Dragon 395
Ampersand: Icy Winds of Fortune
by Bill Slavicsek
It's a new year, and there's a lot going on in the world of D&D research & development.
Talk about this Editorial here.
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Major points for reference, and my comments:
- New D&D movie: Well, the other ones were SO GOOD, this is bound to be worth seeing... when it comes out on TV in 3 years, just for the lulz
- New tile set: Looks reasonable
- Fortune cards, aren't they awesome: No, not for me. If I wanted to play a CCG, I'd play one.
- No more minis: Well, crap. I was planning on starting to pick a few up when I finally come across some money. Oh well, guess another company/eBay sellers will get my hard-earned.
- Heroes of Shadow pushed back to make it hardcover, and various other books 'removed from the schedule': Wow, that's crappy.
- Dragon no longer releasing as compiled editions: So... when does it become rules-legal? How will we know when an article has been updated? Sucks to be playing LFR or any other official-rules campaign.
- D&D Experience coming soon: So what, it's in the USA.
My assessment: Frell, that's a freaking awful month. Not a lot more to say really. Sigh. Swing and a miss yet again, Bill. At least he's keeping his trap shut about the OCB though. I don't think another month of praise for it would have gone down well, at all.
This makes me wonder why I started a new campaign. Makes me wonder if Essentials is not going to be supported.
Why I started getting into the mini's with them now being discontinued.
Not making me happy Wizards.
I absolutely hate that they're getting rid of the monthly compiled issues of Dungeon and Dragon. What a pain for me to have to go through the table of contents and download several files instead of just one.
I also don't like the new calendar. It makes it harder to find new content. WotC needs to hire a usability consultant to advise them on why these changes are bad ideas.
I agree with the above poster who said this is a freaking aweful month. Even the news of the new D&D movie doesn't excite me since the previous D&D movies have all been pretty bad.
Also, is it just me, or does it seem like D&D as a brand and product line is in serious trouble?
Crap move, WotC.
@thespaceinvader: Thank you for creating this thread. For future reference, here is the appropriate format.
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Dragon 395
Ampersand: Icy Winds of Fortune
by Bill Slavicsek
It's a new year, and there's a lot going on in the world of D&D research & development.
Talk about this Editorial here.
So all these people who "consume the articles individually," do they download every article individually? No, they download the compilation when it can be done in one easy step, not as a big pile of downloads.
Crap move, WotC.
Exactly. I /view/ the articles invididually, at least those that catch my eye when I'm checking the site. I /download/ the actual issues so I don't miss an article along the way, and now I have to worry about waiting for articles to be updated and need to download each one, assuming I can find it in the mess of the 'General Archive'. I'm calling this decision a Critical Miss.
So all these people who "consume the articles individually," do they download every article individually? No, they download the compilation when it can be done in one easy step, not as a big pile of downloads.
Crap move, WotC.
I think they download them individually, but even they want them as a compliation for the end result. Otherwise, it's difficult to peruse them all without using the Compendium/Character Builder.
But, honestly. 1 book? That's all I have to look forward to. Just one book. That really sucks. And it's not even the one that I honestly was looking forward to.
That's just shameful. I don't just play 4e for 4e. I play 4e for 4e and what 4e is going to be tomorrow.
I feel that the booster packs are silly. This isn't Magic. You don't have state championships for D&D, there is no regionals, nationals, or worlds - there is not going to be a need to buy cards in volume (or at all).
As DM I'm not going to want them in my game because it will make it harder to know if I"m building a balanced encounter. As a player I'm not going to want to go out and spend money on something that might not be useful.
Getting rid of the minis kinda sucks, thankfully there are plenty of other companies like Reaper that still make minis that I can use in games.
One book this year, well I'll pick it up. I refuse to resubscribe to DDi, the content hasn't been quite as good lately, I don't like having to be online to use the CB, and not having compalation issues just further makes me say no.
If books come out as ebooks I'll consider it, but only if I can get it for my nook.
Looking at the product calendar, there is literally only one release of new D&D material before April. That's when the Fortune Cards (meh), new DM screen (meh), new Gamma World and new Boardgame come out. Nothing with rules information, no campaign guides, no modules until April. Literally nothing.
I was really excited with the release of the Essentials products, especially the two Heroes books and the Rules compendium. I thought the softcover digest format was really good, a lot handier to transport and reference than the larger hardbacks. The three Dungeon Tile Master Set releases, that would be kept in print, wonderful idea. The Red Box and Dungeon Master's Guide, great.
To go from all that, and then have the first Ampersand of 2011 announcing multiple product cancellations, and no information about the new plans but a vague statement about delivering more great content thru other formats. "Icy Winds of Fortune" was a very apropo title indeed.
Now I have to have a folder for each magazine? Why?
I play a D&D game where we use miniatures (and tiles) extensively. We refer to books often (as well as the Compendium, which still has basic errors like an inability to list all artifacts). We use the power cards off of the Character Builder (though we find we have to correct several errors, like basic melee attacks that use Strength even when you take a feat to base melee basic attacks off, say, Charisma). The game is comfortably complicated as it stands...adding random cards in there would only turn off any new players who have a hard enough time figuring out the difference between a "feat" and a "power", so as a GM I won't allow them.
I might be the only one who runs a game (three games, actually) like this, but that seems unlikely. In any case, the more I see Wizards back off products that support the way we play, and the less I see them care about basic mistakes in the databases I *think* they want us to use...well, the less likely I am to invest further. If you don't print books, and you don't fix mistakes in your online tools...um, what exactly am I using for reference again?
Ampersand, please be clear: what are the positive moves Wizards is taking to SUPPORT Fourth Edition into the foreseeable future? What have you learned from the extensive research you've done, besides all the stuff you'll STOP doing? What do you HOPE your customers will LIKE? What are you doing to increase the chances we do?
Please, take a look at how your colleagues at the Magic: the Gathering site approach product roll-out and customer communications. No one's perfect...but they are really, really good. Sure, they face a "sky is falling" crowd every time they bring on a new card artist; but that's just gamers being gamers. You'll never see Mark Rosewater say, "we're going to stop printing Auras and Equipment, and creature tokens are gone...also, we're only producing two expansions next year...we hope to look at other ways to make exciting Magic cards in the near future. End article." For every thing they do differently, there's a positive message ("this is what we're doing that's new, and here's why") right alongside the challenging change. This is what builds faith. This is what inspires overall confidence, so that board posters who dislike the change(s) look more like whining teenagers who don't understand basic concepts of corporate strategy, instead of deeply concerned core customers who are dying for something they can understand from the company they love.
Help us love you again.
Thanks for your hard work.AA
Put it back on the schedule. It'll sell.
Also, I REALLY dislike the move away from compiled issues. Material is downloaded over the coarse of the month so people can get a look at it. Of course there'll be more hits on it! IME, I download each article at least once to get a look at it, but only saved the compilation. This'll just make archiving issues that much more difficult for me.
Not having any idea of what articles are coming out since the calendar is also broken in it's current format, takes away from the joy of waiting for each day to come along. I really don't think anyone minds having articles updated after they come out or moved back a day to be completed, but now the quality and quantity of articles has vastly diminished! And won't even be compiled into a finished product!
