Sage Advice: How much does the D&D Insider subscription cost?

[BASHMAN]

I for one will not be paying for this. If a group I'm in wants to use the virtual stuff, there are plenty of free options already available for download, or even higher-end ones you have to buy-- but still no monthly fee.

As for getting DDI-- definatly not worth $10-15 / month. $5 / month MAYBE with all the online play, + free virtual miniatures & tiles. $120 to $180 / year just to read about some "full time sorceress'" fourth grade teacher? No thanks.

 

[JoelF]

I still just want a subscription rate for just the magazines.

The digital "tools" have zero value to me, I cannot make full use them.

Exactly! And I might want the opposite, since I'm not at all impressed so far by the digital previews of the magazines. Or maybe I just want the chatacter generator, or only the mapping tool, or maybe only one of the magazines?

 

[carmachu]

A single physical copy that suffers wear and tear, or a digital copy that I can print unlimited physical copies from, so to more easily share Dragon content that I'm using in my game?

Yeah, I'd go with the latter.

Again, its precieved value. I have no desire to continously print out a magazine.

It only suffers wear and tear ifyou treat it like crap. Or let your 5 yer old get it.

Yeah, I'll stick with the magazine.

 

[The Little Raven]

It only suffers wear and tear ifyou treat it like crap.

It suffers wear and tear if you actually use it, instead of just buying it then putting it away in some collection. Using it in a game with players usually means passing it around, which causes more wear and tear. Y'know, plenty of stuff wears out in this world without you suggesting the owner treats it like crap or cares for it like a 5-year-old.

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

My reaction to the DDI concept is similar to the one I'd have if Amazon suddenly introduced a monthly fee that you'd have to pay in order to browse the site, read book reviews, and place orders online - or if my bank or my credit card company decided to charge me a fee to be able to view statements and pay bills online.

I don't insist that it's a perfect analogy, but fundamentally, we are being asked to pay a monthly fee for a WotC promotional device which they hope will cause people who don't have access to a RL gaming group to buy more books... If you want to use all the VT features, you need to buy and register the books, so what does the monthly fee really cover? Static minis and a primitive mapper that can't even handle 3D terrain? The die roller? An online character sheet? It's 2008. I'm waiting to be impressed.

This is the key thing for me. This sort of package should have been implemented in 2000, and now in 2008 we should be seeing a next-generation package. The stuff they're doing would all be completely feasible in 2000, which makes me think that we're going to get E-tools all over again. In other words, I'm expecting a fiasco.

E-tools was originally supposed to have all sorts of great stuff like character sheets, character builders, a 3-D dungeon mapping tool, etc. If they hadn't completely dropped the ball on that project, what would DDI look like in 2008 with the benefit of eight years of real software support for D&D to build upon?

 

[LightPhoenix]

I can't speak for anyone else's point of view (obviously) but my first question isn't cost, it's cost/value ratio. If, and this is a big if, the quality of content of DDI, with regard to the digital magazines, over two months is the equivalent of a splatbook, I'd say it's worth it. The biggest hurdle for me is that we haven't seen any of that content... and based on the current state of the WotC website I can't give them that free pass.

What I would like to see from WotC is after the core books come out, they should post a free sample of the digital magazine content that will be on DDI. Not the CharGen or other applications, but the actual new stuff. That way, I (and hopefully others) can at least make a semi-informed decision as to signing up.

As an aside, what I'd really like to see is per-article pricing. That way if there are fifteen articles in the digital magazine section, and I want to see and use three of them, I spend maybe $3.75 or 4.50 (a discount for those that buy the whole thing).

Also errata should always be free... which is not what is implied on the info page here. I shouldn't even have to sign up for DDI to access that. But then, the issues with WotC and errata are a very different topic.

 

[carmachu]

It suffers wear and tear if you actually use it, instead of just buying it then putting it away in some collection. Using it in a game with players usually means passing it around, which causes more wear and tear. Y'know, plenty of stuff wears out in this world without you suggesting the owner treats it like crap or cares for it like a 5-year-old.

I have had magazines from dragon for decades, and they were still perfectly fine and well maintained.

I bring the last current ones to the table and they come back fine.

SO yes, I can suggest, perhaps, you take better care of it,a nd it will last quite a long time. My colelction of old dungeon magazines from #2 to current are all just fine with wear and tear.

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

Mac user? Remember, only the Character Creator's 3D and the VTT are DirectX... the rest of the tools should work just fine on a new Intel Mac (and on older ones with emulation tools).

I really am aware of the options, including emulation. Emulation pretty much means Virtual PC. VPC means $249, plus Microsoft has ceased support for it. VPC also has trouble with the latest Mac OS though I have heard some tweakers have come up with solutions. I frankly don't think an extra $249 and a hassle of implementing workarounds . . . just to get the digital magazines and a few other tools . . . is worth it.

Maybe they'll come up with a subscription that removes the 3D stuff for a lower price.

I'm still holding out for just a magazine.

 

[Delta]

It seems odd that you can play WOW for $15/month (a fully resolved persistent 3D game world)... and at the same time someone thinks $15/month for the DI is reasonable when that's only support tools for a separate game.

 

[endlessruin]

What you're witnessing here is Cheap Ass Gamer Syndrome, wherein many of the same people who spend $100 bucks a month on video games and likely own expensive plasma or LCD television sets balk at paying $30 for a gaming book. Even though I doubt I'll be a D&D Insider subscriber, it most likely won't come down to price for me.

I realize that some people might have hundreds of dollars to spend each month on video games, D&D books and other hobbies but, I don't. I have a family to support and I like having a house to live in, a car to drive and food to eat too much I guess. I probably buy 2-3 video games a year and 4-5 D&D books.

Honestly, $15 is not much to spend for a month of gaming if you can get your moneys worth. I would gladly pay $15, $20 or $30 a month if I got access to all the online tools, access to pdfs of all the books I own, and access to all the miniatures. It's a joke to pay a monthly fee for something and then have to pay additional fees for all of these other things.

"Sorry guys, just pretend that orc is a elder shadow dragon because I didn't purchase the miniature. I had to decide between paying the fee to access my books online and my monthly fee or that"

It's hard to get my gaming group together as it is, I hope 4th Edition makes things better for us, not worse.

I am very happy that they decided to make a new edition though.