Gleemax Cheesewax

[WayneLigon]

Speculation about future online D&D offerings should focus on DDI, not Gleemax.

That's another thing. I thought they were going to be the same thing, since they moved all the staff blogs from DDI to Gleemax. Is DDI going to be just Dragon, Dungeon, and the virtual tabletop thing, then?

 

[Thunderfoot]

I have this strange feeling that we are only seeing the surface of what's about to happen at WotC... Please follow along and remember that this is PURE SPECULATION.

Prelude: About 3 years ago (or maybe more I can't remember) WotC took their flagship game M: tG and put it online in a digital format so that you could play around the world and open things up to those players in remote or isolated markets. (growing up in a town of 350 with no major access to 'big cities' I have to admit, it was a brilliant marketing move). It has been modestly successful and has had a steadily growing audience. Apparently to the point that with the exception of tournaments, the whole of the game has seen a slight decline in 'normal - real world' sales.

The intro: At GenCon this year, the Roleplaying public is treated to the surprise that D&D is getting a new edition, oh and BTW, there will be parallel digital material AND increased functionality that will be available online. Now with the digital tabletop you can play across the waves or in the next county without having to be face to face, while still being able to enjoy your normal table top experience.

The future and the hook: What I see is a great way for WotC to update their materials and snag a share of the smaller markets (which when added together makes a HUGE chunk of people), combine revenues , focus design and development WITHOUT having to reprint and waste money on manufacture, print and shipping costs to get to these otherwise lonely outposts of geekdom. In other words, increased sales and decreased overhead. I expect this Gleemax thing to be VERY rocky at first, but in the near future I would expect to see a mass migration of every WotC program and product that they can conceivably convert to an electronic format to the Gleemax model.

The DDI: essentially, DDI will be the Dungeons & Dragons component in the larger Gleemax schema. For example, What if in the 90s, Dragon, Dungeon, Scry, Shadis, and Electronic Gaming magazines had been combined into one publication with no loss of material and only a small price increase was tacked on? Would you have bought it to have all your geek related material in one handy package? But what if you didn't play electronic games or think CCG were cool?
This is what I believe WotC is doing with Gleemax, a super online digital magazine that will eventually cover all the bases with each section specifically expanded to meet the needs of that community. Eventually I would see the price being handled as a 'buffet' style menu of which sections (not which features in those sections) you would use. Access to the Forums, free, DDI a small monthly fee, DDI and online M:tG, a slightly larger, but discounted fee, etc.

Of course I have nothing to base this on except good business sense. And whether or not anyone wants to admit it, regardless of the quality of product and the respect of the gaming community, WotC has made a ton of really good business decisions

 

[WhatGravitas]

Of course I have nothing to base this on except good business sense. And whether or not anyone wants to admit it, regardless of the quality of product and the respect of the gaming community, WotC has made a ton of really good business decisions

No doubts about that. The very idea of Gleemax and DDI is great, and it would work out beautifully, but WotC isn't a software cooperation. And you feel it. That's the crux. MtG online is, as far as I know, good, but still has some bugs and a cumbersome interface (though they have fixed it up with their newest version). And you remember the CharGen for 3.0.

No, I'm sure WotC has a good business sense and makes theoretically good decisions, but right now, they lack the technical know-how to pull it off. Great idea, less than great realisation.

And they need to work on that technical side.

Cheers, LT.

 

[Merkuri]

Hopefully we'll also get rid of the Google ads when they move to the paid phase. They're intrusive, and the people who really dislike them will simply find a plugin that makes them invisible, so they serve no purpose.

The social parts of Gleemax (i.e. what's there now) will always be free and supported by ads, they've said.

Is DDI going to be just Dragon, Dungeon, and the virtual tabletop thing, then?

Yes, plus their character generator and the special online features that the books will have codes for.

 

[Merlin the Tuna]

I already use OpenRPG, and I haven't seen anything yet from Wizard's game table that makes me want to switch.

