WOTC doing away with free online content?

[Felon]

There's likely little downside for Wizards in the short term.

I agree. There is certainly very little harm in WotC experimenting with subscription-based content. If it doesn't work out like they planned, they'll revamp or phase it out.

 

[Mark CMG]

It might be wise for anyone even remotely interested in any of what is currently free to download on their site to go forth and download now while the downloading is good.

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

some typos

It might be wise for anyone even remotely interested in any of what is currently free to download on their site to go forth and download now while the downloading is good.

This reminds me... I think I should note that this isn't the first time WotC had given away something for free online only to then take it away and charge for it. A big example was during Jim Butler's era, while he was in charge of the scanning of out-of-print material. Among the earliest scans were Dark Sun accessories. I downloaded every single one as WotC put them up. I have about seven that were offered for free download (Jim scanned them in his free time), and then WotC decided to taken them all down, charge folks for it, and expand the program to scan all out-of-print products to .pdf. WotC evenually outsourced the whole thing including the scanning.

I bet we would still be waiting for out-of-print products to be scanned if WotC kept it in house as a free-time exercise that were then given away for free.

 

[frankthedm]

Close enough to have bearing...

http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=16

 

[Kae'Yoss]

Why do people assume anything new or questionable WotC does has anything to do with 4E? I've been starting to twitch everytime I see "4E" here and on other RPG boards. End of D&D for me when that comes along.

I wonder that myself. They seem to be capable of doing questionable things with their current products.

Let me tell you that 4e won't be the end to D&D for me. If they do a good job at it, it's fine.

But I suspect that I might stop getting anything from Wizards before 4e is released - or officially announded, for that matter.

 

[RFisher]

SJGames has been doing this with Pyramid for a long time. When I was a subscriber, I thought it was well worth it. (Although, the cynics should note that SJG doesn't produce the amount of free content that WotC does. Not that they could.)

I suspect WotC will always be doing what they can to keep non-subscribers visiting their site as often as possible.

I've been saying for a long time that there should be some modern addition/alternative to the print mags.

 

[Ogrork the Mighty]

I would rather a company give free enhancements for products they sell (via a password system like Necromancer Games uses) than have a pay section on the home page. I can tell you right now, it won't help grow the game. Someone who hears about D&D and goes to the homepage will, in most cases, refuse to pay for the extras and might possibly move on. If you want to grow the game, all the extras need to be free. People already pay enough for the books.

This smells to me like a typical big-business idea aimed at milking the cow for all it's worth at the expense of long-term sustainability. :\

 

[blargney the second]

Ooo, yeah! I love the Necromancer Games system! I want web support for products I buy.

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

For the record, everything I've ever written for D&D is available for free.

Of course, at the moment, the amount of it that is currently online is confined to the links in my signature.

Quality before quantity, right?

 

[Truth Seeker]

Yupe...

For the record, everything I've ever written for D&D is available for free.

Of course, at the moment, the amount of it that is currently online is confined to the links in my signature.

Quality before quantity, right?