D&D Insider Beta
Wizards of the Coast, Inc. announced today that the planned beta release of D&D Insider kicks off with the switch to 4th Edition content for the Dragon and Dungeon online magazines, set to coincide with the launch of D&D 4th Edition. The planned beta period is free, and in addition to the online magazines the beta will include the first iteration of the D&D Rules Compendium, an online resource for players and Dungeon Masters of the world’s greatest fantasy roleplaying game. Other D&D Insider components will roll out as they become available.
"We’re extremely excited to have both analog and digital components come together for D&D 4th Edition," said Scott Rouse, Senior Brand Manager for D&D. "Through the free beta period, we encourage fans to help us make improvements to the suite of digital components offered through D&D Insider."
The client-based applications, including the D&D Character Builder and D&D Game Table, will not be part of the initial beta release period, but will be added as they become available.
After the initial beta period concludes, Wizards of the Coast will offer a special introductory price for a limited time. "When the special introductory price period comes to an end, the regular price of $14.95 per month for the entire suite of components goes into effect," said Rouse. "And, as we’ve previously announced, there will be discounts based on longer subscription commitments."
Check out the latest installment of Ampersand for more details.
"We’re extremely excited to have both analog and digital components come together for D&D 4th Edition," said Scott Rouse, Senior Brand Manager for D&D. "Through the free beta period, we encourage fans to help us make improvements to the suite of digital components offered through D&D Insider."
The client-based applications, including the D&D Character Builder and D&D Game Table, will not be part of the initial beta release period, but will be added as they become available.
After the initial beta period concludes, Wizards of the Coast will offer a special introductory price for a limited time. "When the special introductory price period comes to an end, the regular price of $14.95 per month for the entire suite of components goes into effect," said Rouse. "And, as we’ve previously announced, there will be discounts based on longer subscription commitments."
Check out the latest installment of Ampersand for more details.
Ampersand
D&D Day is fast approaching, and along with the cool analog products we’re releasing for 4th Edition (game books, miniatures, dungeon tiles, novels, etc.) comes the initial rollout of Dungeons & Dragons Insider. We’ve been talking about this exciting suite of digital offerings since the announcement last August, and now the first stage of the project is about to kick into high gear.
It all starts with the switch from preview content and 3.5 content, to all-4th-Edition all-the-time in our online magazines, Dragon and Dungeon. New articles, features, and adventures will roll out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and then the entire month’s content will be collected into a full-sized digital magazine. Between the two online magazines, that’s the equivalent of an extra full-sized D&D game supplement every month—and that’s just for starters! D&D Insider will eventually also include an ever-expanding suite of player and DM tools, a game table, and other features that make it a compelling destination for all D&D fans.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. Back to the initial rollout…
D&D Insider’s free beta period coincides with the launch of 4th Edition. You get to try out the first digital components without paying the subscription fees, and you can provide feedback to help us improve your experience. The initial rollout includes Dragon and Dungeon online magazines, and the D&D Rules Compendium. This powerful online resource for players and Dungeon Masters alike will be updated with each new D&D release (whether it’s an analog game product or a digital magazine), making it the place to go in order to find what you need, when you need it.
As other components become available, including client-based applications such as the D&D Character Builder and the D&D Game Table, they will be added to the mix. I’ll talk more about these digital offerings in my next column.
When the initial beta period comes to an end, subscription rates will go into effect. Initially, we’re going to roll out a special, limited-time introductory pricing offer. Those who get in on the ground floor will be able to take advantage of some great deals to gain access to D&D Insider and all its great features. After this introductory period, the regular subscription pricing that we’ve previously announced will go into effect: $14.95 per month, with discounts for longer subscription commitments.
So, get ready to sign up for your free D&D Insider beta account. Read the articles, use the material, experiment with the Rules Compendium—and provide us with the feedback we need to make these components even better.
