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D&D Insider Beta Announced
The Scoop on D&D Insider
For those who can't see it:
1st article:
"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.
2nd article:
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
Comment:
I have hope now that D&D Insider may actually be a good thing. The online versions of Dragon and Dungeon were certainly awful until now, but it seems that everything will change once 4E is out. Unlike previous rumors said, it will still have works from freelancers.
It also seems (although I'm not sure) that the Rules Compendium will be free to those who subscribe to DDI. This will be good to those who can fare well without printed products. Paying US$ 120 for an entire year of supplements, plus 12 editions of (at least theorically) high-quality Dragon and Dungeon magazines doesn't seem bad business. Having a free beta version, and a lower cost "trial" version are also very nice for those who are undecided on subscribing.
According to Slavicsek, DDI will also make new races and classes available for open playstest before their debut on PHB2 (err... inspiration from Pathfinder RPG, maybe?)
About D&D game table... well, not much information until now. Perhaps they are still dealing with programming issues.
I have hope now that D&D Insider may actually be a good thing. The online versions of Dragon and Dungeon were certainly awful until now, but it seems that everything will change once 4E is out...
According to WotC :/
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Ummm, OK...
What I notice is that the Character Builder and the Game Table will not be available at the beginning of the public beta. In fact, it sounds like the initial roll-out will just be Dungeon and Dragon Magazine (already working, after a pretty poor start), and the Rules Compendium (a database, and something that should be fairly easy to set up.)
Not only am I not impressed, this has me wondering about the current state of the project.
And may I add, for $15 per month, they'd better be offering more than the two online magazines and a rule database. Even a virtual tabletop is nowhere near sufficient, given the number of free alternatives already out there.
Quite disappointing, really.
Drew Garrett
What I notice is that the Character Builder and the Game Table will not be available at the beginning of the public beta... Not only am I not impressed, this has me wondering about the current state of the project.
Partial efforts have been, and now continue to be, the hallmark of DDI.
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I have hope now that D&D Insider may actually be a good thing. The online versions of Dragon and Dungeon were certainly awful until now, but it seems that everything will change once 4E is out. Unlike previous rumors said, it will still have works from freelancers.
I encourage you to continue to have faith! I, on the other hand, have lost all confidence in WotC. I won't even go down that road, as I hate being a bitter pill, but as far as I'm concerned their management team from top to bottom needs to be fired. Oh look - the top already was ... (March, CEO Loren Greenwood replaced by Hasbro marketing head Greg Leeds)
Ummm, OK...
What I notice is that the Character Builder and the Game Table will not be available at the beginning of the public beta. In fact, it sounds like the initial roll-out will just be Dungeon and Dragon Magazine (already working, after a pretty poor start), and the Rules Compendium (a database, and something that should be fairly easy to set up.)
Not only am I not impressed, this has me wondering about the current state of the project.
And may I add, for $15 per month, they'd better be offering more than the two online magazines and a rule database. Even a virtual tabletop is nowhere near sufficient, given the number of free alternatives already out there.
Quite disappointing, really.
Drew Garrett
The subscription cost decreases to R$ 10 if you make an annual plan. I don't think it's a bad investment; two magazines with (assumed) high quality design/artwork and up-to-date crunch from every existing sourcebook. Pathfinder subscription costs more than that. While I'm not trying to compare the quality of products, it should be noted that many people are far more interested on new fluff/crunch than on pre-made adventures. Obviously, the true value depends if Slavisek and their team will be able to deliver the promised quality. I believe it could be done, since WotC has great designers and great adventure writ... err.. well, they could hire freelancers to make great adventures.
The unavailability of Character builder and Virtual tabletop seem to be the result of WotC's historical incompetence on software development. As long as DDI is still free when these two come, it's not a big deal.
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Pathfinder subscription costs more than that.
The big difference being that Pathfinder is a physical product, already printed, that shows up in my mailbox. AND I get an electronic version. To make a fair comparison you must now have a physical Dragon and Dungeon product.
All that being said - my money is remaining at Pathfinder. Again - I hope it is everything you want it to be, and I am NOT trying to rain on your parade. WotC has pretty much lost me as a customer for anything but the base rule books.
Electronic subscriptions are a pretty difficult sell for a wide range of areas. When you look at the ratio of people who have turned a profit at it compared to the number who have tried, it is an uphill battle. Maybe DDI, with the DM tools, will beat the odds. But beat the odds is indeed what they will have to do.