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<blockquote data-quote="Sholari" data-source="post: 3469793" data-attributes="member: 6059">My theory/guesstimate is this.&nbsp; WOTC is trying to cut out the support infrastructure (Dungeon, Dragon, E-tools, etc.) out from under the current edition ahead of the announcement of their new edition.&nbsp; I think d20 and to the extent they can damage OGL, that too.&nbsp; Similar to Microsoft their old version is the biggest competitive for their new version.&nbsp; The hope is that people will be forced to migrate subscription-based 4e/Digital Gaming Initiative, which will essentially be gaming via mobile device/laptop with mechanics that are automated (and invisible to the average user thus making the game more accessible).&nbsp; The new module format was actually them testing the upcoming format for this Digital Gaming Initiative.&nbsp; I think they saw the complexity of the game and the distribution model as the main impediments toward more people playing the game.&nbsp; Their other major issue was the copying and distribution of their materials illegally over the internet.&nbsp; With a digital-subscription model it is a lot easier to prevent these sorts of things.&nbsp; Under the new model you have a D&amp;D starter kit that can be distributed at toy stores, book stores, etc. essentially tap into more mainstream distribution networks. Basically, one stand alone starter kit can be distributed out through a much wider network without multiple SKU inventory issues bogging things down.&nbsp; That gets people into the &quot;digital network.&quot;&nbsp; Then once people have the starter set everything else is promoted direct to consumer over the internet and you use relationship marketing to cross-sell/upsell/retention.&nbsp; You don't have lots of multi-SKU inventory clogging up the distribution network but you have a major wider distribution for initial customer acquisition.All and all it wouldn't be a bad model, except that WOTC doesn't have a great history when it comes to the quality adventure department.&nbsp; I think they could redeem themselves if they reached out to Paizo in this area.&nbsp; My other major concern is that if this suceeds which is no guarantee what is this going to do to any form of competition... which creates much less incentive to create quality modules.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Sholari, post: 3469793, member: 6059"] My theory/guesstimate is this. WOTC is trying to cut out the support infrastructure (Dungeon, Dragon, E-tools, etc.) out from under the current edition ahead of the announcement of their new edition. I think d20 and to the extent they can damage OGL, that too. Similar to Microsoft their old version is the biggest competitive for their new version. The hope is that people will be forced to migrate subscription-based 4e/Digital Gaming Initiative, which will essentially be gaming via mobile device/laptop with mechanics that are automated (and invisible to the average user thus making the game more accessible). The new module format was actually them testing the upcoming format for this Digital Gaming Initiative. I think they saw the complexity of the game and the distribution model as the main impediments toward more people playing the game. Their other major issue was the copying and distribution of their materials illegally over the internet. With a digital-subscription model it is a lot easier to prevent these sorts of things. Under the new model you have a D&D starter kit that can be distributed at toy stores, book stores, etc. essentially tap into more mainstream distribution networks. Basically, one stand alone starter kit can be distributed out through a much wider network without multiple SKU inventory issues bogging things down. That gets people into the "digital network." Then once people have the starter set everything else is promoted direct to consumer over the internet and you use relationship marketing to cross-sell/upsell/retention. You don't have lots of multi-SKU inventory clogging up the distribution network but you have a major wider distribution for initial customer acquisition. All and all it wouldn't be a bad model, except that WOTC doesn't have a great history when it comes to the quality adventure department. I think they could redeem themselves if they reached out to Paizo in this area. My other major concern is that if this suceeds which is no guarantee what is this going to do to any form of competition... which creates much less incentive to create quality modules. [/QUOTE]

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