I have been playing since 1979 and I personally love the game. However, making people buy subscriptions for content that is barely complete? I've known Kender with better attention spans.
Let's run down the list of "benefits" that are available now (even though EVERYTHING was supposed to be ready and correct by launch)
Compendium - not really needed, since we have (oh what were those things called again...) ah yes THE BOOKS
Dungeon and Dragon magazines online - these are ok at best. The adventure path for example is a nice bonus, however you will spend more than a standard published adventure in printing costs (ink cartridges and paper) unless you have the option of running the game via a laptop. I can't really see someone using their monitor to their desktop computer as a DM screen.
As far as the previews are concerned, I really don't think that WotC should use the public as free beta testing - isn't that what having a Research and Development team is for?
Bonus tools - these are ok at best - again the information in this are found in the books so its unneeded.
and that's all we get for now....the only viable things I can see making the subscription even useful are the character builder and the D&D game table. Those things are not even available yet, and of course no one can give us a straight answer. Even if they did, like they did with the "on launch day" promise, they would just make excuses why it wasn't done.
I know that D&Di is not required to play D&D but if you are going to claim to produce things to enhance our gaming, I would suggest that you keep your promises.
This reminds me of the whole "E-tools" fiasco. Look, it's simple - unless you can produce your products correct and by the time you say they will be available - don't promise anything. What you will end up doing by constantly missing your promise dates and keeping us in the dark is nothing short than killing Dungeons and Dragons all together.
The game has been around for more than 30 years. If you are unable or unwilling to do the job correctly - then step down and let people who know how to treat their customers with respect step in and do it right the first time
Compendium - not really needed, since we have (oh what were those things called again...) ah yes THE BOOKS
The compendium is handy for looking up bits of information at work or when you don't feel like digging through the books.
As far as the previews are concerned, I really don't think that WotC should use the public as free beta testing - isn't that what having a Research and Development team is for?
They aren't using the public as beta-testers. What the previews are for is to allow the public (or DDI subscribers from now on) a sneak peak at what is being developped for future WotC releases.
Bonus tools - these are ok at best - again the information in this are found in the books so its unneeded.
Unneeded for you. I happen to like them.
I know that D&Di is not required to play D&D but if you are going to claim to produce things to enhance our gaming, I would suggest that you keep your promises.
It enhances my gaming, so it is worth it to me.
In the end, what it comes down to is, as you repeated throughout your post, whether the tools and info that they are providing make it worth your while to spend your hard-earned money on. For you, it obviously is not worth your money. However, for many others, it *is* worth paying for.
However, for many others, it *is* worth paying for.
Color me with the "it's so TOTALLY worth it" brush. :D
I find the bonus tools for me as a DM are almost as valuable as the magazines. I am a busy person and anything that saves me time is worth my dollars.
Why would I pay for the encounter builder, when I can go to a website that has that, and a monster builder, and a random treasure generator all in the same place. Fully updated? And truth be told, are way better than what Wizard's has put out.
I don't mean to troll and knock on Wizard's efforts to make cash. Very good for them. But all that the DDI offers me right now, I can get elsewhere for $0.00. Except the magazines...
My question to you would be, why would you feel the need to spend the cash for these apps, when they are freely available?
I'm not giving away money for something that I can, and you as well, get for free.
As far as I know those programs aren't illegal yet, so it isn't piracy....
And I would much prefer to have Dungeon and Dragon in printed form - I would even pay for it.
Personally, I'm rather disappointed with WoTC lately.
me too, but not as much as I was with TSR in the late 90's, or Piazo for the last year they owned the magazines...and no where near as much as I was dissapointed in theD&D vedio games over the years (Baulders gate for ps2 not withstanding)
Compendium - not really needed, since we have (oh what were those things called again...) ah yes THE BOOKS
Hey some of us kids like this...besides I HATE Wotc Indexes, this seams to be atleast an ok item for me...
Dungeon and Dragon magazines online - these are ok at best. The adventure path for example is a nice bonus, however you will spend more than a standard published adventure in printing costs (ink cartridges and paper) unless you have the option of running the game via a laptop. I can't really see someone using their monitor to their desktop computer as a DM screen.
well I have been reading dragon since the 80's, and I like what I see, and dungeon is just frosting on the cake to me..
As far as the previews are concerned, I really don't think that WotC should use the public as free beta testing - isn't that what having a Research and Development team is for?
you must be jokeing, you don't want to get an early look, and a chance to have your opions herd?!?!?!?!?!? Bonus tools - these are ok at best - again the information in this are found in the books so its unneeded.
They are OK...nothing to write home about, if I didn't subscribe I could get playuer made versions of these off enworld...
The game has been around for more than 30 years. If you are unable or unwilling to do the job correctly - then step down and let people who know how to treat their customers with respect step in and do it right the first time
I cry at the thought of the day WotC stops publishing D&D, for all there mess ups...and frankly there are alot, I feel they have also done more for D&D then TSR did post 1992...and did it better then even most before that.
My perspective is that I just paid less than five bucks a month for what will turn out to be around fifteen hundred pages worth of professionally produced gaming material. Anything else is gravy.
i agree about the volume of content you receive, and that the pdfs look professional. however, playtesting, editing and probably also selection of articles for the mags are way below the usual standard set for dnd products.
currently i pay around 20 for new print products, why should i pay 10 for new digital content which is strictly inferior instead?
It organizes all information, including information from books I don't own, and I can access it anywhere I want as long as I have a browser that reads flash. (Oh I wish the iPhone read flash.)
however, playtesting, editing and probably also selection of articles for the mags are way below the usual standard set for dnd products.
