|
1 year ago ::
Sep 17, 2008 - 2:58PM
#21
|
|
|
I'd pay for the subscription of the magaizines $60 per year if it was the paper version. Unfortunantely, I can't afford myself this price for PDFs as far as worsen of my vision looking through the digital version costs more to pay for the oculist's services.
Indeed, I agree that work of designers and writers costs this 60 dollars.
To my regret, IMHO WOTC team made the greatest mistake when gave up in publishing of gloss magazines.
|
|
|
|
1 year ago ::
Sep 17, 2008 - 3:00PM
#22
|
|
|
Hm. I won't be buying in. I think it's very unwise to start the subscription service before even one of the long-awaited D&DI tools is available. The magazines alone (especially with the haphazard release stuff, delays, and so forth) are not worth the subscription cost. The D&DI tools might be, if they were ready.
I'll scavenge what I can for free, and check back in a few months.
I wholeheartedly agree. Making us out here pay for things that aren't available is robbery, unless it's list as a pre-sale, which this can't be, as they're selling a service.
WotC needs to get it's stuff together before they start charging for anything in the Digital Initiative.
|
|
|
|
1 year ago ::
Sep 17, 2008 - 3:12PM
#23
|
|
|
Damn.Maybe these prices are okay for US,but 1$ is about 23-30 Russian Roubles..I wouldn't spend all my money for 1 month of subscription.
|
|
|
|
1 year ago ::
Sep 17, 2008 - 3:22PM
#24
|
|
|
I'm interested in the Character Builder, so until that's out, I'm out as well.
I'd pay $7.95/mo (on a month by month basis) for the e-zines and the builder, but the rest of it has no value to me.
Until then, the e-zines can be acquired elsewhere, and nothing else out at the moment warrants payment.
|
|
|
|
1 year ago ::
Sep 17, 2008 - 3:45PM
#25
|
|
|
Disappointed is an understatement. I was looking forward to subscribing to the magazines only (not interested in the tools. If I find that I do need them, there are open source / free versions that will do in a pinch and if I really need more in depth tools, I can build them myself). Originally Posted by Randy Buehler
Non-subscribers will be able to launch the Compendium, search for things, and see what results are returned. However, non-subscribers will not be able to click on the name of the rules element in order to see what it actually does.
So the Compendium is pretty much going to be useless now unless you have a subscription? I thought it was going to be free? Oh wait, not a useful version just the marketing version. Lame. I wouldn't care so much but that is not what we were originally led to believe if not outright told. Actually, I'm still not sure why it bugs me since I don't need the Compendium (that's what I use the books for). I'm sure others would've used it but not sure now that it's been nerfed.
Originally Posted by Randy Buehler
In other words, non-subscribers can see what things exist and what book they should go buy if they want to read more but don’t want a D&DI subscription.
Man, I'd like to lay down a whole boatload of cuss words for the way that was worded. Makes it seems like all we are is money to them. I understand businesses need money. Who doesn't? He certainly couldn't be accused of being tactful. Is this basically a table of contents? Sounds like it from the description.
As far as Dungeon & Dragon online magazines are concerned the quality is a bit dubious at best (to be fair, there have been a few, but not enough to pay for). And timeliness seems not to be too important.
$4.95 for a mostly mag subscription is a bit much for something that has no printing cost to wotc and little to no marketing cost beyond what is already in the budget for DDI (the mags are just a great face for the product. well the old ones were).
I also agree with not wanting to pay for editorials. If I'm paying, you can keep your marketing news / updates to yourself. That doesn't mean that I would be ticked of they are included in the mags (a few have been interesting), just that I wouldn't want to pay for a whole mag where there are more editorials than content.
I know that there will be people who will subscribe (I may end up one of them if wotc can deliver quality, value, and if they can follow through on promises. rather poor track record so far), but at this time it doesn't seem like it'll be worth my while.
Other questions:
If people are paying what happens if the site is down? Or if the tools are buggy / broken? Or if the Compendium isn't updated in a timely manner.
Also, what happens if I decide to subscribe in December? Do I get access to October & November's articles (full archive)? And what happens to my subscription if they promise content for a specific month and it gets pushed to some later time? Do I get a credit / refund? An extra month added to my subscription?
I love the 4e setting (minor issues, but so far a great update overall), I just feel that the 3rd ed version of this site had better written and more consistently useful articles.
I wish wotc luck (not that they need me for that), but I hope they step up their game if they intend to start charging.
|
|
|
|
1 year ago ::
Sep 17, 2008 - 3:53PM
#26
|
|
|
Quite simply 60 dollars for a subscription to a trade magazine is unacceptable. I can get 12 issues of Cosmopoliton for 15... and they print it out and ship it to me. Even Asimov, which is HEAVY written content, charges only 40 for a year, and they STILL print it out and ship it to you.
