Hi,
I agree with you, this was not a good thing for them to do to their D&D fans. Personally, I enjoy sitting down and reading a book or magazine, and really dislike the process of reading online content. Also, I never purchase anything that doesn't have an associated physical object (a music CD for music, etc; I don't buy online downloads, I hate the idea). And printed pages don't give me a nice, inspiring presentation like a physical book or magazine does. Even if it turns out that what they produce online is free, the core problems of online content will remain.
I only get two magazines, Dungeon Magazine and Dragon Magazine, and love getting something besides bills and junk in the mail. I will probably try out this Pathfinder magazine or whatever it is called, sounds like it may be good, but I am still very upset about the loss of original magazines.
I'm also upset because it appears that WOTC has blocked their customer service email - I tried to send a single, polite email with constructive critisism on the subject of the magazine license, asking them to forward my comments to the folks who made this bad decision, and it immediate bounced back. I tried again with the same result. Then I tried their web page submission tool and that failed with a strange error message. So then I tried it under IE (I normally use another browser), but that also failed. By then it was clear that they are intentionally blocking customer service corrospondence. That is unprofessional, and a big slap in the face to their customers.
It is because of this bad decision and how they are handling feedback (blocking it) that I have to agree, perhaps it is best to stop buying their products. I personally spend a ton of money on D&D books (and have since 1st Ed). However, these days there's plenty of other good companies producing materials that I've been meaning to purchase (such as Paizo), and I think I'll take my business there instead.
I really wish someone from WOTC would read this feedback, but I have a feeling that no one will. And even if they do, business managers usually tend to make up their minds and ignore customer feedback, in my experience. The only way I can see to get their attention is to hurt their sales, as you have recommended.
I think one thing to be careful of is to make sure that if people do provide feedback to them (in case they do happen to read it), it is construtive, logical, and polite, or they will not take us seriously. It is hard not to vent, I totally understand that, but I think venting should be kept separate from the feedback provided directly to them. Just expressing that we don't like this probably isn't enough, it is probably best to enumerate the specific reasons why this is detrimental to both us as the customers, and to them, as the business.
Thanks
Gary
Arctaris wrote:
For there is strength in numbers. Unite against WotC! It may not have occured to them that by doing this they would anger many of those that read and treasure these magazines but they have. I have read many people's posts on several other thread discussing this and have found a great deal of anger directed at WotC. I say that we boycott WotC! I won't buy anything of theirs from a site or store that would give them profit (places like Ebay are okay). I have never actually held a subscription to either magazine for money reasons but I have always read issues and picked them up when I could find them cheap and I love them. I am going to send furious emails to WotC telling them where they can stick their 'online content' and will spread the word. If anyone else agrees with me email WotC, post on other sites frequented by D&D players and let them know, encourage them to rebel!
I don't want 'online content'! I want a real magazine! I want a magazine published by the talented people at Paizo! Not some online crap. I want to have a magazine that I can take with me when I go somewhere! Hit Wotc in the wallet! GIVE PAIZO THEIR LISCENSE BACK!!!!! Whos with me!?!!?!