Hey all. I wanted to let you all know that we recently sent an email to D&DI subscribers to let them know that we're temporarily shifting our data updates during the holiday season. For November, December and January, D&DI data updates will be available on the third Tuesday of the month instead of the first. Beginning in February 2010, the regular first Tuesday of the month data update will resume. If you have any questions about your subscription or about this temporary change, please contact customer service by visiting www.wizards.com/customerservice.
Trevor
Are you updating earlier than normal or later?
Are you updating earlier than normal or later?
Later. He said that.
I wonder what promted this in the first place. I understand the January shift, with so much time off around the Christmas holiday, and to a lesser extent December, with Thanksgiving. The November slide is really strange to me. Anyone have good theories about it?
Well, you know RP'ers get all kinds of freaky at Halloween. You probably can't get any work done at WotC with all the cosplayers and the costume contests taking up 8 hours a day for a week.
I'm also going out on a limb here and guessing that we're STILL not going to get October's Dragon in November's update, so now instead of waiting up to 5-6 weeks for material to be usable in the character builder, we can wait 7-8 weeks! Yay!
In all seriousness, I get the Dec - Jan slide, but the Nov one is baffling, and I really wish WotC would be a little more transparent. My 12-month print magazine subscriptions seems to run on-time just fine, despite holidays.
Maybe you should take 2 weeks off from publishing anything (oh wait, you already get half a week off every month, plus holidays), but keep writing and testing. Give everyone 2 weeks extra on their subscription. Now you have a 2-week buffer into your release schedule, on top of whatever you used to have, so you can actually be testing things and getting our software updates ready ahead of time, so that the first Tuesday updates can actually have the prior month's content, instead of content from 2 months ago. You have some slack to give around the holidays, and know that you have to work your butts off in January and February to get back on schedule (this is what we do in other companies where people take time off in Nov - Dec). Just a thought.
yes, it's really irritating how their planning is going in this regard. there's obviously little to no content ready before it's publishing date is set. not even some fillers or replacement articles are ready.
The delay in the updates is only for the updates to the Character Builder, Monster Builder and Compendium, not for the release of magazine articles.
Which, from my understanding, means even the compilation of the mags won't be delayed par say.
Now as someone who prefers the information to be in the character builder as opposed to not, its a blow, but meh its the price of being lazy.
Just wanted to say thanks for the e-mail, communicating decisions like these beforehands in a way that does not require any searching effort on behalf of us insiders is a very good idea!!!
If they didn't say anything about the changing schedule, I doubt anyone would even say anything about it. They let us know about their schedule change and they get crucified for it. A shame.
If they didn't say anything about the changing schedule, I doubt anyone would even say anything about it. They let us know about their schedule change and they get crucified for it. A shame.
Oh I think there would have been much more than just crucifying if they hadn't said anything and people had to find out they had to wait two more weeks...
That's why communicating these things is so important!
If they didn't say anything about the changing schedule, I doubt anyone would even say anything about it. They let us know about their schedule change and they get crucified for it. A shame.
People get upset if the updates are delayed by several hours. I'm pretty sure people would notice and be vehement in their complaints if they were delayed by several weeks without any notice.
I certainly appreciate the notice, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. I don't think it is the end of the world or a reason to cancel my subscription, but I think it is disappointing that it can take up to 2 1/2 months for a Dragon Magazine article to be available in the Character Builder. I think there may be legitimate reasons for this, and that WotC certainly doesn't deserve to be 'crucified' for it - but it is a reduction in the quality of the service, and that is something customers have a right to comment on.
I've seen posts made as little as 15 minutes past the official scheduled time. So, you can be very sure that 2 weeks would be a VERY big deal if left unannounced. As for the Dungeon and Dragon problem, i guess they still have no system in place to enter the Data first, then pull it to the articles, so it actually goes like this: Article published, Article rolled into the final PDF issue, final PDF issue given over to data monkeys who enter the powers. At first, this seems like a bad idea, and unfriendly to the customer. At second look, however, it is very reasonable:
A) there is sometimes errata done even within the month, so it would be work made double if they start on it earlier.
