catsclaw227 said:
Mostly, I agree with everything you said, except that you can have your paid-for issues of Dungeon and Dragon even if your subscrition ends. You just download the PDF (assuming that they will get their act together and get each issue in PDF form.)
And you are right about Neverwinter (1 or 2). I really think they should have considered that engine and simply extended it. Offered modules, offered minis/models, offered tilesets, etc.
I like the idea of the DDI game table being free, and then buying other stuff if you want it. Maybe your monthly subscription will unlock all online content from your books, will give you 2 or 3 free minis a month (the models, which you can then tweak, repose, clothe), and then you can buy additional minis, order books, get item/armor sets for your virtual minis, etc.
I like the idea of having a free game table and paying for premium content, where the premium content is subscription based, and not based around paying for individual components. So $5/month (or maybe $0.25/hour if you pay per session) to have access to all the minis. Otherwise, it's just a basic set of teaser minis to make you want more. This could operate on a per-player basis. So if three of five players are paying for it, they see all the pretty minis on the virtual table. The other two players see tokens with 2D pictures from the MM slapped on the top (something like Fiery Dragon's counters, for example). That will allow players to opt out of paying for minis if they don't want to pay to play online, but WotC still reaps the benefits of both:
1. Getting people playing, and therefore probably buying products like books.
2. Having a predictable income stream from the people who are willing to pay for the extras, which may be greater in the long run than if they were charging once for a virtual mini that could be carried between VTT games and seen by all players.
The thing is, they should make it functional for play without all the minis, making them essentially beautification. That way they'll get people playing, which is what their main goal should be. Then they should consider income that comes from the VTT as a bonus, and something to be cultivated, but not the main purpose of the exercise.
One of the reasons I chose the PS3 instead of the Xbox was because the PS3's online system is free, and I don't have to pay a monthly fee just for the privilege of the full service. If I buy a game, I get the whole package. But they can tempt me with extra levels, demos, add-ins, and other things that cost little and supplement their profits while not appearing very expensive from my end. By being on their network, I'm available for not only those sorts of purchases but also in-game ads and other profit-generating techniques. But the bottom line is, once I've shelled out for the system and the games, I don't need to pay to play. If I did, I probably wouldn't have the games.
I can see D&D working the same way. The goal is to sell books, and the promise of the books is that you'll be able to play. How? Well, you see, we've got this big online networking system where you can play for free. Also, if you pay just a little bit more, you get access to our entire, extremely large line of super-duper virtual miniatures. Also, if you pay a little bit more, you can store your character sheet online. Also, if you pay a little bit more, you can have pregenerated maps of our published adventures with unique tiles and other special features. Also, pay a little bit more and we'll turn off the ad box at the bottom of the screen and replace it with your choice of customizable info feed, showing you information about your game, top ten WotC messageboard threads, local news and weather, etc. And so on...
Get the customer playing, first and foremost. Then try to sell them accessories once you've got your foot in the door.