Online Magazines
With the launch of D&D 4th Edition, the analog products and the digital offerings combine to make for a more intense and extensive D&D experience. This is initially most clearly seen in Dragon and Dungeon online magazines. If the analog book product is the first disc in the two-disc DVD that is D&D, then the online magazines are the bonus disc. The book (say, the Player’s Handbook) is the movie, the feature film. Dragon and Dungeon, then, are the extras—the deleted scenes, the documentaries, the alternate endings, the commentaries. Of course, this is just an analogy, the reality is even better.
Each online magazine includes material written by a combination of my in-house design and development staff, well-known freelancers, and talented newcomers from among the D&D fan base. That material is then subjected to the rigorous development process that all of our analog products go through, a process headed up by Mike Mearls and the D&D developers. When we reveal an article or an adventure, it stands side-by-side with our analog products as official, fully developed D&D canon.
Both magazines have been artistically redesigned to mirror the look of the 4E analog products while maintaining a magazine feel. In their new format, every article can be downloaded as a PDF or opened in a browser window for immediate viewing. Then, an issue’s worth of content is compiled into a collected PDF.
Dragon will be the place for players and DMs to find behind-the-scenes features, design and development secrets, product expansions and extras, and new rules mechanics. Dragon content also focuses on adding new elements and options to your game. We’re even going to use Dragon to show off new classes and races before they appear in a future Player’s Handbook, basically revealing them in playtest mode so that you can help us get them ready for wider distribution. That’s one of the perks of being a D&D Insider—you get to help shape the future development of the game.
Dungeon will be mostly the purview of Dungeon Masters, featuring side treks, adventure hooks, and full-length adventures to supplement our analog adventures and your own creativity. The goal of Dungeon is to make the DM’s life easier. I’ve seen some of the stuff that Chris Youngs has planned, and I can’t wait to try it out on my gaming group.
What you’ve seen since the announcement has been just the tip of the iceberg. The magazine content has been geared toward teasing and previewing the upcoming edition. When the new edition arrives, everything changes. The magazines take on all the depth and crunch we’ve been promising, and the cycle of D&D 4th Edition really kicks into high gear. It’s a cycle of analog products complemented by digital offerings that, in turn, influence organized play and are reflected in a vibrant community that provides feedback and suggestions—that leads to the next analog product, and the ongoing cycle of 4th Edition.
This is the vision I pitched three years ago. This is the vision that my team and the support teams throughout Wizards have been working to bring to fruition. This is the vision that’s about to become reality… at least, the first stage!
I can’t wait.
Keep playing!
--Bill Slavicsek
About the Author
Bill Slavicsek is the R&D Director for Roleplaying Games, Miniatures, and Book Publishing at Wizards of the Coast. All of the game designers, developers, editors, book editors, and D&D Insider content managers working on Dungeons & Dragons, Star Wars, and the WotC Publishing Group report into Bill's R&D team.
It all starts with the switch from preview content and 3.5 content, to all-4th-Edition all-the-time in our online magazines, Dragon and Dungeon. New articles, features, and adventures will roll out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and then the entire month’s content will be collected into a full-sized digital magazine. Between the two online magazines, that’s the equivalent of an extra full-sized D&D game supplement every month—and that’s just for starters! D&D Insider will eventually also include an ever-expanding suite of player and DM tools, a game table, and other features that make it a compelling destination for all D&D fans.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. Back to the initial rollout…
D&D Insider’s free beta period coincides with the launch of 4th Edition. You get to try out the first digital components without paying the subscription fees, and you can provide feedback to help us improve your experience. The initial rollout includes Dragon and Dungeon online magazines, and the D&D Rules Compendium. This powerful online resource for players and Dungeon Masters alike will be updated with each new D&D release (whether it’s an analog game product or a digital magazine), making it the place to go in order to find what you need, when you need it.
As other components become available, including client-based applications such as the D&D Character Builder and the D&D Game Table, they will be added to the mix. I’ll talk more about these digital offerings in my next column.