B) they have freelance writers. whoever the freelance writers are, they definitely do not sit at WOTC HQ regularly, and thus they can't enter their powers, they just deliver an article (probably with a template to get the powers formatted right in the first way) and it then gets published.
C) (and this is the only issue to really gripe about) WOTC works with little to no spare articles for the next month. Since their content is only present mid-month, it would be very hard to plan the amount of work needed. Articles like Backdrops or Running Skill Challenges, require very little work on the data monkey team. Articles like "Class Acts" may contain lots of options, which all have to be entered.
So, if you want to yell about something, it is their fart to short-sighted article planning system. D&D is not a system where you have any day-to-day actual stuff except for the splatbook related advertising articles, and those are made inhouse anyway. So why can't WOTC keep articles for the next months to have a base stock? Most likely they just don't want to pay for stuff that might never get used.
I imagine it's a two-fold problem.
The first is the holidays, which can really cripple an organization, especially one that has had two rounds of lay-offs and a hiring freeze and is still losing workers so everyone is probably doing extra work.
The second is the change to Dungeon and Dragon. With the latter going 100% player content, suddenly all the DM-heavy articles are gone leaving a void in the magazine. Suddenly there's three class-based articles every month with new feats and powers and items that all have to go into the character builder and work properly AND fewer monsters which are comparatively easy.
AND they have to finalize the Monster Builder that has been in "Beta" for three months with apparently no real changes (unlike the Character Builder whose whole interface changed over a month).
Grrr... this means that I'm getting cheated out of a CB update since I only bought for one month with the intention of getting the update in November.
Not happy Jan.
Grrr... this means that I'm getting cheated out of a CB update since I only bought for one month with the intention of getting the update in November.
Not happy Jan.
contact CS about it. if you're lucky, you may get an extension until the CB update is out.
I really dislike this. That means we have to wait an entire month after getting a new book...like say, oh I don't know, Primal Power which came out today? to use in the Character Builder. This sucks. It was already hard enough waiting the 2 weeks until the first Tuesday so the Builder would be updated, now it's going to feel like forever.
Unlike what someone said earlier, this IS enough to make me cancel my subscription, at least until it's back on regular schedule. 2 weeks bites, but it's acceptable. But if we have to wait an entire month before we use a new book's content in the Builder, we'll have already figured out a way to use the new content by then rather than wait until Wizard deigns to update the builder with the new stuff.
I can understand delaying Dragon/Dungeon updates, as there might be corrections etc, and it'll only have existed in web form so far. But a released book? That's already in print? It's done, it's finished, too late to change anything in it now. There's no good reason why a book's contents shouldn't be available in the Builder IMMEDIATELY when the book comes out. In fact, why aren't the book updates available right away? It's not like you guys are waiting to see what's in it so you can transcribe it into the Builder's files or whatever.
It's like buying a new car but the driver door doesn't work so you have to go through a bunch of annoying, unnecessary extra work by going in the passenger side, and the car dealership fixing it but not for a month.
Sorry to be dramatic but our group really relies on the builder, and this is really making the new books a giant pain in the ass rather than awesome like they should be.
Also, ironically/conveniently, you CAN'T contact customer service about this, because the Email Us option is down. Figures.
It's like buying a new car but the driver door doesn't work so you have to go through a bunch of annoying, unnecessary extra work by going in the passenger side, and the car dealership fixing it but not for a month.
I'd say this is not a good analogy, a good analogy would be buying into a monthly subscription and having it delayed because the people who are working on it have lives and have holidays off just like you probably do.
Its more like watching House on Hulu instead of TV, you have to wait 8 days for your convenience to watch it whenever digitally rather then watching it 8 days beforehand the hard way when its scheduled.