That hasn't been my experience of the magazines.
currently i pay around 20 for new print products, why should i pay 10 for new digital content which is strictly inferior instead?
I don't know. If you find the content inferior to whatever 4E new print product it is you're finding to spend "20" on, you probably shouldn't. Where are you getting the "pay 10" bit though? What currency are you talking about? What frequency?
I get Dungeon and Dragon in a digital format for about half of what one of them used to cost on the newstand. Nice.
Its enough for me, for less than I spent today for lunch. Which if you're curious was a Hot & Ready Pepperoni Pizza from Little Ceasars $5 plus tax.
So yeah, seems to be a value to me.
Which if you're curious was a Hot & Ready Pepperoni Pizza from Little Ceasars $5 plus tax.
/swoon
It was a dark time when LC's largely vanished from IL. Now they are slowly making their return.
Not that there's a shortage of quality pizza places in Chicagoland, but sometimes I want cheap, and when it comes to cheap, I'll take "pizza, pizza" over Domino's, Pizza Hut, or Papa John's any day of the week.
Edit: To be fair, Lou Malnati's, my preferred pizza supplier, doesn't have bad prices, they're just not insanely cheap like $5 hot-and-ready.
Basically right now, at 4.95 a month, you get Dragon/Dungeon, the Compendium and the bonus tools.
I agree, the bonus tools are meh. But they are basically just 'bonus'. 4.95 for a digital subscription to two magazines isn't a bad price (in my opinion).
If it doesn't have what you want, you won't buy it. When all the options you do want are in, you still may not want it/buy it.
Problem number 1 they have offered a $4.95 cost if you pay for 12 months up front. But they add a disclaimer that the price is subject to change. How does that work? If we pay for 1 year subscription do we get access to all of the tools for that one year subscription? IE do we get to use the complete toolset including the character builder and table top for one year at $4.95 per month or will you require more money from the people who have already paid for a year in advance?
Problem number 2 the D&D compendium is giving game enhancement away to people who may not have purchased the books that the game enhancement material is from. We were told at Gencon that there would be special codes in our new 4th edition books that would allow us to access online digital copies of the material for our personal use. Well the compendium is nice but it does not contain actual digital copies of the books and as far as I can tell it does not differentiate whether you actually own the source material or not It just says oh you paid this month here take the keys to the Ferrari and go have fun.
Yeah, but the encounter builder, the monster builder, all that stuff you can find for free online, updated by dedicated members of the fan community.
Why would I pay for the encounter builder, when I can go to a website that has that, and a monster builder, and a random treasure generator all in the same place. Fully updated? And truth be told, are way better than what Wizard's has put out.
I don't mean to troll and knock on Wizard's efforts to make cash. Very good for them. But all that the DDI offers me right now, I can get elsewhere for $0.00. Except the magazines...
My question to you would be, why would you feel the need to spend the cash for these apps, when they are freely available?
I'm not giving away money for something that I can, and you as well, get for free.
As far as I know those programs aren't illegal yet, so it isn't piracy....
Can you post some links for these sites?
Dungeon and Dragon magazines online - these are ok at best. The adventure path for example is a nice bonus, however you will spend more than a standard published adventure in printing costs (ink cartridges and paper) unless you have the option of running the game via a laptop. I can't really see someone using their monitor to their desktop computer as a DM screen.
As far as the previews are concerned, I really don't think that WotC should use the public as free beta testing - isn't that what having a Research and Development team is for?
I only print out the articles I want to bring with me to games "ie class ablities like the wizard spells, gnoll rules & the like.
i have no need to print out complete mags.
i agree about the volume of content you receive, and that the pdfs look professional. however, playtesting, editing and probably also selection of articles for the mags are way below the usual standard set for dnd products.
currently i pay around 20 for new print products, why should i pay 10 for new digital content which is strictly inferior instead?
funny i find most of it to be high quality
I for one enjoy most of the content they provide in Dragon and Dungeon magazines. The compendium is nice also. But I want to reiterate a couple of points. The important parts of Dungeons and Dragons Insider are the character builder and the Tabletop tool which are both still not available, but they want me to pay for them now. Oh wait not really the price they have out there now will be for the compendium costs and magazine costs. They have made statements that the price will be scaled based on which tools you will be using and they have a disclaimer about the price increasing as these applications are added.
Problem number 1 they have offered a $4.95 cost if you pay for 12 months up front. But they add a disclaimer that the price is subject to change. How does that work? If we pay for 1 year subscription do we get access to all of the tools for that one year subscription? IE do we get to use the complete toolset including the character builder and table top for one year at $4.95 per month or will you require more money from the people who have already paid for a year in advance?
Problem number 2 the D&D compendium is giving game enhancement away to people who may not have purchased the books that the game enhancement material is from. We were told at Gencon that there would be special codes in our new 4th edition books that would allow us to access online digital copies of the material for our personal use. Well the compendium is nice but it does not contain actual digital copies of the books and as far as I can tell it does not differentiate whether you actually own the source material or not It just says oh you paid this month here take the keys to the Ferrari and go have fun.
from the newest insider article
"4. Will the web-only subscription package remain an option after the full package becomes available?
We haven’t decided the details of future pricing and packages yet. The one guarantee that we’re making at this stage is that we will honor the full term you sign up for now. If you buy 12 months of web content at $4.95 per month then you will get 12 months of web content at $4.95 per month, no matter what we decide to do with our pricing in the future."