You don't have the overhead of print. Electrons are cheaper by a HUGE portion. Even paying your writers the way you do, you still don't use that much money.
So no. Unaceptable. Go back and think about it again.
|
|
|
|
1 year ago ::
Sep 17, 2008 - 3:55PM
#27
|
- Senior Volunteer Community Lead
- Dragon Slayer
- D&DI News Guide
|
Quite simply 60 dollars for a subscription to a trade magazine is unacceptable. I can get 12 issues of Cosmopoliton for 15... and they print it out and ship it to me. Even Asimov, which is HEAVY written content, charges only 40 for a year, and they STILL print it out and ship it to you.
You don't have the overhead of print. Electrons are cheaper by a HUGE portion. Even paying your writers the way you do, you still don't use that much money.
So no. Unaceptable. Go back and think about it again.
Ah, but Aasimov and Cosmo combined are $60/year. Don't forget that Dungeon and Dragon are two separate magazines.
I don't know if that changes the value position or not, but it's a point worth considering, I think.
Wolf Star76 Community Advocate (SVCL) for D&D Organized Play, Avalon Hill, and the DCI/WPN DDi Guide Interested in judging D&D at PAX EAST? Fill out this PDF [Link fixed - 2/8/10].
|
|
|
|
1 year ago ::
Sep 17, 2008 - 3:59PM
#28
|
|
|
Hafta speak up as a fan of the on-line mags, as I feel that a lot of the criticism on this thread is undeserved.  Firstly, $60 a year for two monthly magazines is a very fair subscription rate. How many other hobby magazines do you know of that produce the amount and quality of substance found in Dungeon and Dragon, complete with beautiful full-color art and no advertisements, for $30/year? I don't know of any. Format is in part a matter of preference. I understand the dismay of those who prefer to hold paper copies--at the same time, I myself vastly prefer the digital format, and I am sure others do as well. Less mess around the house, easier for me to find stuff. Oh, and if anyone at Wizards is reading this, an annual digital index would be smashing!Digital publishing has another advantage, which is that Wizards can deliver content to us in a more timely fashion. Granted, the M-W-F schedule hasn't worked out, but even if there is a rush at the end of the month (and in publishing, there is always a rush come press time), the bottom line is that the content is there. Wizards isn't failing to release material, and keep in mind that even the articles released on the last day of the month are in your hands two weeks earlier than they would be if Wizards had to wait to publish everything in a print version and send it through the post. And for those who resent Wizard's decision to start charging "so soon," please go take a look at the PDFs of the complete issues of Dungeon and Dragon that have been released for the past three months. There is nothing half-baked about those issues. Every one is print-quality material, and every one has been given away for free. Take $25 and multiply it by the number of people who have perused any of those articles over the past few months to get an idea of how much material Wizards has presented to its fan base free of cost as a show of good faith as they get DDI off the ground. It's practically the equivalent of mailing free PHB's to every D&D fan in the world. Whether the material is a worthwhile investment to you is, of course, a personal matter, but describing Wizards' business model as "robbery" or money-grubbing is just plain wrong-headed. Lastly, the much-maligned Bonus Tools. Here I am most in agreement with other posters on this thread--they're not up to snuff. But given that the basic DDI subscription is already perfectly justified by the magazine content, I regard these tools exactly as they are described: as a bonus. Maybe they're not all they could be, but I'm not one to turn my nose up at free extras, and I think they have potential. I know in my 3E game I used the Hypertext d20 extensively during play; if the Compendium can give me similar functionality (which I think it will in the near future), I'll be thrilled to have it. In closing, never forget that the folks at Wizards aren't just working for the $$$. Yeah, they have bills to pay like the rest of us, but more than that, they are also this game's biggest fans. They want to make this stuff good and make it available even more than we want it. Keeping that in mind, we may find a little more patience while we wait for the next free content release.
|
|
|
|
1 year ago ::
Sep 17, 2008 - 4:02PM
#29
|
|
|
Ah, but Aasimov and Cosmo combined are $60/year. Don't forget that Dungeon and Dragon are two separate magazines.
I don't know if that changes the value position or not, but it's a point worth considering, I think.
And both of those mags are still printed and shipped to you, another point worth considering. Dungeon and Dragon still cost more (or about the same)and deliver less.
|
|
|
|
1 year ago ::
Sep 17, 2008 - 4:15PM
#30
|
|
|
And for those who resent Wizard's decision to start charging "so soon," please go take a look at the PDFs of the complete issues of Dungeon and Dragon that have been released for the past three months. There is nothing half-baked about those issues. Every one is print-quality material, and every one has been given away for free.
No resentment from me if they start charging. WotC put themselves in this situation. They could have been charging from day one of the roll out if they had their act together.
|
|
|