Im sorry if this is enough to make you unsubscribe, but in that case you are not getting the product anyways for three months until you resubscribe, which is a lot longer then two weeks.
lives and holidays have nothing to do with schedule. many companies ARE able to almost always (with the exception of natural disasters or general power outages) produce their content. this has nothing to do with their people usually not sleeping or being exploited, but with better risk management and probably better planning.
but that still doesnt change the fact that unsubscribing for 3 months is longer then waiting two weeks extra a month.
and im pretty sure giving us this advance notice of schedule change is a responsible way of doing it in advance rather then halfway through november they say "Oh hey just letting you know we thought we could do it but we cant!"
Also, ironically/conveniently, you CAN'T contact customer service about this, because the Email Us option is down. Figures.
It isn't down.
Clear your cache and temporary internet files and try again. If that fails, then post in the thread here, and your account will get repaired so that you can contact CS.
Don't get me wrong Herro, I appreciate that they gave us advance warning. Props to the customer service department for that good service, it's definitely preferable than telling us after the fact. Also, I already buy the physical books so we will still use the content on paper without the Builder. Much like we would have to do for a month anyways.
However, something being delayed because the employees have lives or there is a holiday is laughable. Know what the rest of the world does when a holiday is coming up? Plan in advance and still get things done on time. It would be one thing if Wizards.com was still free and an article or something was pushed back, because hey - it's free! To complain would be ungrateful. But since we pay for the service, it being pushed back 100% for a terrible reason like "holiday season" leaves a terrible sour taste in my mouth.
Also, ironically/conveniently, you CAN'T contact customer service about this, because the Email Us option is down. Figures.It isn't down.
Clear your cache and temporary internet files and try again. If that fails, then post in the thread here, and your account will get repaired so that you can contact CS.
Ah, it's up now. It was down earlier. (Wasn't a cache thing - there was a giant window above the customer service links saying THE EMAIL US OPTION ISN'T WORKING RIGHT NOW.)
and thats your prerogative, and i dont see why you find it laughable. when they are working now on a 5 day article release schedule and when holidays can can last quite sometime with vacation on top of the normal holidays i dont find it laughable to expect delays.
I mean in my company between christmas and newyears while some people might be working those days its generally accepted that alot of work just wont get done because of the holidays and vacations as well. I would say the November and December delays dont make sense to me but the January one definitely does as its right after newyears and christmas.
To be blunt, their vacation / scheduling issues are not the customer's problem. Now obviously, if Wizards office burns down or something I'm not going to be a jerk and complain about how my new book is delayed now. But vacation season? "We're really busy?" What are you Wizards, four kids in a basement printing indy zines on their laser printer, or a multi-million dollar corporation with literally hundreds of products? Sorry, that just doesn't cut it.
Now granted, I don't use the new content released on their website, so if they have started releasing more content at a faster pace, good on Wizards for doing that. But all that interests me and what I pay for is the Character Builder updates.
But all that interests me and what I pay for is the Character Builder updates.
This is what gets me, no you are not just paying for the updates, you are paying for it all. There is no "CB only" subscription, there is only the subscription. So while you might think of it this way you are paying for the service as a whole, so "I only pay for the CB so they should make sure that is always the priority" doesnt cut it.
And another question why unsubscribe for three months and get no updates rather then waiting two extra weeks and get the updates anyways?
To be blunt, their vacation / scheduling issues are not the customer's problem. Now obviously, if Wizards office burns down or something I'm not going to be a jerk and complain about how my new book is delayed now. But vacation season? "We're really busy?" What are you Wizards, four kids in a basement printing indy zines on their laser printer, or a multi-million dollar corporation with literally hundreds of products? Sorry, that just doesn't cut it.
This is largely how I feel, though I'm more annoyed than outraged. Unfortunately I'm also not particularly surprised. It's become fairly obvious that most of the DDi service runs with very little lead time, and this is just one more symptom.
