Save my Game: The future of online Wotc content?

[PoeticJustice]

Hey, I'm a little worried because Save my Game is now published under Dungeon instead of as a feature. Similarly, the playtest report is under Dragon now. Why did they move these titles to areas that presumably will become pay-only in a few months?

I really enjoy Save my Game, but I'm not gonna pay ten bucks a month for online content. I can't afford to do that and still keep up with hobby purchases (not to mention the fact that usually I don't spend 120 a year on D&D...).

Will all wotc online material be migrated to either Dungeon or Dragon? Has anyone heard anything relating to this?

 

[DaveMage]

Hey, I'm a little worried because Save my Game is now published under Dungeon instead of as a feature. Similarly, the playtest report is under Dragon now. Why did they move these titles to areas that presumably will become pay-only in a few months?

I really enjoy Save my Game, but I'm not gonna pay ten bucks a month for online content. I can't afford to do that and still keep up with hobby purchases (not to mention the fact that usually I don't spend 120 a year on D&D...).

Will all wotc online material be migrated to either Dungeon or Dragon? Has anyone heard anything relating to this?

The only thing that I know of that has been confimred as remaining free is errata.

I have a feeling that there will be other free things too, but I'm sure a LOT will depend on how popular the pay sections are. We will all vote with our wallets.

 

[takasi]

We're so spoiled.

The WotC site has regularly given us a ton of free material over the past few years. Ten years ago it would have been unthinkable to have so much free content for D&D. Even today very few publishers, even those with excellent web site in general (like Paizo, Goodman Games, Green Ronin, etc) provide daily articles.

And this is where WotC is going to have problems. They've spoiled us. They've made things so good for us that now, when they ask for a reasonable payment for services we feel ripped off.

I'm getting a similar feeling with 4th edition in general. People in my circle like 3.5 so much because they are spoiled by the ruleset. The game helps adjudicate so many things so easily that news of a game that might be more fun is left ignored for the most part.

 

[PoeticJustice]

I really don't think of myself as spoiled when I suppose that I deserve free content, especially when Magic players have been receiving as much for years.

 

[takasi]

Same company, same spoilage.

And the D&D content is even more valuable. You're not getting free cards to play in the Magic section, but you are getting free adventures, maps, monsters, NPCs, locations, etc that you can actually use to run a D&D campaign. You can play D&D without paying WotC a penny using d20srd.org and the WotC adventures.

 

[freyar]

Spoiled or not, this really is going to prove a turn-off for a lot of people. I think one thing that bothers me a little about this versus, say, public TV or radio in the States, is that WotC has other revenue streams, and it is a bit "greedy" on their part to shove what has been free content into a pay model. Is this spoiled on my part? I don't know. I do know that I never decided to pay when my favorite columns on ESPN's website got moved to their pay service. (But can I resist D&D? Good question! )

 

[werk]

Why did they move these titles to areas that presumably will become pay-only in a few months?

I really enjoy Save my Game...

Kinda answered your own question there, I think. They are taking things that people like, features that have proven to get traffic, and moving them to the paid area.

It really only makes sense.

 

[takasi]

I think one thing that bothers me a little about this versus, say, public TV or radio in the States, is that WotC has other revenue streams, and it is a bit "greedy" on their part to shove what has been free content into a pay model.

Perhaps they determined that the free content was not helping them sell books, so they had to choose between charging for the content or not commissioning it in the first place.

If you had a choice between no content offered at all or having the option to buy online content, which would you rather have?

I just wish Paizo would go this route. I would pay handsomely for their Savage Tide conversion notes...

 

[DaveMage]

I think WotC has done a fantastic job with free web support. (Errata's a bit slow, but support articles are great.)

Hopefully they will continue that for those playing 4e.

 

[PoeticJustice]

I just wish Paizo would go this route. I would pay handsomely for their Savage Tide conversion notes...

Yeah, well I'm on the Ramen diet, and that means I've got no money to spend on D&D at the moment. If Wotc wants to migrate all their online content to a pay service, that's fine.

But it means they don't care to fight for interest in their company's products because I can't afford to buy them right now. That's also fine. But when I get my law degree, I'm gonna remember this.

You're right, the magic content could be less valuable than D&D material, but there's still an awful lot of it, especially in comparison to what we get.