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Message: <blockquote data-quote="dd.stevenson" data-source="post: 7650775" data-attributes="member: 6683099">We can't know for sure, but I've an inkling that the offline character generator did very much fall in the "broken" column from the viewpoint of the management at the time. That's a very fair point. So--to recap--we have identified superior data collection as the key advantage to subscription services vs. product subscriptions. Now let me pose a question: do you believe that's really all there is to it? Do you believe that companies are keen to convert product lines into services, solely in order to collect better data about their customers? I don't. That's because there is another benefit to taking a fairly tangible product (a piece of software, a book, etc.) and marketing it as an intangible service: marketing goods as services allows companies to provide less value to customers, while charging more money for the privilege. (I was going to spend a little bit of time mucking about for a cite to back this point up, but on reflection that's not really necessary: you as much as cede this point in the "I want to Buy it, not Rent it" section of your article.)And that's why I view the end of the article as a bait-and-switch: it takes the advantages of the subscription model (steady income and strong customer connections) and shoehorns them into arguments in favor of subscription services, which are in actuality only a very specific type of subscription. And then ends asking the audience what it would take to get them to swallow the bitter pill of purchasing a fairly tangible product on a service basis.Personally, my answer to this question is going to be pretty simple: I won't ever be interested in purchasing a tabletop rpg on a service basis, thank you very much, but I can think of plenty of honest-to-goodness services that would add value to my game table. Things like adventure and setting content, organized play, and improved networking tools to help meet more gamers interested in my style of game will always be worth paying for--at least in my book. Additionally, I currently pay 10 bucks a month to roll20, since I live out in the boonies and I'm happy to support the product that pretty much single-handledly enables my pursuit of this hobby. I strongly prefer to buy this service in a system-agnostic format, though.</blockquote>

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