I appreciate that the nature of digital media means that a publisher can continue editing content up until the date it goes live, rather than having to finalize months in advance so that it can be sent to the printers. However, sometimes I'm left with the feeling that this only causes the folks at WotC to procrastinate when it comes to their digital releases. Magazine articles, for a semi-related example, should be finalized and proof read before the monthly content calender even goes up, but a bit too often some of them feel like they were rushed to the bosses desk mere minutes before they had to be uploaded.
I understand that the holidays are a busy time of year, but it's not like they snuck out of nowhere. There's not much reason that WotC couldn't have put in some extra pre-holiday effort to insure that service updates remained on schedule.
I mean in my company between christmas and newyears while some people might be working those days its generally accepted that alot of work just wont get done because of the holidays and vacations as well.
is your company publishing weekly or monthly issues of newspapers/magazines/whatever? If not, it's not at all comparable. When doing remittance work/owrk on commission, you take all those days off into your initial planning, and if the customer is not content with it, he either
a) has to pay more to get more of your people assigned to his task,
b) find another company to do that for him
c) cut down on features or numbers for a first release/batch, or reschedule some of his efforts as well.
Why this announcement does not work logically at all, I'll show with this (fictitious, I have no clue how much they put in actually) example:
you need e.g. 3 weeks of work to produce an issue for Dungeon/Dragon. Basically, all writers editors etc would be needed for most of the month, with vacations and illnesses, let's say they are all set without spare time the whole month. Now holiday hits. Since the holiday season is a busy one, and people are not present, schedules are pushed back. basically, your team would not be able to do it in 3, but 5 weeks due to the vacation season. Leaves you 2 weeks short, and you push the release plan back. Now, how to recover back? You'd really need them to do the work for one or two issues on shorter time, to win back the lost weeks. So, you either have to: contract additional editors/writers on a month-by-month employment, force your people to work overtime, or drop the quality. Since this has to happen anyway if you ever want to get "back on track", you might as well do so BEFORE the holidays, and without moving schedules.
The last bit is rather a conspiracy theory, but it fits this announcement perfectly well: WOTC certainly does not want to drop the quality of issues or updates BEFORE or shortly after christmas. People get and make lots of presents like that, and if they are disappointed before christmas, they won't buy or wish for it. So any drop of quality has to be done in the early year issues (best issue for that: february issues,as people who got money for christmas have spent it by then) where likely most people are fresh into their subscription.
is your company publishing weekly or monthly issues of newspapers/magazines/whatever? If not, it's not at all comparable. When doing remittance work/owrk on commission, you take all those days off into your initial planning, and if the customer is not content with it, he either
No I do not work in publishing, so that is probably why im a bit more understanding.
No I do not work in publishing, so that is probably why im a bit more understanding.
to be blunt: the one has nothing to do with the other. also, being understanding is a whole lot different to just not caring. WOTC is just bad at doing this kind of stuff. Out of my ~20 quarterly, monthly, weekly or daily magazines/newspapers/various subscriptions, none has delayed as often and as much as WOTC does within these 3 months. I really hope they make it up for customers who do get the bad end of the stick with their subscriptions running out shortly before the delayed CB update.
ps: i do not work in publishing either. what they're doing wrong, however, is something very common to big companies: saving in the wrong spots, towards no long term, but only short term gains. if you need to hire the additional editor or drop the quality after christmas, it will have about the same impact, just delayed for a while... which changes nothing, except that people will be more po'ed at you. - the only problem with this is, that wotc itself is not a big company. and while hasbro definitely values money over everything else - wotc for sure has its own say on schedules or products.
Hey guys - I wanted to pop in to reiterate what White Baron said earlier about contacting CS. If this holiday delay would prevent you from getting an update that you would have normally received because your subscription is running out between the normal date and the pushed back date, contact CS and they'll work it out so you still get your update.
