How can WoTC get new players buying Essentials?

[MrMyth]

I just don't understand WoTC. They had a flash of marketing brilliance. They had people like me in my LGS saying to confused would-be purchasers of 'D&D, that game I used to play' - "Just wait for September! A new Basic Set is coming out! It'll be great!" - And what do we get? The same damn starter set preview rubbish they've been failing with for 20 years.

What really confuses me is that they came out with Gamma World at around the same time- and it is everything a basic set should be. Clear, concise rulebook. Simplified and entertaining chargen. Shorter level span. Adventure, maps, tokens.

Ignore the unique elements like mutation and tech cards, and imagine packaging something identical as the red box, and I think you'd have a huge success. Especially if you went with the 'same rules system but different char-gen' approach - have an easy way to create your characters for everyone's first time. They get to learn how all the rules work just fine. Then they can start working on creating their own characters as desired.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

What really confuses me is that they came out with Gamma World at around the same time- and it is everything a basic set should be. Clear, concise rulebook. Simplified and entertaining chargen. Shorter level span. Adventure, maps, tokens.

Ignore the unique elements like mutation and tech cards, and imagine packaging something identical as the red box, and I think you'd have a huge success. Especially if you went with the 'same rules system but different char-gen' approach - have an easy way to create your characters for everyone's first time. They get to learn how all the rules work just fine. Then they can start working on creating their own characters as desired.

Okay, a shocker - I have been considering getting Gamma World. The fact that all reports, even by folks who don't like it, that it is a complete and playable 'game in a box' is the key point.

Not, perhaps, likely, that I will buy it, but unlike most (read 'any') 4e material it looks like something that might be fun for a bear and pretzels PA game. ('Cause how much PA material is there in D&D 4? Even as I was typing it that looked silly, so I decided to keep it, even the bear typo... It is Gamma World, so bear and pretzels sort of works.)

The only problem is that the new GW looks... silly. How integral is the silly? How easy is it to excise the silly and replace it with grim?

How does it compare to, oh, running Fallout using the Spycraft 2.0 rule set? For 'real' PA gaming I will likely stick to SC2.0, but doing a quick one off might be easier with GW.

Still, it is the first 4e thing that has at all tempted me, it is a shame that 4e Basic did not build on the same theme.

The Auld Grump

 

[S'mon]

What really confuses me is that they came out with Gamma World at around the same time- and it is everything a basic set should be. Clear, concise rulebook. Simplified and entertaining chargen. Shorter level span. Adventure, maps, tokens.

Ignore the unique elements like mutation and tech cards, and imagine packaging something identical as the red box, and I think you'd have a huge success. Especially if you went with the 'same rules system but different char-gen' approach - have an easy way to create your characters for everyone's first time. They get to learn how all the rules work just fine. Then they can start working on creating their own characters as desired.

Good point about Gamma World, and again I'm not allowed to give XP - is the XP ticker broken? This is exactly how they should be doing it. At this point they desperately need a game to grow the hobby again, not just monetise already-committed customers. I personally think a 5 level game would be ideal to get people hooked while encouraging them to upgrade to the full set of materials when the players want to go on into high-Heroic; 10 levels works for GW as a complete game for a satisfying campaign.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Good point about Gamma World, and again I'm not allowed to give XP - is the XP ticker broken? This is exactly how they should be doing it. At this point they desperately need a game to grow the hobby again, not just monetise already-committed customers. I personally think a 5 level game would be ideal to get people hooked while encouraging them to upgrade to the full set of materials when the players want to go on into high-Heroic; 10 levels works for GW as a complete game for a satisfying campaign.

Five levels is what Paizo is doing for their boxed Basic game.

Hopefully they will skip making WotC's recurring mistake with basic games.

Heck, if WotC were to redo the Red Box into something worthwhile for Christmas 2011 they might still be able to regarner lost ground.

The Auld Grump

 

[billd91]

The only problem is that the new GW looks... silly. How integral is the silly? How easy is it to excise the silly and replace it with grim?

In my opinion, silly was always integral to Gamma World. So I'm not seeing much of a change.