Hey, we even had a weekday (01/11/11), which wasn't a holiday or other understandable event, in which there was NO content! We Pay for This?
it's really sad that all these changes are taking place. By the responses I've read online, no one is happy that the quality service Wizards has produced over the last two years could make such a dramatic, devastating wrong turn!
Please Wizards, if you read your own message boards, restore the site to the way we, your customers and now wavering fans, desire and respect!
Please Wizards, if you read your own message boards, restore the site to the way we, your customers and now wavering fans, desire and respect!
They read, they just don't care. Nothing the fans have ever said in protest on these forums has ever made a difference. They announce their changes, wait for the rage to die down, then post another crappy announcement.
I wish Paizo had bought into 4th edition when it first came out. They are amazing at customer service and produce amazing products, I just hate 3rd edition.
Instead of monthly compilations, they can still publish annual compilations as hardbacks.
Ridiculous.
I download every article that seems to interest me, which is most, and then at the end of the month, I download the full editted magazines.
Now, I have to download an article wait 2 weeks, maybe, and then redownload and save it to a folder so all monthly articles are together, PLUS take a screen cap of the TOC so I know what the articles are about.
Whatever.
I've been buying nearly all D&D products since '88 and up until PHB2 (when you stopped selling PDFs) and I'm sure I'm not renewing my subscription after this article.
I have a week left on my account. That's just enough for me.
What is happening at WotC that they're coming up with these ideas?
I like the compiled version, it is nice and tidy.
Now I have to have a folder for each magazine? Why?
Because they don't want you to actually download the magazines. They would prefer you to go to the website every single time you want to read an article, requiring you to have a DDI subscription as long you want to be able to use Dragon/Dungeon material.
Compilations are too easy to download and archive, which is antithetical to WOTC's new business model.
I don't know. I love every 4e product released so far. But, recent events are making me very pessimistic about the support this game will receive in the future.
I am linking to this thread as the official discussion thread.
@thespaceinvader: Thank you for creating this thread. For future reference, here is the appropriate format.
No worries. I've edited my OP to take this into account.
I think that the Dragon decision is the one that bothers me most, mainly because I suspect they're misreading their stats. Sure, most of us will read the preview articles more often than the compiled edition. But we won't download them permanently, we'll read them online, potentially several times, to comment on and suggest alterations before the compiled edition is released.
Then, we'll DOWNLOAD the compiled edition once and read it as much as we need to ON OUR COMPUTERS.
It would shock me if the number of unique-IP-address downloads of individual articles was vastly greater than the number of unique-IP-address downloads of the compiled edition. And even if it is, if even a significant minority of your customer base are using the compiled edition, taking it away is going to piss them off. There is next-to-no cost for producing a compiled edition, it should not be taken away because not enough people download it. It should be taken away if, and only if, NO people download it.
This is why, DDI, you need CUSTOMER FREAKING RESEARCH you unmitigated... *sentence not completed because I don't want to be ORCed* Unless this isn't remotely about your customers at all.
Personally, I think this is just marketing-speak for 'people have been putting up the compiled edition on file-sharing sites, we want to make it more awkward for them, the pirating swines'. Just like with the OCB.
I mean the minis I can understand, they are expensive to make and once a certain saturation is reached, they are a lot harder to sell.
Ditto for HoS becoming a hardcover. I like the digest-sized Essentials, but well, if people are hardcover fans, so it be.
I can even understand shuffling around books to fit schedules... but outright cancelling them? Uh. Not even telling us what is going to happen to them? Uh. That leaves me... rather unhappy, especially since it leaves HoS as the only player-centric (and crunchy) book this year.
As non-DDI subscriber, that's rather unfortunate and leaves me pretty miffed.
So all these people who "consume the articles individually," do they download every article individually? No, they download the compilation when it can be done in one easy step, not as a big pile of downloads.
Crap move, WotC.
actually I did download the monthly articles both as individual downloads as well as the monthly compilations; I would download individual articles if they appeared to have immediate benefit for my gaming group knowing that I would still be to have the monthly compilation to scoop up any offerings that did not have immediate use benefit
now then, I would have preferred a short statement as to why 'Class Compendium', 'Mordenkainen's Magnificent Emporium' and 'Hero Builder's Handbook' were being delayed because the Class Compendium had been originally billed as an integration of the Custom Built character with the Player Essential character, Magnificent Emporium (I thought) was supposed to be a better explanation of the rather arbitary redefinition of magic items as Common, Uncommon and Rare (the gold piece cost of a Level 30 item was usually enough to make that item a rarity!) while Hero Builder's Handbook (from the title) looked like an updating of the 3rd edition Hero Builder's Guidebook
as for the discontinuation of the prepainted plastic minis, now that decision hurts! as nice as my gaming group's pewter and lead minis are, they still have to be touched up every so often while the prepainted plastic minis could absorb a fair amount of handling (as well as inadvertent dropping onto the floor) and still be usable and presentable
I like the compiled version, it is nice and tidy.
Now I have to have a folder for each magazine? Why?
Because they don't want you to actually download the magazines. They would prefer you to go to the website every single time you want to read an article, requiring you to have a DDI subscription as long you want to be able to use Dragon/Dungeon material.
Compilations are too easy to download and archive, which is antithetical to WOTC's new business model.
actually, I do not mind having a folder for every monthly issue or a folder for every year that contains twelve monthly folders but then again, I am a slightly demented retired cyber geek who gained a new gray hour each time I nested a DO Loop in Fortran.
Heroes of shadow hardcover will be a whorty addition to my shelve, but everything else is shocking.
I can't care less for fortune cards, was an avid minis collector and used to download the final compilations of Dragon every month.
Icy winds of fortune indeed...
*shrug*
As for the articles I officially mark this day as the end of the magazines once and for all. The compilations was the last thing that allowed them to resemble the magazines they used to be and now that is gone. They can call put Dragon and Dungeon magazine borders on the articles now but there is nothing about them that resembles a "magazine" anymore.
The books was a bad move. At this point WOTC is releasing fewer books than White Wolf which is a company that caters to a much, much smaller audience.
Something bad is happening here, I can feel it.
i feel the same way about tiles. my two cents.
Vastly disappointing. Couldn't they have thrown us a bone and revealed something new at least?
They did, in another article: weekly columns.
But, honestly. 1 book? That's all I have to look forward to. Just one book. That really sucks. And it's not even the one that I honestly was looking forward to.
Actually its one book and a box set, but if you arent into shadow stuff, ya, you got nothing on print.
This really annoys me. I'll need to check the Content Calendar each day (otherwise I might miss something). Wouldn't be so bad but i want all of what I'm paying for (don't wanna miss articles here and there).
Also, the Content Calendar has changed to a more 'floating' format (rather than the dated format I'm used to). Guess I'll check in on Monday, see what's up, then pop in a few minutes each day to snag whatever's released.
I think I know why they decided to do this: To close the back issue loophole. It's a lazy solution though and the customer gets the short end of the stick. In that regard, it could have been handled better.
