Dragon 361 Editorial

[Spatula]

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.

Well, Wizards gains nothing from people who don't switch to 4e, so honestly, why cater to them (looking at it from a business POV). If you're not going to buy / use 4e, you won't be subscribing to D&DI anyway. I don't think that anyone disputes that WOTC is not going to be supporting 3e once 4e arrives.

Consider if over the next 6 months, online Dragon is filled with the most amazing new 3.5 crunch ever. Summer 2008 arrives, 4e is published, online content has to be paid for, and you have no intention of abandoning 3e. Are you going to pay for 4e rules content in the new Dragon? No. What they do in the meantime will have no bearing on that decision for someone who is not interested in the new edition.

I think that, ideally, they should be trying to convert people to 4e (and to paying for online content) with new articles that have dual 3e/4e stats - the 4e stats will not be very useful right away, but will pique people's interest and will give them an idea of what's to come when Dragon is no longer free. It will also make that content still usable after the new edition is published. However, it is an extra drain on resources (you'd probably need one of your 4e developers to do the 4e stats) and perhaps they don't have the manpower or money for it.

I also think that ideally they could have handled the Dragon / Dungeon thing a HELL of a lot better, publicity-wise, from day 1. They fumbled the ball with the Pazio thing, and here they're explaining themselves in business terms, what makes sense for the bottom line - which is logical, and their reasoning makes sense, but it won't endear you to people who are looking to be reassured. Public relations isn't about the unvarnished truth.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Well, I was first a bit disappointed that they seemed to ignore 3.x in the upcoming "issues", but with the caveat that I didn't read Dragon or Dungeon before anyway, so I might not really miss it. And I didn't use the WotC online PrCs, feats or spells either. My group has a certain aversion against "I've got that rule from the internet", and that even applies to WotC (except for errata, because we know/hope that this is a result of playtesting or editorial work that is beyond what was already done in the original work)

But my disappointment was even further relieved when I read they want to continue creating adventures - that's something my group _really_ needs. Everyone in my gaming group has his own campaign to run, and most of us are busy at work. We don't have time to create adventures in detail, and adventures from the Dragon/Dungeon that are for the moment effectively free are exactly what we can use best.
We don't need PrCs, Feats or new spells.

So for me, this is the best decision. But then, I am pretty certain to convert to D&D 4 once it arrives, too. I might be the target audience of the current DDI anyway.

 

[JoeGKushner]

I've enjoyed the junk that they have put out for free, since they took it back from Paizo, more then I enjoyed any of the excrement that was put out during the five years Paizo had it. Additionally, it costs me nothing, and Grayhawk isn't being crammed down my throat. Yeah, it's win win.

The universal benefit of getting to everyone is certainly win win.

 

[JoeGKushner]

I was disappointed years ago when White Dwarf magazine became the industry mag/advert for GW games. However, the model seems to have served them very well.

Are you sure about that? I could swear that for the last several years (since LoTR was basically out of the theaters), that they've been having problems.

 

[Spatula]

Another idea for Dragon is to publish rules that allow you to sort-of 4e-ize your 3e game. Fighter maneuvers as feat chains, new spells, alternate class features, etc.

 

[MadMaxim]

Wow... Mr. Thomasson certainly seems to be doing what he can to alienate the people who are buying Dungeons & Dragons products. I'm no marketing genius, but I can't really see how this can be a smart move in any sense of the word. He's basically telling people who're playing the present edition that it's not worth supporting even though 4th edition is still 6 months away and the only thing Dragon is good for now is for setting up the unstoppable, unbreakable, unbeatable and invincible 4th edition. Well, if the Player's Handbook isn't written well enough for me to dive right into without the help of DDI then Wizards of the Coast should hire more and better designers...

 

[Thundershield]

All due respect:
If I get into a sneak peek of a movie for free, does that mean I don't have the right to complain/critique it? I think people are just calling it as they see it with regards to eDragon and the DI. Regardles of if it's free or not, doesn't mean that if they give us subpar material, we should just accpet it without comments.

As I said, this is the time they should be WOWING us with the launch of the DI.

It's true that making great (free) material might be a good way to create a hype, but it also costs in creative resources.

Anyway, complaining about a movie you got a free sneak peek at isn't something you can't do - it just means you're less likely to get another sneak peek. One possible consequence is (however unlikely) that they'll take down the e-zines and then there simply won't be any Dragon or Dungeon, printed or otherwise.

Let's just see how this all works out, and once they start actually promising us stuff for our money (instead of just giving us stuff for free), we can start complaining. Until then, constructive criticism and requests will do much more good.

 

[Derren]

He's basically telling people who're playing the present edition that it's not worth supporting even though 4th edition is still 6 months away and the only thing Dragon is good for now is for setting up the unstoppable, unbreakable, unbeatable and invincible 4th edition.

When I consider how often I have sen people which said "I won't buy any more 3.5 books because they are useless in 6 months) I can totally understand this move.

And people simply do want previews. See how well Races & Classes sells compared to Elder Evils.

 

[Rauol_Duke]

Comment removed due to lack of "constructive criticism"...

 

[ShinHakkaider]

Are you sure about that? I could swear that for the last several years (since LoTR was basically out of the theaters), that they've been having problems.

Yeah I had heard the same thing. Didn't they recently replace their CEO or something because they've been underperforming in the US market.

Also I live in NY and out of the 4 stores they have in the NYC area two of them have recently closed and I saw a sign to contact the realtor on the one out here in Queens on Austin street.

And really as far as I know, that's never a good sign.