Setting this feedback thread in advance for Digital Insider #22, due to go live tomorrow.
Many thanks!
The current date for 'on-track' is by the end of January.
Was hoping for a bit more of a specific, but if there isn't any to give I understand. Thanks for the reply in any case. I'll be attending the DnDXP event at the end of the month so I'm a tad antsy right now.
Give us the state of things, not advertising.
Agreed. We get a lot of that already. I'd like to know if these previews will replace the playtests though.
You know this one will be coming up so I'll get it out of the way... It states the character builder is on track for its release. Any firm, or ideal, date for this?
31st of January. If it appears before then it'll be a surprise for everyone ;)
Now, as others have stated it seems to be more of a generic ad for DnD as a whole. I don't find this to be helpful. Perhaps, if you really can't find something useful to say each week, you should just bite the bullet and make this a monthly update, but make it more focussed on DDI than ampersand.
Here we are closing in on the end of the month, and the D&D Character Builder is still on track for its full release. The full release features all physical and digital published products to date for characters levels 1 to 30.
BOOO-urns for not providing a date. :P
At the same time, I understand why. A little wiggle-room is needed in case of an "OOPs, why is it doing this??" that is discovered at the last minute.
Account Management Update
I like that they have put together a quick fix for this problem. Now to see that it works.
Penny Arcade Podcasts
I am so looking forward to these podcasts. The PA guys rock, and WW is a great speaker. These guys play D&D like my group does. Relaxed, fun and lots of wisecracks.
Coming Up in Dragon Magazine
And on Monday, watch for the Sorcerer class as we roll out the first three levels for you to take on a test run in your next adventure.
I will be interested to see how the sorcerer turns out.
Ok, so the Sorceror preview is supposedly a Dragon article... but will it appear in the final compiled Dragon Magazine?
Based on previous previews, I would have to say no.
BOOO-urns for not providing a date. :P
At the same time, I understand why. A little wiggle-room is needed in case of an "OOPs, why is it doing this??" that is discovered at the last minute.
any serious software developer can only shake his head about such a thing... (and sadly, at that)
if you set a release date, you're finished with your product about 2-3 weeks before, if it is something like a bought game, even 4-6 months, like books.
so honestly, if they don't know the date yet, it is not finished, and thus will either be beta-released again, rushed to be "final" and with known bugs, or not released at all.
any serious software developer can only shake his head about such a thing... (and sadly, at that)
if you set a release date, you're finished with your product about 2-3 weeks before, if it is something like a bought game, even 4-6 months, like books.
so honestly, if they don't know the date yet, it is not finished, and thus will either be beta-released again, rushed to be "final" and with known bugs, or not released at all.
Very good point, i would say final with known bugs.
You guys need to go back and read the old insiders Randy did, and see how much everybody whined about them every week. This is definately a "grass is greener" group that is not possible to please.
you could say the same about the always-optimistic, cheerleading crows on the other side. also, most of us are deeply concerned with what befalls our hobby, and are even willing to give advice/wishlists - which are largely ignored, trampled upon, and mostly not even that. those threads here could as well not exist, and the columns would be the same without the comments - they are not listening to us, not anymore...
You guys need to go back and read the old insiders Randy did, and see how much everybody whined about them every week. This is definately a "grass is greener" group that is not possible to please.
But I don't recall people whining about Randy specifically. It was more about the content that sparked flames than the writer.
Anyway, I liked this article because it gave me a lot of information I didn't know. Of course, other people will rightfully dislike it for its lack of content regarding Digital Insider.
Anyway, I liked this article because it gave me a lot of information I didn't know. Of course, other people will rightfully dislike it for its lack of content regarding Digital Insider.
this maybe sums it up nicely - it's not dnd insider news... it might just as well be labeled "news" without any relations to ddi.
What I mean is, I still have to send a request to customer service. I get an automated response, then I wait for 2 business days for confirmation. Isn't this how it went previously?
The process still isn't isntantaneous and still requires human interaction (via customer service). The only significant differece I notice is that I don't have to send an actual email now; the link to CS is on the 'auto-renew management' page.
