The Skinny on Adventure Tools?

[Dannager]

We don't use character builder really, given that we sometimes play where there's no computer to be found, and not everyone in the group has a computer. I had a DDI subscription because of Adventure Tools and Master Plan. So, now that Master Plan is dead, and, it sounds like Adventure tools is dead. I cancelled my DDI subscription.

I couldn't care less about internet etiquette, and being called internet names, I have no rational reason to. But for a company seeming to be in some trouble, I think some of WOTC latest moves, are highly problematic.

I don't really understand this. In what way does WotC seem to be in some trouble? They continue with a very strong release schedule, tons of people are playing and enjoying their game (and spending their dollars on it), they're starting to branch the brand out into other areas (finally), and there are absolutely no signs that WotC is somehow going to collapse.

I think you're a little eager to declare things dead. Master Plan is not a dead project, and is being actively worked on. The Adventure Tools are not a dead product, and are being actively worked on.

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

The current subscription price is not the price that WotC announced way back when as the price for a full subscription once all the tools were out.

Weeeelllll yeah, but honestly I think the idea that people have the money to budget 15 to 20 bucks a month for DDI, regardless of what features it has. I'd argue that the current subscription price is more like reality rearing its head. OTOH I've never been in the bashing WotC for overpromising on DDI. Its too bad they let themselves get a little overenthusiastic about what they could do but the tools we are getting are pretty handy if you don't mind the windows-only aspect (my pet peeve ah well).

Really guys, who knows what WotC really has going? They may well have found a consulting shop they can actually farm a lot of this stuff out to that has worked out OK, Or a lot of these projects may be just totally stalled forever. Truth is they may just have overestimated the revenue stream from DDI in general and it simply isn't profitable to pour more money into it to push it forward rapidly. If Chris doesn't know, surely the rest of us are firmly in the dark.

 

[mudbunny]

Truth is they may just have overestimated the revenue stream from DDI in general and it simply isn't profitable to pour more money into it to push it forward rapidly. If Chris doesn't know, surely the rest of us are firmly in the dark.

For what it's worth, there are now a little over thirty-three thousand members of the DDI group on the WotC community site. That is between $196k and $328k this month alone. And don't forget that those numbers only include the people who both have a DDI subscription and who have registered an account on the WotC community site. According to people I have talked with in WotC, the number of people who have a community account is a fraction of the total number of people who have DDI accounts.

So if we assume, for arguments sake, that that means that the number of people with community accounts is only a third of the total number of subscribers, then it means that that there are around 100k subscribers, which works out to between $500k and 1 million dollars from DDI subscriptions.

A month.

Not unsubstantial revenue.

Now how that compares to the numbers that WotC/Hasbro was expecting to see, we don't know. But from what i have heard, WotC is very happy with the numbers that they are seeing.

 

[Dannager]

For what it's worth, there are now a little over thirty-three thousand members of the DDI group on the WotC community site. That is between $196k and $328k this month alone. And don't forget that those numbers only include the people who both have a DDI subscription and who have registered an account on the WotC community site. According to people I have talked with in WotC, the number of people who have a community account is a fraction of the total number of people who have DDI accounts.

So if we assume, for arguments sake, that that means that the number of people with community accounts is only a third of the total number of subscribers, then it means that that there are around 100k subscribers, which works out to between $500k and 1 million dollars from DDI subscriptions.

A month.

Not unsubstantial revenue.

Now how that compares to the numbers that WotC/Hasbro was expecting to see, we don't know. But from what i have heard, WotC is very happy with the numbers that they are seeing.

This is really important; if DDI is doing anywhere near the amount of business these estimates suggest, DDI subscriptions alone can probably cover the salaries of the entire D&D brand staff multiple times over. Unless these estimates are way off, it's hard to see DDI as anything but an unqualified success. When your first real foray into a digital subscriber model ends up working this well, you don't suddenly shut efforts to expand your moneymaker down.