Well that is encouraging anyway that they will honor extentions to subscribers. I have to say, as a new subscriber, I am agreeing with those who say that when a book comes out, the update for the Character Builder SHOULD be there... it is a sign of professionalism. It makes you feel like they are on the ball and that they value the Insiders.
Would it be a hell of a lot of work to do that now? Likely! (as they are behind the times and already catching up but it sure would encourage me to keep my subscription). Perhaops they are worried that folks won't buy the hardcopy if the online version is out there. I doubt that but who knows.
I would, however, like to say that the VERY cool demo video that shows all the cool dungeon builder, encounter maker, etc stuff that is "ahead" only makes me say "where the heck is it??" That stuff should be what you call BETA and we should, as insiders, be playing with it.
Anyway, I will wait and watch it unfold but if things don't shape up, content doesn't appear and the promised dungeon builder remains in the ether, I likely too won't renew. ::sigh::
Well after some correspondence with Wizards customer service, I've learned the following:
a) Wizards is "unable" to refund the remaining months on my subscription, or give me credit for the 3 delayed-release months. Why, I have no idea. Customer service didn't give any explanation.
b) Wizards apparently has free reign to change anything about D&D Insider that customers have paid for, and we as customers are helpless to do anything about it. They could just cancel Dragon magazine, they could replace the Character Builder with gardening tips, whatever - their word is law and they've already got our cash, so tough luck.
c) Other companies reward your loyalty with gifts or discounts. Wizards rewards loyalty with delays and by failing to deliver on promised products.
Thanks for nothing, Wizards. Your books are great, your games are great, but your customer service and consideration for your customers are pathetic.
if you had read the contract, you'd have known all about a and b. you bought a package deal with no fixtures except the name. you certainly have no claims on release dates or the amount of articles etc, as this is not written anywhere.
as for c) - i agree, but for other reasons than your failing to read the initial contract and the CS obvious only chance to answer to your requests.
I'm not disputing that legally they can do it. It's not like I'm threatening them with legal action. I'm just surprised that they don't care more about customer satisfaction. It's just really disappointing.
well, no company really pays you back if they had not stated so before, however customer friendly they might be.
since i don't know what exactly you were discussing with CS, i can't judge. but from your post it seems that you'd be trying to get something unreasonable from them along the lines of getting money back or forcing them to deliver something more to them...
This really is dissappointing. My DM got D&DI and I loved the character builder at first. It allowed me to plug in my character and print it out all nice. The biggest advantage is the power printouts. VERY handy.
But, honestly, I have gone from BADLY wanting it, and unwilling to pay because I have a MAC to not caring at all.
I own all of the "Power" books currently out. I got the Primal Power right away, and was very excited to update my bard with some new feats. I had the book in my hand and went to select the appropriate options. No dice. Then he tells me that the builder and the compendium are updated on 3 weeks basis, but if you look at the stated update on the compendium, it says ast updated SEPTEMBER 9?!?
If they released a MAC version today, I would not buy it. If they halved the price, I wouldn't buy it. If I was a subscriber I would cancel.
I can, to SOME degree understand not making book content available the day the book is released. Many people wouldn't buy the books. If they could put a code in the books that would activate the content the day the book is released, so purchasers of the books could, you know, use the conteny they PAID for on the character builder they PAID FOR.
This really is dissappointing. My DM got D&DI and I loved the character builder at first. It allowed me to plug in my character and print it out all nice. The biggest advantage is the power printouts. VERY handy.
But, honestly, I have gone from BADLY wanting it, and unwilling to pay because I have a MAC to not caring at all.
I own all of the "Power" books currently out. I got the Primal Power right away, and was very excited to update my bard with some new feats. I had the book in my hand and went to select the appropriate options. No dice. Then he tells me that the builder and the compendium are updated on 3 weeks basis, but if you look at the stated update on the compendium, it says ast updated SEPTEMBER 9?!?
If they released a MAC version today, I would not buy it. If they halved the price, I wouldn't buy it. If I was a subscriber I would cancel.
