When should we expect answers?

[Delta]

FIFY. Nice to have a bit of perspective.

Frankly, I find that posting a bit offensive, because it makes it look like I said something I did not. I'll politely ask you to edit it to not look like a quote of something I did not actually say. Thank you.

 

[Shazman]

This has been said before, and I'll say it again. This whole mess reeks of disregard for the customers. They don't care what their customers want, they want to tell them what they should want! Don't buy cherished products with lots of value and tradition from a third party. We know you'd much rather have an electronic product that you know nothing about, so you can line our pockets instead of Paizo's. Once again, I call for a boycott of all WotC products!

 

[WhatGravitas]

I totally agree. They could have announced the end of Dungeon and Dragon well in advance, say a year or so, along with the "we want Paizo to have the spotlight for now" announcement. Then they could have launched the "Final year of Dungeon and Dragon - and wow, is it going to be a good one!" campaign, with trickles of info every month or so ever-so-slowly peeling back the curtain on the new DI.

That sounds awesome... I wonder why they hadn't. With Eberron, it worked out pretty well, and it was a similar strategy. Additionally, with an entire year of time, the chance to suck up vitriol would've been much higher. And Wizards is planning the digital stuff for a while, if you remember the CMP license-pull. Would've been a graceful time to announce it...

 

[BOZ]

Yes, this is certainly true in your case, but being unable to soothe you doesn't mean that ignoring the issue completely was the right move, or even a "nice try." I'd say they dropped the ball, but I don't think they saw the ball at all. I think the ball smacked them in the grill and now they're crawling around trying to find their glasses.

absolutely. i have to imagine they expected more of a "aw man, that really sucks, but what's that new thing you're hiding behind your back?" sort of reaction rather than "you killed my mother!!!"

 

[(contact)]

That sounds awesome... I wonder why they hadn't.

Because the DI isn't ready yet, and probably wasn't very far along (if at all) this time last year. The timing of the license renewal and the "Big New Idea" aren't in sync. Strategy and tactics aren't on speaking terms at the moment.

 

[(contact)]

what's that new thing you're hiding behind your back?

It's your mother's head!

 

[Winterthorn]

Well, on my part I willing to give them a week to pull themselves together. I think a cooling off period is a healthy thing. I expected an immediate counter to the bad news, but all we have so far from WotC is the deafening sound of silence. This silence over their responsibility of causing customer upset with their decision is, I perceive, the most angering of things for it implies a contempt towards the fans and hobbyists of D&D.

However the damage is done now, and they are probably scrambling together a well crafted plug for the leaking dike. A few days to week (i.e.: until this Friday, say?) should be enough time for them to master the necessary damage control and give the customers something positive to chew on. These kinds of repairs take time to do well - I favour paying attention to other matters (like GTS!), just for a few days, and wait to see what WotC comes up with by the end of the week. It won't kill us to wait a little, and the WotC folks will have a better chance at pleasing us** if they are given a reasonable time to do "repairs").

I know two things about Wizard's of the Coast:
1) They can do, and have done, great stuff!
2) They do have a history of making big mistakes...

Seeing both points I am persuaded to be a patient customer - for now.

-w

**Yes, sellers must please buyers or they will be out of business. Right?

 

[WhatGravitas]

Because the DI isn't ready yet, and probably wasn't very far along (if at all) this time last year. The timing of the license renewal and the "Big New Idea" aren't in sync. Strategy and tactics aren't on speaking terms at the moment.

But then, I would've perhaps been better to re-negotiate the Paizo contract for, let's say, one year. Then they could've pulled back in the worst cast scenario (i.e. mid-development the stuff goes kaboomy) - now they have to do something to fill the void, meaning they're imposing themselves a deadline. Because the internets are waiting for their DI.

Of course, perhaps they've tried... but on the other hand I don't think that Paizo would've given up any single chance to produce an issue, as it is their main income.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

To be honest, I'll be more interested in which questions get answered and which do not. From my experience over on Maxminis (where WotC staff tend to be a fair bit more vocal and involved than they do here), WotC has a habit/policy of only answering questions that they want to, and magnificently ignoring the rest - particularly the more thorny ones, or the questions relating to when WotC has dropped the ball on something or other. While I'm sure there's a world of difference between that (where questions are posted on a sticky thread and WotC people wander in and jot down a few responses on a seemingly semi-random basis) and here, where the management of probably the most respected and populous fan site has involved themselves in the interview/enquiry(/interrogation?), the effort or lack thereof that goes into tackling the tough questions will be a massive indication of how seriously WotC takes the reaction to the magazine's cancellation.

WotC staffers can only say so much. They are part of a publicly traded corporation and have to be careful what they say as representatives of the corporation. Certain information they may have may be proprietary, and cannot therefore be divulged to the public, and anything they say that might place the company in a poor light can get them fired. Even if they take off their WotC hat, they have to be careful. There have been cases of people being fired for what they say in their personal blogs, and so far the courts have upheld the firings because those people made it clear that they worked for the company they were dissing.

I do not expect that we will ever hear the entire story of what happened within the confines of WotC and Hasbro, and while it would probably be fun to know, it isn't really our business.

My hope for the responses is that they can offer a little more clarity about their plans for the DI, but even then I don't think they will be able to give much until the information is ready to be made public anyway.

 

[Mark CMG]

But then, I would've perhaps been better to re-negotiate the Paizo contract for, let's say, one year. Then they could've pulled back in the worst cast scenario (i.e. mid-development the stuff goes kaboomy) - now they have to do something to fill the void, meaning they're imposing themselves a deadline. Because the internets are waiting for their DI.

You don't believe they planned a launch date for the DI and knew when the contracted licenses they had out were due to expire?