When the initial beta period comes to an end, subscription rates will go into effect. Initially, we’re going to roll out a special, limited-time introductory pricing offer. Those who get in on the ground floor will be able to take advantage of some great deals to gain access to D&D Insider and all its great features. After this introductory period, the regular subscription pricing that we’ve previously announced will go into effect: $14.95 per month, with discounts for longer subscription commitments.
So, get ready to sign up for your free D&D Insider beta account. Read the articles, use the material, experiment with the Rules Compendium—and provide us with the feedback we need to make these components even better.
Online Magazines
With the launch of D&D 4th Edition, the analog products and the digital offerings combine to make for a more intense and extensive D&D experience. This is initially most clearly seen in Dragon and Dungeon online magazines. If the analog book product is the first disc in the two-disc DVD that is D&D, then the online magazines are the bonus disc. The book (say, the Player’s Handbook) is the movie, the feature film. Dragon and Dungeon, then, are the extras—the deleted scenes, the documentaries, the alternate endings, the commentaries. Of course, this is just an analogy, the reality is even better.
Each online magazine includes material written by a combination of my in-house design and development staff, well-known freelancers, and talented newcomers from among the D&D fan base. That material is then subjected to the rigorous development process that all of our analog products go through, a process headed up by Mike Mearls and the D&D developers. When we reveal an article or an adventure, it stands side-by-side with our analog products as official, fully developed D&D canon.
Both magazines have been artistically redesigned to mirror the look of the 4E analog products while maintaining a magazine feel. In their new format, every article can be downloaded as a PDF or opened in a browser window for immediate viewing. Then, an issue’s worth of content is compiled into a collected PDF.
Dragon will be the place for players and DMs to find behind-the-scenes features, design and development secrets, product expansions and extras, and new rules mechanics. Dragon content also focuses on adding new elements and options to your game. We’re even going to use Dragon to show off new classes and races before they appear in a future Player’s Handbook, basically revealing them in playtest mode so that you can help us get them ready for wider distribution. That’s one of the perks of being a D&D Insider—you get to help shape the future development of the game.
Dungeon will be mostly the purview of Dungeon Masters, featuring side treks, adventure hooks, and full-length adventures to supplement our analog adventures and your own creativity. The goal of Dungeon is to make the DM’s life easier. I’ve seen some of the stuff that Chris Youngs has planned, and I can’t wait to try it out on my gaming group.
What you’ve seen since the announcement has been just the tip of the iceberg. The magazine content has been geared toward teasing and previewing the upcoming edition. When the new edition arrives, everything changes. The magazines take on all the depth and crunch we’ve been promising, and the cycle of D&D 4th Edition really kicks into high gear. It’s a cycle of analog products complemented by digital offerings that, in turn, influence organized play and are reflected in a vibrant community that provides feedback and suggestions—that leads to the next analog product, and the ongoing cycle of 4th Edition.
This is the vision I pitched three years ago. This is the vision that my team and the support teams throughout Wizards have been working to bring to fruition. This is the vision that’s about to become reality… at least, the first stage!
I can’t wait.
Keep playing!
--Bill Slavicsek
About the Author
Bill Slavicsek is the R&D Director for Roleplaying Games, Miniatures, and Book Publishing at Wizards of the Coast. All of the game designers, developers, editors, book editors, and D&D Insider content managers working on Dungeons & Dragons, Star Wars, and the WotC Publishing Group report into Bill's R&D team.
Comparable to most MMO's really.
Except that with MMOs, you don't need to -also- invest in hundreds of dollars worth of books, miniatures, etc for every player involved.
$14.95 is ridiculous. Way too expensive for what they're offering, particularly because it's -not- a real MMORPG.
Plus, given that they've destroyed the Realms and replaced it with a Bizarroland version, there's no reason for me to get involved in the new FR setting.
Far better to just keep playing 3.5, or put my books away for a while and sign up for a real MMO.
