WotC drops more 3E support :(

[StreamOfTheSky]

Well, this is certainly disappointing, but I can understand. I'm mostly angry with the bad business aspect of this. Keeping 3E support solely for the token appearance of caring it would generate would be good PR for the company, with little actual commitment, as many are switching to 4E anyway, and many 3E questions are already archived.

Oh well, I more often than not disagreed with WotC's rulings anyway, so this might actually be a blessing. I still get annoyed when people point to the FAQ to say "yes, you have to pay 2000 gp each time you enhance cold iron, even for little things from MIC that don't have a market price mod (instead have flat gp), thus making it absolutely pointless to upgrade a cold iron weapon over time, instead you should just wait till you save up enough to upgrade it as far as you ever want it." GRAAAAAAH!
/rant

Good riddance, old trash!

 

[sjmiller]

What exactly is wotc needing to support 3.x via customer service for?

Why should they do it or what should they be doing? As for why, it's simple. Good customer support breeds brand loyalty and word of mouth recommendations. As for what should they be providing, that's a bit trickier.
Let's start with supplying errata for all the books they printed. Other big name companies in the industry do this (Steve Jackson Games being the biggest example), and it doesn't take a lot of effort on WotC part. This alone would solve a host of issues many people have.
Then they should look at the Hasbro Customer Service webpage. There you find information on rules, replacement parts (not as big an issue as with board games), and a positive attitude even about old and out of print games.
Then the Customer Service staff can collect the current "best of our knowledge" answers to common questions. This will, again, answer most peoples questions about previous editions.
Finally, as part of their online presence, they could get a volunteer for each edition to answer questions. This one means they have to trust someone outside the company, but it has worked in the past for other game companies. The volunteer can field easy questions through email and, if stumped, could consult with a CS rep for clarification.
None of these things are very difficult, and all of them would greatly increase the perception that people have of WotC.

 

[Nightchilde-2]

Posted on the WotC knowledge base:
Once again, a great customer service move by WotC. :/

A company that continues to support legacy products helps inspire confidence in customers purchasing their products, which I will not do anymore due to a variety of reasons.

/sour grapes

Why should they continue to devote man-hours (a precious commodity in a corporate environment) to a product that is no longer being sold/making them money when those are resources they can use for the currently supported edition?

 

[Nikosandros]

SJG, the GURPS company, still answers my questions about Traveller material from their 2E version. They are also a HUGE help with updating anything from earlier editions to their newest edition.

SJG is a rather unique game company. Evey year, Steve himself posts an open letter in which he discloses a lot of information on how the company is doing and why are they making specific decisions.

 

[Zil]

Why should they continue to devote man-hours (a precious commodity in a corporate environment) to a product that is no longer being sold/making them money when those are resources they can use for the currently supported edition?

As others have said, because it fosters good will and helps build/maintain links with the community (who is also their customer).

 

[Rhianni32]

Why should they do it or what should they be doing? As for why, it's simple. Good customer support breeds brand loyalty and word of mouth recommendations. As for what should they be providing, that's a bit trickier.
Let's start with supplying errata for all the books they printed. Other big name companies in the industry do this (Steve Jackson Games being the biggest example), and it doesn't take a lot of effort on WotC part. This alone would solve a host of issues many people have.
Then they should look at the Hasbro Customer Service webpage. There you find information on rules, replacement parts (not as big an issue as with board games), and a positive attitude even about old and out of print games.
Then the Customer Service staff can collect the current "best of our knowledge" answers to common questions. This will, again, answer most peoples questions about previous editions.
Finally, as part of their online presence, they could get a volunteer for each edition to answer questions. This one means they have to trust someone outside the company, but it has worked in the past for other game companies. The volunteer can field easy questions through email and, if stumped, could consult with a CS rep for clarification.
None of these things are very difficult, and all of them would greatly increase the perception that people have of WotC.

I'm certainly not opposed to errata and rule fixes that are broken. That would be a defective product. But they already post errata. Any books that have come out that haven't had errata definately should.
A compilation of past questions should be made available thats no big deal. Again though its just a book. Its not going to have new patches for vulnerabilities and generate new errors that new errata would be needed for. Also rules that are broken. Big difference from liking the way it works.

But to spend active resources (payroll on customer service employees) to give OPINIONS on rules for a system that doesnt generate revenue doesnt make sense economically. How many pages of message boards go into debates about a ruling where both sides have valid points? Opinions never end. Thats a big part of the GMs job is making a ruling and moving on.