in another discussion, rcanine made an interesting and insightful observation.
rcanine quoth:WotC has mentioned before on the D&D podcast that, compared to their competition they have significantly more strict profitability requirements for everything they do. In other words, making something good that people like isn't enough. Making something profitable isn't enough. It needs to reach a certain level of RoI that will make people in the windowed offices happy. This isn't really a recipe for success for anything.
Crowdfunding might work, yes. Essentially, we pay up front and WotC spend a proportion of that on the development and cream off the rest as profit to please the suits. It might make WotC look cheap, though, and there's a problem with deciding who manages it
Another way would be to go the open source route and let those in the community who are able to, contribute design and coding effort for free pro bono publico with WotC just giving the nod on quality. Almost no cost to WotC. Then if the copyright material (essentially the PHB stuff) was a plugin data module that WotC could market for $$$ via RPGNow, they could show a profit that way.
Third possibilty might be for WotC to announce an open competition for a character builder and licence the winning entry.
I don't think there's an easy answer, otherwise it would already be happening, but we should certainly be discussing it.
BoldItalic wrote:
smartboyathome wrote:
I believe if crowdfunding will work, then WOTC would have stuck with Dungeonscape. Basically if the interest is overwhelming, then the risk is worth it by funding it.
blake_marlowe wrote:
frothsof wrote:
Personally, no. I would not. Why? Because I don't see the point in a digital tools thing like Dungeonscape. I personally don't see the point in HeroLab, either. The only digital product I would want to see is pdfs of the books. Even then, I vastly prefer physical copies of the books. 5th edition D&D isn't complicated to require a character builder program.
While I think Wizards of the Coast has done some good with Dungeons and Dragons, I honestly wish a different company had the property. It is unfortunate that Wizards of the Coast has to answer to Hasbro and the shareholders, because neither Hasbro nor the shareholders care for the game, and seems to be obvious they don't feel it deserves the funding it requires to continue to make good books.
I have the terrible feeling that Hasbro may pull the plug on Dungeons and Dragons with this edition, and since Hasbro has the habit of not selling off any of its properties and instead lock them up in a vault, we will see the death of D&D. But I sure hope I am wrong on this.
blake_marlowe wrote:
I think we did that already. It was called DDI.
Given WotC's past efforts and failures at digital products and their tendency to either cancel things in beta or just say "good enough" and call a product finished, I'm inclined to NOT give them money without seeing a product. They have not earned that trust. I'd be hesitant to gie WotC money to Kickstart anything.
Kickstarter also works by providing capital to companies without liquid money, so they don't need to get a bank loan or other investors. MtG is making WotC $250 million dollars each year. Asking for $50,000 to make digital tools is ridiculous. Zac Braff might need money to make a movie, but Warner Brothers doesn't.
It's a matter of profit for WotC. They won't do anything if they can't make X dollars in profit. So while Paizo might be happy making a thousand dollars for something, WotC will want ten thousand or it won't bother. So if something won't generate enough money, they won't do it. Building the tools is just one part of things, the tools still need to be maintained and updated. If they're not making enough money, they'll shut them down. And they've decided after 4e that tools are not worth the money spent.
Hell no. Don't trust them to deliver the goods. Maybe a kickstarter. I would rather have anbother company handle D&D the staff who wanted D&D in the late 90s and had a clue are long gone.
I'd back trapdoor tech if they asked. I probably wouldn't be interested in a tech project spearheaded by WOTC
GIVE US YOUR MONEY & WE MAY OR MAY NOT BE ABLE TO GET A LICENSE TO ACTUALLY DO IT!
Yeah. No.
In a word: No.
I have a problem with kickstarter-type things. There's no guarentees. Even if it gets fully funded, it could still be years before a product is in my hands/on my hard drive. IMO, kickstarter = burning your money.
Also, 5e is just fine with paper and pencil. Unless, years from now, it's as bloated as 3x/PF or 4e...But I highly doubt that'll happen. Heck, we'll be lucky to get a PHB 2, MM2, and psionics in a few years.
WotC is just cursed at digital versions of things
Even Magic, their cash-cow, the whole reaosn Hasbro brought them, has terrible digital versions
seti wrote:
The only digital tool I'm really interested in from Wotc would be something like roll20. But then roll20 already exists, so wotc would have to improve on that, or bring something unique because of their licencing advantage.
If ROI is a major motivating factor, then a Dungeonscape replacement is definitely off the table. Studies have shown that the majority of people are unwilling to pay even a couple of dollars for phone/tablet apps. It's extremely unlikely any app would ever meet their ROI needs.
About the only thing I'd expect if ROI is an issue is either a web app like DDI or a Steam app where people are much more accustomed to paying for the product.
blake_marlowe wrote:
Nope
Can not really say without seeing what they are offering and how much they are asking for. 
not a chance.
a lack of money wasn't the damn problem to begin with.
the problem is a bunch of guys who's ambition outreaches their capabilities.
that and the fact that they announced a product before writing the first line of code.
with that in mind this idea of crowd funding sounds a lot to me like a bunch of guys who want to get
payed for a product that doesn't even exist yet.
in any case i don't see how giving them money up front would help the situation.
Gatt wrote: