What companies have the most online support?

[Glyfair]

I realized lately that it seems that the online options from d20/D&D companies has gone down in time. Not too long after 3E came out, there was a lot of things online you could use for your games from companies, web enhancements for products, etc. It seems the support has gone down somewhat.

Clearly, WotC is the top of the heap. You can get a huge amount of support from the WotC site. There are free adventures, alternate rules, alternate spells, new monsters, fluff support for the settings, etc.

I remember Necromancer Games used to have the occasional themed adventure, plus web enhancements for their products. Green Ronin used to do the "Focus on Freeport" columns on their website. I know I've bought more than one product from these companies because of this support.

Which companies do you think are doing this best now?

 

[Thanee]

Green Ronin's Mutants & Mastermind website is pretty useful.

Malhavoc also has quite a bit of useful stuff on theirs.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Psion]

Wizards.

Though I have appreciated online updates and errata from green ronin. (I was about to plunge into a 3.5 XPH conversion for monsters of the mind when I discovered they already had one up...)

 

[philreed]

I realized lately that it seems that the online options from d20/D&D companies has gone down in time. Not too long after 3E came out, there was a lot of things online you could use for your games from companies, web enhancements for products, etc. It seems the support has gone down somewhat.

I think this is tied directly to the decrease in print d20 sales. In those early days sales were strong, with even the worst product capable of moving 2,000-3,000 copies. When d20 was generating sales for publishers they saw free online web support as excellent marketing.

Now that most publishers jump up and down for joy when they hit 1,000 copies sold through distribution there's not as much optimism and excitement (and not as much extra cash to sink into free downloads). Also, when 3e launched PDFs as commercial releases were virtually unheard of. Today PDFs are a recognized -- and growing -- part of the industry so it becomes less likely that a publisher will invest time into a 10, 15, or 20-page PDF and not sell it for at least $1 or $2.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I really miss Focus on Freeport. Even a smallish thing, like a shop, or an NPC or a rumor or whatever, would be appreciated once in a while. It's not like the work was for naught in the past: All of that stuff, I think, later showed up in a subsequent Freeport book.

I haven't gotten my Ptolus preorder yet (getting my bonus next month), but the Malhavoc Delver's Guild Web site sounds pretty nice.

Otherwise, yeah, Wizards is the clear winner, although I do like some of the stuff Necromancer has posted.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Today PDFs are a recognized -- and growing -- part of the industry so it becomes less likely that a publisher will invest time into a 10, 15, or 20-page PDF and not sell it for at least $1 or $2.

I don't think reasonable consumers -- and I certainly acknowledge that they're a slim majority at best -- expect that much of a freebie. A one page PDF freebie from a company that doesn't specialize in PDF sales is all I think many of us would want, along with "Director's Cut" stuff that couldn't make it into the full version of a product.

 

[Glyfair]

I think this is tied directly to the decrease in print d20 sales. In those early days sales were strong, with even the worst product capable of moving 2,000-3,000 copies. When d20 was generating sales for publishers they saw free online web support as excellent marketing.

Yes, I think this is expected.

At the same time, I think the cost of "free online support" varies a bit. Clearly, the cost of an adventure is high, since you have to pay someone to develop it. However, putting bits and pieces that were cut due to space would have much less of a "cost" to put online since the development has been done and usually paid for.

To tell the truth, thinking over this, I know I've bought a number of products I wouldn't have touched because of downloading a freebie that tied into a product. WotC is certainly the biggest winner from me in this category, but Necromancer and Green Ronin have gotten a few more purchases from me aslo.