Community

Does anyone have an idea when SPEC 1-1 will be made avalible for play? I thought it was suppose to be released in December, but still haven't seen it up yet.

I'd like to run it for some people who didn't make it to GenCon this year.

Thank you for your help.
Matt

It becomes available to play on January 1st.
It's not currently available to choose although if you're clever you can download a copy anyway.

AxeMurder0 wrote:

It becomes available to play on January 1st.
It's not currently available to choose although if you're clever you can download a copy anyway.

Really? I even tried booking my planned 1/3/09 event as a retail (failed to see it on the list), but also as a convention, just to see if I could download it now and get some more prep time in. No luck. The 'after the first event date' (and even the seven day notice for convention) was not enough to summoning mojo to make SPEC1-1 appear on the DL list. Sure, I last tried the convention trick last Suturday (7 day notice, remember) but still... the attempted work-around came up empty.

I sure hope they post it today. I do not see them posting it on the holiday (tomorrow), and even if they do post it Friday, that gives only one day of prep work. BLECH!

I don't think you'll be able to even order it until it is released on Jan 1, and with that being a holiday, maybe the 2nd.

Well, it wasn't up yesterday or today.

Looks like I will have to cross my fingers for seeing the SPEC1-1 link Friday morning or I will have to scratch the planned event.

Again with the release delays. I contacted DCI three times and they assured me constantly that the mod would be released on the 1st. Here it is, 1PM, and the mod still isn't released. Now, assuming it comes out even on the 2nd, I'll have less than 24 hours to prep it for running early on the 3rd.

If nobody was going to be there to release the mod today, they could have just said they'd upload it on the 2nd, 3rd, or whenever. That wouldn't have been upsetting. I would have just scheduled SPEC1-1 at one of the other 4 game days I'm hosting this week.

Now, I've got 6 players coming to play the Special and no mod to run for them. That's VERY upsetting.

I'm not saying that the RPGA needs to pump out more adventures at a faster rate. They've released TONS of content in the past 6 months. It's just that, especially with a mod as anticipated as the Core Special, they really need to stick to their commitments about release dates.

More and more, I'm thinking that I should just run a home game.

C'mon, guys. Where's my mod?

I know it's finished, because I've played it. You promised to have it out on 1/1; I promised my players I'd run it for them on 1/3.

What's going on?

Wizards of the Coast corporate offices will be closed starting today due to weather. This will put us into our planned closure for the holidays which will last until January 4th. We will be back in the office on January 5th, 2009.

Probably not what you wanted to hear, but I suspect this might have something to do with it.


-karma

We live in an information age. No one should have to "be at work" to push a button to get a mod out.

Disastrous web work by WOTC.

Edit: And more and more my username does not need to be changed back to its correct form.

KarmaInferno wrote:

Probably not what you wanted to hear, but I suspect this might have something to do with it.

Now, I'm wondering when they planned to be closed for the holidays.

I can see bad weather keeping people from getting things done before Christmas. That's excusable. Announcements like that should be posted on the main RPGA site, though (sorry if it was and I missed it).

It sounds like they were already planning on being closed for Christmas and not opening back up until the 5th, though. So, why did they promise the release of SPEC1-1 on the 1st if no one would be there to upload it?

Haha! I just checked my inbox and someone sent me the "clever trick" alluded to in this thread. Just click [EDIT: message me for details if you're running the mod and can't download it] and you can download the mod.

Sorry if posting that upsets anyone, but the game's supposed to be released already and people want to play.

Zho wrote:

Now, I'm wondering when they planned to be closed for the holidays.

Wizards is always closed for a holiday break, usually from just before Christmas to a few days after New Years. Only a very few key staff (such as customer service) are on hand during that period. They probably don't announce it anymore because it's just assumed that it'll happen. (I know, not everyone's aware of it and I'm not necessarily agreeing with that mindset, but it's probably the case.)

Zho wrote:

Haha! I just checked my inbox and someone sent me the "clever trick" alluded to in this thread. Just click and you can download the mod.

Sorry if posting that upsets anyone, but the game's supposed to be released already and people want to play.

Of course - keep in mind that while this will let you play the mod, you still can't sanction/report it until its in the database.

That's probably of lesser importance to most people, as paper records tend to last until reporting, but all the same, worth being aware of.

fugacityFIXYOURSITE wrote:

We live in an information age. No one should have to "be at work" to push a button to get a mod out.

Disastrous web work by WOTC.

Edit: And more and more my username does not need to be changed back to its correct form.

This is exactly why someone may need to be "at work" to push a button. Some companies, due to this being 'the information age', do not allow employees to access their servers from an outside source. There have been too many known issues with information leaks, and security breaches, to allow this (or at least I suspect this is why).

So unfortunately there has to be someone there.

