This will be a fun thread to watch....
(grabs a pack of cigarettes, a coffee; sits back and smiles)
I basically agree with the OP sentiments but not all the specific points. For example, I think the Essentials products and packaging are mostly nifty. I've bought some. I think WotC has gone out of their way to ensure us that Essentials isn't 4.5. Good communication. However... too many other problems.
So much errata on 4e that some of my books feel much less useful. WotC has made so many products and most of these have so much errata that making characters without the CB is a nauseating idea to me. They made the CB the most critical product, IMO. Thus what has happened with the DDI/CB is just sad. The combination of the old CB not being updated adequately and the poor communication about it, with the poor release of the new CB is a pretty big error. I'm guessing that the management's need to get this product out on a specific timetable created more problems than it solved. The way this was communicated to the fan base only alienated people or kept people neutral - it didn't seem to make anyone more loyal or committed to WotC. To release this new CB with so much lacking (no export or houserules? These are minimum needs for a large % of players!) seems really short-sighted. And of course there were incredible problems today with the server.
I sort of feel bad for the programmers. I imagine they were/are in over their heads - either with the expectations or more likely the timetable given. And this is assuming that silverlight was the best choice for the CB and not just chosen b/c it was what was known by the programmers or b/c of the time constraints. If this wasn't the case, then its level of f'd-up-ness increases.
I generally consider myself a fanboy. But I have enough in my old CB to not need this new one for anytime soon at all (not using Dark Sun or Essential characters). I assume WotC will get most of these problems solved and in fact will surprise us with other good things to come....
... but still, as a company, I just feel that they taken way to many critical steps backwards recently. Most of us are, or at least feel, stuck with WotC and will not leave. Too many of us feel that WotC is more than a company b/c we are such avid consumers of their products. We feel like we are "owed" more than what we've seen recently... and yet most of us won't walk. I won't nor do I want to. But I do feel very comfortable with what I have at the moment and have no plans to expand.
On top of these problems, we still have many of the concerns we had when the on-line DDI was first announced. However, my biggest concern is that this monthly pay-to-use (i.e. pay-to-play b/c the CB is an ever-increasing necessity) makes it a lot tougher to bring in casual gamers and new gamers. I don't want to go back to AD&D, but I do miss how easy and simple it was to play.
I believe most of the WotC staff loves and cares about D&D just as much or more than we do. They want this to go down perfectly, but something is getting in their way. I hope they can find out what that is and solve this problem. Most of us won't be leaving D&D, but with these types of errors, I do worry about their ability to get new people into this game - which is a hard enough task already. If they can not succeed, then there will continue to be ever-increasing pressure to find more ways to get our income. This focus, rather that what would make the best gaming experience (and thus focus on increasing income through increasing the # of players), will lead to nowhere good in the long run.