How is this a quick fix? What exactly has changed for the better? I realize I'm often just barking in the wind when I make posts like this and normally that doesn't bother me. Just this once however, make an exception :P. Please share your thoughts on this. As a monthly subscriber, auto-renew is a major concern for me. I need to believe that they are making progress. Is this progress? What do you think? Thanks in advance.
you could say the same about the always-optimistic, cheerleading crows on the other side. also, most of us are deeply concerned with what befalls our hobby, and are even willing to give advice/wishlists - which are largely ignored, trampled upon, and mostly not even that. those threads here could as well not exist, and the columns would be the same without the comments - they are not listening to us, not anymore...
"Considering the way people on these forums speak, I wouldn't either. Not to mention, the people on these forums represent a small, outspoken, and very irritating minority of the people that play DnD. I have 8 people in my DnD group, I am about the only one willing to even put up with the crap on these forums to post. God save WotC if they suddenly start basing their decisions on the people on these forums."
this maybe sums it up nicely - it's not dnd insider news... it might just as well be labeled "news" without any relations to ddi.
Yes, this is the problem. General DnD news belongs in Bill's Ampersand article or splashed in promotional blurbs on the website. The DDI news is supposed to be just that "news about DDI."
@The_Roc Yes, Randy got flamed a few times especially in August and September when they were having trouble putting out any content on a regular basis and a few of his articles were quite defensive. But the real point here is that it got better. They added a table of Contents for Dragon and Dungeon. They set regular dates for updates to the Compendium and (hopefully) the Character Builder. We flamed and Randy responded with some fixes - not all the fixes we wanted, but some. And then we got the Character Generator, which I think is a great tool. These things gave some skeptics like myself some confidence that they might work it out.
Then we got the news of the firings and we haven't gotten any real updates or fixes since. 2 months of no new information. With no evidence to the contrary, it is just left to us to speculate about what they are up to and what is next with DDI. Based on their track record, most of these speculations are bound to be negative.
The responses that were well written, and hopefully contained suggestions. Those, OTOH, have a much higher chance of getting noticed and acted on.
I can almost guarantee you that "flaming" Randy and the rest of the DDI staff had a less than significant impact on getting them to change stuff.
The responses that were well written, and hopefully contained suggestions. Those, OTOH, have a much higher chance of getting noticed and acted on.
It is a little disheartening that something like this has to be pointed out to folks. It seems like it should be just a common sense realization that people, when insulted, are far less likely to listen to anything else you might have to say.
Take a moment and think about it. How do insults and abuse bring someone around to your point of view? If anything, such behavior only serves to weaken your position and ensure that the person whom you've berated ignores your suggestions in the future.
Emotions run high, I get that. But can't we try to raise the level of discourse above petty insults and personal attacks? They do nothing to further the conversation.
Cheers!
Wollstonecraft
I can almost guarantee you that "flaming" Randy and the rest of the DDI staff had a less than significant impact on getting them to change stuff.
The responses that were well written, and hopefully contained suggestions. Those, OTOH, have a much higher chance of getting noticed and acted on.
I have said before and I will say again:
The problem with that plan is the visible official responses.
There are very few to no offificial replies to well-reasoned and polite complaints, both those with suggested fixes and those without.
There have been several official responses to frenzied rants, some along the lines of "La-la-la! I can't hear you! La-la-la!" The worse of course was with the cartoons, where we (the community) got a response of "Up yours you humorless censors!"
The second problem with that plan is the visible non-official responses.
You are more than aware of how many times you have had to tell people not to try and silence the opinions of other community members.
That falls short, and inevitably leads to exchanges, and that leads to people who had started with reasoned complaints being baited into intemperate rants.
If reasoned and polite feedback, especially complaints, is desired, WotC must make an active effort to providing recognition of that feedback. One would have hoped this would be the job description of the Community Liaison. Obviously it was not. It can somewhat be the job of VCLs and such, though the unofficial nature of those jobs limits the impact that will have.