I can't access my work e-mail from home for a similar reason. A lot of companies do this.

jeffv wrote:

Wizards is always closed for a holiday break, usually from just before Christmas to a few days after New Years. Only a very few key staff (such as customer service) are on hand during that period. They probably don't announce it anymore because it's just assumed that it'll happen. (I know, not everyone's aware of it and I'm not necessarily agreeing with that mindset, but it's probably the case.)

Many if not all major companies take off through the holidays and do not return until the Monday after New Year's Day. This happens with everything from new channels, sports talk radio, and even WotC/Hasbro (or at least I would suspect). There are usually alternate ways to download and/or obtain the module in question. If I'm unable to download something more than likely someone in my group has ran the mod and I borrow it from them until I can properly report it.

Problems with outside access? If the WotC system can't be set to make X module go live at Y time, they need either new web gnomes or new minions for the web gnomes. The badgers are not cutting it.

Mr_IndustrialPants wrote:

Many if not all major companies take off through the holidays and do not return until the Monday after New Year's Day. This happens with everything from new channels, sports talk radio, and even WotC/Hasbro (or at least I would suspect). There are usually alternate ways to download and/or obtain the module in question. If I'm unable to download something more than likely someone in my group has ran the mod and I borrow it from them until I can properly report it.

Yes, but if they knew ahead of time they weren't going to be there to post the mod, they shouldn't have promised to have the mod up on the 1st.

I would have been perfectly happy if they released it on the 5th (or any other random day). I'm upset that they said the 1st, but still haven't released it. If they knew ahead of time that they were going to be on break and no one would be there to make it happen on the 1st, that's even more upsetting.

You can't really blame the weather, as they do for CORE1-4, because SPEC1-1 wasn't set to release during the storm that prevented anybody from getting in to work. Apparently, someone needed to be there over vacation to do it and I'm pretty sure they knew no one was volunteering for that task.

In any case, my anger would have been sated if they'd even just sent someone in the loop to the message boards or posted something on the main RPGA webpage announcing and apologizing for the delay. Then, I wouldn't have been sitting around all day on the 1st and 2nd wondering if I was gonna be able to make my game go off.

I love D&D, I enjoy gaming with my LFR group. However, I often feel like the company behind the game is operating heedless of the players that keep them in business. They make promises that they don't seem to have any intention of even trying to keep and offer no apologies or explanations when they fail to deliver (here I'm thinking primarily of the DDI fiasco--not RPGA mods). Whether or not that's true is debatable. As an organizer and (more importantly) gamer often left hanging in the dark, that's the way it feels though.

The holidays screw everything up (sometimes even our own family gatherings). It happens every year.

I didnt think the specials would be released until after they appearaed at Gencon and then DDE and i thought DDE was in Feb or march sometime so i wasnt anticipating the specials until spring, but if its coming out this month great!! I been anticipating it since i missed going to gencon last year for the first time in like 8 years.

Mr_IndustrialPants wrote:

The holidays screw everything up (sometimes even our own family gatherings). It happens every year.

Sure the holidays screw things up. But announcing that something is being released at a time that you know it can't be released is not the holidays screwing things up.

Telvin3d wrote:

Sure the holidays screw things up. But announcing that something is being released at a time that you know it can't be released is not the holidays screwing things up.

I think your missing my point from previously. The information that employees of WotC posses could have an impact on the company financially. To allow access to their database from an external source could compromise this information (ie: a book being leaked). This is perhaps why no one can simply be out of the WotC offices and send a "upload" command to release the SPEC 1-1 mod for access on the RPGA Judge site. There have been numerous stories of information being compromised (not WotC, just in general) because someone has had access to a company's server from their home (or other external source). In this current economic climate I'm not surprised that, in this instance, someone would have to physically be at the WotC HQ in order to simply hit "upload" on the SPEC 1-1 mod.


This is also why I stated, as another method, to seek alternate methods of obtaining the mod if it has been scheduled with your group and can not be changed.


This is similar to having one store in town being out of (insert food here). One would think they would ask a neighbor or a nearby family member if they could borrow the food they seek.


I hope I don't sound snarky with this, as this is not my intent, however if I worked for WotC and was facing weather situations, and the holidays, I know that posting one mod would be the farthest thing from my mind.


The last I remember this mod was legal for RPGA sanctioned regular play after 01-01-2009, which sounds different from "we will post this at 12:00am on 01-01-2009".

I'm sorry that this caused such an inconvenience, however in the grand scheme of things this doesn't even cause a ripple. WotC will get it posted. Give them some more time.

Zho wrote:

Haha! I just checked my inbox and someone sent me the "clever trick" alluded to in this thread. Just click [EDIT: message me for details if you're running the mod and can't download it] and you can download the mod.

Sorry if posting that upsets anyone, but the game's supposed to be released already and people want to play.

Ok, can someone please share with me? I too had planned to run this today....and can't....

Did you try asking your region's Event Manager for a copy of SPEC1-1?