Dragon had a 30 plus legacy with D&D but ending the compilations is the death blow. Rather than go out with a bang, it just fades away with a whimper. Kinda sad 
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/\ Art
i think that the vt eventually--and i do mean eventually--will obviate the need for minis for most gaming tables. and this is a good thing, imo.
i feel the same way about tiles. my two cents.
I can't see that happening in the near future. It's much more difficult for a group to cluster around a laptop screen to see what's going on that a nice big table with nice big minis (or tokens) - and to keep their charsheets organised, roll dice etc.
Unless you're expecting everyone to bring their own laptop and log into VT separately, which is even more unrealistic IMO - not everyone has one, and those who do are not likely to want to bring it to their games. I know I wouldn't.
I could see using a projector to shoot the game table onto the wall or whatever, but again, few groups will have access to that technology. Or wall space.
I can foresee a time in the future when tablet and touchscreen tech has progressed to the stage when we'll all be able to use computerised table tops and just have a literal virtual table, character sheets and dice rolling on tablets etc etc. BUt it's several editions in the future, at least, and planning for it now seems premature.
D&D Movie: Shows WotC's lack of focus (along with the current card & fiction fetish). "D&D isn't a game... it's a BRAND!" Hey Bill! D&D might have brand recognition, but people won't care about buying D&D stuff if the D&D game isn't seen as fun or supported anymore. Good Game --> More Brand Recognition. Scattershot pasting of brand on bunch of products <> recipe for success.
Fortune Cards: Desperate evidence of card fetish. I can't imagine that most home games would want them, as they will either be always useful/mandatory (because the player constructed the deck that way) or often useless (random pack opening). DMs won't like the former and players won't like the latter. Will probably be seen only in Encounters or specific events... heck, you supposedly can't even get them elsewhere through the primary market. Maybe it will be high-margin per pack, but I suspect they will be dust magnets. There was no need for this product, and even so, it could have been done better. But... how else could you monetize WPN without true pay-for-play?! WotC has made a big push to help brick-and-mortar stores, but offering an exclusive product that won't move (except for MAYBE singles resale) isn't the way to do it.
Minis: [Shrug] WotC is not a miniatures company, which I think they would have figured out by now. License it to someone else and let it be their problem.
Cancelled Stuff: Honestly, I bet it all shows up in DDI/Dragon. Seriously. It means WotC don't have to worry about a print word-count and it allows them will beef up the online pamphlets (er, magazines). And hey! Haven't we been clamoring for good DDI content? Why else would R&D be vetting Dragon/Dungeon stuff more? It's because they are moving from print products to electronic in a controlled fashion... in the same way that some countries are moving away from the dictatorship of the proletariat towards true Communism in a controlled way. [Cough] Anyway, We've seen some of the previews. The stuff exists. We'll see it in some form or another.
DDI: It's no longer a magazine. It's a weekly [loose] schedule of blog posts and articles, and should be formatted that way, instead of the goofy monthly/weekly hybrid we have now. The "Dragon" and "Dungeon" monikers should be retired. It's about time. Then there will be no arguments about whether an article with Rare items should be one or the other. Flavor and Player crunch and Monster stats could live in one article. Yay. That said, I feel sorry for those who miss the compiled version. I think WotC missed the boat on that usability data. I don't download the compiled issue because most of it is stuff I couldn't care less about (bad articles... can see crunch in Compendium), not because I find the format bad. My big fear is that this will serve as an excuse to go from PDF to HTML. I mean, every article is self-contained, and it seems like it would be better to automate content release in HTML. Why wouldn't they switch other than user preference? And it would be harder to pirate! WotC must lose _trillions_ of Zimbabwean dollars in such transactions.
Summary/Synthesis: We can't see more than a few weeks forward (if that!) to know what WotC is doing. A lack of focus on the core game is not good... after giving birth to Essentials, it almost seems like post-partum depression. The fact that the current/future products seem to be things like board games with cards, card games with boards, RPG suppliments with cards, card games with RPG-like framing devices, fiction tie-ins, computer game tie-ins, web-based products [as opposed to the previous web-assisted products], stuff with tenuous nostalgia tie-ins, stuff with irrelevant "geek culture" tie-ins, tedious fiction, and stuff that's all NOT core D&D stuff.
Are they running out of good ideas, or just desperate to make money by throwing a bunch of [stuff] to the way to see what sticks? If people like Future World: The Game of Wacky Combat, Jaunt to 2-D Castle with 3-D People, or holding thin strips of paper in their hands, be my guests. You're entitled to have fun. For my part, I don't think those things are good for the D&D game in the long run because the core D&D game is about NONE of those things.
Well, I suspect that nobody at Wizards of the Coast cares, but I think that the decision to abandon compiled versions of Dungeon and Dragon is a really bad idea. I stopped downloading individual articles a long time ago. I wait for the compiled version, load it onto my iPad and read it later. I don't want to search through bunches of articles or worry about missing one here or there. I'm one of those oldtimers with virtually every issue of Dragon going back to the very beginning (and every issue of Dungeon). You made a bad decision to cancel the magazines and now you're essentially doing it again. Those magazines have been the lifeblood of the game for literally decades. And now, once again, they're gone.
I suspect, in the end, it's just a cost-savings measure. Somebody had to spend a few hours each month compiling the articles. Now that person can be assigned to do something else.
I just renewed my DDI subscription. Maybe that wasn't such a good idea.
Vastly disappointing. Couldn't they have thrown us a bone and revealed something new at least?
They did, in another article: weekly columns.
Yeah, I was really amused that the once piece of decent news didn't even show up in Ampersand. I do think those new free articles do sound pretty cool - hopefully they won't come at the cost of DDI content.
Anyway, I don't think D&D is 'in trouble', but I am disappointed in some of these changes.
As others have mentioned, removing the compilation is a shame. Like most people, I read the articles as they come out, but that doesn't mean I didn't want to be able to download the compiled issue at the end of the month. I've spent the last few weeks defending WotC's 'schedule shifting' on the basis that the compilation is the only real deadline they owe us - having it yanked away just seems silly. Bill and Steve, I hope you guys are listening - the compilation does a lot of good for many people, even if it isn't 'the primary method of accessing the articles'. Those who want to download each issue for storage, those who prefer to print out each issue to read it, etc. I hope you'll reconsider removing it.
Heroes of Shadow shifting to a hardcover doesn't really bother me, but I am also very disappointed to hear about the removal of Mordenkainen's Magical Emporium, Heroes of Sword and Spell, and Heroes Builder's Handbook. The last of those was one of the books I was most looking forward to in a long while. And the others seem to fill very specific needs - fleshing out the new magic rarity system, and offering rules for using multiclassing and the like with Essentials classes.
Will that content appear anywhere? Is there a reason these books have been removed?
And, once again, this strikes me as an example of how terrible Bill is at communicating. "While this means fewer books, we plan to deliver just as much great content for players this year through other formats, including board games, accessories, and digital offerings."
Look, I totally like Castle Ravenloft. And accessories like Dungeon Tiles can be a useful tool for the game. But they are not in any way an acceptable replacement as 'content for players'.
If you guys have a reason for removing these books, that's fine. Just let us know - "We're directing resources for other areas; we don't think these books would have been profitable products; we are reworking some of the content in them for other projects."
