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I'm not suggesting through this post that WotC is sinking as a gaming company. I understand a great many people love (and a great many loathe) the emergence of 4e. (And then there remain the fence sitters.) And before I submit my suggestion, I also understand that WotC is a business, so the following may seem a bit impractical, but here goes:
Keep Dragon, Dungeon, and DDI *FREE*.
I don't know when it'll stop being free, and I hope that WotC will make its web availability more reliable. But in any event, given that I haven't crossed over to 4e, the free stuff is all that keeps me coming back. Once it's gone, so too will I.
Again - I understand the business model of things. I'm certainly not a good customer base. So, why pander to me.
Because - although I haven't crossed over doesn't mean I won't. I'll admit that I'm unimpressed with 4e and see little need to learn a new game system to continue to play the game I love.
But just ask my wife - I'm like a tank when it comes to transition. I'm slow to adjust, but once I do - I'm there.
WotC's primary hope to keep me as a potential customer is to continue to court me.
But in the end, note that when I say "Me," if you've been reading and thinking how it applies to you, too, how many "me's" there are out there.
Interesting topic. I am firmly in the PRPG camp now, and I don't think there is much WotC could do to get me back. Of course this wasn't so a year ago. I think there are a few things that would return me to the WotC fold:
1. Bring back Dragon and Dungeon in print form.
2. Keep the DDI free, not a subscription.
3. Revise the GSL to be less draconian.
Now I won't say anything silly like "go back to 3E", that obviously isn't going to happen. Asmodeus will be selling snowshoes by the time we see another print mag out of them too unfortunately. I'd be more willing to pick up their new D&D game if I didn't feel like I had been marginalized. I currently feel no need to start colecting a whole new game (and lets face it, 4E isn't backwards-compatible, so it is a new game, at least mechanics wise). Perhaps if the lead up hadn't been handled so shabbily I would have been more likely to check it out, but I pretty much have no urge to get into it at this point. I'm too busy learning about Golarion. :)
One thing they need to do is restore basic stability to their website. At any given moment, either the main site or the forums are offline. Barring a miracle, I don't see them being able to enact DDI anytime in the near future.
I guess that I should add as a post script that the freebies are actually available. I downloaded both the new Dragon and Dungeon Ezines . . . and neither can be read in Adobe. Hinky.
Hmm. Sure you didn't just get a corrupted download? I grabbed the compiled issues for last month and I can read them fine in Adobe.
That said, while I would be willing to sign up now for content in Dungeon/Dragon, I do enjoy this free view they're giving us. Not sure how long it will last, but the longer the better really! :)
1. Bring back Dragon and Dungeon in print form.Just when I started getting over that you had to go and bring that back... You made me Cry.. :-(..
;-)
Bro ..I feel your pain. Dragon subscriber from issue #60 or so. It was like someone killing a childhood friend on me when the termination was announced. Left a bad taste in my mouth that unfortunately has never quite washed away.
Interesting topic. I am firmly in the PRPG camp now, and I don't think there is much WotC could do to get me back. Of course this wasn't so a year ago. I think there are a few things that would return me to the WotC fold:
1. Bring back Dragon and Dungeon in print form.
2. Keep the DDI free, not a subscription.
3. Revise the GSL to be less draconian.
Sadly I dont see any of those happening in a long time.
Regardless, the DDI + Dungeon/Dragon mags will be free for a year IIRC . That at least will allow for a transitional time plus it will at give tons of free stuff for the game.
3. Revise the GSL to be less draconian.
Here's an Ogre Cave podcast featuring Joseph Goodman of Goodman Games discussing the GSL and 4E from the standpoint of someone running a company that has signed the GSL. Have an open mind and give it a listen, the sky is not falling.
http://www.ogrecave.com/audio/index.php?id=88
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That said, I can see why they're doing it though I wonder how much of a revenue stream the print versions would be, especially as the pdf versions at the end of each month are going to be free with or without DDI (which does make it a loss leader for them).
Once the Subscription fee starts for DDI, PDFs for Dungeons and Dragons will not be free.
I'd love to see Dragon and Dungeon in print form, even printing them out myself it's not the same thing. That said, I can see why they're doing it though I wonder how much of a revenue stream the print versions would be, especially as the pdf versions at the end of each month are going to be free with or without DDI (which does make it a loss leader for them).
Oh I know it will never happen. I was just saying that would be one way to lure me back to WotC.
DDI free I just can't see them doing if the amount of stuff they're putting into the online tabletop is going to happen. Now, that said, I'm going to need a lot of functionality, both in easy creation of maps with a wide range of options and also importing my own maps (I use dundjinni and photoshop and can do maps to a pretty reasonable standard) for anything they don't have (an in built mapping programme that allows pngs would be great but I can't see that happening).
The problem I see with the subscription model is that a lot of its goals can be accomplished by free software that is out there. If they added a lot of cool high-end stuff that would be one thing, but I think even the biggest WotC booster can agree they've been a little behind the curve in the IT department.
GSL revision is, I think, the most likely thing on your list, but I'd give it a 50-50 at best.
I agree with you here as well, except I put the odds more at a 80/20 split. Unless there is a huge backlash and WotC's sales numbers plummet (which personally I don't see happening) they can set the contract any which way they like. They are, as has been said before, the 800-pound gorilla in the room.
See, that's what I thought originally, but I've read about 3-4 posts recently that say it will be available to non-subscribers at the end of each month. Of course they were on the wotc forums, which don't have a great signal to noise ratio outside some of the forums so who knows how reliable that was. I took it on faith that they'd read something I hadn'tOnce the Subscription fee starts for DDI, PDFs for Dungeons and Dragons will not be free.
I believe there is some intention to allow one to purchase issues they want without subscribing, which may be what you're seeing. I haven't heard anything about it becoming permanently free (although that would be sweet!)
Here's an Ogre Cave podcast featuring Joseph Goodman of Goodman Games discussing the GSL and 4E from the standpoint of someone running a company that has signed the GSL. Have an open mind and give it a listen, the sky is not falling.http://www.ogrecave.com/audio/index.php?id=88
Never said the sky was falling. I don't view 4E as a threat to me in any way, never have. I was angry when the mags got scuttled (in print form), but I now have replacements in Pathfinder and Kobold Quarterly. The OP asked what could bring people back into the WotC fold, and I gave him the things that would work for me.
I'm sure there are plenty of game companies that will be willing to work for WotC, and more power to them. I am certain that 4E will be a success. I just PERSONALLY will not be buying any 4E products. Not because I am a 4E hater, simply because I would like to still use my $5,000 + in 3E materials, and with Pathfinder, my rule system of choice is still being supported, and thanks to the OGL it always will be in one form or another. I also appreciate the spirit of the OGL in my Libertarian heart.
It is my (once again PERSONAL) opinion that an open platform game mechanic will weather the test of time and deliver the type of gaming experience I desire. Your opinion on this might vary. I have expressed my opinion of WotC's current practices in the only way that truly matters to a corporation by not buying their products, and switching my custom to Paizo.