Keith

Mr_IndustrialPants wrote:

I think your missing my point from previously. The information that employees of WotC posses could have an impact on the company financially. To allow access to their database from an external source could compromise this information (ie: a book being leaked). This is perhaps why no one can simply be out of the WotC offices and send a "upload" command to release the SPEC 1-1 mod for access on the RPGA Judge site. There have been numerous stories of information being compromised (not WotC, just in general) because someone has had access to a company's server from their home (or other external source). In this current economic climate I'm not surprised that, in this instance, someone would have to physically be at the WotC HQ in order to simply hit "upload" on the SPEC 1-1 mod.

I think you're missing our point. I'm not arguing that WotC should let anyone do anything from home. If they really don't allow that, I can completely understand why.

My issue is that, IF nobody could activate the file for download from home AND they knew nobody was going to be in the office, then they never should have said the mod would be available on the 1st.

Say what you mean and mean what you say. If WotC would simply stick to this simple principle, there wouldn't be an issue and they wouldn't continue to alienate their customer base with a string of promises they fail to deliver on.

Mr_IndustrialPants wrote:

This is similar to having one store in town being out of (insert food here). One would think they would ask a neighbor or a nearby family member if they could borrow the food they seek.

Except that, whereas everyone I know has sugar; nobody I know has SPEC1-1.

Mr_IndustrialPants wrote:

I hope I don't sound snarky with this, as this is not my intent, however if I worked for WotC and was facing weather situations, and the holidays, I know that posting one mod would be the farthest thing from my mind.

I wouldn't, either. But the weather wasn't an issue with SPEC1-1, as it was with CORE1-4. Again, I'm not saying someone should have been forced to go in over the holidays to upload the mod. I'm saying the release date should have been set to a day when somebody would be in there to do so.

Mr_IndustrialPants wrote:

The last I remember this mod was legal for RPGA sanctioned regular play after 01-01-2009, which sounds different from "we will post this at 12:00am on 01-01-2009".

Well, the play can't be sanctioned without ordering the mod and the mod wasn't available on the event sanctioning page. Also, DCI assured me the mod would be available for download on the first. I asked specifically because I knew it was the holidays and didn't want to disappoint any of my players if it wasn't really gonna be available for any reason.

Mr_IndustrialPants wrote:

I'm sorry that this caused such an inconvenience, however in the grand scheme of things this doesn't even cause a ripple. WotC will get it posted. Give them some more time.

In the end, the degree of my anger isn't due to SPEC1-1. It's a string of problems from the quality of product WotC's been putting out to the failed promises and lack of information about DDI.

All of the hype from WotC pointed to DDI being fully functional at or within a few months of 4E's launch. Here we are 7 months later and we've got nothing but a character builder that will only go to 3rd level. Either they thought they were going to be able to fully create the game table and other applications in under a month or they intentionally misled us. Just how much time do you think we should give them before calling foul?

A few points:

1) It's my understanding that the regional administrators have SPEC1-1 and can get you a copy on request. There are other clever individuals who have figured out how to find the URL and download the file.

This doesn't change the fact that it can't be sanctioned yet, but I imagine it was on someone's pre-holiday "to do" list, and then the incliment weather shot that down. You can always play the mod then go back and retroactively sanction/report it at a later date.

It's not impossible, however, that someone simply forgot to turn it on. Things happen.

2) DDI isn't the RPGA. Don't get me wrong - deadlines are deadlines, I sympathize with you on this one. We all hate when is late - I'm a DDI News Guide, there are few people anticipating the collection of softwares more than me.

However, just because DDI has an issue with releasing their software (I, personally, don't believe we were deliberately mistlead, as much as I suspect we were the victims of WotC's own overly optimistic view of development time), doesn't mean that's tied to the RPGA's issue with the database.

I don't know who's job it is to "flip the switch" and put mods into the database, I assume it isn't Chris (or Ian), but instead something they request of the DCI Database team (or the webgnomes, another department is my point).

While Chris can rattle chains, there are other things that are being published constantly for all of WotC's brands, so it likely just has to "take a number' until it gets around to being processed. (note - this is all speculation based on what I've observed - partially in comments from WotC staff, partially from personal experience).

Losing several days of work before the Holidays likely means we just got stuck in the back-half of the queue. Since the release of SPEC1-1 is/was time sensitive, I suspect it will be escalated today/tomorrow.

Regardless - they said it would be available on the 1st, because they expected it would. Alas, bad weather, and then the holidays created a one-two punch that could easily be at fault.

The LFR regional administrators have SPEC1-1 (and have had it since August when it first came out). Part of the Events Manager's duties is to help game play events in his region so if there is some snafu with the adventure download, check with him or her if they can send you the adventure. Now if it is a new release, the admins probably won't have it sooner than the scheduled release date as we tend to get the adventure when it is sent to the web gnomes.

Keith

Okay now its 11:00AM EST and the SPEC 1-1 is still not avaliable for sanctioning.

Since my event isn't until the 18th, I am not concerned with getting a copy but it would be nice to know what is going to be the new release date.