But saying, "Hey, we're removing these books, but you can buy board games instead!" That's the sort of reason people constantly harp on these Ampersand articles. There is this huge disconnect between you and the audience, and rather than trying to honestly address people's concerns, it always feels like there is a sales pitch.
And that isn't always a bad thing, but it should at least be kept on topic. Telling us to buy a completely different game since we aren't getting any actual D&D content - who is that going to make happy? Instead, tell us that more books will be coming down the line, or give us some other explanation.
Look, I've been excited about D&D expanding its brand with the board games and other content. I am eager to finally see some 4E CRPGs, even if they don't look like they'll be on par with Neverwinter Nights and the like. Hearing that resources had been split to focus on those elements was, in my mind, a good thing.
But seeing the actual D&D content end of things completely gutted like this... well, I can accept you guys have a reason for it. I just wish, again, we had more communication. Will we be seeing more books down the line? Why the recall on these products, many of which were highly anticipated? Are any replacements planned? Will this content show up somewhere else?
I know there are limitations on what you can and can't tell us. But a bit more information would be really welcome at this time.
Most electonic magazines don't produce downloadable monthly compilations. Magazines like Slate and Salon don't do it. Magazines that also release print versions, like The Onion, often don't do it. Even related magazines like Fantasy Magazine don't do it. So as much as I am disappointed by this decision, it doesn't herald the end of the magazines, for me.
I have always skipped saving the articles as I read them. I would download the compilation as that's the "final" version. Now, after reading them, I have to wait a few weeks or a month before going and downloading the final versions (will there still be final versions?) and then self compile.
No thanks. Sure, it's just 20 seconds of work for me but, I think that's the final straw. Like I said, seems silly.
The last time I logged on to DDi, I read about the improvements in articles due to R&D's addtion to the publication chain. I was thrilled by this news and with the thought that the overall product would be improving. It harkened back to the days when Dragon & Dungeon Magazines were truely exciting reads.
Today I log in and I feel like Wizads have just kick me between the legs. Death of the Magazines (as magazines), limited products to look forward to, and the death of the beloved mini's line.
My auto-renew will be turned off when I get home tonight. I can no longer support a system that offers copper but charges gold.
Get rid of the Dragon & Dungeon Compilations, makes me sad and a Little pissed. It was the last feel I had of the old Mags, and now that is gone. And also much easier to download 1 compiled "Monthly" file then individual articles. Please WotC, reconsider this.
Yeah... a smattering of articles really isn't a magazine, it's sort of a web column/blog. The whole idea of a magazine is being an encapsulated thing, often with a theme etc. Even as non-DDI subscriber it's sort of sad to see that the magazines are pretty much dead and were turned into the branding for a (paid) content blog.
The loss of the new item book makes me lose all faith that the magic item system's horrible implementation will ever be fixed.
Also: it's a blow for people who bought into Essentials - the common/uncommon/rare system was just introduced and... immediately dropped again with the loss of MME. I was really looking forward to getting rare magic items - because they really promised to bring back the shininess and sense of wonder of magic items.
Meh.
wizards.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wizards.cfg...
Q: Why have the Class Compendium: Heroes of Sword and Spell, Mordenkainen's Magnificent Emporium and Hero Builder's Handbook been removed from the calendar?
A: We are constantly striving to remain conscious of the way our fans consume our content. We felt that the material in these titles would best be presented in other ways and we have plans to make it available in the future.
DDI it is!
WotC needs hardbacks and high-spec items as physical copies, due to needing new players and laws of physics. [Can't print cards/cast plastic online.]
EDIT: And another thing... physical books are meant to be read, and WotC has emphased that they want their books to be "readable". You can sit down and read them for pleasure. Not as simple to do that with a list of magic items or feats.
No... DDI stuff doesn't bring in NEW customers. Little kid curious about a book with [evil half-vampire who is ethnically vampiric and is a vampire as their profession] on the cover? That's a New Customer... a potential new DDI customer.
WotC needs hardbacks and high-spec items as physical copies, due to needing new players and laws of physics. [Can't print cards/cast plastic online.]
Home "printing" minis is the thing of the future. Just wait until 3d "printers" are in every home.
WotC needs hardbacks and high-spec items as physical copies, due to needing new players and laws of physics. [Can't print cards/cast plastic online.
Well, you can print 'cards,' tokens, or standies, you just need a glue stick and some cardstock for backing.
EDIT: And another thing... physical books are meant to be read, and WotC has emphased that they want their books to be "readable". You can sit down and read them for pleasure. Not as simple to do that with a list of magic items or feats.
Sorry to hear that. That was the White Wolf way, their books were something you could just sit down and read - but just try looking something up durring a game (even if you found it, the rule would be worthless, anyway, they were just bad games, well-written bad games). 4e had been a good game. A good game that read like a technical manual, but a good game.
www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2011/1/12/
Get rid of the Dragon & Dungeon Compilations, makes me sad and a Little pissed. It was the last feel I had of the old Mags, and now that is gone. And also much easier to download 1 compiled "Monthly" file then individual articles. Please WotC, reconsider this.
It's also easier to pirate a monthly compilation. I bet this has more to do with their anti-piracy policy (a la getting rid of PDF versions at Paizo and elsewhere) than anything else.
Content volume in the magazines and books has dropped off drastically. There is little to look forward to in the RPG. I hope you all like accessories.
- Fortune cards, aren't they awesome: No, not for me. If I wanted to play a CCG, I'd play one.
I have mixed feeling about fortune cards. I like the idea, but I am fed up with random (and expensive) minis and I never got into the Magic thing. I also do not like the idea to buy them in stores. You will pay them more than online.
- No more minis: Well, crap. I was planning on starting to pick a few up when I finally come across some money. Oh well, guess another company/eBay sellers will get my hard-earned.
I will buy some missing stuff on eBay. I have a large collection of minis (3500+) that I can use forever. As you can guess, I really prefer minis over tokens. However, the VT and selected collector's pack can change it. I really think they should sell adventures with their minis. By the way, I do not like and care about tiles since usually I print my maps with CC3 or use Fat Dragon Games stuff that I can print as many times as required.
- Heroes of Shadow pushed back to make it hardcover, and various other books 'removed from the schedule': Wow, that's crappy.
I will likely buy the DM screen, but I am not really interested in the last books left in the catalogue for the first semester of 2011. I am especially sad about the Nentir Vale gazetteer; I am very fond with the Vale and I would like to know more about it.
- Dragon no longer releasing as compiled editions: So... when does it become rules-legal? How will we know when an article has been updated? Sucks to be playing LFR or any other official-rules campaign.
Even if I support the idea of daily mixed articles, I really don't like to have at least one full compilation at the end of the month. I am not convinced about the justification based on Web statistics. This is just another move against piracy, like it was moving the Character Builder online. Being penalized as a paying customer, makes me sad and and angry.
EDIT: And another thing... physical books are meant to be read, and WotC has emphased that they want their books to be "readable". You can sit down and read them for pleasure. Not as simple to do that with a list of magic items or feats.
Sorry to hear that. That was the White Wolf way, their books were something you could just sit down and read - but just try looking something up durring a game (even if you found it, the rule would be worthless, anyway, they were just bad games, well-written bad games). 4e had been a good game. A good game that read like a technical manual, but a good game.
