Why did you stop subscribing to DDI?

[GameDoc]

I let mine lapse for two reasons:

1. My group lost interest in 4e and the DDI content didn't seem very useful for anything other than 4e (but you can't fault WotC for that). The fact that my group wanted to use a different system would not have eliminated my interest, except that:
2. They failed to deliver on a lot of the online tools. When my friends decided to move on, I would have probably gone online and set up a 4e game using VTT, with its ability to import from the character buuilder, monster builder, and the never-realized character visualizer. But alas, no VTT.

I just recently re-subscribed becuase I was asked to run a 4e game at my FLGS. And I do (as I did before) use the compendium, the character builder, and material from Dragon.

The big selling point for me was (and this will shock many of you, shock I say!) the web-based character builder. I use a Mac and had no interest adding BootCamp, Parallels, or the like just to run the old CB.

 

[GameDoc]

While we're are on the subject, I will say, I would pay good money for an iPad app that lets me use all the DDI features.

There is a third-party one out that lets you log in using yoru DDI account and search the compendium, but would like to also be able to use the CB & MB.

For that matter, if they aren't going to support pdf versions of their books, how about a WotC reader app where you could buy ebook versions? Or they could at least make ebook versions available through iBooks, Nook, or Kindle.

 

[SteveC]

When support for the offline character builder ended, my reason for having a subscription ended. I don't rent software, and the entire point of a DDI subscription was to get that functionality.

That and the new builder wouldn't load for me, so all I had left was the articles, and they weren't worth much at all to me.

 

[shadzar]

When they wanted to charge money for their beta testing of software that didn't exist, and for the most part still doesn't exist.

As a GLEEMAX! forums member EVERYONE became a subscriber initially.

For a D&D website, they would need to offer something I would be willing to pay for for D&D, rather than just something for D&D version Y. Meaning they would need to have a website and functions capable for supporting D&D rather than Game of the Week Named D&D.

DDi would have to actually support Dungeons and Dragons. Basically like if Magic The Gathering website had a subscription format, it would probably continue to support all of the cards, and all playstyles and formats of play, rather than just say Sealed Deck format.

 

[Quickleaf]

I had a year prepaid DDi. I also had days without a reliable Internet connection.

I noticed the magazine content taking a dive but the offline CB and MB were awesome. Around the time both went online, my logic board and processor died. I figured I could just reinstall it and no problem. Well, to first find the dounload site I had to rely on a fellow ENWorlder who located it on Google archives. Then once the offline version is installed I realize the content is frozen around PHB2... there are no updates available. The same happened with the MB. And the quiet hike in DDi subscription rates soon followed. At that point I was thinking WTF?

The magazine content got worse and they stopped compiling it. The online CB was/is glitchy and slow. I had no reason to continue subscribing at that point. Masterplan better serves my prep work needs as DM, and when I play the Compendium and physical books get me by fine.

At least they were quick to reimburse me for two months worth of subscription.

 

[JoeGKushner]

1. Diminishing content in Dragon and Dungeon.

2. Switching to a beta version of an online CB.

I've mentioned many a time the things that would need to happen in order for me to renew but to boil it down; increased utility in Dragon, increased utility in Dungeon, getting the CB out of beta mode and putting more of the tools we had before WoT treated its cusomters like thieves (again.)

 

[vagabundo]

I'm running SWSE at the moment and I wasn't that trilled with the Dungeon/Dragon stuff and since I didn't have a need for the tools I unsubbed.

Money is a bit tight this year also.

I might sub up again after the summer, depending on what game I run - maybe a savage tide conversion.

 

[Dungeoneer]

I dropped mine when they dropped the offline CB without warning and forced everyone to switch to the inferior online version. I'm not usually one to take the management decisions of a company that I'm not employed by personally, but that was just an incredibly boneheaded move. I'm still pretty steamed about it.

I suppose if they ever get the online CB to the point where it doesn't generate massive image files just to spool to the printer I might try it again.

 

[Dykstrav]

To be upfront... I've never had a Dungeons & Dragons Insider subscription. But I'd like to get one, if it ever gets to the point where it has some value to me. I felt like I should chime in because I'm a potential customer that isn't (apparently) being targeted, and also, because the people I'm gaming with are dropping their subscriptions for similar reasons.