Wolf: I appreciate all that you do for us but i think its about time that someone that is working for WOTC/HASBRO actually stepped in here and gave us some info or at least kept you in the loop cause it seems to me that you are a just a "mushroom" on their information chain.

Regardless of how things would go in a perfect world, it probably is better to have expectations based on reality. The RPGA does not have full control over the web-part of the game. Those who do control the web, have a lot of responsibilities to other parts of Hasbro, parts that likely generate more income and hence gain higher priorities. Besides the web people having problems, there are also be other things that can go wrong at other parts in the chain varying from spam filters eating documents to authors being late and everything in between.

In general premiering dates are met quiet well. There are going to be exceptions with each batch of adventures released due to various reasons. The RPGA gets even bigger complaints when they don't offer a release schedule. Never organize an event around adventures that are not yet available at the time without at least a backup plan. Never expect instant communications either for the exact same reasons adventures are not going to be updated. I know this is frustrating to event organizers, but it is a simple fact of life.


Pieter Sleijpen
RPGA LFR Global Administrators

Life lesson#1: Don't schedule an RPGA mod until the mod is made available.

Life lesson#2: If you do schedule it, regional admins have copies of mods.

Mr_IndustrialPants wrote:

This is exactly why someone may need to be "at work" to push a button. Some companies, due to this being 'the information age', do not allow employees to access their servers from an outside source. There have been too many known issues with information leaks, and security breaches, to allow this (or at least I suspect this is why).

So unfortunately there has to be someone there.

Yeah, because it's impossible to set it up ahead of time so it's published automatically on the appropriate date. Obviously somebody's in house pushing a button to publish their web at exactly the right time every night, including Christmas and New Years.

Or maybe, just maybe, they schedule it to post automatically on the appropriate date.

Jiji wrote:

Okay now its 11:00AM EST and the SPEC 1-1 is still not avaliable for sanctioning.

Just to note...that means it was 8:00 A.M. PST, and WotC offices (which are in Washington state, after all) were still closed at that point.

Jiji wrote:

Wolf: I appreciate all that you do for us but i think its about time that someone that is working for WOTC/HASBRO actually stepped in here and gave us some info or at least kept you in the loop cause it seems to me that you are a just a "mushroom" on their information chain.

I do what I can, but as far as the RPGA is concerned I'm nobody official. What little "power" I have comes from the WotC Community Management (forum) team.

This is a two-way street, however. I'll poke Bernie (the new Solice) to see if he can't track Chris down for more information about the status of SPEC1-1. I can't promise he'll get us a reply, but it beats just "hoping".

WolfStar76 wrote:

I do what I can, but as far as the RPGA is concerned I'm nobody official. What little "power" I have comes from the WotC Community Management (forum) team.

This is a two-way street, however. I'll poke Bernie (the new Solice) to see if he can't track Chris down for more information about the status of SPEC1-1. I can't promise he'll get us a reply, but it beats just "hoping".

Thanks Big Guy

kenobi65 wrote:

Just to note...that means it was 8:00 A.M. PST, and WotC offices (which are in Washington state, after all) were still closed at that point.

good point....I didn't do the math....my bad

Zho wrote:

I think you're missing our point. I'm not arguing that WotC should let anyone do anything from home. If they really don't allow that, I can completely understand why.

My issue is that, IF nobody could activate the file for download from home AND they knew nobody was going to be in the office, then they never should have said the mod would be available on the 1st.

I'll get to this in a min...

Say what you mean and mean what you say. If WotC would simply stick to this simple principle, there wouldn't be an issue and they wouldn't continue to alienate their customer base with a string of promises they fail to deliver on.

How are they alienating customers? This is WotC not (insert name of cell phone company here). I have had zero problems with their products, however I am old school with my gaming approach.

I wouldn't, either. But the weather wasn't an issue with SPEC1-1, as it was with CORE1-4. Again, I'm not saying someone should have been forced to go in over the holidays to upload the mod. I'm saying the release date should have been set to a day when somebody would be in there to do so.

Well, the play can't be sanctioned without ordering the mod and the mod wasn't available on the event sanctioning page. Also, DCI assured me the mod would be available for download on the first. I asked specifically because I knew it was the holidays and didn't want to disappoint any of my players if it wasn't really gonna be available for any reason.

Who have you asked? Have you asked them since the problem started? If so what have they said in response?

In the end, the degree of my anger isn't due to SPEC1-1. It's a string of problems from the quality of product WotC's been putting out to the failed promises and lack of information about DDI.

All of the hype from WotC pointed to DDI being fully functional at or within a few months of 4E's launch. Here we are 7 months later and we've got nothing but a character builder that will only go to 3rd level. Either they thought they were going to be able to fully create the game table and other applications in under a month or they intentionally misled us. Just how much time do you think we should give them before calling foul?