One of the best role playing manuals I've read in a long time is the Eclipse Phase Core Rulebook (www.eclipsephase.com). The book has great production values, great fluff, and is navigable courtesy of a index of tabs on the outside border of each page that tells you where in the book you're at. Also, fluff content is color coded so you know to distiguish it from rules text.
i think that the vt eventually--and i do mean eventually--will obviate the need for minis for most gaming tables. and this is a good thing, imo.
i feel the same way about tiles. my two cents.
I can't see that happening in the near future. It's much more difficult for a group to cluster around a laptop screen to see what's going on that a nice big table with nice big minis (or tokens) - and to keep their charsheets organised, roll dice etc.
Unless you're expecting everyone to bring their own laptop and log into VT separately, which is even more unrealistic IMO - not everyone has one, and those who do are not likely to want to bring it to their games. I know I wouldn't.
I could see using a projector to shoot the game table onto the wall or whatever, but again, few groups will have access to that technology. Or wall space.
I can foresee a time in the future when tablet and touchscreen tech has progressed to the stage when we'll all be able to use computerised table tops and just have a literal virtual table, character sheets and dice rolling on tablets etc etc. BUt it's several editions in the future, at least, and planning for it now seems premature.
actually, i think you can accomplish much of this now, with the following items:
i) a computer (preferably a laptop) with dvi port;
ii) a tv (the bigger the screen, the better) with hdmi port; and
iii) a dvi to hdmi cable.
oh, and the vt, of course.
I looked at the good stuff with the Online CB. I can understand dropping some items from the product line. I mean some video game companies keep delaying the release of games (Duke Nuke'm anyone).
Cancelling minis in light of the tokens, I can understand.
I can understand the use of Fortune Cards. Will they work, I don't know, but trying things is ok.
But stopping the compiled Dragon and Dungeon magazines doesn't make sense to me. I cannot sit at my computer everyday to read articles. I can download the compiled issues and load them onto my iPad and read on the road or away from my computer. With the Dungeon magazines it will just make it harder to read through the articles for search for an adventure for my game.
As thespaceinvader put it, when does material become LFR legal? (I also wonder if he is one of the guys that plays with us weekly since there was a post at the FLGS site)
I want to continue to support WotC and D&D, D&D was the RPG that I cut my teeth on. I have enjoyed it, and love 4e. But they are making it harder to support.
Please Wizards, reconsider compiling the issues of Dragon and Dungeon magazine. Don't let these icons of RPGing go out with a wimper. Keep them going strong.
- Dragon no longer releasing as compiled editions: So... when does it become rules-legal? How will we know when an article has been updated? Sucks to be playing LFR or any other official-rules campaign.
Even if I support the idea of daily mixed articles, I really don't like to have at least one full compilation at the end of the month. I am not convinced about the justification based on Web statistics. This is just another move against piracy, like it was moving the Character Builder online. Being penalized as a paying customer, makes me sad and and angry.
That's an easy one to answer: in 2 - 3 months, when it hits the OCB.
i think that the vt eventually--and i do mean eventually--will obviate the need for minis for most gaming tables. and this is a good thing, imo.
i feel the same way about tiles. my two cents.
I can't see that happening in the near future. It's much more difficult for a group to cluster around a laptop screen to see what's going on that a nice big table with nice big minis (or tokens) - and to keep their charsheets organised, roll dice etc.
Unless you're expecting everyone to bring their own laptop and log into VT separately, which is even more unrealistic IMO - not everyone has one, and those who do are not likely to want to bring it to their games. I know I wouldn't.
I could see using a projector to shoot the game table onto the wall or whatever, but again, few groups will have access to that technology. Or wall space.
I can foresee a time in the future when tablet and touchscreen tech has progressed to the stage when we'll all be able to use computerised table tops and just have a literal virtual table, character sheets and dice rolling on tablets etc etc. BUt it's several editions in the future, at least, and planning for it now seems premature.
actually, i think you can accomplish much of this now, with the following items:
i) a computer (preferably a laptop) with dvi port;
ii) a tv (the bigger the screen, the better) with hdmi port; and
iii) a dvi to hdmi cable.
oh, and the vt, of course.
Except for those groups of us that would prefer to play face-to-face when together, and not get together and everybody look at a tv and some computer tokens on a cg dungeon tile
i think that the vt eventually--and i do mean eventually--will obviate the need for minis for most gaming tables. and this is a good thing, imo.
i feel the same way about tiles. my two cents.
I can't see that happening in the near future. It's much more difficult for a group to cluster around a laptop screen to see what's going on that a nice big table with nice big minis (or tokens) - and to keep their charsheets organised, roll dice etc.
Unless you're expecting everyone to bring their own laptop and log into VT separately, which is even more unrealistic IMO - not everyone has one, and those who do are not likely to want to bring it to their games. I know I wouldn't.
I could see using a projector to shoot the game table onto the wall or whatever, but again, few groups will have access to that technology. Or wall space.
I can foresee a time in the future when tablet and touchscreen tech has progressed to the stage when we'll all be able to use computerised table tops and just have a literal virtual table, character sheets and dice rolling on tablets etc etc. BUt it's several editions in the future, at least, and planning for it now seems premature.
actually, i think you can accomplish much of this now, with the following items:
i) a computer (preferably a laptop) with dvi port;
ii) a tv (the bigger the screen, the better) with hdmi port; and
iii) a dvi to hdmi cable.
oh, and the vt, of course.
Except for those groups of us that would prefer to play face-to-face when together, and not get together and everybody look at a tv and some computer tokens on a cg dungeon tile
i've thought a little bit about that. if it were a flat screen tv, it might be possible to lie it flat, in the center of the gaming table; then, the perspective would be similar to old school gaming.
can't say anything about the computer tokens, other than that 3d graphics are only a matter of time. then would come small movement effects (remember rtd2 versus chewbacca? okay, well, 3d but not hologram).
I've just turned off auto-subscribe. I hope I'm not the only one and that those are the sort of actions that will get their attention.
Ta.
Listen, WotCers, I have largely been very happy with the service I've gotten. I can barely fathom creating a character form scratch anymore, or handwriting up a monster. I loathe the idea of playing games that I used to enjoy, because when 4th came out, somebody finally got it. DDI brought D&D into the world I live in, or promised to, but as the years went on, you lost sight of exactly what you told us to expect.
Losing things like the Class Compendium or Minis were never big deals for me. I came and paid for content and tools, and I got a lot of that, and for a great price. But then you clamped down on Masterplan, without offering a substitute, and made subpar offerings to replace the old reliables. You abandoned an elegant class design system for deviations like power points and Essentials-style martial classes with little integration with what had gone before. And then you drop even your publishing schedule.
What. The. Nine. Hells?
Get it together. You're not the only game in town, and though you dominate the scene, dissatisfaction is seeping in fast. Stop dropping promises and start keeping them.
i think that the vt eventually--and i do mean eventually--will obviate the need for minis for most gaming tables. and this is a good thing, imo.
i feel the same way about tiles. my two cents.
