D&D 4E WotC and 4E Communication Feedback

[Ry]

Mike, thanks for listening.

Eric, thanks for linking.

Stephen, thanks for nailing my point.

 

[Roman]

I have another suggestion for communications accross forums. The 4E threads on the official forums have exploded into giant entities with multiple page counts. Often people are interested only in official clarifications and facts about the 4th edition and it would therefore be very helpful if every thread with a poster from Wizards of the Coast was marked with a prominent 'W' sign to denote that. Clicking on the 'W' would then take you to the original post starting the thread plus all the 'Wizards' posts in that thread. This feature would make searching for information much easier and less time consuming. If you are interested in a concrete example of how this function, check out the Neverwinter Nights 2 forums: http://nwn2forums.bioware.com/forums/viewforum.html?forum=109

 

[MerricB]

From what I have seen of the latest edition of D&D, it appears that a great many people that I know will be left behind. Am I just imagining it, or does 4e really seem to require that one take a computer to the gaming table?

You're just imagining it. The DI is being touted because it's the really new thing about 4e: a set of online tools to help DMs and players with their game. However, it isn't required. You can play 4e quite well without a computer.

You'll find a few blog entries and posts by the designers saying that.

http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=908201
"First, it needs to be said that D&DI will be a part of 4th Edition D&D, but is not required to play D&D. D&DI will facilitate certain tasks and it is up to each of you to pick which parts of D&DI you will choose to use if you become a D&DI subscriber. Obviously, we are planning to make the whole offering attractive, but D&DI applications and web resources will be very modular and varied, reflecting the flexibility of the game itself. Between the game table, the character sheet, the character builder (also called visualizer), the dungeon builder or the encounter builder, these applications, like various pieces of a kit, will be usable independently of each others, or together. It is also important to highlight the fact that the game table can be used for any RPG purpose. It will be particularly well suited to 4th Edition, of course, but not restricted to it." - Didier Monin

Cheers!

 

[CanadienneBacon]

When I visit the D&D page at the WotC website, I am unable to log on to D&D Insider using my WotC messageboard screen name. After typing in my screen name and tabbing down to the password block, my screen name reverts to "Guest."

Is this intentional? If this is intentional, when may I anticipate being able to log on to D&D Insider? If I am incorrectly going about logging on or (if as I suspect) this question has already been addressed elsewhere, please don't hesitate to let me know. While I did read through both pages of this thread before posting, I admit to not having read through all the very many other 4E threads both here and at WotC.

 

[Glyfair]

Is this intentional? If this is intentional, when may I anticipate being able to log on to D&D Insider?

Yes. They will allow registration, etc. when the crush of traffic subsides (and presumbably after the staff gets to recover from GenCon).

 

[Khairn]

From what I have seen of the latest edition of D&D, it appears that a great many people that I know will be left behind. Am I just imagining it, or does 4e really seem to require that one take a computer to the gaming table?

Everything that we have seen touted about the latest edition revolves around having a computer, using a computer, or accessing information on a computer. The D&D Insider, Virtual Gaming Table, and Character Creator all revolve around using a computer to aid/play the game. If this is true, if a computer is now going to be as important as dice and an imagination, then D&D has evolved into a game that is not for me.

I don't like sitting in front of a computer for my gaming and entertainment. I like the social interaction of people around a table, not trying to communicate online while staring at a monitor. If this is where D&D is going, and so far you seem to be implying this, then I am not sure why I would buy it.

So, can you tell those of us who like our gaming away from a computer if we are going be a part of this new edition, or are we relegated to playing older editions?

Merric gave a good response based on what WotC has said, but I, along with many others, have serious doubts about the seperation between 4E and the DDI.

Its clear that WotC is developing both 4E and the DDI in tandem and is using the DDI to support and enhance your 4E D&D experience.

From a business standpoint, the monthly subscriptions for DDI bring a lot to the table. Increased cash flow, better business planning that can weather the storms of production spikes for new books and slow sales periods, better financial planning and more accurate profit forecasts are just a few of the benefits that DDI brings to WotC.

With all of that to gain, I am very wary of claims that the DDI brings nothing but "extra's" to the game. Its in WotC's best interests to make the DDi as necessary as possible. In addition I can already see (in my crystal ball) the claims from players that some element of the DDI should be considered "core" while WotC claims its an extra and not necessary.

This is only my perception, but I believe that its an issue that will creep up sooner than later, and by then if you have already bought the books you may have a more difficult decision in front of you.

 

[Blastin]

Merric gave a good response based on what WotC has said, but I, along with many others, have serious doubts about the seperation between 4E and the DDI.

Its clear that WotC is developing both 4E and the DDI in tandem and is using the DDI to support and enhance your 4E D&D experience.

From a business standpoint, the monthly subscriptions for DDI bring a lot to the table. Increased cash flow, better business planning that can weather the storms of production spikes for new books and slow sales periods, better financial planning and more accurate profit forecasts are just a few of the benefits that DDI brings to WotC.