Except that with MMOs, you don't need to -also- invest in hundreds of dollars worth of books, miniatures, etc for every player involved.
The thing comes with a database where you can look up all the books.
and the D&D Rules Compendium. This powerful online resource for players and Dungeon Masters alike will be updated with each new D&D release (whether it’s an analog game product or a digital magazine), making it the place to go in order to find what you need, when you need it.
On the one hand, if the content that comes out during the free beta is actually worthwhile and interesting, I might be tempted to sign on, at least for a time. If Ed's actually contributing significant Realmslore, if there are good, strong articles being posted three times a week, every week, I would lean towards subscribing.
If, on the other hand, DDI continues to consist of pseudo-press releases, marketing blurbs, sparse updates, and frankly pathetic retreads which show no understanding of the setting, e.g. the Zhent Headless Horseman, well then, not so much.
The thing comes with a database where you can look up all the books.
Which is gone when you stop subscribing.
Which is gone when you stop subscribing.
You pay nothing, you get nothing. So?
You pay nothing, you get nothing. So?
You seem to misunderstand the premise of your own argument. In your previous response, your "...(it) comes with a database where you can look up all the books" suggests that people wouldn't need to buy the books in order to play the game. If that's actually true (which I strongly doubt), then it means your entire game vaporizes when you don't subscribe. At least now, people have books that allow them to keep playing when they don't follow a website. See the difference? After six months, you'll have paid $90 for WotC web use. If you didn't buy the books, everything is -gone- when you stop. You can no longer play.
If you do need the books in addition to web materials (to -fully- play the game), then you might stop playing anyway when people in your gaming group can't all pony up for the web fees. Again, a loss of investment.
Suppose you never re-subscribe but you did buy all the hardback books. Would people really want to play without all of the internet bells and whistles (such as they are), after having seen them for free?
In a year, if a good portion of the gaming community -doesn't- adopt the internet service, and the company either decides to stop supporting it or they don't sell enough to make a reasonable profit, what happens then? I'll tell you: the company retains all the money you've spent on them, and you have either a gimped or dead game that will collect dust on your shelf.
Then 5E will come out, to the "rescue"... haha!
I was under the impression you would really only have access to the books youve purchased and entered the internet code into your subscription. Not every book that gets printed. Wasnt there a post a while back where they described how you would have a feat list for all the books but only descriptions and gameplay stuff for feats in books you own? So $14.95 a month for a list of stuff Ive already bought? No thanks.
$14.95 per month unless you get a years subscription then it drops to $10.00 per month; which is cheaper than some MMO’s. It’s the cost of a movie ticket. And this is not counting the special introductory price for subscribing early. And I recommend reading all of the information found here : http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dndifaq it will inform you what is available to you. Its not just a feat list.
So the launch that coincides with 4E's release will only have the Rules Compendium? The info last year made the DDI sound like a major part of 4E. Again, hah! WOTC only rolls 1s when it comes to technology and they really haven't convinced me that DDI will be an improvement over past projects.
I dont need a character creator, I already have one, I call it a brain. .
QFT.
A lot of that 'not a MMO' arguement depends on whether one can get into a pickup game on the virtual tabletop thingy. While I don't find that particularly compelling, I could definitely see the appeal for those who have a hard time getting a group together to be able to meet others in the same boat to at least get the chance to play occassionally. There are a lot of good aspects to it, if it works as they seem to intend it to, just not much that appeals directly to me...
Heh, pick-up groups (or PUGs) in Warcraft are famous for being terrible. Not always, but often. And Warcraft is not that hard to play or understand. Ramp that up several levels for a DnD game, and we'll see how that works out.
Sorry, I just don't have any faith that the WotC people can pull it off, at least not such that pick-up tabletop-internet games end up running smoothly. Warcraft has tons of programmers and playtesters for major releases and upgrades, and I'm willing to bet that WotC has very few by comparison. Some are probably interns, half baked from classes and hitting the pipe. ;)
Probably true, but note the 'if it works as they seem to intend it to' up there. :P ;)
Oh, yeah - I totally agree. It might end up being the next best thing since sliced bread, but that chance seems fairly small to me.