Oh sure they intentionally misled us and laughed at us all during the holidays right? Sorry for sounding snarky here. If they said back in August that SPEC 1-1 was going to be available on 01-01-2009 they had ABSOLUTELY NO WAY of know that this would not get done due to (whatever issue is inserted here). NO ONE can predict the future. If I could I would not be sitting here typing this, and neither would you I bet.

I don't use DDI (as I can't afford it now), and don't need their character creator. I use paper and pencil to create my characters, sometimes even going as far as using...*gasp*...notebook paper. It's worked for 15 years. When I find something I like I then place it on a blank character sheet.

I know it's not "green" or "eco-friendly" however I didn't think we were supposed to be so eco-conscious when playing.

Things happen. Nothing is perfect. Ever. Life is funny like that.

Tosta_Dojen wrote:

Yeah, because it's impossible to set it up ahead of time so it's published automatically on the appropriate date. Obviously somebody's in house pushing a button to publish their web at exactly the right time every night, including Christmas and New Years.

Or maybe, just maybe, they schedule it to post automatically on the appropriate date.

Maybe they have a way to do it automatically, maybe they don't, however if it was me I would like to be there when the file is uploading this way if there is an error then...*gasp*...I would be there to fix the problems.

I know it sounds so 20th century but it works.


Sorry to sound this way but biting the hand that feeds you is never a good way to go about things.


*news* Looking at weather related news WotSeattle is going to get even more snow. Winter, like life, happens.


Now can we talk about the game instead of complain about the company that supplies us the game???

Its up on DCI now.
So lets all simmer down now.

Drat! Scooped by a guest!

Yes, I just got back from dinner, and found a PM from Bernie who got word from Chris that the file went up a couple hours ago now.

Its my understanding that nobody had had a chance to update the profile to "go live" on the 1st, and that was the root cause of the issue at heart.

OK! I know what ProGun will be running this weekend.

I only wish our local coordinator would log into our store forums and let us know if he'll be showing up .

Mr_IndustrialPants wrote:

If they said back in August that SPEC 1-1 was going to be available on 01-01-2009 they had ABSOLUTELY NO WAY of know that this would not get done due to (whatever issue is inserted here). NO ONE can predict the future.

Yeah, that New Years holiday really came out of nowhere. Nobody could have predicted that would have come up.

You seem to have a problem with people who are complaining. Look, I'll break it down for you. I spend money on D&D products so I can play in and organize RPGA events. When the RPGA screws up, it causes me problems. This makes me unhappy, and I complain about it in the hope that the underlying issues will be corrected. As a paying customer, I have some expectation that WotC cares enough about what I think to address my complaints.

You don't have the same issues, or choose not to complain about them. That's fine. But coming here and telling the rest of us that we shouldn't be complaining because you aren't affected is rather silly.

Tosta_Dojen wrote:

Yeah, that New Years holiday really came out of nowhere. Nobody could have predicted that would have come up.

You seem to have a problem with people who are complaining. Look, I'll break it down for you. I spend money on D&D products so I can play in and organize RPGA events. When the RPGA screws up, it causes me problems. This makes me unhappy, and I complain about it in the hope that the underlying issues will be corrected. As a paying customer, I have some expectation that WotC cares enough about what I think to address my complaints.

You don't have the same issues, or choose not to complain about them. That's fine. But coming here and telling the rest of us that we shouldn't be complaining because you aren't affected is rather silly.

Quoted for truth

Tosta_Dojen wrote:

Yeah, that New Years holiday really came out of nowhere. Nobody could have predicted that would have come up.

You seem to have a problem with people who are complaining. Look, I'll break it down for you. I spend money on D&D products so I can play in and organize RPGA events. When the RPGA screws up, it causes me problems. This makes me unhappy, and I complain about it in the hope that the underlying issues will be corrected. As a paying customer, I have some expectation that WotC cares enough about what I think to address my complaints.

You don't have the same issues, or choose not to complain about them. That's fine. But coming here and telling the rest of us that we shouldn't be complaining because you aren't affected is rather silly.

Some minor nitpicking and that is the only thing I will add to this discussion since it's overdue anyway.

First of all you paid money for the DnD system, nowhere in your purchase records you will find anything related to buying any rights or services from the RPGA. Wizards offers the RPGA organized play network as a free service run mostly by volunteers, they don't earn any money with it except for the runoff when attracting new players that like the system and thus buy the books.

I agree with your second statement but I do think this isn't entirely the fault of wizards either. Arguments pro and con have already been posted above.

Let's just resign to playing the mod instead of muling on about it here :D

Magicstar wrote:

Let's just resign to playing the mod instead of muling on about it here :D

Yeah, can't we talk about what an awesome adventure it is instead!?

So, when will CORE1-4 be available?

Uthrac wrote:

So, when will CORE1-4 be available?

A little birdy tells me it's gone out to the admins, so I'd expect it very soon.

And of course, your Regional Event Manager should be able to get it to you.

