WotC's Electronic Thingy

[Nightfall]

Razz,

Well dunno about lost a child but it feels like I lost a friend who then wrote me a letter saying he poisoned my drink...

Like I said, betrayal is my theme.

*thinks that squirting life in the eye with lemons has it uses* But honestly I get what you're saying. Doesn't mean though I am NOT going to be pro-active in some fashion. I will believe that WotC THINKS this will work. I just don't believe it will actually work.

I think you and Merric just drank the same coffee for a second.

 

[Imaro]

I have heard this reason over and over in the other threads. So what it sounds like, to me anyways, is that Dragon's appeal to readers was more of convenience and materialism and not the actual content within?

Heck, if that's all it took to make a great magazine, maybe I should start my own. /sarcasm

Like I said previously, I'm going to give the e-zine a chance. If it's material is at least equal to what Dragon/Dungeon were offering, than it looks like I'll be enjoying what everyone wants back but are too busy boycotting it. If not, then I'll have a reason to be angry and throw a fit like everyone else.

See, you missed the point again...It's not just about convenience and materialism(though why shouldn't I want these things in somethig I pay for?) It's about the option to preview each issue before I acually bought it. Exactly how does that work if you have to have an online subscription? What if the first issue of their e-zine is great and then the next sucks, but the one after that is great.

With the magazine option I had a greater ability to evaluate what I was paying for plain and simple. If an issue wasn't to my tastes I didn't buy it, so every issue I actually bought was a great deal for my money.

I already had what I wanted and according to my criteria they can't offer me exactly what I want through the format they've chosen. Like I said earlier I am not a WotC fan, they don't pay me to be. I pay for product that they offer so I have no qualms about stating and expressing my displeasure at an action they've taken, with words or money.

 

[Nightfall]

Imaro,

Razz is just drinking the optimist Kool-aid today. He's trying to stay his true anger.

 

[Hussar]

As far as this digtal initiative thing goes, I think there really is a way to keep it down to 5 or 10 bucks a month.

Online gaming. Not in the MMORPG mode, but in the OpenRPG mode. My group has 6 weekly players plus a DM. That's 35 bucks a month if we all subscribe. Give me a decent online platform and tools that are in far excess to what I can get for free and that's pretty decent change for WOTC.

But, the trick is, the competetion is very steep. The Hypertext SRD covers pretty much all my rules needs, OpenRPG is free, Photobucket covers the art, and Web Profiler (of various stripes) provides online character storage. Add in a Proboards account and you can run a very high quality campaign filled with sound and art for free.

There's a reason I won't use Fantasy Grounds. Despite having a much prettier interface, I won't shell out money for that. FG offers nothing that I can't already get for free. For WOTC to get me to subscribe will take a heck of a lot of bennies over free.

 

[Imaro]

You know what Nightfall you're right. These are actually the only two posts that I have made concerning the whole Dragon/Dungeon cancellation, because I really wasn't sure how I felt...but those comments about being a true fan of D&D, etc. kinda hit a nerve. In my mind it is clearly apparent this action in no way took into consideration what the "fans" of D&D wanted. So I'll bow out of this thread and go back to lurking for now.

 

[Nightfall]

Hussar,

I again point to the fact that WotC PDFs are running at 100% same rate of cost as print versions.

You're just hoping for trout in the Hudson, but I promise all you'll get is floaters and tires.

 

[Nightfall]

Imaro,

True fans expects something to change. But not at the expense of what brought them there. That's my take, and I use that in everything I'm a fan of. Metal, Hockey, Anime, etc. D&D is no exception.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

Eric,

That makes two of us.

Make that three.

Ideally, I'd like them to see online versions of every hardcover they produce . . . which, of course, you only get access to if you buy the actual book. Then all the books in your account can be collated together so you've got one list of classes, one list of feats, one list of spells, etc. And it should all be interlinked as conveniently as the information on d20SRD.org.

Yes, that would be nice. But I'm not holding my breath. Too much of their computer-related stuff sucks (PDFs costing as much as the print version, their crappy message boards, the lousy maintenance of their website and its articles, the failure of all those electronic tools they tried....) for me to think they could get it right.

My biggest fear with the whole "EI" is that they will start altering rules via electronic media, making it canon and that those that do not subscribe get left in the lurch.

I wouldn't put it past them. They seem intent on bringing people into the fold: They kill of Dungeon and Dragon to take that option from people, and they have been selling errata before.

I just hope that enough are smart enough not to fall for it and give them the finger.

No I'm not a "fan boi" of D&D I'm a selective customer that purchases their products as suits my needs and desires. Not agreeing with their decision and voting with my dollar is exactly how a customer is heard. I don't want to just "hold a D&D magazine in my hand" I want to purchase a periodical that caters to the hobby I enjoy, and read it. Besides when did "real fan of D&D" start equating to "take whatever WotC decides and like it"?

...

I know that the service WotC is offering won't allow me to do either of these, so yeah I have decided it's probably not going to be for me. Then again maybe I'm just not a "real" fan.

Bah, that's not being a fan. It's being a fanatic. D&D isn't a religion. I don't have to believe in the Wizards of the Coast and their Divine Gift that is D&D.

Besides, that blindly buying everything they churn out, giving them all the money they want doesn't make one fan of D&D. It makes you a fan of Wizards of the Coast. And by fan, I mean toady.

I again point to the fact that WotC PDFs are running at 100% same rate of cost as print versions.

Which really is utterly ridiculous. They save a lot by not having to buy paper, get the stuff printed, bound, and shipped around. They cut out most of the distribution chain which means a higher percentage of the selling price will end up in their bank account, too. Plus, it's probably next to no effort to make those PDFs - they need the layout anyway, to have it printed. It's just adding the links and bookmarks (if those PDFs have them).

Half price would be reasonable. A bundle with print and pdf would be reasonable (with mark up being a couple of takken at most)

 

[Nightfall]

Kae'yoss,

So far, reasonability in WotC has come to mean "We want money and damn the consequences!"

 

[Imruphel]

D&D does have an interesting "information flow" problem that could be solved nicely by an interlinked set of electronic rules, number-crunching utilities, databases, and all that. And yet they also want to sell paper books. I am not convinced they can do a good job with the former. They seem to do a decent job with the latter.

What still amazes me nearly 10 years later was that TSR was able to SUCCESSFULLY introduce the Core Rules electronic chargen for 2E that was customisable and functional despite the lack of a consistent mechanic in 2E. It was the excellence of the Core Rules programme that really caused me to be upset with the abominable travesty of a product that was eTools. Heck, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights et al also prove it can be done successfully!

In other words, I am 1,000% sure that a customisable and functional chargen (and monster generator) can be created for 3.5E that, putting it bluntly, does not suck.