Interview time - what do you want to ask WotC about their new pdf policy?

[Kid Charlemagne]

This partly off the main topic, but this might be a good place to address it:

There's some conjecture that the ban on PDF's is intended to drive buyers to purchase hard-copies in order to shore up sales of 4E. Implicit in this is the idea that 4E sales have not been as strong as 3E sales of the comparable period (ie: the first year or two after introduction of the new edition). What can you tell us about the sales of 4E, management's perception of the overall sales strength of 4E, and the sales trends? How does DDI affect this (ie: is there an expectation of fewer book sales being offset by more online subscribers)? Can you give us specifics?

I know they won't be able to give exact specifics, but the more specific they can be the more it would defuse that particular argument.

 

[Piratecat]

Great phrasing, KC.

 

[Piratecat]

Okay, I've got my initial list. Some excellent questions here (Kamikazi Midget, I'm particularly looking at you), including some I'm taking almost verbatim. Thank you all so much for your help.

 

[pawsplay]

(hostility deleted)

 

[Piratecat]

Yeah, those last two questions? That'd be what I was referring to earlier when I mentioned hostility. See, it's all in the wording.

 

[Staffan]

When the .pdf scanning of old products began in 2000-2001 under Jim Butler, the scans were provided as free downloads in the WotC downloads section. Will WotC ever return to free downloads of old, out-of-print, unsupported, retired products?

That's not exactly true. What happened was:

1. Wizards asked people to contribute their books to an effort to scan in the whole Forgotten Realms product line, and putting it in PDF form on a CD.
2. For some reason (likely related to sales of the Forgotten Realms Atlas and/or Core Rules CDs), they decided against the CD thing and started selling them online as single files instead.
3. Some of the scanned files were put online on their website as "free samples".
4. The thing expanded to cover other product lines as well.
5. They shut down their own online store and started selling them via RPGNow (and later other places), which enabled non-Americans to buy them as well (the old WOTC store was US customers only).

 

[Treebore]

Just ask them if they responded to customer service e-mails, like they say they do, in two days.

 

[catsclaw227]

Just ask them if they responded to customer service e-mails, like they say they do, in two days.

I am not sure how this will help steer the interview in the right direction.

Obviously, if CustSrv was overwhelmed with emails about this issue, they would experience delays in getting out the response emails. Any call center, customer service center has a base-line response goal, but it sometimes gets exceeded in busy times.

 

[Lord Xtheth]

1: What is the state of RPGs as a buisness, through the eyes of an industry leader?

2: Have you considered the economic downfall in any of your calculations and sales progections?

3: Does WotC need a Janitor with 2 years experience, willing to start at $12/hour, who also aspires to be a professional RPG writer/designer?

 

[Morrus]

1: What is the state of RPGs as a buisness, through the eyes of an industry leader?

2: Have you considered the economic downfall in any of your calculations and sales progections?

3: Does WotC need a Janitor with 2 years experience, willing to start at $12/hour, who also aspires to be a professional RPG writer/designer?

The questions have already been sent, guys!

In fact, I'll close this thread so nobody mistakenly wastes their time coming up with new questions.