Tosta_Dojen wrote:

Yeah, that New Years holiday really came out of nowhere. Nobody could have predicted that would have come up.

You seem to have a problem with people who are complaining. Look, I'll break it down for you. I spend money on D&D products so I can play in and organize RPGA events. When the RPGA screws up, it causes me problems. This makes me unhappy, and I complain about it in the hope that the underlying issues will be corrected. As a paying customer, I have some expectation that WotC cares enough about what I think to address my complaints.

You don't have the same issues, or choose not to complain about them. That's fine. But coming here and telling the rest of us that we shouldn't be complaining because you aren't affected is rather silly.

Again just because they said sometime (in August) SPEC 1-1 would be available after 01-01-09 doesn't mean it was going to be 100%. The reason this date is give is more than likely due to it's expiration date. As I look at all the mods I have now they all have an expiration date that is the last day of the year of it's expiration. Things happen. If something happened (time off for employees, snow, etc) then it is outside of their control. Again no one can predict the future. I'm sorry that I can not make this clear. You have a right to complain however telling me I have no right to voice my opinion, or point out how silly it is to get up in arms about this issue (when common sense shows that getting angry doesn't fix the problem) is contrary to the right by which you state you are allowed to complain.

I understand the need to complain, however mentioning this to customer service would be a better option, imho of course.

For instance I had a question about a mod I am going to run soon. I used the e-mail listed on the mod and received no response. Instead of pounding my fist and getting angry at WotC all over these boards for something that...in the grand scheme of life...is not even a blip on the radar I chose to e-mail the module's author. I got my response.

You pay money for your D&D products, as do I. I don't see the logic in getting angry at the company that you want to provide you products for your game. The level of anger that has been thrown at WotC (especially on these forums that they don't have to provide us btw) is bizzare (imho). I don't see how people can't understand that snow/winter/severe weather + holidays can shut nearly everything down. WotC of course isn't going to be the only business effected by this. Nothing can change, correct, or rectify that problem as the snow has already fallen and the holidays are past. It's also common knowledge that the first Monday after the holidays is (usually) the first full "normal" day of business for everyone (at least within the USA). It's been that way for years, and probably will not change.

Those were the points I was trying to make. Sorry if I sounded so vague, but again I apply common sense to problems I encounter and try not to get overly worked up over things that can be easily corrected (or have an alternate way of reaching a positive outcome).

Magicstar wrote:

Some minor nitpicking and that is the only thing I will add to this discussion since it's overdue anyway.

First of all you paid money for the DnD system, nowhere in your purchase records you will find anything related to buying any rights or services from the RPGA. Wizards offers the RPGA organized play network as a free service run mostly by volunteers, they don't earn any money with it except for the runoff when attracting new players that like the system and thus buy the books.

I agree with your second statement but I do think this isn't entirely the fault of wizards either. Arguments pro and con have already been posted above.

Let's just resign to playing the mod instead of muling on about it here :D

Quoted for the -real- truth.


--------------

Now has anyone run the mod? How is it? Did you have a difficult time with this? The reason I ask is I plan on running this along with some other 1-4 mods and I would not want to run 1st level characters through an overly tough mod.

I playtested it way back for GenCon and ran it about 6 times now. It is perfectly suitable for 1st level characters as long as you make sure you alert them to the pressure of time.

Make sure you get the best out of the SC in the middle, every time I ran it it was totally different but awesome nonetheless. Great work also in the flavour department.

Chappeau Sean and Shawn

Mr_IndustrialPants wrote:

telling me I have no right to voice my opinion

I didn't, so your indignation is unwarranted. I merely pointed out that your position is ridiculous.

As for anger, I suggest you read my posts again, then read your own, and tell me which of us sounds angry.

Magicstar wrote:

Wizards offers the RPGA organized play network as a free service run mostly by volunteers, they don't earn any money with it

There seems to be a large contingent here that dismisses any troubles with the RPGA by saying, "You can't complain; it's free." Except, of course, that it isn't. WotC maintains the RPGA because it entices people to play D&D and purchase D&D products. My decision to spend money on D&D was based entirely on the existence of the RPGA and what it has to offer me, and I'm sure there are many others for whom the existence of the RPGA played at least some part in their decision to spend money. It's disingenuous to act like WotC is doing this out of the goodness of its heart.

Mr_IndustrialPants wrote:

I understand the need to complain

No, I don't think you do. You characterize complaints as "biting the hand that feeds you" and you seem to think that the only motive for complaining is venting one's anger. That isn't true at all.

I enjoy playing RPGA adventures, but some recent issues have made my experience much less enjoyable than I'd like. If the issues continue, then I won't be able to continue participating in the RPGA, because, frankly, it just won't be worth my time when I have other fun things I could do instead.

Further, I spend money on D&D products solely because of my involvement with the RPGA. If that's no longer worth my time, it's no longer worth my money either.

I complain because I'd like things to get better, and complaining is the only way WotC is going to know that these issues are a problem for me. Since this is directly related to how much money I spend with them, I'd like to think that WotC cares about that.

