D&D 5E Well played WOTC (or Free RPG Day 2015)

[justinj3x3]

Yes. I have, certainly.


There is no requirement that a point you make will or should be used to only address your overall point.

Heck, you are looking at one element of WotC performance to make a point. Their "statement" as a whole isn't Free RPG Day, is it?

I'm not sure what you think my "no" was pertaining to but I should have followed it with a comma. It was part of my next statement. And again, for the umpteenth time, I'm not talking about the performance of WOTC. I'm talking about being understanding of people who are disappointed with that performance.

 

[Shasarak]

If WOTC had produced something for Free RPG Day, it is just as likely that these same irrational people would complain about the product not being what they wanted. We've certainly seen that repeated ad nauseum over the years. "WOTC, this twenty dollar bill you included in my PHB is folded entirely wrong! WotC can't do anything right!"

So instead of WotC trying to make someone happy they decided to make no one happy. And even then they failed because someone will be happy with nothing.

By the way, which WotC book are these people complaining about which came with the twenty dollar bill?

 

[spinozajack]

Do you work for free one day or one week per year?

40 hours of free overtime in a year? Sure, I do that. That's less than one hour a week on average. In 2013 I put in 40 hours of unpaid overtime, every single month of the year. It was a big project and I did get a sizeable bonus when it shipped.

Some jobs pay so well and you love the work so much that you don't even care.

Doing one hour a week OT I could do in without even batting an eye. I do that now, without even being asked. So do lots of people. Not saying that's a good thing, but it's up to each person to estimate the value of their salary and consider if they reduce it by the lost overtime pay if they are still getting well paid for the work they do, and if it's worth it to continue doing that.

Giving away "free" swag is a tax-deductible marketing expense for these companies, they aren't doing it our of the kindness of their hearts, they've analyzed the return on investment and figured the good will generated will pay off. If Wizards doesn't have something cheap enough to give away in their D&D product line without it being a net loss to their bottom line, that's that.

D&D is not an expensive hobby. It's time preparing adventures (and wasted on forums!) that's the real expense. If you can't afford a PHB just borrow a friend's. It's literally free to play.

 

[Staffan]

By the way, which WotC book came with the twenty dollar bill?

It wasn't D&D, but a few years back they put some random old cards, some of which were quite valuable, in some booster packs for the Zendikar Magic set. This apparently made some people angry.

 

[Dire Bare]

40 hours of free overtime in a year? Sure, I do that. That's less than one hour a week on average. In 2013 I put in 40 hours of unpaid overtime, every single month of the year. It was a big project and I did get a sizeable bonus when it shipped.

If you put in over time in hopes of getting a sizeable bonus . . . then it wasn't "free" overtime. You got paid. Might've been a gamble at the time, but would you have put in that much time if you knew for certain there would be NO bonus of any kind? If so, you and I are very different folks.

 

[Dire Bare]

Not everything makes it onto DnDClassics. And things that do often come at a very slow rate.
They added one Free RPG Day item (Khyber's Harvest) apparently back in 2013 but the other four are still MIA. And other bits, like the DM Reward adventures they sent out to RPGA players, also haven't shown up there.

Dude, the D&D back catalog is HUGE! Do you expect them to upload it all overnight? They add 3-4 products every week, it only seems slow because there is SO MUCH.

 

[Dire Bare]

WotC are fools! They released two quality free products, the D&D Basic Rules and the D&D Elemental Evil Player's Companion, but they didn't release them on FREE RPG DAY!!! These products were released way before June 20, so, of course THEY DON'T COUNT! Rumor has it they might release a free D&D Rage of Demons Player's Companion in the fall, but again, I bet they won't do it on FREE RPG DAY!!

Meh. 1 out of 4 FLGS's in my area bother with Free RPG Day anymore. The three non-participating stores used to, but no longer feel it's worth the money they have to pony up to the marketing company behind the "event". I used to be excited about getting "free" stuff, but it's just more crap to put on the shelves, I'd much rather get digital product, free or otherwise, and I don't care if it happens on the holy holiday of Free RPG Day, which really is nothing but a marketing stunt by a distribution company. I also routinely forget and don't care about "GM's Day". Why does everything need a "day"? Eh.

 

[Mark CMG]

DEFCON

No need to yell . . .

(. . .) HUGE (. . .) SO MUCH

Everyone, please calm down.

 

[Jester David]

Dude, the D&D back catalog is HUGE! Do you expect them to upload it all overnight? They add 3-4 products every week, it only seems slow because there is SO MUCH.

They've been releasing stuff on the site for over two years (nearing two and a half) and how much of the back catalogue have they done? Half?
Is it really realistic to ask someone to wait another two years for a small free product that *might* be considered for release? And, again, there are the free reward modules and content that may or may not be re-released.

The release rate always struck me as artificially slow. Designed to milk the "new product X is in DnDclassics!" as long and often as possible.
The really slow releases make sense for the old products that have to be scanned and OCRed and such. (Even then, getting a couple books done each day is quite possible.) And the new stuff - from late 3e onward - is all digital and just needs some clean-up and an export. Much of it was already PDFed prior to the great digital backstep of 2009.

 

[Gnarl45]

40 hours of free overtime in a year? Sure, I do that. That's less than one hour a week on average. In 2013 I put in 40 hours of unpaid overtime, every single month of the year. It was a big project and I did get a sizeable bonus when it shipped.

I wish my guys could work for free! Maybe I'd finally be able to buy that yacht I've been dreaming about for the past 15 years.

Giving away "free" swag is a tax-deductible marketing expense for these companies, they aren't doing it our of the kindness of their hearts, they've analyzed the return on investment and figured the good will generated will pay off. If Wizards doesn't have something cheap enough to give away in their D&D product line without it being a net loss to their bottom line, that's that.

WoTC gives a lot of free stuff! They're just smart about it.