malraux
First Post
Character builder runs flawlessly inside MacOS. He just chooses not to run Character Builder on his mac. Somewhat significant difference.
Exclusive Races/Classes in Dragon: Why the Angst?
- Thread starter JoeGKushner
- Start date
Character builder runs flawlessly inside MacOS. He just chooses not to run Character Builder on his mac. Somewhat significant difference.
Dire Bare
Legend
Without having to purchase additional emulation software? Really? If so, then complaints of this nature truly are trivial.
Dire Bare
Legend
The distinction between what you are and you are not complaining about still remains unclear to me.
That you are frustrated the D&DI service isn't optimal for mac-users, I understand and don't consider that trivial. Macs are truly superior to PCs in so many ways, and if I was in your shoes I'd sure be frustrated.
But to claim it is somehow "unfair", that WotC should be increasing costs on their end to save you costs on your end, that I find, not trivial, but somewhat silly. I mean, that's basically why Mac users don't have full access, because to give it to you the project would cost WotC more money. In their estimation, more money than wouldn't bring in enough money to justify. It may be a false assumption on their part, it may be a bad business move . . . but it is not in any way "unfair".
Now upthread I think you (or somebody else) calculated the difference in cost to be roughly $0.30 per month . . . and if that's true, than complaining about the difference in price IS trivial!
malraux
First Post
VirtualBox is a free download. The only extra expense is the cost of a copy of windows, though many people have extra (legit even) copies floating around. Plus apparently I have to factor in the extra cost of the hard drive space, plus the opportunity cost of losing that Gig of space (though if you mac's drive is that full you're about to experience much badness when the drive fills completely). All that said, have a near seemless version of windows really is handy for more than just the CB.
Dire Bare
Legend
Ah, so it does cost money then, if only for a copy of Windows (assuming you do it all the legal way). A copy of Windows isn't cheap, so I know if I had a mac I'd be frustrated that the solution will cost me a bundle more. But still don't think the situation is in any way, unfair.
The drive space issue I can see as being a roadblock to some, but storage memory is pretty cheap these days and most home computers (mac or PC) come with way more than you could ever use.
Scribble
First Post
Heh... When I bought my first PC back in the day I went to a computer show to buy a new harddrive at a discount... This was back before the discounts were on the internet. The drive I bought was HUGE! Way more then I could ever imagine needing... 2 whole gigs!
I'm sorry.
If the solution for running Character Builder on my Mac is:
1) Buying a $400 PC.
2) Buying commercial PC emulation software or a card.
3) Downloading free PC emulation software and buying a copy of Windows (because my professional ethics would demand nothing less).
Those are not trivial costs- the cheapest option works out to at least doubling the cost of the subscription itself. That's simply not worth it to me.
I can afford any- heck, ALL of the above if I wanted belt & suspenders- of those options, but its too much to ask each Mac user for getting full utility out of a subscription to Dragon, especially as compared to the costs implementing platform neutral programming would have been.
Again, its a question of shifting a cost easily borne by the publisher (programming in a platform neutral language) which becomes quite expensive at the level of the individual consumer (see above), not that there is an inherent cost difference at all.
Now, for some Mac users, this would still be a trivial cost because they run more PC software than I do (I run virtually none). A Mac user who routinely uses PC emulation in some way would feel no additional impact to his wallet, but those guys are the minority.
Last edited:
malraux
First Post
I guess, though XP isn't all that expensive. Certainly less than 100 bucks. And since most mac users end up having to run other windows only programs anyway, in most cases the cost of windows should be divided over more than one application. And of course the cost should be amortized across the life of the OS, which for a virtual machine is effectively infinite.
edit: and since this is turning into a pointless OS and money debate, I'll just make this my last post on the issue. But my main point is that mac/linux users can relatively easily take advantage of all that DDi offers.
Last edited:
Scribble
First Post
I agree, if you're purchasing an emulator or a PC or whatever just to run the character builder the costs aren't trivial.
I think you're attributing a motive that's not there though... The shifting the cost to the consumer thing. I don't buy it. Seems like the motivating factor is- "We don't want to spend the resources (or we don't feel the ROI would be good enough) to create another CB for other formats. "
Nothing to do with shifting costs. Just not wanting to make an investment they don't believe will be returned.
I'm not saying that the motive is shifting costs. I'm saying that one result of the perfectly valid business decision is a very real shift in costs.
Whether that cost would be recoupable would be answered by two questions: Does it cost more per expected unit sold to program something with qualities X, Y & Z in Program 1 (platform neutral), than it does in Program 2 (not platform neutral)? And is that cost difference, if it exists, a significant one?
(If the answer to #2 is "Maybe," the followup questions would involve corporate goodwill, market share, etc.)
Personally, I don't have WotC's data. However, as I said before, others who do have estimated that the installed Mac base in RPGs (and actual & potential Dragon subscribers) is bigger than WotC concluded. Fact? Wishful thinking? I don't know.
Ultimately, its the same as the whole "print it up yourself" counterpoint.
It is perfectly good business to decide to produce your RPG materials exclusively in electronic formats, and allow them to be printed by consumers.
However, even though this results in a less expensive base product, for someone who wants or requires a hardcopy (like me)- especially a durable, double-sided page, high quality paper one- finds the costs of printing that up get shifted entirely to him. Due to economies of scale, that may mean that the hardcopy I just described might be more expensive than a similar product printed by another publisher...and would STILL be of lower quality.
And generally speaking, I vote with my $$$ and don't buy exclusively electronic gaming products.
Last edited:
Similar Threads