Mr_IndustrialPants wrote:

If something happened (time off for employees, snow, etc) then it is outside of their control.

It's hardly credible to suggest that schedule holidays are beyond the parent company's control.

Magicstar wrote:

Let's just resign to playing the mod instead of muling on about it here

I would, but my group's rescheduled for a weekend when I'll be out of state.

I point out where they had to CLOSE THE OFFICE EARLY due to weather.

Might have had some some SMALL effect on getting the stuff onto the website on time.

Ya think?

It was delayed a few days. SO WHAT.


-karma

Tosta_Dojen wrote:

There seems to be a large contingent here that dismisses any troubles with the RPGA by saying, "You can't complain; it's free." Except, of course, that it isn't. WotC maintains the RPGA because it entices people to play D&D and purchase D&D products. My decision to spend money on D&D was based entirely on the existence of the RPGA and what it has to offer me, and I'm sure there are many others for whom the existence of the RPGA played at least some part in their decision to spend money. It's disingenuous to act like WotC is doing this out of the goodness of its heart.

I think you misunderstand. WotC understands the importance, relatively, of the RPGA, which is why it currently exists at all. What you don't seem to understand is that the RPGA is not a direct income flow for WotC, but purely an expense.

And, like all marketing-related expenses, it will usually be one of the first things to be cut, if there are cash-flow issues. And the current economy is causing cash-flow issues pretty much generally, no?

I complain because I'd like things to get better, and complaining is the only way WotC is going to know that these issues are a problem for me. Since this is directly related to how much money I spend with them, I'd like to think that WotC cares about that.

Complaining almost never causes things to get better. If the complaints are too vociferous, it is likely to cause things to get cut and/or canceled.

If you want to help things improve, you need to can the complaints, and instead concentrate on a different approach; what is called constructive criticism. That is what companies provide to their employees during their annual reviews, you know. Not complaints that such-and-so stinks, but, rather, "We think there is a better way to handle this aspect of your job. Let's discuss what you are doing now, and some possible ways to improve your performance."

Actually, someone (Alphastream1, I think?) has a thread on the AKAN1-1 module that is almost a perfect example of constructive criticism. It is masked as DME modifications, but it can also be used as an example of how to use similar monsters in multiple encounters in the same module while giving the encounters their own flavor.

It's hardly credible to suggest that schedule holidays are beyond the parent company's control.

A couple of things to think about: Weather problems (which WotC's area had); FMLA, which is seldom scheduled, other than "Here is the amount of FMLA time you have for this year." in advance; personal illness (I am probably going to be staying home from work tomorrow myself, I didn't even recognize my own voice when I called a friend earlier to cancel out of our Tuesday night D&D game, and my job is based on talking on the phone.); sudden injuries (which can be caused by bad weather, since icy conditions are more likely to have slip-and-fall accidents); other family emergencies (my mom died, and I had to fly across the country for her wake (true story for me a decade ago, by the way); my child slipped yesterday, and we spent all night in the emergency room; etc.)

Not to mention, to be honest, that I was surprised that their servers managed to stay up at all. I have had a couple of power failures at home in the past few days.

Mr_IndustrialPants wrote:

Now has anyone run the mod? How is it? Did you have a difficult time with this? The reason I ask is I plan on running this along with some other 1-4 mods and I would not want to run 1st level characters through an overly tough mod.

Well, I played it on Sunday. I thought it was rather good, one of the better LFR modules that I've played (I've played most of the 1-4 ones). Although we had only four players (including a couple of 1sts and my own fourth-level healing cleric), we didn't have that many severe problems with the module, and we had good synergy. Granted, in every combat at least two characters were bloodied, sometimes more than once, but with a high-level cleric that's not a problem.

The room in the middle, with the statue (I'm trying not to be too spoilery here) caused us a small amount of problems, and given what happens almost straight afterwards, I can see how not seperating out the two encounters could cause problems. Ironically, the later encounter, the one with the err, consecrated ground, which initially looked difficult was a complete piece of cake due to our ranger doing over 60 points of damage in one round due to action-pointing and rolling three crits in a row. Loved the guy at the end, too.

This scenario was a whole order of magnitude better than the dreadful WEEK1-1 - and this quite easiiy should and could have been a special event.

Tosta_Dojen wrote:

I didn't, so your indignation is unwarranted. I merely pointed out that your position is ridiculous.

As for anger, I suggest you read my posts again, then read your own, and tell me which of us sounds angry.

Twas not I. I remained quite calm through the whole thing even including this post. I used to be angry but learned of different ways of achieving the same outcome without become so angry.

There seems to be a large contingent here that dismisses any troubles with the RPGA by saying, "You can't complain; it's free." Except, of course, that it isn't. WotC maintains the RPGA because it entices people to play D&D and purchase D&D products. My decision to spend money on D&D was based entirely on the existence of the RPGA and what it has to offer me, and I'm sure there are many others for whom the existence of the RPGA played at least some part in their decision to spend money. It's disingenuous to act like WotC is doing this out of the goodness of its heart.

