D&D 4E The internet: 4E can't have it both ways

[Doug McCrae]

If WotC listens to the internet that means listening to people who think it's not D&D if the beholder has 9 eye stalks. And I don't want them listening to people like that.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Ok they may not be in "direct" conflict if you take me literally

Since you're the only other person who had posted in the thread, and had only made one post, what other choice did I have other than to take your words at face value?

but there are conflicting attitudes regarding internet feedback.

No, they're not. You're trying to create a conflict where there is none.

My question is simply should feedback from the internet be used by WotC to make changes to 4E.

It should be used, just like people at cons, as one source of feedback, but not as the only source. Which is how most smart companies already do things.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Forgive the stereotype, but I can't imagine 75% of a nerd, RPing community not having internet access. I would suggest that it's either an exceptional case, or that the LGS owner is mistaken.

Or the Luddite store owner is projecting his wishes onto his customers.

 

[broghammerj]

You're asking the internet community devoted to D&D if that internet community should have more power over the thing that community has in common. I mean, come on now, what possible answer could you get other than "Yes"? :\

That being said the pole is 30% answering no. I think that is a rather large number. There have been some very vocal people who say WotC should ignore message board feedback saying that most of us are maniacal, crazy, people who should have no voice in the game.

I find that thought interesting considering they are blogging, set up Gleemax, etc. Seems a bit contradictory to me.

 

[broghammerj]

No, they're not. You're trying to create a conflict where there is none.

You act as if I am trying to troll or whip people into a frenzy. That's not my intent. Some people have some pretty strong opinions on if WotC should pay attention to the internet or not. I was curious as to why and wanted to generate some discussion.

It should be used, just like people at cons, as one source of feedback, but not as the only source. Which is how most smart companies already do things.

I don't think anything I posted would contradict this. I agree with you.

 

[broghammerj]

"The internet message boards are a small fraction of the DnD players as a whole." but then so are the play-testers and the designers even more so.

My question is what is WotC doing to talk to the community? Whizbang pointed out they talk to people at cons (again a small minority). I am not sure how they capture what people what. I haven't seen a big online survey ala the Dancey era. I guess they have mail in surveys, letters to Dungeon/Dragon, playtesters, etc.

I am not saying WotC hasn't done market research prior to 4E launch. It just seems like there is no great way to reach the broad consumer base so these small microcosms have to some benefit. How much of the minority do you have to interact with to get a representative sample?

 

[Deset Gled]

Normally, I would say that WotC shouldn't listed to the internet community any more than they do customers from other sources, possible less so. But when you're going to be focusing a huge part of your business on catering to the internet (i.e. Digital Initiative, etc), it becomes a lot more important.

McDonalds might not worry to much about making their food kosher, but it would be a bit different story if they started a new branch that specialized in catering to Bar Mitzvahs.

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

I don't honestly think he "forgot" to allow you to vote both yes and no.

Make a decision already! I get it that there's exceptions, reservations and concerns, but pick the answer that most closely matches your opinion.

Neither answer closely matches my opinion. Why should I allow myself to be pigeonholed? That's like having to vote for two laughably bad candidates in an election. It's worth it to withhold your assent or write in a better option. I'm not going to contribute to yet another situation in which someone can point to a terribly-constructed poll and say "See? These people agree with me!" when we probably don't.

 

[Anthtriel]

I find that thought interesting considering they are blogging, set up Gleemax, etc. Seems a bit contradictory to me.

There is a world of difference between relaying some information and radically altering the newest design because Enworld says "It's not D&D!".

Plus, all companies know it's good to make the community think they have input, even if they actually don't. Most information relayed to us is final anyway, they won't suddenly stop the presses because some people don't like it.

If I'm not mistaken the only input the community had so far was preventing the Eberron time jump. And that only worked because they haven't really begun with revamping Eberron yet.

 

[tomBitonti]

A little late ...

Isn't this a little late? The context is 4E, and the question seems better, "To what degree has the design of 4E been influenced by the thoughts of writers on ENWorld and other electronic meeting areas?"

Or, "When collecting customer input for a proposed 4E, which customer groups were polled, and how much weight was assigned to each group?"

Or, perhaps more pertinent to this current poll, "To what degree has the online community, such as frequent ENWorld and other electronic meeting areas, been slighted during the design of 4E?"

To jump past these question, my spider sense is telling me that the D&D brand, through 4E, is being shifted from the demographic of the typical ENWorlder to a younger audience. That is, the design is being changed to reflect the playing sensibilities of this group, and, as well, the presentation is being changed to match the tastes of this group.