I can't see that happening in the near future. It's much more difficult for a group to cluster around a laptop screen to see what's going on that a nice big table with nice big minis (or tokens) - and to keep their charsheets organised, roll dice etc.
Unless you're expecting everyone to bring their own laptop and log into VT separately, which is even more unrealistic IMO - not everyone has one, and those who do are not likely to want to bring it to their games. I know I wouldn't.
I could see using a projector to shoot the game table onto the wall or whatever, but again, few groups will have access to that technology. Or wall space.
I can foresee a time in the future when tablet and touchscreen tech has progressed to the stage when we'll all be able to use computerised table tops and just have a literal virtual table, character sheets and dice rolling on tablets etc etc. BUt it's several editions in the future, at least, and planning for it now seems premature.
actually, i think you can accomplish much of this now, with the following items:
i) a computer (preferably a laptop) with dvi port;
ii) a tv (the bigger the screen, the better) with hdmi port; and
iii) a dvi to hdmi cable.
oh, and the vt, of course.
Pretty big 'if'. My gaming groups haven't got the kit.
It's also easier to pirate a monthly compilation. I bet this has more to do with their anti-piracy policy (a la getting rid of PDF versions at Paizo and elsewhere) than anything else.
Really it is about the same difficulty wise. If they think this will discourage piracy in the slightest then they clearly have no idea of how piracy or any of the technologies used by pirates work.....although given WotC's track record I suppose that is possible.
The OCB demonstrated that pretty thoroughly. Their decision to abandon the CBC led directly and almost immediately to it being opened for modification, and material they'd claimed couldn't be added being added to it and available for public download months before it was released for the new builder. All by people working in their free time, for no money. If the builder hadn't been abandoned, none of that would have happened.
I think it was one of the guys at Valve who said 'pirates are simply under-served customers'* after piracy in Russia dropped considerably when the Steam platform was made legitimately available there. WOTC could really stand to learn this lesson - pirates are the people who want to use your content, who like and enjoy your content, but who don't see that you're providing value for money in it. The way to make them pay for it is not to make it more difficult to use or access, or shut more of it behind a paywall, that provides LESS value for money. It's to either drop the price, make the service easier to use, or improve the content. Serve the customer better, less people will pirate. Serve the customer worse, more people will pirate.
It's not a credo a modern, forward-thinking, internet-aware company like that supplying the geek's premier RPG of choice claims to be, should fail to understand.
* Thanks to whoever it was on the forum who linked to the article that quotation came from. I can't remember who you were, annoyingly, and I've lost the link. But thanks anyway.
Another thing that irks me about the announcent concerning the 'death' of the Magazines, is the cold and callous nature of how WotC has done this.
AT LEAST they could have 'printed' (i.e. compiled) a farewell issue for both of these titles. The history around Dragon Magazine (and to a slightly lesser degree Dungeon) seems to DESERVE that respect at least.
Shame WotC
Yeah, but, if this is the real reason, it's pretty evident that the WOTC bigjobs don't have the faintest idea about the motivations and psychology of digital piracy.
The OCB demonstrated that pretty thoroughly. Their decision to abandon the CBC led directly and almost immediately to it being opened for modification, and material they'd claimed couldn't be added being added to it and available for public download months before it was released for the new builder. All by people working in their free time, for no money. If the builder hadn't been abandoned, none of that would have happened.
I think it was one of the guys at Valve who said 'pirates are simply under-served customers'* after piracy in Russia dropped considerably when the Steam platform was made legitimately available there. WOTC could really stand to learn this lesson - pirates are the people who want to use your content, who like and enjoy your content, but who don't see that you're providing value for money in it. The way to make them pay for it is not to make it more difficult to use or access, or shut more of it behind a paywall, that provides LESS value for money. It's to either drop the price, make the service easier to use, or improve the content. Serve the customer better, less people will pirate. Serve the customer worse, more people will pirate.
It's not a credo a modern, forward-thinking, internet-aware company like that supplying the geek's premier RPG of choice claims to be, should fail to understand.
Very well said. You should e-mail this message directly to WotC.
Icy Winds of Fortune indeed. Less money for you and more for me to spend elsewhere.
Now that they don't need to even compile them into a final version, I have even less faith in Dragon being worth $75/year, in terms of content produced.
Seriously, WOTC, what's going on? People are handing you money hand over fist in terms of monthly subscription fees, and all you have to do is throw us some crunch every month. That's it. And you're slipping schedules, removing crunch from articles that already have them, and cancelling your hardcover books. While it sounds like you're going bankrupt, the way to make money is not to alienate customers that are paying you a lot of money every month in return for some digital breadcrumbs.
Naturally, I expect WOTC's response to look something like every other response they've given to the problems with 4th ed:
I think it was one of the guys at Valve who said 'pirates are simply under-served customers'* after piracy in Russia dropped considerably when the Steam platform was made legitimately available there. WOTC could really stand to learn this lesson - pirates are the people who want to use your content, who like and enjoy your content, but who don't see that you're providing value for money in it. The way to make them pay for it is not to make it more difficult to use or access, or shut more of it behind a paywall, that provides LESS value for money. It's to either drop the price, make the service easier to use, or improve the content. Serve the customer better, less people will pirate. Serve the customer worse, more people will pirate.
I don't know who it was said by, but I seem to recall that the team that cracked the PS3 said something similar. Although I would make an addendum to that statement that it is the 'competent pirates that are under served customers.' The people who crack software, make work arounds, etc are customers that are dissatisfied. The people who benefit from that work aren't neccesarily in the same category.
If people are satisfied with the service they're recieving, it's my understanding that they'll usually want to pay for it. The Humble Indie Games Bundle is a good indicator of that sort of thing - all the games in it are free, and people can pay what they want, minimum of 1 cent. Most pay at least 5 dollars, despite being able to get everything in it free. Some people do still rip it, but not many. As is the fact that, despite not actually needing them nor soliciting them, we regularly get people on the forums of the OS game to which I contribute, asking how they can pay for the game that they enjoy. The ease-of-use and good value of iTunes and similar services has similarly led to a drop in music piracy, where all the content protection in the world did not, as I understand things.
It's when people find that the value they're recieving for the money they're paying (or would recieve/would pay) is too low, that they start to seek illegitimate means of obtaining the same.
Now, this isn't true of everyone, of course. Some people will be dedicated cheapskates who actively try to find rips and copies from the first opportunity. But the majority, I would assert, certainly a significant minority if not, want to pay for what they consume, if they see it as providing sufficient value for money.
And as for article updates... will we be notified that an article has been updated? Or will I just have to check on my own?
I'd love it if articles were all posted in the feed, and then every month they all got compiled (with corrections) into one big PDF called "Dragon". The whole split makes no sense to me.
Anyway... I'm sad to see Heroes of Sword and Spell get canceled and Heroes of Shadow made hardcover. The former is the Essentials books I was most looking forward to. I also like the Essentials form factor.
Uh I was going to say REALLY BAD DECESION MAKING" but from every post on the board saying it I guess I don't have too. Wow I quit playing 4th edition and I am glad I did. It appears that every decesion that is made makes the game worse. BTW I have not renewed my DDI subscription.
I only subscribe to download the monthly magazines (I have all the hard copy & virtual copies), so if you are withdrawing this service then my subscription will be cancelled.