I can, to SOME degree understand not making book content available the day the book is released. Many people wouldn't buy the books. If they could put a code in the books that would activate the content the day the book is released, so purchasers of the books could, you know, use the conteny they PAID for on the character builder they PAID FOR.
First of all DDI and buying books are two separate transactions. When buying DDI you know that the book content is late in getting put into the CB and when buying a book you understand that the book is all you get.
Saying that you SHOULD get the CB information because you bought the book is as silly as saying that I SHOULD get all the books on PDF because I subscribe to DDI.
Really? Saying you should be able to use content you have bought and own in the character builder is like saying they should give out pdf's of the book for free? I'll be frank and say that I simply don't follow your logic. Not asking for anything for free. Just asking to be able to use what I've bought on the tool designed to work with it. My understanding of the character builder was that it would allow me to use the game content to build my character and play the game. I hate having to "house rule" real feats, especially when the "house rule" mechanic is so weak. To use Hide armor expertise, I need to manually go into my character sheet and add my con to my ac. And I know there are plenty of other difficult changes to impliment.
So, yes it's a seperate transaction when I buy a three ring binder and when I buy plastic inserts that go inside, but I'd (RIGHTLY) be royally pissed if the holes don't line up when I go to insert them.
I'm not saying they are legally required to do any of this. But I am giving my opinion that the function of the D&Dinsider is slow enough and frustrating enough that I will never subscribe (and before I used it first hand and before I knew that I'd have to wait weeks or months to use content from books I have purchased, I was strongly considering buying wondows and installing boot camp just to be able to purchase D&Dinsider).
And on the issue of holiday delays, I personally find it ridiculous. Yes, companies slow down over the holiday season as employees take more vacation and such, but I have never seen that as an excuse to delay service to paying customers baring extenuating circumstances. In my eyes it is a sign of horrible cusomer service unless accompanied by some extra compensation, such as 2 weeks free added to all subscriptions or extra content.
Really? Saying you should be able to use content you have bought and own in the character builder is like saying they should give out pdf's of the book for free? I'll be frank and say that I simply don't follow your logic. Not asking for anything for free. Just asking to be able to use what I've bought on the tool designed to work with it. My understanding of the character builder was that it would allow me to use the game content to build my character and play the game. I hate having to "house rule" real feats, especially when the "house rule" mechanic is so weak. To use Hide armor expertise, I need to manually go into my character sheet and add my con to my ac. And I know there are plenty of other difficult changes to impliment.
So, yes it's a seperate transaction when I buy a three ring binder and when I buy plastic inserts that go inside, but I'd (RIGHTLY) be royally pissed if the holes don't line up when I go to insert them.
Its more like you buy a three ring binder and have to wait a few weeks for the plastic inserts to be manufactured. Because the issue isnt that the information doesnt match up its a matter of timing. You are still comparing buying the book with rights to the DDI information.
And on the issue of holiday delays, I personally find it ridiculous. Yes, companies slow down over the holiday season as employees take more vacation and such, but I have never seen that as an excuse to delay service to paying customers baring extenuating circumstances. In my eyes it is a sign of horrible cusomer service unless accompanied by some extra compensation, such as 2 weeks free added to all subscriptions or extra content.
I agree, I dislike it.
I am not normally a "I told ya so" kinda person but I predicted this. Check my post at community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/758....
Hey guys - I wanted to pop in to reiterate what White Baron said earlier about contacting CS. If this holiday delay would prevent you from getting an update that you would have normally received because your subscription is running out between the normal date and the pushed back date, contact CS and they'll work it out so you still get your update.
Hi, WhtZombie.
You may not have seen this particular bit of info, so I thought I would quote it for your benefit.
The change is not going to short-change anyone. Customer Service will make sure you get your month. Also, they are not claiming that this move is because the customers wanted it.
You got your prediction half-right though. Any tips for the stock market?
