The Failure of Gleemax

[Ghendar]

Never thought I'd see the day when Merric would make a post like that.

 

[WhatGravitas]

Indeed. The failure of Gleemax is just part of the great pooch-humping that is (the launch of) 4E.

I start to think that the launch of 4E isn't a pooch-humping. Seriously, why do ads and stuff now? Only dedicated gamers (as we on ENWorld) will be interested in it - and we get the infos by cribbing all notes, posts, whatever together. That's sort of fun.

The real ads should start mid-July or something like that - why? Because then we have another mini set out, the character sheets, the DMG screen, another adventure and soon the basic game.

That's what you need for a full-fledged marketing campaign - a more or less fledged-out product line. The pure corebooks are more aimed at us, who already know how to play a RPG.

But this doesn't help with Gleemax.

Cheers, LT.

 

[GeorgeFields]

Not sure I'm ready to call Gleemax a "failure" just yet...

I was before it was launched

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

You forget that no matter what, even if WoTC is listening to the BMC, they are unable to cannot come out and say "We really screwed the pooch on <insert blunder>" because once they do they would destroy even more consumer confidence in their products, services, and decisions. All they are basically able to do is say, "We decided to improve X by doing Y and in the process we made X become a whole lot X-ier because the previous version of X was broke and flawed!"

No, once they start an honest dialogue about what's happened in the past and what they hope to do about it, they regain consumer confidence.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I'm feeling sorry for WOTC . . .

Perhaps they should have allied with Yahoo, MSN, IAC, or anybody else who knows the web. Or even AOL -- D&D could be buried in their next to Movie Fone and probably would actually work.

Or they could have done the reasonable and cost-effective thing, and just licensed off-the-shelf technology like Wordpress, vBulletin and MediaWiki. Then they'd have millions of people available to help them -- for free -- if they ran into any problems. There are also available platforms for business whiteboards -- essentially the virtual tabletop, without specialized tools bolted onto it.

Recreating the wheel was the problem.

 

[SavageRobby]

WotC: We have top men working on it now.
Gamers: Who?
WotC: Top ... men.

 

[Khairn]

No, once they start an honest dialogue about what's happened in the past and what they hope to do about it, they regain consumer confidence.

What's surprising about this thread is that both 4E fans and those less pleased with the arrival of the new edition are all (or at least vast majority posting here) agreeing to the same thing. This type of unanimity hasn't been seen in a really long time.

A year ago last March, if you were to ask me to list the "best" RPG companies around when it came to overall quality, support, credibility and a solid connection with their customers ... I would have said ...

1- WotC
2- White Wolf
3- Paizo
4- Malhavoc
5- Goodman Games

Today that list is ...

1- Paizo
2- White Wolf
3- Goodman Games
4- Iron Crown Enterprises
5- Malhavoc
(with very honorable mention to Columbia Games, Pinnacle and Adamant)

I know this is a very subjective list, but I was really surprised at how far WotC had fallen for me.

 

[FATDRAGONGAMES]

WotC: We have top men working on it now.
Gamers: Who?
WotC: Top ... men.

ROTFLMAO!

 

[Vrecknidj]

Fourth edition, the revised minis rules, Gleemax, the "digital initiative," all seem like ways of starting over.

I don't mind that the game evolves. But, this "revolution not evolution" approach has been pretty dismal. I like that the folks on the inside feel a need to improve their product, to keep things fresh, to give gamers something new.

I don't think that the best way to do that was to commit suicide first.

Dave

 

[Steely Dan]

As we speak the Gleemax D&D forums are screwed (have been for hours – cannot view threads)…