Will WotC never learn that D&D players are not interested in CCG's. If they are they already play Magic or WoW, so why introduce collectable Fortune cards.
The figures have never interested me they were never of a good enough quality, I prefer to source good metal/plastic figures and paint them myself.
Farewell TSR/WotC/Hasbro, its back to the independant guys who still care about the game.
Mike Lowery
I'd debate that.
If people are satisfied with the service they're recieving, it's my understanding that they'll usually want to pay for it. The Humble Indie Games Bundle is a good indicator of that sort of thing - all the games in it are free, and people can pay what they want, minimum of 1 cent. Most pay at least 5 dollars, despite being able to get everything in it free. Some people do still rip it, but not many. As is the fact that, despite not actually needing them nor soliciting them, we regularly get people on the forums of the OS game to which I contribute, asking how they can pay for the game that they enjoy. The ease-of-use and good value of iTunes and similar services has similarly led to a drop in music piracy, where all the content protection in the world did not, as I understand things.
It's when people find that the value they're recieving for the money they're paying (or would recieve/would pay) is too low, that they start to seek illegitimate means of obtaining the same.
Now, this isn't true of everyone, of course. Some people will be dedicated cheapskates who actively try to find rips and copies from the first opportunity. But the majority, I would assert, certainly a significant minority if not, want to pay for what they consume, if they see it as providing sufficient value for money.
Well it really comes down to a question of the demographics of the pirating community. I personally believe that the majority of the pirating community consists of teenagers who can't buy anything and cheapskates. You clearly believe that group is in the minority. I'm unaware of any kind of statistics on this kind of thing and even if they existed, their accuracy would be highly suspect. So all we can really do is assert out beliefs since we both agree that both kinds of people exist. *shrugs*
But to be honest, I'd hope that we could both agree that it WOTC wants to stop piracy, they're going about it in almost precisely the wrongest way that they possibly could.
True, that. I'm probably overly nice to the pirating community given my background in Open Source, where people are, in general, really like I'm suggesting.
But to be honest, I'd hope that we could both agree that it WOTC wants to stop piracy, they're going about it in almost precisely the wrongest way that they possibly could.
I'll go ahead and admit that my bias towards how pirates are probably comes form the fact that I was in high school when the internet was common place but before the legal alternatives to stealing music(such as itunes) and such had really come into being. So that is what I think of internet pirates as.
And yes we can certainly agree to that.
Congratulations, after 30 years of playing this game, enough is enough>
I only subscribe to download the monthly magazines (I have all the hard copy & virtual copies), so if you are withdrawing this service then my subscription will be cancelled.
Will WotC never learn that D&D players are not interested in CCG's. If they are they already play Magic or WoW, so why introduce collectable Fortune cards.
The figures have never interested me they were never of a good enough quality, I prefer to source good metal/plastic figures and paint them myself.
Farewell TSR/WotC/Hasbro, its back to the independant guys who still care about the game.
Mike Lowery
let me get this straight after 30 of playing a game and having a blast and memories for a life time
you decide to quit playing because of this ......really wow that makes no since to me as i have been playing for 20 years
Now with this news i would never consider picking up a DDI sub .. it is simply not worth the price
The core of this article leaves me feeling uneasy about what to expect from the game I love in the weeks and months ahead.
The cancellation of the minis line was / has been expected for some time now. I have loved all the sets released in the 4-5 years that I have been collecting them, but I can understand that WotC has to make a profit at some point and as someone stated above you do reach a saturation point eventually. I only hope that WotC will still release something beyond the limited Collectors Sets and Tokens (Tokens are great for numbers and cheap for WotC but are not representative of the epic feel that a large dragon mini give to the party)
The complete cancellation of books has me irked but is understandable to a point, I am still looking forward to the Heroes of Shadow, the Shadowfell Box Set (even if it wont match up nice to my other 4th ed Planer books) and the next board game (Castle Ravenloft is a blast). I still want some sort of content and crunch every once in a while and a 4 month gap in player usable content is unacceptable. And the release of "fortune cards," that I know no one in my group of players/DMswill purchase, does not replace the lack of content from no new releases and the much lower number of crunch articles in the two magazines.
That leads me into my final point. The removal of the end of month compilation for Dragon and Dungeon magazines is a grievous mistake by WotC. I can understand and partly agree with the above stated remarks about lowering the piracy rate of the magazines, but regardless of what WotC does the piracy will still continue and this move only hurts the player base and effectively is the final killing blow to the magazines as they once were.
If I want to read the occasional fluff article or player made content and ideas for a character build I can visit any of the numerous fan sites and 3rd party magizines and articles. But with the Dragon and Dungeon magazine compilations I looked forward to reading the finalized articles that I skimmed over the last several weeks that presented official 4th ed content in an easy to find source. Now i have no indication of if/when an article has received an update or errata and I will have to download 10-20 different documents each month instead of just 2
I know that my individual opinion is just one voice and even if it is shared by a few that we are unable to change WotCs decision on this matter but with this information my so far unshakable belief that 4th ed is one of the best table top RPGs around has begun to falter. I still plan to support the game, purchase the new books and box sets as they release, and keep my Insider subscription (The Character builder is a very used and needed tool and the VT beta has me in high hopes) but this is the first time that I am scared for the future of the game that I love.
- Dan
Congratulations, after 30 years of playing this game, enough is enough>
I only subscribe to download the monthly magazines (I have all the hard copy & virtual copies), so if you are withdrawing this service then my subscription will be cancelled.
Will WotC never learn that D&D players are not interested in CCG's. If they are they already play Magic or WoW, so why introduce collectable Fortune cards.
The figures have never interested me they were never of a good enough quality, I prefer to source good metal/plastic figures and paint them myself.
Farewell TSR/WotC/Hasbro, its back to the independant guys who still care about the game.
Mike Lowery
let me get this straight after 30 of playing a game and having a blast and memories for a life time
you decide to quit playing because of this ......really wow that makes no since to me as i have been playing for 20 years
Now with this news i would never consider picking up a DDI sub .. it is simply not worth the price
I have cancelled my subscription to DDi, as it nolonger gives me anything.
I did say I would go with the independants, so looks like Piazo etc will now get my hard earned bucks, not WoTC.
I will still play as I have all the stuff upto 4th Edition.
Hope that clarifies the point
Mike
Canceling books doesn't bother me, I've got 4 D&D books from christmas still to read, that will take me most of the year.
I won't be canceling my DDI subscription, I still find the Compendium valuable (until they make that useless too). But at the moment, that's the only reason to subscribe. I'm hoping that the online character builder comes out with a character sheet format (1 double sided page + power cards). Till then I've no interested in any new material cause I can't use it with character builder anyway.
(Puts on English Teacher Hat)
"Icy Winds" is not exactly the friendliest title he could have chosen. It could imply a time of hardship, when the crops die off and the supplies start to dwindle. Icy winds are generally something you can do nothing about, and nobody really likes them.
"Fortune" could mean fate, but it could also mean change; good or bad. It could also mean lots and lots of money.
Is there a hidden meaning in this title? What do you think?