With all of that to gain, I am very wary of claims that the DDI brings nothing but "extra's" to the game. Its in WotC's best interests to make the DDi as necessary as possible. In addition I can already see (in my crystal ball) the claims from players that some element of the DDI should be considered "core" while WotC claims its an extra and not necessary.

This is only my perception, but I believe that its an issue that will creep up sooner than later, and by then if you have already bought the books you may have a more difficult decision in front of you.

As the saying goes, Quoted for Truth. This is exactly what I see happening as well, as it makes the most business sense for Hasbro. I'm not necessarily upset about it happening, but I agree that it WILL happen in time.

 

[Mike_Lescault]

Merric gave a good response based on what WotC has said, but I, along with many others, have serious doubts about the seperation between 4E and the DDI.

Thanks for the feedback on this. It's important that people know this isn't the case, so I'm going to mull it over and see if I can put it into the right perspective.

Off the top of my head, I'd say that different parts of the digital tools are really aimed at specific groups of people:

- Those who don't play D&D anymore because their game groups are spread out.
- People who are looking to find new members for their group, or new groups entirely.
- DMs who struggle with the amount of time it takes for them to prepare their campaigns.
- Anyone who enjoys the convenience of being able to build, view, and print their characters on the computer.
- People who enjoy having electronic versions of their paper products.

I think most people will find some aspect of the suite of digital tools to be helpful for them. On the other hand, everyone will be able to benefit for all the changes and improvements going into 4E. D&D 4th Edition is the real story here, and the digital tools and other D&Di content is receiving more then it's fair of the hype. I think in today's age, visually flashy stuff tends to get the most play with the media and with online communities, because it's easier to grab most people's attention.

But the bottom line is that the real story is 4th Edition. Yes, we have lots of cool and neat tools to help people who are interested in those sorts of things, but this is about the evolution of D&D, the paper product you play when sitting around the table with your friends.

If any of you folks have suggestions on how we can do a better job of making that clear to people, I'd greatly value your insight on this.

-Mike

 

[Imaro]

Hey Mike, I've got a few concerns I was hoping you or anyone could address.
1. It has been stated that there will be online content for books, available through codes in the books and requiring a fee. If this is true then I wonder this...if the expanded content is valuable enough to charge for...will it make an apreciable difference in gameplay between those with and those without? if not, why charge for it? If it does, then dont u think it will create more ill will than releasing it free w/the code?

 

[mhacdebhandia]

I have one suggestion, Mike: do some kind of front-page article about the ways you can use Fourth Edition online and offline. Sort of a compare-and-contrast deal, you know? You can talk about miniatures and dungeon tiles, M&Ms and pencil maps, and the Virtual Game Table side-by-side as sort of the three "streams" of tabletop and online play. In fact, I would say do it four ways: pencil maps and figure substitutes, miniatures and dungeon tiles, using the Virtual Game Table in a face-to-face session with laptops or whatever, and playing entirely online.

Everyone's playing the same game, it's just with different tools, that sort of thing. It's an opportunity to emphasise the fact that the game can be played around the table just as you already do and advertise the nifty features of D&D Insider.

Plus, when you get to the point of doing articles about the actual process of creating a character in Fourth Edition, return to that compare-and-contrast method. I'm sure it's many months away, but if you're planning to eventually have an overview of how character creation works - the steps involved, the methods used, that sort of thing - then parallel examples using the physical books at the table and the Character Visualiser online would be great, too. There may be something similar to this you can do sooner, too.

It's also important, I think, to get some clear information out about how much of the content on D&D Insider will be "book supplement" content, as opposed to the Dragon and Dungeon content. Before the print magazines ended, for instance, they had a policy of printing all the necessary information to use a new monster or feat or even class which appeared in an adventure . . . but they also had articles which were directly aimed at supporting a current book.

I see the potential for tension between articles which support current books not being seen to "take up space" in the D&D Insider article schedule for those who don't own the product, and Wizards of the Coast losing out on the chance to advertise the cool stuff in their new products through openly-accessible articles.

I'm thinking right now of a Class Acts article which provided a couple of extra vestiges for the pact magic of the binder in Tome of Magic, and likewise a later one for Forgotten Realms-specific vestiges; that's good advertising for the supplement and you don't want it all hidden away in the "extra stuff for those who own the book" section, but if too much of that content is included in the roster of Dragon and Dungeon features then you have the problem of selling us stuff we can't use. This problem gets worse if we're talking about support for books which aren't considered "core".

I think Paizo managed to strike a pretty good balance, and I guess I just think it's important that we have an idea of how such things will be balanced in the D&D Insider program.

One other thing: there have been many assurances that the Forgotten Realms and Eberron will receive robust, frequent content and support from D&D Insider. The question I have about this is the extent to which the setting-specific content will be sharing space with the setting-neutral content - for instance, if D&D Insider has articles three times per week, is that three separate updates per week for each of "core", the Forgotten Realms, and Eberron, or would each of these receive one update per week? Are we even talking about three articles per week, or simply three days on which a batch of new articles (varying in number?) will be released?