 

[mudbunny]

This is really important; if DDI is doing anywhere near the amount of business these estimates suggest, DDI subscriptions alone can probably cover the salaries of the entire D&D brand staff multiple times over. Unless these estimates are way off, it's hard to see DDI as anything but an unqualified success. When your first real foray into a digital subscriber model ends up working this well, you don't suddenly shut efforts to expand your moneymaker down.

My suspicions on why WotC is keeping mum on the next tool that they are releasing is as follows:

Both the Character Builder and the Monster Builder are great tools. Not perfect in any sense of the word, but they are very well programmed. And those are, to be honest, the easy tools. The next tool that they release, if you look at the possibilities, is going to be complicated. Very complicated. They want to make sure (and, to be honest, need to make sure) that the next tool is at least the level of quality as the Character Builder and Monster Builder are *now*.

 

[Mephistopheles]

The current subscription price is not the price that WotC announced way back when as the price for a full subscription once all the tools were out.

Like mudbunny pointed out, WotC actually lowered their subscription price to about half of what was originally announced to account for the lack of applications, which they've been slowly adding. You're not paying for imaginary products.

Thanks to both of you for the answers. This does seem vaguely familiar so perhaps I had just forgotten.

 

[Hadrian the Builder]

Heh. I honestly got a kick out of that imaginary conversation

So here's what I can tell you (and unfortunately, it's not much)...

Chris Champagne is the Studio Manager of DDI, and a fairly recent hire (sometime late last summer). Under his watch especially, they're in the mode of not promising anything until it's ready to roll out to try and avoid all the vaporware early DDI stuff. I get the sense this is why we haven't heard any updates at all: they've swung completely the other direction as far as transparency goes. That means even I haven't heard what's they're working on.

From other sources, I know that the digital team has been cut to the bone, so while they'd like to be working on other things, a considerable amount of their time is taken up with bug fixing (CB especially) and keeping up with the new releases.

Finally, there are projects that have been rumored for a while that are in that nebulous area of "they're working on it but not ready to announce yet" like an Encounter Builder and a Mac version of Character Builder. Like all the early stuff, that just means they've done some work on it, no guarantee that we'll ever see it.

I wish it were as easy as sending some emails, but that first bit of info is the biggest factor in no news- they've really clamped down on what they're allowed to say. I'm hoping once they are getting ready to launch a new product, I'm the one to get the scoop early.

(And I really hope for my own use that they come out with more tools soon... I'm on a Mac running VMWare just to run the DDI software, and WAS using Masterplan to make and print my encounters...)

Dave, thank you so much for this response. Now I feel like I have a better handle on what's going on and why.

Do you have any idea when they might lighten up on the news blackout? Or is it likely to be the obvious answer: There will be announcements when only when they release a new tool?

I can see why they would keep projects close to the chest...just the thought of running DDI on my Mac without Virtual Box gets me hopeful.


I wonder if anyone else out there has some factual information to post? Maybe this could be a news thread of some sort?

 

[Festivus]

WOTC has never been good at software. Adventure tools is dead. We are lucky to have the tools we do.

I disagree with your statement. Character Builder is the best piece of software for a game I have ever used. While this was true in the past, I really think they learned lessons and won't release a piece of dookie that nobody will use. When things are ready they will release them. I still believe things like the online gaming table and the character portrait tool will come out when they are ready to go.

 

[davethegame]

Do you have any idea when they might lighten up on the news blackout? Or is it likely to be the obvious answer: There will be announcements when only when they release a new tool?

Well, GenCon always seems like the likely place to expect announcements of anything D&D (or gaming in general), but that's pure conjecture. Plus that doesn't always mean anything, as I personally was given a demo of the virtual game table and character visualizer two GenCons ago by three people who are no longer with the company, sooo...

FWIW, I asked my PR contact if there's anything they're willing to say about the development of DDI, so we'll see.