 

[falcarrion]

My point was more that, while you could peruse a store copy of Dragon magazine, having all those features as instead intentionally free articles on the website is undeniable more generous to consumers.

More than that, your claim was that they were moving away from this sort of thing on the website and that nearly everything was locked behind the paywall, and that claim simply is not true. There is a ton of free content, including several new features just added in to the mix.

Now, if your concern is that the digital magazine itself isn't providing you with the same sort of content you remember from the print magazine, and thus isn't of interest to you as a consumer... sure, that's a reasonable position to have. But it also isn't what you said, and what you did say was, in the end, simply incorrect.

First I don't consider Dragon or Dungeon a real digital magazine in their present state. If there is a ton of free stuff on thier site why pay to read the few articles that are not free? What is so much better about these articles then the free ones? Are any of those payed articles written by gamers who don't work for Wotc? What exactly are you paying for with a subscription ?

 

[Ampersand999]

First I don't consider Dragon or Dungeon a real digital magazine in their present state. If there is a ton of free stuff on thier site why pay to read the few articles that are not free? What is so much better about these articles then the free ones? Are any of those payed articles written by gamers who don't work for Wotc? What exactly are you paying for with a subscription ?

As an aside, what really bothers me about Dragon and Dungeon is that while they now list every article as a separate download, they still provide a magazine number to each month. If Wizards really wanted to go to pay-per-article system (which is what this is), then they should just simply abandon the whole Dragon/Dungeon moniker all together and just print out various articles you could purchase on a pay-per-article basis.

If Wizards is finding some financial success in the publishing its novels in a pdf format/ebook format, then may I suggest that the Essentials be put up in a similar format?

 

[S'mon]

Five levels is what Paizo is doing for their boxed Basic game.

Hopefully they will skip making WotC's recurring mistake with basic games.

Heck, if WotC were to redo the Red Box into something worthwhile for Christmas 2011 they might still be able to regarner lost ground.

The Auld Grump

I just read a bit about the Paizo box on rpgnet. It sounds interesting, might even be the thing to get me into Pathfinder - that 900lb core rulebook is a bit intimidating.

 

[falcarrion]

It is quite intresting to see in RPG news on this website the info on the DDI updates and if you go to the DDI website you don't see this. This should be on thier front page. Another missed promotion chance by Wotc.

Just another reason why I love this site!

 

[MrMyth]

First I don't consider Dragon or Dungeon a real digital magazine in their present state. If there is a ton of free stuff on thier site why pay to read the few articles that are not free? What is so much better about these articles then the free ones? Are any of those payed articles written by gamers who don't work for Wotc? What exactly are you paying for with a subscription ?

Of course, at this point you're changing the argument - your original criticism was that too much content on their website was going behind the paywal. Now you are arguing that there aren't enough DDI articles. You can't really have it both ways.

I suppose that is my main objection here - you've made a number of claims about the site, but I'm not sure any of them really accurately reflect the state of it. I'm not sure if you are basing your claims off of past experience with the site, or just what you've heard through the grapeline, or what.

That said - right now, yeah, the magazines are having some serious issues. Keep in mind, though, that this is only over the last 2-3 months. Prior to that we had plenty of free content as well as plenty of subscriber content.

And we did see many excellent articles. Usually offering new content - the free articles we are seeing these days give DMing advice, news about the game and gaming community, answer questions and provide feedback, and preview new material. The subscriber articles would give new character options, new monsters and magic items, and other direct material for the game.

I'd say that there is room for both, and that the division is a good one. As for who is writing the articles - there are plenty of freelancers who have shown up in the online magazines. We do certainly see many of the same names again and again, but I believe we also see others who have no direct affiliation with WotC.

And the free articles often feature similar 'gamer for gamer' content, as with the current D&D Kids series.

Now, again - right now, the magazines are definitely having some serious issues, and I honestly have no real idea what is going on. But this month is by far the exception rather than the norm - since release, they had over 2 1/2 years as effective and high quality digital magazines that were well worth the cost of subscription.

And even now, with issues for the DDI magazines themselves, the free content on the site remains substantial and useful, and certainly puts to the lie your original claim that nearly everything on the site was locked behind the paywall.