I love Irony, WotC forums Down Again

[Umbran]

What other model do we have? Furthermore what else can we judge quality of the potential DI on other than the web-content they already provide?

If the DI were like another sourcebook (another in a line of things similar to what they've already done), that logic would hold. But, in coporate lingo, "Initiative" means "major change, different than what we've done before." Giving at least some benefit of the doubt, I would think that prejudging based upon past performance would be unwise, because there's indication they major changes of performance in this area.

So until they show they can do better why should any potential consumer take it on trust that they actually will if they haven't so far?

Why shouldn't they? It isn't as if the normal consumer needs to make business decisions based on the projected quality of the DI. There is no need to judge ahead of time. Does such a prejudgment serve any constructive purpose?

 

[HeavenShallBurn]

If the DI were like another sourcebook (another in a line of things similar to what they've already done), that logic would hold. But, in coporate lingo, "Initiative" means "major change, different than what we've done before." Giving at least some benefit of the doubt, I would think that prejudging based upon past performance would be unwise, because there's indication they major changes of performance in this area.

Changing what they do doesn't necessarily have any bearing on the quality of what they do.

Why shouldn't they? It isn't as if the normal consumer needs to make business decisions based on the projected quality of the DI. There is no need to judge ahead of time. Does such a prejudgment serve any constructive purpose?

Sucinctly YES.
More in depth. They are proposing a service, one with an ongoing product and an ongoing cost which is based around web-access. Basically what they've done is an indicator of the quality one can expect from them over time. This provides a track record to balance your judgment of whether the future product is worth the cost. A new product could start out wonderfully then fall in quality shortly afterward, the only way to judge is based on past activity over time especially in the case of a subscription.

 

[Arnwyn]

What other model do we have? Furthermore what else can we judge quality of the potential DI on other than the web-content they already provide?

In general I use the quality of what I've seen in the past from a company to judge what I can expect in the future.

Which is not only what the general consumer does, but is also right, proper, expected, and rational.

It is entirely the company in question's responsibility to change the consumer's mind by showing a product that meets the consumer's needs - regardless of any words used by said company such as "initiative" or related marketing-speak phrases. Past actions is the best indicator of future actions, and it is up to the company to prove otherwise to the consumer.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Changing what they do doesn't necessarily have any bearing on the quality of what they do.

Yep. Corporate culture is corporate culture.

 

[borble]

Given the way Search implodes whenever they try to implement it I don't expect this time to be any different.

The WoTC boards are just too large and disorganized for most search functions to handle. But the frequency with which it goes down for maintenance would be a huge handicap for any site attempting to promote a subscription service.

to search the boards i use
(http://www.boardtracker.com/search/...&scope=4&sitelimit=wizards.com&boardid=&for=0)
ben

 

[DanFor]

Their forums went down and won't be back up until noon Pacific (I think that is the timing).

The current pop-up message is: "Forums and Chat will return to service Monday, Feb. 19th, 12 am PDT (3 am EDT/ 8 am GMT)."

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

The current pop-up message is: "Forums and Chat will return to service Monday, Feb. 19th, 12 am PDT (3 am EDT/ 8 am GMT)."

The next Monday, February 19, is in 2018!

 

[Nlogue]

The next Monday, February 19, is in 2018!

 

[Darkwolf71]

Back up now. (Without search.)

 

[Odhanan]

If someone were going to do such a thing, wouldn't you expect that they'd be putting it together with changes in the server arrangements anyway?

Well, as far as WotC's concerned, I think that some of their customers would point out that some expectations were not met at least as of late, firstly, and that, for this reason, said expectations regarding any DI have tremendously increased as a result of the poor maneuvering we've witnessed during this last week, secondly.