My WoTC Interview

[JoeGKushner]

The former sounds interesting, if there are checks and balances including the ability for both to post comments. Unlike eBay, where there's a pretty straightforward transaction going on, a D&D session is involved.

The latter? Cool. What's that going to entail? Who's going to be teaching? And is this all rather speculative or in the early idea stage?

We didn't get into that one. But it sounded like it was something that was already ongoing? Maybe the recent thing where they taught classes was an experiement?

 

[Khairn]

Thanks Joe, that was a great re-cap.

I always though the "pick-up" option for the DDI was a natural fit, and its great to see it coming through. Flagging (but enabling) characters that are "illegal" is a great solution for what I thought would be one of the stickier problems: namely the challenge of identifying & fitting "house ruled" and RAW characters into the same game. The "peer rating" function sounds very interesting but might also be ripe for abuse. It will be interesting to see how this turns out.

 

[RodneyThompson]

Also, I had never thought about "pickup" games using DDI. That could be nice if a local gaming group falls apart, or if you live out in the boonies.

Without sounding like total corporate shill #23756, this is one of the things I personally am most excited about. When I get home at night, if I didn't bring any work home with me usually I crack open a book or flick on the Xbox. Having the option to come home and hop online to see if anyone wants to run through the first few hours of an adventure I'm working on, or see if anyone is hosting a game I'd like to play in? Yeah, that's got serious appeal to me. If I can hop in a pickup D&D game any night of the week I'll be extremely happy, especially given that there are some nights where I just am in a roleplaying mood but all of my other friends are in their regular games.

 

[ImperialParadox]

Seems like they kinda skirted giving an answer on why the miniatures in Dungeons of Dread are subpar.

On the other hand the idea of a quick pickup game of D&D via DDI sounds rather nice. If this option pans out it could sell me on DDI.

 

[Hussar]

Just as a thought. If you want to see what pick up games on a VTT look like, get OpenRPG and you can have one right now.

 

[EATherrian]

For the life of me I can't figure out how pick-up games would work. You'd have to have a bunch of short adventures around I guess. I was always a campaign guy, not an adventure guy so maybe I just don't see this right...

 

[ImperialParadox]

For the life of me I can't figure out how pick-up games would work. You'd have to have a bunch of short adventures around I guess. I was always a campaign guy, not an adventure guy so maybe I just don't see this right...

For a pick up game it would basically have to be a short adventure. Think of an episodic TV show that doesn't have an overarching plot, but just tells self contained stories every episode. Not an ideal solution for a person who likes campaigns and in depth character development, but good for a short burst of random fun.

As long as DDI supports some kind of 'verification' that your character is rules legal, or 'legit' I can see this being done.

 

[Shadeus]

yes

Hmm, does that make him your minion and does he die in a hit?

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Hmm, does that make him your minion and does he die in a hit?

Scott, that's a trick question - don't try that out at home - or at the office. (At least wear gloves!)

 

[rob626]

DDI pickup games sound like a perfect opportunity to scout for new players. Put out a mini-adventure, see which people fit, rinse repeat until you have the number of players you need. I love the idea.