I also won't be canceling my sub. I still like the Compendium and the character builder is improving (I hope). The removal of minis doesn't surprise me. They have been just a small part since they switch to the PC and Monster boxes. The tokens are cheaper to produce and do the same thing. I like how the opposite side is for bloodied.
I am most disappointed by the removal of the complied issues of Dragon and Dungeon magazines. (Are they really magazines at this point). The delay in articles isn't a problem. I would rather be delayed and get good articles and adventures then have them come out early and be poorly done.
I hope WotC decides to change this and restart the compiled issues.
I am most disappointed by the removal of the complied issues of Dragon and Dungeon magazines. (Are they really magazines at this point).
Yes, they are. Lots of online magazines don't have compiled issues. That said, I really enjoyed the compilations and am very sad to see them go.
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the title "Icy Winds of Fortune". Does anyone find this title just a little bit suggestive? I've been wondering if Mr. Slavicek is trying to tell us something, a hidden message...
(Puts on English Teacher Hat)
"Icy Winds" is not exactly the friendliest title he could have chosen. It could imply a time of hardship, when the crops die off and the supplies start to dwindle. Icy winds are generally something you can do nothing about, and nobody really likes them.
"Fortune" could mean fate, but it could also mean change; good or bad. It could also mean lots and lots of money.
Is there a hidden meaning in this title? What do you think?
I am sure all my English Teacher friends would agree with you there.
I am not ready to go conspiracy theorist yet. I think the title was referring to the "Good" Parts. Icewind Dale Tiles (Icy Wind) and the Fortune cards.
But what can I say, I am just a math teacher
"So, starting this month, we’re just providing the articles."
Ridiculous.
I download every article that seems to interest me, which is most, and then at the end of the month, I download the full editted magazines.
Now, I have to download an article wait 2 weeks, maybe, and then redownload and save it to a folder so all monthly articles are together, PLUS take a screen cap of the TOC so I know what the articles are about.
Whatever.
I've been buying nearly all D&D products since '88 and up until PHB2 (when you stopped selling PDFs) and I'm sure I'm not renewing my subscription after this article.
I have a week left on my account. That's just enough for me.
DING!
I just cancelled my DDI subscription. My subscription runs out 01/27/11. I don't plan to renew until DDI is fixed: return of Dungeon and Dragon full magazine PDF files, OCB is just as good as or better than the old CCB, and Monster Builder is fixed, updated and maintained. Until then, BUH-BYE. Don't ever give customers less than what they have now.
mag·a·zine [mag-uh-zeen, mag-uh-zeen] <br />–noun <br />1. a publication that is issued periodically, usually bound in a paper cover, and typically contains essays, stories, poems, etc., by many writers, and often photographs and drawings, frequently specializing in a particular subject or area, as hobbies, news, or sports. <br />I refuse to have a bunch of articles every month. I don't want bunch of folders to contain my articles. I want a cover, index, and articles. Kind of like a magazine. You know, like it says on the icons under the D&D Insider dropdown section on the main page.
Set a date, compile it, done. I'm sure I could do it myself, but I'm paying you how much to do it? Oh, and that guy over there, and there, and there.
Can anyone put up the instructions for cancellling my DDI service?
I can completely understand that WoTC is a business, and that they are really a subsidiary business of a much larger corporation who weigh in on all the shot-calling, and I also get that we are not "entitled" to anything as consumers. However, that being said, when you look at the feedback that their customer base is giving them, I am flummoxed that they are not retracting this new direction, and reverting to the compilation model of Dungeon and Dragon magazines.
In the end, all any of us can really do aside from voice our opinions on the matter is speak with our wallets, and hope that it hurts the profit margin enough to cause them to rethink the way that things are going.
The great thing, however, is that irrespective of the direction, the material that has already been released in the books is sufficient to spur my imagination, and the imagination of many DM's and players alike to continue enjoying the rich RPG we all love. Ultimately, even if Wizards went down the drain because enough people spoke with their wallets, D&D is not going anywhere, it has a loyal fan-base, dedicated supporters, and enough freelance and alternative sources for material as to weather the storms of corporate failures.
Just my two cents
Guess they aren't letting me vote with my wallet either. and I prepaid for the year. :-(
well i contacted customer service to no avail still haven't gotten a response. Still haven't seen any message on boards in response to dissatisfaction with the lack of compilations either from anyone with a whit of authority on the matter. This is very very frustrating.
Guess they aren't letting me vote with my wallet either. and I prepaid for the year. :-(
Download all the mags and articles to date, and unsub call CS and demand a refund. Wait till all the articles are out for next month and then re-sub... Hold them accountable the only way you can with your wallet...
well i contacted customer service to no avail still haven't gotten a response. Still haven't seen any message on boards in response to dissatisfaction with the lack of compilations either from anyone with a whit of authority on the matter. This is very very frustrating.
Guess they aren't letting me vote with my wallet either. and I prepaid for the year. :-(
You can contact Customer Service for a refund. You would be within your rights to request a refund for January, but it remains to be seen if they will honor the request.
well i contacted customer service to no avail still haven't gotten a response. Still haven't seen any message on boards in response to dissatisfaction with the lack of compilations either from anyone with a whit of authority on the matter. This is very very frustrating.
Guess they aren't letting me vote with my wallet either. and I prepaid for the year. :-(
You can contact Customer Service for a refund. You would be within your rights to request a refund for January, but it remains to be seen if they will honor the request.
Actually, they caved on that and if you escalate citing their promise of 120+ pages of content for January, they will give you a refund for January...
My take? Essentials was a failure, perhaps not in absolute terms, but it didn't live up to the financial expectations that were set for it. I don't find this altogether surprising--rolling out a class system reboot a little over two years after the release of the original game is going to alienate a good portion of the existing customer base (3.5's release a mere three years after 3.0 was a major contributing factor to the collapse of the D20 market), which means that you are going to need to replace those customers with new customers, in addition to the remaining customers who purchase the books to "see what the new changes are all about." The only problem is that new customers are not going to be brought into the game merely because the an easier book is released because those customers are not spontaneously going to visit gamestores, the RPG section or B&N, etc. Traditionally, new players are brought in by existing players, and by reducing the existing customer base, you limit sales growth in a way that placing the red box side-by-side with baseball cards and Yu-gi-yo at Target and Walmart is not going to make up for. Furthermore, even if the new player does enjoy the Redbox, that in itself is not going to push them into the stores where they would buy the essentials lines.
As for abandoning the digest format, that also seems to be a no brainer. It wasn't that long ago that WOTC made the move from soft covers supplements in 3.0 to the hard cover supplements in 3.5. I always assumed that the reasoning behind it is that you could charge more for a hard cover than a soft cover, even if the content was identical, and that the difference in price exceeded the difference in the cost of printing, meaning that there was an overall larger profit per book. Backpedalling on that basic insight no doubt also harmed WOTC's return on their Essential's investment.
I predict that Essentials will likely not receive all that much support, and that WOTC will try to refocus on the core of the game in the long run. However, given the lead times required to prepare and print books, 2011 will largely be a lost year for 4E, and 2012 will see in uptick in actual published support for the game. That is, if Hasbro is willing to overlook the past year's missteps and allow the game to continue that long.