Wizards: Musings on the new DDi disaster

[Dice4Hire]

I don't know, maybe there's something wrong with me. Every time I think my community is finally getting used to 4e... WoTC spasms uncontrollably. It's almost like Tourette's Syndrome or maybe it's something more concerning. I'm not an expert.

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with random outbursts. Some are harmless, even interesting or funny in ways. It's just... it's hard to gauge exactly how much they love us as customers anymore. They tell us they do, and I want to believe them, but sometimes I feel like the disorder has taken over. I feel like my both my pleas and praise fall on deaf ears as they continue to strap marshmallows to house cats and offer them up to statues of Robert Mitchum.

What I'm asking is: Am I hoping for too much as a regular customer? Will WoTC get better with the right help? Am I relying too heavily on their support? Should I just take what's good and build up with my own ideas?

This may not be the worst thing that's happened to DnD... but it certainly doesn't help me as a player.

Edit: Also, does anyone remember when WotC stated a release of a Maptools-like program to DDI subscribers? I'm not complaining. I just can't find any trace of its mention anywhere and I feel as if I had dreamed it up like a crazy person.

I take what I want from WOTC and enjoy it immensely.

I don't worry about the other stuff.

 

[Jack99]

No, I disagree with that. Wizards has certainly used end-of-product-life-but-we-still-need-cash-flow products before, of course. That isn't Essentials. As far as I can tell, Essentials is a mid-life product line really nicely designed to make it easier for new players and disaffected older players to get back into the game. Heck, if I was starting my game now I'd definitely emphasize Essentials; the several years of design experience means that they're mechanically well constructed and fun to play.

We're getting off topic, though. I'd rather leave this thread focused on the CB rollout.

I disagree, even if we are indeed getting offtopic with this. I think Essentials are a new beginning to a much larger degree than anticipated. In particular because of its not being included in the old CB.

In short, I no longer (just as many others) believe in 5e. At least not anytime soon. I do however see a WotC that builds on 4e, tweaking it, twisting it, giving in to the many flavors. And I think that was the plan from the get-go. However, the design of core 4e classes caused some issues (its really, really hard for people to design awesome 4e classes, AND it takes a long time), and at some point I believe it was decided that it would be smarter to switch to Essentials being the basis for any movement forward.

And here we are.

 

[Alhambra]

I take what I want from WOTC and enjoy it immensely.

I don't worry about the other stuff.

WoTC basically tells us they don't like it when you do that. But, yeah, so do I.

 

[Grabuto138]

Ah yes, those customers with their excessive demands such as "I expect the product I purchased to function."

Once again, the height of entitlement is not in the actions of the customers. it is in the belief that customers should stay with a product or company even after being bilked out of their cash. And yeah, selling someone faulty merchandise - and doing so knowingly - is bilking them.

I don't want to come across as a nag but...

I agree with you that the new CB sucks. Until, at the very least, I can add a bonus feat it is no use to me. On the other hand, this Saturday one of my players was running errands before the game so he logged in my computer, printed his character and added the expertise bonus with a pencil.

But, YOU DID NOT BUY A PRODUCT. I know that all-caps is obnoxious but in all the hullabaloo over the very various threads it seems that the obvious is often ignored. EULA, DCMA, contract law, copyright law etc. are irrelevent. You bought a subscription to access a bunch of stuff on line, the CB among them. I did, you did, and anyone else who payed money for the DDI did and we were all fully aware of the fact that we were subscribing to a service, not buying a specific product. If the stuff you get now does not make you happy then cancel. But you did not buy a piece of software. WOTC has screwed up but they have not screwed you or anyone else. If your thing is sports cars and Car and Driver focuses on tractors you just cancel your subscription. So cancel your subscription.

Mod Edit: This is supposed to be a family friendly place, folks. Let's steer away from using porn analogies, please. Thanks. ~Umbran

 

[ourchair]

The key thing is whether WotC produces something we (or you or anyone else) likes. For me, the new Online Builder isn't that. And that's the problem.
But I am not basing this on a "sense of entitlement" like "they have promised this" or "it is legally required to do so". Nor is the fact that they need to protect themselves against piracy a concern for me, or that it was always cheap.
They were probably caught between a rock and a hard place, but it wasn't my fault that they decided to switch to an online character builder and couldn't get it out in time.

I think you and the OP are more on the same page than either of you would think, insofar as I agree with both of you.

I don't think Wizards owes any of us anything, or anything like that but I think the fundamental concern at the heart of the OP is that this disaster comes from:

a) WotC not knowing what they want to do with their digital tools, long term or short term (complete all-access social network for gaming or a channel of company property specific exclusive content?)

b) Not having the resources (or mismanaging them) to pull off what they ultimately decide to do on a month by month basis (updates to software while managing to create new software at the same time)

c) Realizing that there are particularly sacrifices or shortcomings that result from what they decide to do. (offline access to content is easily pirated)

d) Deciding to remedy something (i.e. PDFs, offline CB) by changing gears before all the resources and managerial settings are in place to effect new ideas (online CB)

In effect, I like the OP am disappointed not because of anything between me and WotC but rather how WotC's standing and good will has diminished in the eyes of others because of these decisions and because I WANT to see them be the best D&D company ever.

 

[ggroy]

Wizards has certainly used end-of-product-life-but-we-still-need-cash-flow products before, of course.

Would this be late-2007 3.5E splatbooks like: "City of Stormreach", "Elder Evils", "Anauroch: Empire of Shade", "Dragons of Eberron", "Exemplers of Evil", etc ... ?

 

[ggroy]

Yup. This end-of-life last gasp cash grab product has been known by many names and has taken many forms.

The lastest incarnation of this product is called Essentials.

Hard to say for sure whether Essentials is an end-of-life gasp cash grab. We'll only know this for sure, years later in hindsight.

For example, if 5E D&D is announced sometime next year (ie. Gencon 2011), then Essentials may very well be seen as an end-of-life gasp cash grab.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

You bought a subscription to access a bunch of stuff on line, the CB among them. I did, you did, and anyone else who payed money for the DDI did and we were all fully aware of the fact that we were subscribing to a service, not buying a specific product. If the stuff you get now does not make you happy then cancel. But you did not buy a piece of software. WOTC has screwed up but they have not screwed you or anyone else.

While "voting with your $$$" is indeed a valid and oft-used consumer rights tactic, it does not preclude a lawsuit over a subscription service consumer product that does not deliver what the service provider promised or should have realized would be perceived as a promise.

Again, though, what you get awarded in such cases is typically a refund- possibly some court costs- unless the non-conformity is judged to be fraudulent.

 

[Thanlis]

In short, I no longer (just as many others) believe in 5e. At least not anytime soon. I do however see a WotC that builds on 4e, tweaking it, twisting it, giving in to the many flavors. And I think that was the plan from the get-go.

Exactly. The non-obvious thing about 4e is that it's a much more flexible framework than any iteration of D&D previously. Essentials demonstrates this very well, by using the core 4e framework to create an experience that hews closer to the old school D&D than I would have thought possible. As such, I don't believe there's ever going to be a need for a 5e.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

I think you and the OP are more on the same page than either of you would think, insofar as I agree with both of you.

Oh, I don't think I disagree with MerricB at all - I was addressing people that disagreed with him on premises like the one I mention. I don't think "false sense of entitlement" and similar descriptions fit on me or MerricB.