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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ragingpeanuts" data-source="post: 5452834" data-attributes="member: 98576">Note: sorry for the long post, imagine that, it's only my 5th post or something... But it's an intresting discussion and I like op's tone of voice in the way he started the thread. It just came out as a flow of thought. I haven't checked it for spelling, my apologies if it's a bit rough around the edges, it's late in the Netherlands <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />Chiming in on the OP's intent: boiled down he wrote "where do I think WOTC went wrong in their releases".I dare to argue that they missed a very, very big chance from the very first moment 4e was released. They should've had the CB online the same day as the 4e corebooks hit the stores (as well as a working VTT and DM-tools). I'm a marketeer for a living, and from a marketing and marketresearch perspective DDI is awesome:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Steady flow of revenue each month</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Huge amounts of constantly up to date targetgroup-data</li> </ul>The time of flooding the market with tons of printmedia things and expecting them to turn a profit is over. Do you know how much effort is involved releasing a good printproduct, compared to online stuff? Going through all that stuff and then having to find out your book flopped...With the tools ready at the beginning, decisionmaking would've been much more grounded in solid facts. First year line-up would've already been a given: PH2 & DMG2, as a a few starting adventures. But after that most stuff becomes very niche-oriented (shardminds? Wildens? Meh). That's where the whole datamining stuff from online tools would become so useful for them.The online efforts should be supported with printreleases. But instead of all the niche-related stuff, they should've gone for a few major releases each year of superb quality. Things that really have value - good adventures for instance. Stuff like the power-series of fluffbooks should've been reserved for the DDI, giving players an incentive to have an ongoing subscription (plus giving lots of online material in a steady stream of releases, enticing people to come back). Campaignbooks are also a good thing I think to release in print. Tokens, maps, practical stuff.DnD is a niche-product, with a relatively small group of buyers. In the end, WOTC's value comes from releasing products and services that enable players to create and play - just adding more books with small choices doesn't do that. (the cancellation of certain printproducts and extra focus on online tools might indicate that WOTC is realising this too) The game is already overly complex on multiple levels for casual players - who are normally the majority for products such as this. WOTC noticed this, and tried to do something. But seriously: the essentials line? I really wonder what their marketing-people were thinking. Geared towards attracting new players, but releasing it as the retro red box? What's that all about? It's a confusing product, and from what i can see, it only makes character creation easier, which you already can take as much time for as you like. Ryan S. Dancey explained it perfectly in his blog.Who are the people that buy the majority of the stuff for DnD? My guts tell me they're DM's. Much of the print-stuff should be geared towards them. Campaignbooks (with player stuff in it as well), dm-tiles, and stuff that generally makes the dm's life better. I still don't get why they haven't released a 'on the fly book'. I book that has a few pages solely dedicated technical side of  building monsters, skill challenges and locations 'on the fly', with standard examples that are easily modifiable at all levels.Stuff for the players should be things that add fluff to characters without sucking up time. Stuff like the fortunecards that add power and fluff are fantastic for the casual players - and sensible as a source of renewable revenue. A customizable book that makes it easy for players to flesh out their character by adding stuff like characterportraits, ritual-cards, and makes it easier for them to track their stuff at the table, etc. Why don't they have a personal printingservice, so that you can upload your own adventure (which you created through the WOTC-tools they should've released already) and have it printed and delivered? You can then even put it up online and share with the community, let them rate it, etc. so that other people can order those adventures, with all revenue going from the printing process going to WOTC (or maybe not even make revenue off it other than break-even, so as to keep it as cheap as possible). Same goes for DDI-articles. Want to have that fluff-article for a swordmage so you can use it at the table? Print and deliver.Don't get me wrong: I love 4e. We had some time with 3.5, but it was just too much. Too much skills, too much imbalance, not enough clarity. The system for 4e itself is infinitely easier to use. But the tools just aren't their, even though it's possible (I mean, how awesome would Masterplan (<a href="http://habitualindolence.net/masterplan/" target="_blank">Masterplan</a>) be if it had budget and people who had to create it to make a living out of it? If stuff like this can be created in spare time by some people out of labor of love, then wotc should surely be able to do it.</blockquote>

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