Hey guys - I wanted to pop in to reiterate what White Baron said earlier about contacting CS. If this holiday delay would prevent you from getting an update that you would have normally received because your subscription is running out between the normal date and the pushed back date, contact CS and they'll work it out so you still get your update.
Hi, WhtZombie.
You may not have seen this particular bit of info, so I thought I would quote it for your benefit.
The change is not going to short-change anyone. Customer Service will make sure you get your month. Also, they are not claiming that this move is because the customers wanted it.
You got your prediction half-right though. Any tips for the stock market?
Why is it the customer's responsibility to contact Customer Service, rather than having Customer Service look at the records of the people who would be affected by the delay and make the adjustment for them? Some people will be short-changed, if only because they didn't know who to ask, or how to do so.
Why is it the customer's responsibility to contact Customer Service, rather than having Customer Service look at the records of the people who would be affected by the delay and make the adjustment for them? Some people will be short-changed, if only because they didn't know who to ask, or how to do so.
Good question.
I don't want to speak for them in any sort of authoritative way, but my honest guess is that it comes down to time and money. They could spend a lot of time going over each account, finding which ones will be affected, and correct them, but that would take quite a lot of man-hours away from some other customer service area. So its cheaper and faster to just let any customers who experience a problem come to them, and let them fix the issue on a case-by-case basis.
OK, so they probably *should* from a PR standpoint tell all the customers they won't lose any updates, and they should do it proactivately rather than "tell us and we'll help you."
On the other hand, if you have a subscription ending, and you try to update and can't, you're going to contact CS, right? You're not just going to say "oh well, I guess my subscription ran out and I don't get my update?" I really don't think the audience that is D&Di would just roll over and give up like that. So the people who want the update will get the update. Those who fail to contact CS... probably don't care about the update anyway (stopped playing, think D&Di is a waste of time, etc., whatever reasons they have).
None of the above should be taken as excusing their behavior, but I really think harping on people not getting updates is not nearly as big of a problem or a point of contention as the delay and lack of explanation (not to mention the continuing gap between D&Di articles appearing on site and their inclusion in the CB/Comp). My two cents.
Depending on what type of system they use to store data for the Insider customers, it actually could be much simpler to run a query of anyone whose subscription ends between the three two-week discrepancies and allow them the five builder and adventure tools updates that customers would usually get. It probably has more to do with some cross-training capabilities of CS rather than the money of the situation because while every effected customer will likely call, it could probably take an hour out of a programmer/data entry clerk/similar database role to write the appropriate code to prevent the need. Whether that would be cost effective is a different story which depends on how many CS requests there would be without this issue, how much the CS reps and the code person would make on an hourly rate and whether the increased number of CS requests can be handled without a drop in subcribers.
Anyway, while I don't like that the updates are being pushed back, I do have to wonder why the Dungeon and Dragon articles are not going to be delayed. The authors always seem to be writing in the week the article is posted, but I would imagine that they are alotted the same time off and not required to submit articles ahead of time for their inclusion and posting... Just curious is all...
Anyway, while I don't like that the updates are being pushed back, I do have to wonder why the Dungeon and Dragon articles are not going to be delayed. The authors always seem to be writing in the week the article is posted, but I would imagine that they are alotted the same time off and not required to submit articles ahead of time for their inclusion and posting... Just curious is all...
I imagine that the vast majority of the articles are turned into the editors by the freelancers at least several weeks prior to their publication. In my case, I turned in the finalized draft of my adventures over two months prior to their publication; also, we're freelancers, so we don't get the same kind of vacation that the WotC employees do
!That IS true, but a number of the articles in the magazines are regular articles from WotC staff. Do these people submit their articles weeks ahead for their editors reviews too? I would guess so, but it seems like they are written in such a way to suggest that they are written nearly on the day that they were posted.
So... serious question here. Would you prefer that rulebook, Dragon and Dungeon releases, as a whole, pushed out 2 weeks from here on out, such that they coincided with updates to the compendium and tools?
