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WolfStar76 wrote:

I've had a chance to read Keep on the Shadowfell, and it has hints and tie-ins that relate to Thunderspire Labrynth. Just FYI.

That's great news, thanks

In a five player group, everyone can buy and use a sourcebook.
Barring cheating, only one person needs to buy an adventure.
That means the general print run for an adventure is one-fifth of the size of the print run for a splat book.
For a company the size of WotC, that is generally not worth it.
For a company the size of Paizo or Goodman Games or Necromancer Games, that is generally sufficient.
There is also an issue with store owners not wanting to stock five copies of 100 different adventures as opposed to 20 copies of 20 different books. That means adventures have to work harder to get into stores.

Woo Hoo, First post.

I too remember the discussion back when 3e first came out about published adventures. The economics just don't make sense for a company like wizards that needs to sell in the 100s of thousands ?!? of copies to make it worth it.
A small operation of only a few people might be able to turn a profit on just a couple hundred sold. The point of the OGL was to increase the diversity of published material by letting those more nimble in the market make it while being the sole provider of the core books that EVERYBODY needs.
It's a system that still makes sense to me.
I have to say also that I wouldn't be overly concerned about how much customization is needed until I see one of the adventures. It may be that it doesn't really take you as much time as you fear to make it work. And if it does? Well, Then those third party companies will pick up you as a customer and that's better for everyone.


As for the Online content versus traditionally published...Paper and ink magazines are a tough business. I've seen it in some other hobby interests of mine that are totally unrelated. The hobby press is not an easy thing.

Even general interest magazines like Time and Newsweek struggle versus online sites. NYT and WSJ too. If the big guys with deep pockets and millions upon millions in subscriptions are having trouble, then how can you expect a hobby magazine to hold up? Especially one with the print quality of Dragon and Dungeons.

If you're a DM looking for adventure hooks, or help with a campaign, there are hundreds of free websites out there offering you help. If you're a player looking to make a unique build ro a way to tweak something, there are similarly tons of offerings. It makes very little sense to spend the money on a paper magazine for MOST in the digital age. And I'm sure WOTC has looked through their marketing research and seen the percentage of their userbase that has broadband connections and realize that it's the way to go.

And yes, even with all that competition, it probably is, because they have the developers and biggest advocates for the game. They can have a premier site that most everyone will want to go to.



Now for my Caveats. I'm a little shaky on the pay for content system. Again, in a different hobby I am involved in, the 900lb gorilla hobby magazine has a website that requires proof of subscription to get the service. Unlike D&D, they have a preponderance of users without broadband so there is value in their print magazine. Because of the cost of entry, I know a large number of people that simply won't ever go there, even for the free content. I think that Wizards needs to tread carefully on what is free and what is not. Even a simple book registration code similar to Software registration that grants you greater access would be of value.
But its not that simple either. The breadth of resources they seem to plan to offer may make it worth the money.

They need to offer a product that outshines the free offerings out there. That's a hard thing to do given how nimble web content can be.