WotC_GregB talks about using a laptop at the game table.

[MaelStorm]

Last I heard it was $15/month if you paid for 1 month, $10/month if you bought a year's worth. I think there was also an intermediate pricing tier for a 3 or 4 month block as well.

That means there's no flexibility, either you take the whole package or nothing. They're crazy! I'll never pay that much 'cause I don't want the VTT and all the virtual game aids or the Dragon & Dungeon magazine.

 

[malraux]

That means there's no flexibility, either you take the whole package or nothing. They're crazy! I'll never pay that much 'cause I don't want the VTT and all the virtual game aids or the Dragon & Dungeon magazine.

In fairness, you shouldn't look at what you aren't going to use when evaluating the price, but if the elements you will use are worth the cost. But yeah, I do wish they'd unbundle the different elements.

 

[SSquirrel]

If they had a code in the back of the physical books you bought allowing you to buy a pdf for say $5 of the same book, I would likely pay that $5. So far the DDI doesn't have anything that really entices me to spend my money on it, the data base is the closest thing. Of course, the reason I don't own a lot of WotC books is b/c I felt the books I skipped were something I either a)wasn't interested in, b)a setting I didn't play, c)I felt they were poorly balanced, d)rehash of a product I already had [the Complete series after I had bought the 3.0 splat series], e)all of the above.

I won't miss having access to every book b/c I don't require that. I make enough money that I could probably buy most of the books that come out if I wasn't buying any other gaming materials, but they just aren't worth the cost to me.

 

[AverageCitizen]

Whiskey tango foxtrot!

 

[Dragonblade]

The pricing of DDI is $10/month for a year. Or $15 if you go month to month.

There will no longer be a PDF download of books you own, rather the online rules database will include all the crunch for all books whether you own them or not. Which I think is fantastic.

Supposedly, there will also be a free version of the rules database which non-subscribers can use, but instead of giving mechanics it will just refer you to the page numbers for the books that contain the crunch.

DDI subscription also includes both Dragon and Dungeon content (which I believe will have an offline capability such as a PDF download). This should be well over 100 pages a month of content and should be comparable to the original mags.

DDI also includes character maker software, tied into the rules database. And a character designer which allows you to make a virtual image of your character for use as a portrait or as a mini on the Virtual game table.

And of course, DDI includes the online virtual table top.

 

[breschau]

This is just proof that once maverick companies that end up on top go from being innovative to conservative. If you look at the other game companies you'll notice that many/most offer their pdfs at a discount compared to the pdfs. Green Ronin offers their pdfs before the print book, this helps catch errors and a chance to include errata from the pdf into the print copy. WotC needs to look to companies like this for guidance. There's no way people would buy the same book (physical and e) for the same price tag. It's easier to find it else where if that's the case. I prefer pdfs for the same reason as the blog, it's so much easier taking a single 5.5lbs laptop to a game than it is 50lbs of books. PDFs are searchable and I don't need internet access to use them. DDI instead of pdfs is stupid. It's worse than that, it's conservative business practice.

As for the PDF idea, I agree - dump it. It only encourages piracy anyhow. Having a searchable database available for DDI users and/or book purchasers with unlock codes tied to the Gleemax log-in credentials. However, I'd love to see a version made for the Amazon Kindle.

1. I still can't access Gleemax regularly. 90% of the time I get the "We own your brain" message, or worse it tells me my user name and password are invalid. I have migrated my account and jumped through the hoops, but it still doesn't work. It's unreliable. There's no way in hell I'm ever paying for infrequent access to a Gleemax log-in based database of rules. I'd be better served by flushing the same money down the toilet, at least then one or two bills my float back up.

2. Reasonably priced ebooks encourage legal purchasing. Overpriced or unavailable ebooks encourage illegal scanning and downloads. Whether you like ebooks or not, other people do. Many more people are willing to buy pdf copies than steal them. You can't argue that not releasing a pdf prevents scan/download, look at all the other WotC books "released" as pdfs. There are no official versions, but they're all over the place.