Me? Hells yes. The reason that I subscribe to DDI isn't for Dragon or Dungeon. It's so that I have ready, accessible information on new powers, creatures, items, etc. at my fingertips (laptop and mobile devices, mostly).
Let me provide a bit of a better analogy.
You're part of a fantasy football league. This league shows rankings based off of game stats stored in a centralized database. You find out that during the 3 weeks leading up to play-offs, the service that records, tracks and posts updates to standings will be 5-7 days (essentially the day before game, the previous-week's game's stats will be posted) behind.
How would you feel?
Honestly, if part of the design and development team's charter was to ensure that the book data was in the compendium and toolset on the street-date the books are released, I'd encourage everyone I knew who plays 4E to subscribe. EVERYONE.
Right now? I'd not discourage them from subscribing, but I'd point out how Primal Power is finally getting added to the character builder a month after the book came out.
I'd seen the early notice about the delays and was understanding. And then finally listened to this month's D&D podcast today, where the Assassin and Primal Power were being talked up... I was so excited to mix things around with my Warden and try out some of the things I'd been reading about, but to put them into more concrete use via the Character Builder. No luck.
Side question for those who are in the know. I've got a hybrid character with one of the classes as an assassin. While the assassin class is in the character builder, the ability to use it as part of a hybrid is not. When will that be available? PH3?
It won't be in PH3, WotC has specified that insider exclusive material will not be included or referenced in printed material. There is however an announced third build for the assassin class that is expected to be in Dragon within about a month or so of PH3 release. It would be a reasonable guess that an entry for hybrid assassins might also be part of that article given the close dates.
Thanks bunny (what's an VCL?)
See the post here. That should answer most of your questions.
Thanks bunny (what's an VCL?)
Voulenter community leader. He is one of our go-betweens with the forum community and wotc. While I do disagree with him on a number of issues, he does a pretty good job at talking with the community and in working with wotc and has for quite awhile now too.
First, the purely data delays in the compendium, character and monster builders are absurd. Its not like there are literally months between a book being signed off, sent to the printers, stock being dispatched and arriving at your favourite outlet (be it a regular store or amazon or whatever). Oh wait, yes it is!
While I can see some things will take coding to implement correctly (say psi powers, or hybrids) feats, powers, monsters and items should be hooking into established rules in the majority of cases. Could they have a huge backlogw to enter? Maybe. Could the way everything interacts be so horrible that the whole app has to be reworked with every update? God I hope not! There's no practicable excuse for these delays other than a choice made by the WotC management.
Second, regarding entitlement to content and so forth... If they set things up so that you had to enter a code from a book to enable content, they couldn't in good conscience charge anything really for the apps or encourage people to subscribe. You paid for the book, enter the key and done. No regular income. Plus you have issues like key management, additional printing/insert costs, what to do with second hand books where keys have been registered already and so on. All in all, it costs them and they get little back for it.
With a subscirption service giving you all the data, but not necessarily everything you need to play the character if you or someone you play with hasn't bought the book, they have a win win. We all know that splat books don't sell anywhere near as well as the three core books. Perhaps 4th edition has broken that rule a little, I've certainly not heard anything to say that it has. Simple business sense alas says a company must look after its bottom line and cash flow. Subscription services do this in spades.
I can't comment on the cash flow from Dragon & Dungeon, but back in the days when it was a print magazine I doubt it was free from the usual magazine issue - that is the cover price really doesn't do much for covering costs at all, you rely on advertising for that. The cover price is essentially there paying for distrubition and making the final profit. While digital distribution removes a very significant set of costs, the effect cover price of the magazine has plummeted. If you take a very poor calculation and assume that a subscribers fee is split three ways - dungeon, dragon electronic tools then each third is worth about $2 - $3.33. Looking quickly back, paizo were selling Dragon and Dungeon for $7 - $8 each, with pdf versions for $4.95.