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

[Sledge]

You know a couple months ago I thought they were talking half these prices? How exactly is a virtual magazine worth more than the print version?

 

[Firevalkyrie]

You know a couple months ago I thought they were talking half these prices? How exactly is a virtual magazine worth more than the print version?

The lowest price they were talking about DDI was $10 - which is $6 less than buying both Dragon and Dungeon in a single month.

 

[JoelF]

The lowest price they were talking about DDI was $10 - which is $6 less than buying both Dragon and Dungeon in a single month.

Not if you subscribed to both magazines.....

 

[The Little Raven]

This is another thing that is killing my interest in the subscription. Only 4-5 months to go and we have seen zip, nada and zilch of this revolutionary new gaming table.

We've seen zilch if you completely ignore the demo video they showed at GenCon.

 

[The Little Raven]

SIDE NOTE: You know what I'd be interested in knowing...What happens to the virtual minis you bought if you're subscription lapses. Let's say you are unable to pay for one month due to unforseen circumstances...if you resubscribe later will you still have them, or will they all be gone?

Good questions. I suspect that since virtual minis are used on the VTT, not having a subscription (and thus not having access to the VTT as a DM) might not let you use them... or it might allow all players in a VTT to pool/share virtual minis as long as one person has a subscription (and thus, a DM account).

As for them disappearing, I doubt it. Most subscription services I've used that have some kind of commodity like that just freezes your account as it is until you renew (EasyNews does this with it's GB Bank, and MMOs do this with your character). I guess the question to ask would be does Magic Online keep your decks and stuff, since that's probably the number one model for it.

Also, if DDI offers you to cash out virtual minis for physical ones (Magic Online does this), you might just be able to cash out all your virtual minis before you cancel your subscription.

Will it matter how long your subscription lapses?

It might only matter when it comes to a big database upgrade or something, since some companies keep your account intact for years (I finally gave my old EQ account to a friend so his son could play, and my characters were exactly as they were from when I quit 6 years ago).

It really boils down to personal oppinion, not logic.

That's exactly my point. Since I'm one of those people who spends money on more minutes than he ever uses, I have no problem tossing a couple fast food meals worth of money towards a subscription to see if I like it. I feel it's better to regret something I have done than to regret something I haven't done.

Why aren't they producing tools for the DM's who run tabletop games...I'm sorry, tools I don't have to be on the internet, logged on to DDI to use?

To quote the article about the Insider... "The client applications will be rich Windows clients, with some functionality only available when the user is online and identified as a D&D Insider subscriber, and others available even when the user is offline."

From the way the article describes it, some of the tools will be offline with the ability to connect and upload the things you make with them to Character and Campaign Vaults. I figure this would mean the Dungeon Builder (you can download the current one and run it on your computer), Encounter Builder, and Character Creator would allow you to do all that stuff offline, but with certain features (dropping the Dungeon and Encounters you made into the Gaming Table, etc.) only available if you're online and a subscriber. The Gaming Table and Vaults are online, subscriber material only. I'm sure we'll hear more about it from D&DXP.

 

[mmu1]

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.

The only part of the package that's worth actually paying money for is Dungeon (Dragon, while fun enough on occasion, never had that much substance - it's in the same league as White Dwarf or Official XBox Magazine) - but not $10-15 for an online mag you may or may not retain access to if you stop your subscription. In addition, the value of what we get depends on how much free stuff WotC continues to provide on the website for those without a DDI subscription.

 

[carmachu]

How exactly is a virtual magazine worth more than the print version?

Unless you print it out, its non-movable from your screen. Further, even printed out wouldnt last nearly as long or as sturdy as buying the magazine.

*shrug* Most people dont think emagazines are worth that much because of that.

 

[The Little Raven]

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.

This is, quite honestly, the worst analogy I've seen to date on ENWorld.

I don't insist that it's a perfect analogy

Good, because you'd be hard pressed to defend it.

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

Man, all the previous Dragon and Dungeon fans must have been suckers to be lured into subscribing to a promotional device.

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?

In order to use a book with a tabletop game, you need to own the book. Why, exactly, should it be any different for virtual games? Why should I be allowed to know all the game mechanics of particular races, classes, feats, and abilities if I don't own the book? You don't have to register the E-version if you don't want to, but that means you have to refer to the book to see details on information from it, even though you can build characters with books you don't have.

It's 2008. I'm waiting to be impressed.

I'm waiting for you to start dealing with facts and logic instead of making things up or ignoring information that has been publicly released.

The only part of the package that's worth actually paying money for is Dungeon (Dragon, while fun enough on occasion, never had that much substance - it's in the same league as White Dwarf or Official XBox Magazine) - but not $10-15 for an online mag you may or may not retain access to if you stop your subscription.

Only if you're daft enough to fail to download the PDFs in which they are compiled.

 

[The Little Raven]

Unless you print it out, its non-movable from your screen. Further, even printed out wouldnt last nearly as long or as sturdy as buying the magazine.

*shrug* Most people dont think emagazines are worth that much because of that.

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.

 

[Imaro]

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.

But you could do this with a scanner or copier and put the magazine away.