WotC is going online. What do you want the digital initiative to be?

[VictorC]

I want it to be a failure on the scale of "New Coke" and "E-Tools".

Very mature.

 

[Vrecknidj]

I want extremely deep discounts for multiple-month purchases.

I want one account that allows me access from indefinitely many machines.

I want a significant amount of material that's relatively easy to share--loads of digital encryption or whatever will be annoying. I understand the felt need, but...

As others have said, I don't want to log into my account to find out that the servers are down. If the power is out, I can still play D&D by candlelight (and I've actually done so). If my stuff is going online, I don't want to deal with intermittent crap outages other than my local power problems in rare instances.

I think it would be cool to have something like buddy lists where a DM (for example) can share paid-for material with registered players.

Dave

 

[VictorC]

I want all the previously posted matwerial to remain free and I would want all the new priced material to be easily be ripped stolen and distributed for free on the internet via a vast network of gamers who believe in the OGL ideals.

So ahh, you didn't get a nappy wap at kindergarten today?

 

[bento]

I'd like to see a platform for interactive online play.

I'd like much of the content already published available in smaller sized packs. For instance - the ability to purchase just the PrCs or Monsters, rather than an entire book.

A continuation of "re-imaging" classic modules like Ravenloft or ToH.

More maps and images.

Cost - I kinda like a pay-as-you-go model from RPGNow, but I don't think that will work economically for WoTC in the long run. If I had to pay a subscription fee, perhaps $10 a month for all you can eat.

 

[VictorC]

I want them to, no-holds-barred, drag D&D into the abyssfuture and make it nigh-impossible to play the game without a laptop and internet connection. I want DM's to need to have some kind of pay subscription to "digitally enhanced" parts of the DUNGEON MASTERS GUIDE. I want it to be impossible for "pick up games" to be done without having the online (and I mean on-line only) DRM-protected content available. I want the game to leap forward to being 3/4ths massively multiplayer. I want advancing your character or ratcheting up your campaign a level of difficulty to be part of a "premium cost" section of the game, so you'll have to break out that Visa card (because they won't take American Express).

I want people who's first experience with D&D is this new "digitial initiative" directive to look at pen-and-paper only versions of the game in absolute bafflement when they're told that the people playing them are playing D&D.

When someone says "Poly" I want the next crop of D&D players to think "-gon", not "hedron".

I want people to stop actin like children.

 

[carmachu]

Content.

Services.

Pricing. Comment on what you'd be willing to pay per month, or per piece of content. Be specific ($5 a month!) or general (pdfs should be priced lower than the print edition!). When commenting, please keep in mind that the initiative has to be profitable for WotC--"all online content should be free!!!1!" isn't realistic or helpful.

I know the recent move by WotC is dramatic but the decision has been made: they're creating some sort of online experience for us. So, let's make a wishlist.

PS: let's all assume that WotC will continue to produce print books. Print D&D is not going away. This isn't a "which is better: online or offline D&D?" or "PDFs aren't as good as printed material!" thread. It's a "WotC has a digital initiative. Given that reality, what do we want that initiative to deliver?" thread.

I wish they went back into print. Seriously, I have NO desire to waste my time reading an online magazine. I wouldnt pay anything for it. I like the convience of bring said magazines were I need to go and use them, becuase its not always convienent to find an online source.

And no, I dont want the hassle of printing or taking it to kinkos.

 

[johnnype]

wishlists are always fun even though I doubt we'll get a quarter of what people are asking for.

I'd be happy with a PC generator that incorporates the 3 core books and the XPH. Would I like them to incorporate the entire D&D library? Of course I would but that will never happen.

I also loathe miniatures so a vitual table top with virtual miniatures would be very useful although I hope they use artwork and not just pictures of their miniatures (WotC's miniatures are butt ugly). It would also be nice if they incorporated in the service all the battle maps in the recently released adventures like Expedition to the Demon Web Pits.

I'd love to see the Demonomicon articles continued although this might be a good excuse to switch to devils since they are much more interesting.

It would be great if with your subscription you could have access to all past "issues" the way Pyramid magazine does.

All articles should be easy to convert to pdf's or at the very least have well formated printable versions.

I'm not holding my breath for anything however. The current WotC website content is rather thin IMO. Sure they continually publish more and more but most articles lack substance. The Art Gallery is perhaps the most useful part of the website to me but it can often be difficult to find what I'm looking for.

Cost? $10/month. $15 tops. but my continued subscription would rely heavily on continued support and additional content. I'll try it for a month or two but WotC will have an uphill battle keeping me interested.

 

[Jefe Bergenstein]

I want them to, no-holds-barred, drag D&D into the abyssfuture and make it nigh-impossible to play the game without a laptop and internet connection. I want DM's to need to have some kind of pay subscription to "digitally enhanced" parts of the DUNGEON MASTERS GUIDE. I want it to be impossible for "pick up games" to be done without having the online (and I mean on-line only) DRM-protected content available. I want the game to leap forward to being 3/4ths massively multiplayer. I want advancing your character or ratcheting up your campaign a level of difficulty to be part of a "premium cost" section of the game, so you'll have to break out that Visa card (because they won't take American Express).

I want people who's first experience with D&D is this new "digitial initiative" directive to look at pen-and-paper only versions of the game in absolute bafflement when they're told that the people playing them are playing D&D.

When someone says "Poly" I want the next crop of D&D players to think "-gon", not "hedron".

Yet another delightful "get off my lawn" rant from a constructive poster!

 

[Relique du Madde]

And the OGL ideal isn't "everything should be free". It's "let's make the basic mechanics free, so that independent creators can lawfully produce content." Again, the incentive for most independent content creators is that someone will buy that content.

If you believe in the actual OGL ideal, you want to pay for content--a diverse variety of content from many many producers.

I will pay for content via books and pdfs. But I will not pay to obtain a monthly license/contract (via an online susbcription) to be able to use material or content in my games or sign a waiver that may limit my ability to use content I've purchased within my games after my subscription expires. Saddly, these worst case scenerios are possible given the nature of online networks.

In other words... What I want is for the DND digital initiative to not be the worst possible scenareo in terms of the digitalization of pen and paper role-playing games.

 

[Zaruthustran]

I'd like much of the content already published available in smaller sized packs. For instance - the ability to purchase just the PrCs or Monsters, rather than an entire book.

This is similar to the magazine idea. We've seen the WotC designers post about the hard choice between crunch and fluff. They agonize over how much of each to include in a book (which, unlike online content, has a limited number of pages). Well, by breaking those components out online, they can let the users decide. Maybe even give away the fluff (to support/extend the brand) and charge only for crunch*.

Kind of like giving away free peanuts at the bar, because doing so drives beer sales.

Under this model, the physical book is much like a premium collector's edition that combines both crunch and fluff in one product. Sort of like how you can get OotS online for free, or pay a premium for the pleasure of a collected printed edition. Under this model you could either pay x to get the crunch online, or pay 2x to get the crunch + fluff in printed form.

Since margins are higher online (no costs for printing / warehousing / damaged / returns / destruction of excess inventory / shipping / distributing) the net profit would still be higher for the online delivery; they'd want to incentivize online purchases. A (another way of looking at it) 1/2 x price for online delivery of crunch is pretty motivating to consumers--while still servicing those who want to hold a physical product.

This is good stuff!

-z

* and premium fluff, like a short story by a high profile author that, while cool, would be impractical to produce in printed form.