And this is my biggest problem with these adventures. I love the fact that WoTC is letting the artists sell the maps they created for the adventures on that particular artist's personal website. My issue is ..... (for instance) the Hoard of the Dragon Queen map pack that Jared Blando is selling, is $75!! You get each map, printed and signed by him. Neat! But that adventure cost $30 and wasn't even a complete storyline. So for my DM'ing style, I would have to spend over $100 for the first half of Tyranny of Dragons .... (because my players and I love maps.) So buy them individually for $2.25 a piece and print them yourself right?
<snip logic>
As much as it pains me, because I really do like the new 5th Edition rules, these adventures would drain my pocket too much.
Lastly, it stinks because in the end ..... I'll probably have to buy OotA because I really want the stats on all those Demon Lords .... (same reason I bought RoT .... for Tiamat's stats.)
I can say little beyond "I agree." But I'll still try:
This is my current biggest argument with WoTC's release strategy as well. Making things available is great, but the method they are doing so requires a higher buy-in for casual fans, and for the hardcore folks, it's either (a) more work, because we have to scan, photoshop, and/or print the stuff for our home game, or (b) wait for someone to do so and make it available for free online...
...which in turn is sorta-kinda a slap in the face of the artist who drew the map and is selling it on their website thanks to Wizards. And also, where is the marketing that these artists are even making this stuff available? I see it, but I don't see much of it, and it's not immediately noticeable in a blinking-neon-font sort of way on Wizards' website...plus different artists do different adventures, so it's not like these things are stuff you'll snag based purely off memory with each adventure release.
It's a vicious circle: it's a barrier to some, a hurdle to some, a likely source of contention between artists and gamers, and overall, lost revenue.
There's so many (relatively) easy solutions to this, all certainly within WoTC's abilities, too:
1. PDF map packs
1a. PDF map packs + print option (we've already seen this with the Elemental Evil Player's Companion)
2. Print map packs released at the same time as the adventure (Wizards released how many tile sets and map folio thingies during 3e and 4e? They've got the resources, and if not...)
3. Licensed map packs in print from Gale Force or one of their other partners
4. Fold out maps or perforated maps in the adventure books, and pay your artists the right amount so they don't feel like they have to sell these maps on their personal sites (this is really the cheapest option, and if they included the damn player versions that'd be great)
5. Make every adventure a boxed set like the Starter Set, but priced accordingly, and use the box space properly (fold out maps, minis, dice, maybe a copy of that rules book from the Starter and some pregens so that every single adventure is playable out of the box)
Am I missing anything? I mean, some of these are certainly an investment and more of a prestige format that I want, rather than something Wizards should feel obligated to do, but others (like the print/pdf combo on DriveThru) are simply no-brainers, super easy and require no more investment than WoTC already has in the product. Hell, they could probably get whoever's doing the Fantasy Grounds conversions to bundle this stuff up for DriveThru at no extra charge, and all they have to do is toss the artist a couple extra bucks per commissioned art piece, while raking in more dough from PDF/print sales of the map packs at a lower cost to the end customer.
Seriously. This is like Business 101.