The recognition does not have to be awesome. It does not have to be "Getting right on it, it will be fixed tomorrow!" It just has to be there, and it has to be more than a form letter.
I am well aware that is not easy. I am well aware it will cost the salary of at least one, likely more, full-time employees.
That does not change that it is a choice between repeating a mantra and hoping it works and having posts start with "I have supported DDI from the beginning, but any time I make the least criticism of some flaw it is ignored by WotC and I get flamed by a pack of obnoxious fanboys."
"Considering the way people on these forums speak, I wouldn't either. Not to mention, the people on these forums represent a small, outspoken, and very irritating minority of the people that play DnD. I have 8 people in my DnD group, I am about the only one willing to even put up with the crap on these forums to post. God save WotC if they suddenly start basing their decisions on the people on these forums."
This.
"Considering the way people on these forums speak, I wouldn't either. Not to mention, the people on these forums represent a small, outspoken, and very irritating minority of the people that play DnD. I have 8 people in my DnD group, I am about the only one willing to even put up with the crap on these forums to post. "
how many of those have subscribed to DNDI or are planning to?
A product that is tailored for an interenet audience should be worth an employee for communicating with the forum users...
Now THAT is a well stated, simple, and very salient point.
I'll second this.
A product that is tailored for an interenet audience should be worth an employee for communicating with the forum users...
*agreed*
A product that is tailored for an interenet audience should be worth an employee for communicating with the forum users...
Yes, and I guess that I just don't feel the communication. I feel like they have little to say or are afraid to do so.
I will accept MB's rebuke that "flaming" is not the best way to get your concerns handled. I think that I might also suffer from a poor definition of "flaming" which I was using to mean "pointing out obvious flaws and shortcomings." Apparently the word is a little more charged than that and implies some kind of nastiness or bitterness. This is not what I was trying to say. I will avoid using this word in the future. Simply put I think that when the DDI content is found lacking, it should be pointed out and since the DDI news articles point straight to this forum, I expect WotC employees to digest the information posted here.
That said I don't think my previous post qualified as a "flame" by any definition. Nor does this one.
A product that is tailored for an interenet audience should be worth an employee for communicating with the forum users...
Believe me. I push for it and push for it. What with the re-shuffling of duties due to the layoffs before christmas, who does what is still being worked out.
Yes, and I guess that I just don't feel the communication. I feel like they have little to say or are afraid to do so.
Currently, I think a big part of it is that they do have little to say other than "we are working on finishing the Character Builder". That is where their focus is at the moment.
I will accept MB's rebuke that "flaming" is not the best way to get your concerns handled. I think that I might also suffer from a poor definition of "flaming" which I was using to mean "pointing out obvious flaws and shortcomings." Apparently the word is a little more charged than that and implies some kind of nastiness or bitterness. This is not what I was trying to say. I will avoid using this word in the future.
Yeah, bit of a difference in terminology. :D
Your definition of flaming is the equivalent to my definition of criticism. The problem with flaming is that, for any but the masochistic, as soon as you see a flame, any credibility that the content of the message might have is lost due to the flame.
Simply put I think that when the DDI content is found lacking, it should be pointed out and since the DDI news articles point straight to this forum, I expect WotC employees to digest the information posted here.
There are other methods that can be used. If you go through the Contact Us link at the bottom, you can send an email to the Community Management Team and/or the DDI team.
That said I don't think my previous post qualified as a "flame" by any definition. Nor does this one.
No, neither of them do, and I apologize if my post implied that. It was in no way meant to do so.
Now that would be spectacularly useful. Agreed? But that's just something else. That would be a "rules compendium"
I'm not complaining, just clarifying.
Thank you very much for the current compendium. It's priceless.
A product that is tailored for an interenet audience should be worth an employee for communicating with the forum users...
I agree. And I would like to point out the job that WotC_Chuck has been doing with keeping us informed about the auto-renewal issues. He's been a noticable presence, and it has really been a good influence on people who have been following that issue and are waiting for it to be fully resolved.