Again, your decision. You could also play a home game or a non-RPGA campaign of your own style and build (or even one based in The Realms) with your product. I'm not trying to state the obvious however IIRC this is how D&D became popular, and probably how a large portion of people play (and probably would play if there was no RPGA).

No, I don't think you do. You characterize complaints as "biting the hand that feeds you" and you seem to think that the only motive for complaining is venting one's anger. That isn't true at all.

When complaints from others are read as angry posts then this is why I posted what I did. It appeared that others were biting the hand that feeds them. I'm sorry if you find it false however being overly angry without providing a solution (in a calm manner) to someone providing a "free" product will more than likely result in someone pulling that free product for use. The RPGA content is not a pay-to-play because one does not have to pay for the PHB to play, they can borrow someone else's...DMing though requires purchase of the product, but the modules are free.

I enjoy playing RPGA adventures, but some recent issues have made my experience much less enjoyable than I'd like. If the issues continue, then I won't be able to continue participating in the RPGA, because, frankly, it just won't be worth my time when I have other fun things I could do instead.

Further, I spend money on D&D products solely because of my involvement with the RPGA. If that's no longer worth my time, it's no longer worth my money either.

I complain because I'd like things to get better, and complaining is the only way WotC is going to know that these issues are a problem for me. Since this is directly related to how much money I spend with them, I'd like to think that WotC cares about that.

This is where the customer service link/e-mail comes in handy. Also writting a letter to someone would probably be a good idea. Again I have been angry with something I invested my time and money in (not D&D), and I wrote a letter. Someone is more likely to read a letter than an e-mail, imho.

It's hardly credible to suggest that schedule holidays are beyond the parent company's control.

I would, but my group's rescheduled for a weekend when I'll be out of state.

Seeing as how some of the jobs I have had have closed down during the holidays, and that businesses around me close during the holidays, I feel my statement is 100% credible...and is filled with something I call common sense.


Now if you wish to discuss this further I invite you to PM me off this thread. There's enough mud here already.

What exactly are we discussing here?

The people at the RPGA are fully aware that if they do not get an adventure out at a promised date this is going to irritate event organizers. Most of the people at the RPGA organize events ourselves and we can relate to the problems that arise due such things.

The RPGA does its best to get an adventure out on time, but there are many factors involved in getting the adventures to the players. Despite the RPGA's best efforts sometimes the deadlines are not made regardless of the promises. Personally I think the record is not even that bad for LFR.

The RPGA is aware that early communications are better, but just as with publishing adventures, that is not always practical or possible, especially when we are talking about an extension of only a couple of days.

The fact is that you have the right to complain, but to be honest, it sounds a bit like complaining about the weather. It feels good, most people agree with it, but it is ultimately not going to have much of an impact. Personally, I just buy an umbrella for when it rains and always have a backup plan if an adventure is not available on time... and yes, I know that an umbrella doesn't work when it storms (game day/concention recruits most players who come just for that one missing event.

*nods* People have the right to complain, and sometimes those complaints even generate results - especially where the people/company being complained about aren't aware of the problem.

That, of course, is not the case here. The RPGA is/was aware of the problem, and got it fixed as soon as they could.

There's a fine line between complaining and "beating a dead horse".

[VCL]
Further, some of this thread is drifting woefully off-topic. I'd like to formally request that some of the more personal discussions and disagreements be taken out of this thread if they can't be stopped altogether.

I'd rather not be forced to lock the thread.
[/VCL]

Oddly enough, I can sanction SPEC1-1 it as a Home game or a Game Day, but it is not available to be sanctioned as a Retail game. Anyone else see this?

Also, any word on EAST1-3? I'm curious to see what the 7-10 mods are like.

Telvin3d wrote:

Oddly enough, I can sanction SPEC1-1 it as a Home game or a Game Day, but it is not available to be sanctioned as a Retail game. Anyone else see this?

Also, any word on EAST1-3? I'm curious to see what the 7-10 mods are like.

I've heard the same thing. It can be set up as a con or a game day most of the time (from those I know who have tried scheduling it).

Telvin3d wrote:

Oddly enough, I can sanction SPEC1-1 it as a Home game or a Game Day, but it is not available to be sanctioned as a Retail game. Anyone else see this?

Also, any word on EAST1-3? I'm curious to see what the 7-10 mods are like.

I can set it up as a Retail either, I like giving my store credit where we play for it I would hate to make a Game Day just to get the mod.

Is there errata for these?

I guess it's a bit to early for errata for this...

The first encounter has a low level that doesn't match the compendium. And one of the powers is more beneficial in to the bad guys than the high level. I can't be more specific without spoilers. But any advice?

I'm going to switch that one power between the two and keep the stats as they are instead of the one in the compendium.