to entice me.

At least half of what has been on Dragon online we normally got for free on the WotC website anyway. The other few articles that we got aren't really enough to get me to subscribe. Dungeon has been ok. Free adventures are always good. I really don't think that they are making the most of the online medium though. They can't even put bookmarks in their PDF's.

Overall, even with the free adventures, there isn't enough there for me to want to pay $10+ a month to subscribe. And since I won't be playing online, I'm not sure what value the coming features, such as an online tabletop, will have for me.

Olaf the Stout

 

[JoeGKushner]

Except for right now, it's FREE.

So you're getting FREE 3.5 adventures in e-Dungeon, and FREE fluff articles, along with 4e previews in e-Dragon, and you're complaining.

Nice.

I like how you skip over the part where people note that right now it's supposed to be in WoTC's best interest to make this the best possible "free" ever since you know, they're going to want us to pay for it but hey, you keep right on defending 'em.

 

[JoeGKushner]

And they are giving folks more 3.5 gaming to have, in the form of free adventures.

I just don't think now is the time someone really, really, needs a shiny new 3.5 PrC or some other piece of Dragon crunch.

So no, it's not a bad idea.

And yet some people seem to disagree with you.

Shocking I say.

Shocking.

 

[Ace]

SNIP

As for the fluff articles, they were always free. WotC has been posting them on their website long before they nixed the print Dragon, however, they're now hosting those articles under Dragon's banner, which flies in the face of how the magazine was meant to be useful as a crunch resource (or even a fluff resource for the game, instead of previews for the next edition).

I'd rather pay for crunch, than get preview fluff for free, but they've no longer given us that option.

Good point. I like crunch. Fluff OTOH, well anything but the simplest fluff (say a name) has zero value to me. E Dragon literally isn't even worth my time to sign up for it or read it as a cost.

 

[Aus_Snow]

nevermind. can't be bothered.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Hindsight and Monday morning quarterbacking, here, but WOTC should really have extended Paizo's license for another year. That way Paizo could keep the 3.5 flame burning, keep the Dungeon and Dragon names vaiable, and publish official previews while WOTC's staff focused on getting a quality 4E release. Drop Paizo's license after release of 4E, when you now have the staff time to devote to executing a quality and smooth transition of Dungeon & Dragon to digital medium.

From my point of view, WOTC is currently dragging Dragon (and to a lesser extent Dungeon) through the mud, while neither bodes well for the futures of those products nor interests me in any future digital release. Given what we've seen since the end of the Paizo license gives me zero confidence that their DI will be useful/successful.

Heck, I now go to the WOTC website less than I did before they moved content over there. Give Dungeon & Dragon back to Paizo, I say.