I took a look at OpenRPG and MapTool and couldn't figure out how to even begin to make a map; I couldn't find any kind of part library for building them. Using Dungeon Tiles seems both intuitive and convenient for those DMs who want to use the laptop in coordination with the table rather than in place of it. The character generator seems nifty, too -- it certainly seems more robust than either of my approaches, which amount to "draw a stick figure" or "edit Fire Emblem sprites."

Is that enough to make me want to buy it? Eh, probably not. But it's enough to make me honestly consider the thing, at least.

 

[Merkuri]

I took a look at OpenRPG and MapTool and couldn't figure out how to even begin to make a map; I couldn't find any kind of part library for building them.

That is one downside of OpenRPG and MapTool. You usually make the maps elsewhere (like in Paint or a mapmaker like DungeonCrafter) and import them into Open or MT. Open and MT's job is to move minis around, let you sketch things on the map, and give you a chat interface to talk with. I like Open's chat interface better than MT, but MT has a much better tools for the map (thus it's an appropriate name), so I'm split between the two.

Sure, Wizard's table-simulator will give you the ability to make the map in-game, but it doesn't look like it has any sort of macros for dice rolling (so you don't have to remember and add all the bonuses in your head), or easy ways to calculate who's in the range of the fireball. You don't have those things on a real table either, but they're things I'm used to, and if I'm already using my computer for gaming I'd rather have all the bells and whistles that a computer can give me.

 

[ShadowDenizen]

I'm neautral about the 4E print books still. May pick up, May not.

But as to the DI? At this point, I've been looking at it in passing, and once it goes fee-based? I think it's getting a big "PASS" from me.

I think that WotC -really- needed to impress right out of the gate with this, and the most praise I've heard is that the site/content is "Serviceable"'; not exactly high praise.

Personally, I find:
A) The title "Gleemax", IMO, -still- bugs. (Sure, it sounds dumb, but a good name can draw people, or a bad name can certainly deter people from visiting!!)

B) The site itself is clunky, unorganized and SLOOOOW. (At least for me, and I have a decent, if not spectacular, Internet connection.) Granted, this may change as time passes, but I'm not at all impressed at this stage.

C) Content? Well, I certainly prefer Print, but I would consider Digital Format. I am, however, less likely to pay a monthly fee for it than I am for a print magazine. The "Lost Caverns"? Was actually quite good (Kudos to Mouseferatu for continually putting out quality stuff!!), but not enough to sway my opinion overall. (Sorry!!) 8P

D) Taking into account the debacle that was "E-Tools" doesn't instill me with hope for the new system either.

 

[Contrarian]

I've been a big critic of the Gleemax Alpha (so vocal that their community rep told me not to use the site), but I have to say: The rollout of D&D Insider has been handled fairly well. They haven't missed any announced deadlines yet, what they've debuted actually works, and it doesn't look like it was designed by a 12-year old.

I don't know if there are two separate development teams, or if Gleemax is just a lower priority, but the difference is remarkable. I still don't know if the business model for DDI makes sense, but the product itself looks OK so far.

Gleemax, on the other hand, seems like one of those cases where a bunch of not-very-Internet-savvy executives announce "We're going to get rich online!" and blow it because they don't know anything about the Internet. They announced the site before they had done any real work, set an unrealistic deadline (the Alpha was supposed to debut at Gen Con, only about 2 months after the announcement), and threw a tragically incomplete site up 2 months late just to save face. Compared to the old WOTC forums, Gleemax really only adds one feature: blog software that lacks the basic functionality of blog software.

Forget about actually social networking. (Most of the posts in the "Gleemax feature request" forum are people begging for basic social networking and blogging features.) It's like the site was designed by people who didn't know anything about gamers, social networks, or blogs.

Gleemax is a questionable idea made worse by poor planning and inept execution. The only people who really seem to like it were WOTC forumites to begin with. If this was WOTC's attempt at expanding beyond the borders of its own fans, they're failing miserably, and losing ground they won't regain.

 

[Aaron L]

I still say that "gleemax" sounds like a clumsy euphemism for masturbation.

 

[Prince of Happiness]

Gamer Radio Zero's pretty neat, and interviewed my old friend/DM Matt DeMille.

Plus Blue's ZOMG smokin'.