How many people subscribe to D&D stuff?

[AbdulAlhazred]

Oh, believe me, I know about numbers in businesses. Yeah, it could be 100k and given that we don't really know their overhead etc that could be a reasonable number as well. Isn't the yearly sub still $72? That's what I paid last time, back around Feb or so IIRC. Anyway, I guesstimated the whole thing as $7 a user. Probably most have year subs, then you have some with the 3 and 1 month ones, but again who knows?

Yeah, they could have spent any arbitrary amount of money on the 3D/Gleemax whatever nonsense. I'd assume they wrote that down long ago. I imagine what they're looking at now in terms of ongoing strategy would be what they're investing in the current product and anticipated follow-ons, plus the normal operating expenses. Nobody is going to be worrying about what happened to the money they burned up on Gleemax.

Anyway, it sure seems like DDI has to be a pretty nice deal. Worst case even if it isn't making a dime they could certainly pare back development and just run it. It will certainly make some income.

 

[keterys]

Hmm, maybe the price hike was earlier than I remember it. I thought some people might still be on the $60 plan. So, yeah, your $7 makes sense.

Ah well, would be really nice to know some of these things.

 

[MerricB]

Casts *THREADOMANCY*

I just recently got a DDI sub and took a look at the current number: 62396 subscribed members. That's a 10% increase in three months. Does anyone know how fast or slow this number has been growing? 10%/quarter seems a pretty durn healthy growth rate.

Casts ANIMATE ANIMATED (BUT NOW BURIED) THREAD:

Current subscriber number (August 2012): 73752

Increase since last count by Hussar (in October 2011): 11,356 in 10 months, or an average of 1,100 per month.

Increase between July 2011 and October 2011: approx. 6,000 in 3 months, or an average of 2,000 per month.

I'll try to remember to keep an eye on it to see when it starts dropping. It might be already - I just haven't been paying attention.

Cheers!

 

[Hussar]

*Casts Threadomancy*

What is the current subscriber rate at? Has the DDN cut into things?

 

[Blue]

I'm still subscribing, but it's primarily because I chose DDI over buying all the new books and I'm in two ongoing 4e campaigns. I don't feel like I'm getting new content value. When Next comes out I can purchase the missing 4e books I want used cheaply, but at that point the new content for a young game will hopefully bring value to the subscription again.

Frankly, they are building up ill-will charging the same rate with so much less content. Look at the size of Dragon the first few months when 4e started vs. now, it's a third to half the pages.

 

[Obryn]

I just renewed. It coincides with bonus time, and I'll be playing 4e for a while yet.

 

[Pour]

I renewed my subscription on the year, as well. It's just too valuable a resource not to have if you're running 4e.

With all the 5e stuff and lack of 4e books, subscriptions likely went down, but then again all support in the magazines has been 4e. 4e is still on the shelves, as are the growing reprints. The average customer visiting the site would find themselves directed either to DDI or the pdf store. Only the more inquisitive ones would find the playtest. Hm, I really do wonder what the numbers are at this juncture.

Also wasn't there a tease about a new digital offering? If they somehow link DDI with the reprints, edition compendiums and character builders, I imagine there's money there.

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

I renewed my subscription on the year, as well. It's just too valuable a resource not to have if you're running 4e.

With all the 5e stuff and lack of 4e books, subscriptions likely went down, but then again all support in the magazines has been 4e. 4e is still on the shelves, as are the growing reprints. The average customer visiting the site would find themselves directed either to DDI or the pdf store. Only the more inquisitive ones would find the playtest. Hm, I really do wonder what the numbers are at this juncture.

Also wasn't there a tease about a new digital offering? If they somehow link DDI with the reprints, edition compendiums and character builders, I imagine there's money there.

I don't know about any new digital offerings, but what they have is as good as ever, modulo the VTT, which you can still play for free on RPGTableonline.com (though importing monsters above level 2 is no longer free, which bites hard, still, you can use it still, if not 100% as conveniently). Basically DDI is IMHO too incredibly useful to stop subscribing to. I COULD in theory run 4e without it, but it would be a huge pain in the ass to say the least.

 

[Pour]

Basically DDI is IMHO too incredibly useful to stop subscribing to. I COULD in theory run 4e without it, but it would be a huge pain in the ass to say the least.

Answer me honestly, Ab, would you continue playing 4e without the digital tools? I keep asking myself that question and thinking, initially, I would try out different game systems with the absence. Not saying I would abandon 4e forever, it's certainly my favorite D&D, but if that was taken away I'd be hard-pressed to just up and start a new campaign. Keep in mind, though, my current game which started December 2008 is about to wrap up come the end of summer, so I'm in a different frame of mind looking ahead.

 

[D'karr]

Answer me honestly, Ab, would you continue playing 4e without the digital tools?

I haven't used the online only digital tools for a very long time. Except for the compendium there was nothing that I absolutely, positively needed. Since they are not publishing new "rules", I don't even really NEED that. The tools are an incredibly awesome convenience. However, I don't have a NEED for the online only ones, as I had alternatives. Over time I've become so comfortable with the system that, as a DM, I don't feel a need for the tools. I can use a ready made creature right out of the book, or create my own on the fly by using the table on pg 42 as a rudimentary, and quite solid guide.

I've kept trucking with the offline tools. If I did not have the offline tools I could continue without much issue as a DM, as a player I admit that the character builder is too awesome and convenient not to have. So it would be much more difficult.

I'm really glad that they started putting the Dungeon and Dragon magazines as compilations again over the last couple of months. When they went to individual articles, without compilation, they lost my interest entirely. So when my subscription expired in February, I did not renew. I've just kept using the offline ones and not looked back.