$14.95 per month unless you get a years subscription then it drops to $10.00 per month; which is cheaper than some MMO’s. It’s the cost of a movie ticket. And this is not counting the special introductory price for subscribing early. And I recommend reading all of the information found here : http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dndifaq it will inform you what is available to you. Its not just a feat list.
For me it's TWO movie tickets.
I will print out everthing I need and binder it. It may not be as pretty as a mag but it will serve its purpsoe for my gaming needs.
If DDI isn't up 24/7, I won't be subscribing.
What kind of web site in 2008 needs to be down daily? For an hour!? For basic maintenance?!
Ah yes, neglected to mention it, but I was reminded when I ran into the problem earlier today:
If DDI isn't up 24/7, I won't be subscribing.
What kind of web site in 2008 needs to be down daily? For an hour!? For basic maintenance?!
The Warcraft MMO service often takes most of Tuesday mornings for maintenance. Often, this is a few hours, but not always. That said, I'm not sure that this DDI will be... *cough* nearly as complex. Heh! Never know, though, they might surprise the socks off me. ;)
And FWIW, I won't be subscribing.
I don't think anything produced by Hasbro has a snowball's chance in hell of competing with MORPGs, and since they are the same price, its really a no-brainer for me.
Especially since I just started getting back into Warcraft... and they have another expansion out soon...
But we shall see. If its knocks my socks off, then yes, I will subscribe, but so far my socks have not only reamined firmly planted upon my feet, but they have taken root after seeing some of the abysmal, self-serving crap they have posted over the last few months.
Then again, I just may need to change my socks. :P
"This June, James Wyatt will discuss the contents and development of the 4E Dungeon Master’s Guide in a featured Dragon article."
Ah yes, because if there's one way to get me to pay for Dragon online, it's to feature an advertisement.
What I find interesting (though perhaps not surprising) is that a number of features that were promised to be available in June won't be included at that point during the free beta. My guess is it's stuck in development hell somewhere being haunted by the ghost of 3e E-tools.
-Not for nothing, Shemmy, but does that really surprise you?
Ah yes, neglected to mention it, but I was reminded when I ran into the problem earlier today:
If DDI isn't up 24/7, I won't be subscribing.
What kind of web site in 2008 needs to be down daily? For an hour!? For basic maintenance?!
Maybe not the website, but the MMO City of Heros used to go down every day from about 9 to 10am for daily maintainence. I havent checked the current schedule, but they might only be doing it once a week now.
I suspect that WotC's tech people know nothing about engine efficiency and that their artists suck massive amounts of ass.
Let the hate flow young Skywalker, only by embracing the anger in your heart can you embrace the true power of the dark side!
This isn't an MMO, so why are people comparing the pricing to what it costs for an MMO?
and how much were people paying each month for a copy of Dragon and a copy of Dungeon?
Have you been looking at the content that's been coming out under the free, online "preview" versions of Dungeon and Dragon? Not exactly the kind of material that I'd be able to compare to the print versions. In short, they stink.
Usually, when you're trying to lure subscribers in, you work hard to put out the kind of material that the browser might see, read, and say, "Gosh, I want more of that!" After all, once DDi goes "live," it's not like you can go to the game shop, flip through the latest issue and make an impulse buy.
And, frankly, the Headless Zhent Horseman ain't exactly thrilling he credit card right outta the ole' wallet.
If anything, what's currently on DDi ought to be better than what we'll likely see after the payment-walls come down. If you can convince someone to subscribe for a year with free material, that's good for your company - the likelihood of someone canceling their subscription is low. But if you can't convince them to subscribe, the likelihood is very low that they will later.
This isn't an MMO, so why are people comparing the pricing to what it costs for an MMO?
Are you sure this isn't an MMORPG? I coulda sworn...