Your argument is backward thinking. Reasonably priced pdfs prevent illegal downloads, not cause them. There will be pirates no matter what, so why punish those who would purchase legal ebooks? WotC is saying "no thank you, we don't want your money after all," if they offer overpriced pdfs or refuse to offer pdfs altogether. All they have to do is follow Paizo's personalized pdf scheme and you'd cut the illegals right out. Lock the pdf so it can't be edited, but allow searching, cutting and pasting. Not many people would offer themselves up for jail time with their real name and email address plastered on every page. That and WotC would have your credit card info, address, etc.

Welcome to the 21st century, we have ebooks here.

 

[Daniel D. Fox]

Your argument is backward thinking. Reasonably priced pdfs prevent illegal downloads, not cause them. There will be pirates no matter what, so why punish those who would purchase legal ebooks? WotC is saying "no thank you, we don't want your money after all," if they offer overpriced pdfs or refuse to offer pdfs altogether. All they have to do is follow Paizo's personalized pdf scheme and you'd cut the illegals right out. Lock the pdf so it can't be edited, but allow searching, cutting and pasting. Not many people would offer themselves up for jail time with their real name and email address plastered on every page. That and WotC would have your credit card info, address, etc.

Welcome to the 21st century, we have ebooks here.

I hate to use old sayings, but you're missing the forest from the trees.

Integrating the searchable database through the Gleemax log-in and DDI side would be a home run for their digital initiative. WotC has made some steep promises regarding what DDI can offer, and I can almost guarantee you that WotC won't follow suite with in PDF format releases for 4E for quite some time. They've already stated they've dumped the idea, very likely because they've come to realisation that the DDI product itself can tie directly into the physical product. It's a cross-platform concept. It's an almost diabolical marketing idea, which people will subscribe to; it's entirely win-win for their customers and their ROI.

As for Paizo, eBook releases suits them because they're a smaller company...that will likely grow even larger with Pathfinder. PDFs work because they're cheap, effective and easily distributed. On the negative side, PDF releases make piracy even easier. You and I are in agreement there; there is no reason to punish people who will buy the PDF and not distribute it across bittorrent. What I propose is not elimination of the eBook for WotC, but an accountability policy to help support WotC's digital initiative that extends further than eBook releases.

And WotC will succeed. As will Paizo.

 

[breschau]

I hate to use old sayings, but you're missing the forest from the trees.

Integrating the searchable database through the Gleemax log-in and DDI side would be a home run for their digital initiative. WotC has made some steep promises regarding what DDI can offer, and I can almost guarantee you that WotC won't follow suite with in PDF format releases for 4E for quite some time. They've already stated they've dumped the idea, very likely because they've come to realisation that the DDI product itself can tie directly into the physical product. It's a cross-platform concept. It's an almost diabolical marketing idea, which people will subscribe to; it's entirely win-win for their customers and their ROI.

There is definitely some blindness going on, that's for sure. As I stated in my post, I can't log-on to Gleemax 90% of the time. There are many others having similar, or worse, issues with it. If DDI is based on Glee, they're automatically cutting out all those people. If they only do on-line databases of the rules, they're cutting out all those who don't want laptops at the table, and all those who don't game where there is decent net access. That's a huge group of people to automatically cut out of their customer base. If they went with pdfs, they'd cover everyone. Hell, if they did both, they'd cover everyone. Doing it only online is a bad move.

 

[Gundark]

so WotC is just pushing people to do illegal things.

Sorry this is just silly. WotC isn't pushing anyone to do anything, let alone anything illegal.

Come on now

 

[The Little Raven]

The theme music idea sounds great. Only one GM in my group use music, yet that is mostly limited to repeat Morthond during Call-sessions. I'd like to hear more.

I started doing this back in 1998 or so, when I started using horror movie soundtracks for my Vampire games. In 2002, I plundered my copy of NWN for all it's ambient sounds and effects, and I used those for a time to produce atmosphere until my laptop decided that it was time to catch fire. Once I have the funds available, I'm going to buy an inexpensive laptop to be my D&D laptop and start doing that all over again.