Dragon 427 posted and Upcoming Hiatus

[Ahnehnois]

Dragon still exists?

 

[Alzrius]

This is a sad, but not terribly surprising, move. I fully expected that the DDI was living on borrowed time when 5E was announced, and this just seems like the beginning of the end for it - that said, it's still sad that the magazines are dying again.

 

[delericho]

I think wotc is just about done with DDI.

If there are indeed still about 80,000 subscribers, then they would be mad to stop supporting DDI. If that is indeed the case then it's frankly the printed version of 5e that should be at risk, not the electronic one.

(In all honesty, I'm astounded that so many people still subscribe to DDI. Still, that seems to be the figure, and I see no reason to doubt it that doesn't tread dangerously close to conspiracy theory territory.)

Thought question: if the print mags had never existed, would the creation of new periodicals even be on the table at this juncture?

In print? No. And, IMO, it really shouldn't be on the table at this point at all. I was sorely disappointed to see the magazines go, but what's done is done. Once the magazines had been out of print for a few months, any window for bringing them back was closed.

 

[dd.stevenson]

If there are indeed still about 80,000 subscribers, then they would be mad to stop supporting DDI. If that is indeed the case then it's frankly the printed version of 5e that should be at risk, not the electronic one.

(In all honesty, I'm astounded that so many people still subscribe to DDI. Still, that seems to be the figure, and I see no reason to doubt it that doesn't tread dangerously close to conspiracy theory territory.)

I'm not doubting the figures, and I'd really rather not derail this thread with another argument about the sub numbers.

But likewise, I think it's pretty hard to deny that WotC is treating DDI like a sunset app. Are they mad? Maybe. Do they know something we don't? God, I hope so. Either way, "we're not ready to talk about the future of the online tools but we won't turn them off until they become financially unviable" is sunset talk--I just can't see any other reasonable way to spin it.

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

(snip) Either way, "we're not ready to talk about the future of the online tools but we're won't turn them off until they become financially unviable" is sunset talk--I just can't see any other reasonable way to spin it.

Yeah, that's as close to a formal confirmation as you can get without it being a formal confirmation. It's weasel worded corporate speak for, "Yeah, we're turning the 4E tools off. You just won't know when."

 

[jodyjohnson]

hi·a·tus [hahy-ey-tuhs] noun, plural hi·a·tus·es, hi·a·tus.
1. a break or interruption in the continuity of a work, series, action, etc.

2. a missing part; gap or lacuna: Scholars attempted to account for the hiatus in the medieval manuscript.

3. any gap or opening.

It is only a hiatus if they are planning on bringing it back. It's a gap from the once a month format.

The last gap was full of previews of 4e as free articles under the Dragon heading. Dragon and DDI was not charging during that time.

If anything I think it indicates strongly that the DDI will continue with Dragon and Dungeon under it because otherwise they could just do previews under the Dragon brand and put them outside of the paywall. Mike already said Legends & Lore (the Monday articles) will be the weekly place for previews once it is back in closed playtesting.

Frankly there just won't be content for 4e to put in them (really I have plenty already) and they will probably use the extra hands to get Next complete enough so that they can start producing those paywall Dragon articles and Dungeon adventures.

Considering the last 2 major breaks in 'publication' were unannounced and seemingly uncontrolled this is the first announced one, announced 4 months ahead of time. And they intend to convey the length of the gap and plan for when the 'magazine' will resume before the gap even starts. It sounds planned and based on very practical considerations rather than some sort of emergency.

 

[delericho]

Either way, "we're not ready to talk about the future of the online tools but we won't turn them off until they become financially unviable" is sunset talk--I just can't see any other reasonable way to spin it.

Yeah, you're not wrong about that. And yet...

I dunno. It's very strange.

 

[DaveMage]

It would be nice if they actually told 4E fans what the plan is regarding the immediate (12 months or so) future of 4E/DDI support, but, well, WotC never tells.

 

[dream66_]

This is a bad headline.

How is droping the magazines DDI going dark. They said at GENCON that the compendium would stay up even after NEXT was published, so I don't think they are dropping it now, so DDI isn't going dark, they're just not adding new content.

 

[jodyjohnson]

The title of the Editorial is "Going Dark".

So that's where the 'Going Dark' part comes from. I agree that the News headline makes it sound like DDI is done.