Gleemax = Enworld

[Mercule]

Agreed. I actively avoided anything with the name Gleemax at wizards.com, simply because I couldn't take the name seriously. I would have much preferred "Flumphy-poo".

Heh. Actually, "boxofflumph.com" would have been a significantly better name. Still not a great name, but a vast improvement. Why?

1) It doesn't sound like an orgasm or sex toy vendor.
2) It's an object, not a person/entity (I think "mordenkainen.com" would be almost as stupid as "gleemax.com" -- see point #1 for the major difference).
3) There is no insulting metapersonality that comes with the concept.
4) It's lame, but in the "neurotic fatbeard joke" way, not the "creepy child molester" way.
5) Significantly lower risk of a blinding, radioactive cat urine visual theme.

Gleemax is a cute inside joke. Seriously, I kinda like it. Using that joke as a public identity is goofy.

 

[MrFilthyIke]

Guys -

First of all, it isn't fair to insult Gleemax based on a preview. When it finally debuts maybe it'll be incredibly useful, and maybe not, but consider this - WotC is going to do everything they can to make it as cool and useful as possible. This is high profile and very important -- and they have a lot of talented and ingenious people who love D&D. Frankly, I'm betting it's going to be awfully good, and that's a GOOD thing.

See, Gleemax isn't competing with EN World. They're not mutually exclusive. A lot of people will probably spend time at both, and that'll be great; cross-pollination of people and ideas will only make both sites stronger.

So please, don't react defensively if you worry we're threatened. We're not, and change isn't necessarily bad. Let's see if they make something that's useful and fun for us.

QFT.

 

[Nifft]

But ... EN World will be getting a lime green theme, right?
I See A Great Need (tm).

Cheers, -- N

 

[Michael Morris]

ENWorld will be lime green when Russ shoots me and scatters my remains over the whole of the Atlantic Ocean.

Lime Green -- blech...

 

[Mercule]

I actually think Gleemax is a pretty inspired idea. One of the most difficult parts of role-playing is finding a group. This takes the networking tools of something like MySpace and focuses it on gamers. I think, in the long run, this will help to build a better gaming community.

I don't think many people are knocking the concept. Speaking for myself, I think it's a great idea. The choice of name and the horrendous color scheme both make me question the ability of WotC to implement the whole deal in a competent manner.

 

[Schmoe]

From the interview.

Yes.

Good question. We're hitting the limits of what I'm allowed to talk about publicly...

... because Hasbro is a publicly traded corporation, there are limits to what I'm allowed to say.

Just as a minor nitpick, I think Randy could use a little practice with his interviewing. He comes off as a little on a high-horse and emphasizes what he's limited to, rather than trying to give some helpful information.

Our first target is tabletop gamers, and not just Magic gamers, but tabletop gamers and all that construes...

... Big picture, give away the social networking for free, make our money off ads, and make our money off the games.

We intend to talk about other people's games too.

I don't want to try and compete with the game news sites; that's not something we feel like we have any expertise in...

So obviously, they aren't setting themselves up as competitors for new sites (such as ENWorld), and they are trying to draw in the tabletop gamer community as a whole, rather than just WOTC gamers. That's a good thing, IMO. Not only does it help to create a larger community, but it also leaves room for the more focused sites.

And this little nugget...

... In terms of letting the competitor set up shop in the network, we're not going to charge for that at all. The idea is that this is a home for gamers, so if somebody wants to create a personal page around a game that they're publishing, great, they should, this is the space where that's supposed to happen...

... opens up a lot of opportunity to bring a lot of people together and make the industry feel more like a community. Not that the industry has a problem with that at the moment, but this just further encourages it.

Finally, to dispel some confusion from further up in this thread:

Will the online initiatives that are replacing the print magazines be part of Gleemax?

Not directly. We have a lot of really good ideas that I'm aware of, but we're not ready to talk about them yet...

 

[Schmoe]

I don't think many people are knocking the concept. Speaking for myself, I think it's a great idea. The choice of name and the horrendous color scheme both make me question the ability of WotC to implement the whole deal in a competent manner.

Well, let's hope that they get lots of valuable feedback from people who checked out the preview (hint hint), and that they act on it.

 

[Nareth]

I just hope that this Gleemax thing isn't what they planned to take the place of Dungeon and Dragon Magazine. How pathetic would that be?

 

[Mercule]

Just as a minor nitpick, I think Randy could use a little practice with his interviewing. He comes off as a little on a high-horse and emphasizes what he's limited to, rather than trying to give some helpful information.

I disagree. WotC has received so much flack on the DI for giving half-answers and being evasive that I don't think they should go that way. Specifically, with the DI, every time WotC gives a partial answer or says, "wait and see", people accuse them of not actually having any sort of plan. By saying, "NDA" or "FTC rules", they show they have a plan, they just have reason to not share it.

Personally, I appreciate the "FTC rules" approach a lot more. I find it shows respect for me and the fact that I can understand the way business works. It's also less manipulative in the sense that they are not trying to dodge questions or hide (even minor) information.

That said, he probably have handled himself somewhat better, but it wasn't horrible by any means -- especially if he is either new to the role or is otherwise unacustomed to giving interviews.

 

[DJCupboard]

I also like how it sounds as if the networking tools will autofill my calendar for me with local meet-ups and alert me of other gamers/stores in the area. Now that's proactive use of client profile.