I thought that I'd get one after it'd been up for about a year or so, thinking that the bugs and other issues would have been worked out by then. I'd honestly be interested in applications for tabletop gaming. I'm still running my games with Microsoft Word documents on my laptop. I just can't see a big reason to invest.

Dragon? Well... I don't really get to play, I usually end up stuck being the DM. I'm not terribly interested in material targeted at character generation or player characters. I have gotten to play 4E six times with two different characters since 4E has come out. I don't need more options for a facet of the game that I rarely get to experience. More magic items? Perhaps. Distribution of magic items is something that I do get oversight on. But issues with magic items keep pushing my groups towards ditching them and going for inherent bonuses, so even that isn't a compelling enough reason to check out the material.

Dungeon? I might've used in in previous editions of the game where there is some serious number-crunching involved with making an adventure. But 4E is so easy to make adventures for that I can prep an entire 5-hour session in a little over an hour. Most of that time I spend making a new monster/NPC or a skill challenge or two. I can just about run the game on the fly (especially since reskinning things is extremely easy in 4E), so the demand for published adventures for 4E isn't that great to me.

The character builder? I don't need it. I don't get to play that often, and even if I did, 4E's character generation is pretty straightforward in the heroic tier. Whipping up a 1st-level character takes more than five minutes only if you're making a hybrid character or poring over endless options (and as I've explained above, my rare occasions of play hasn't really put me in a position to need more options for character generation).

The virtual tabletop? Maybe. If I could get it to support my house rules I'd give it a look.

What would I want to see out of Dungeons & Dragons Insider? What would make me pay for it? In rough order of importance:

1) Access, in some form, to material from previous versions of the game. Removing (legitimate) .pdf files from the marketplace has sent me to the secondary market to find the material I want to buy in dead tree format. Although they choose to support only the current edition of the game, I'd rather give the IP holder a few bucks rather than someone on the secondary market. It's more convenient for me, for the same reasons that I use Netflix to see a movie instead of hitting the used DVD bin at Game Stop. If Dungeons & Dragons Insider allowed you to purchase .pdf files of older material, I'd probably sign up immediately.

2) Map-making applications. Wouldn't it be handy if you could use a drag-and-drop application to make dungeon maps with dungeon tiles and then print them out? If you could make your own poster-sized map of a dungeon complex like the ones included with D&D adventures? That'd make me sign up. I'd love to print dungeon tile-based maps rather than haul a box of tiles to my game.

3) Deliver the content discussed at the launch of 4E. This is always a niggling issue, but I'd like to see the character visualizer and a 3D virtual tabletop similar to the ones shown in 2008. Would I use them? Yeah, but it's not entirely the point. Either the company shifted focus when the going got tough or maybe they didn't have a clear plan to implement their ideas--neither possibility inspires much confidence in the product.

 

[Festivus]

So, if you were, but no longer are a subscriber to DDI...

I was up until two weeks ago, but only because I had a discount subscription until then (early adopter, bought 2 years when I could for a steep discount). At present, I do not feel it's value is worth the price.

What was the turning point where you decided to cancel your subscription or let it lapse?

I think when the value I was getting out of it dipped to near nothing. The content of Dungeon and Dragon were going downhill in terms of quality and quantity, more and more it seemed like advertisements than actual content. But the big tipping point was when they made the CB online only. I like to have my software after I stop paying a monthly subscription for it, so when they took that ability to get updates to that away, I stopped my subscription.

Was it an economic issue, content issue?

Content, totally. See above.

And, what other issues have continued to influence your ongoing purchase of D&D material?

I really like the 4E ruleset, but outside of that, I buy things typically that have a) poster maps, b) any adventure material, usually just to harvest stuff but there have been occasional diamonds in the rough

Did a ruling anger you?

I think my anger is more about all the changes forced upon Living Forgotten Realms moreso than 4e. The campaign is a shell of it's former self in my opinion, yet I am hopeful for a rebound. Sadly, the cards thing is probably going to ruin that too.

Do you suffer from errata fatigue?

No, I don't really feel there is that much errata to the core rules, which is all I really care about. Powers might be tweaked here and there but they don't affect my overall opinion of the game... after all, I don't play with every single power in the game, only those for my class.