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mudbunny wrote:

Eight now, WOtC is playing the odds that is going to bring them more money and customers. The userbase that has a windows-based PC is much, much higher than that that currently uses Macs. Thus, it only makes sense for them to aim towards the market that will bring them the most money. Once they have the bugs worked out, and the program is running well, I do fully expect them to work on porting it over to Mac computers. However, until then, it looks like it will require some sort of Windows Emulator for Macs and *nix based machines.


You need to be careful when reading marketing info. It is mostly spin. Like the info you provided above.

You know how they decide if it is a "high-end" machine?? By the price. And seeing how Mac generally cost a significant amount more than PCs, it appears that the 50% is a meaningful number, when it actually isn't. The number of PCs available (not sold, but simply available for purchase) at the higher price ranges favoured by Macs is much, much lower than the number of macs available at comparable prices. This isn't due to popularity, it is simply due to the fact that PCs simply don't cost as much as macs.

When you say the user base is much much higher, I wonder how that can be fully appreciated... since the software provided has almost always been PC-only... that is to say, if you were to look at the userbase, you have already singled out Mac-only users.

I don't know what their numbers are... maybe they don't make it publicly available, but my guess is the percentage of the user-base that would prefer to use a Mac over a PC for this type of thing would be similar to World of Warcraft. My expectation is there would still be more PC users, but when I used to play (before kicking the habit - 18 months sober now thank you very much), I was surprised at the significant number of people who had both platforms at home, and preferred playing WoW on the Mac.

I agree most marketing info is spin... on both sides. I also don't buy the "Macs are much more expensive" argument - for every article stating they are more expensive, I can find a compelling one that says they are not... not that really pertains to this thread anyway - in the end (per my post above) Apple appears to be increasing the rate of sales more than other computer companies in the last decade or so... which is why I feel justified in making a post saying Macs should be more supported with programs such as this.

WolfStar76 wrote:

It's worth noting that many people inside WotC are Mac fans. Scott Rouse, who I believe is D&D Brand Manager (I forget his exact title, so I may be off) is a Mac user, in fact, and his R&D presentation at DDXP earlier this year was projected off his Mac.

Someone else (Noonan?) recently posted a Dragon article on how to manage all the files for your campaign, and the screenshots he provided were from his Mac.

So it isn't a matter of Mac being snubbed, per se (though, as someone with a Mac in my home, I can see how it would feel that way) - it's a matter of having limited funds, and unfortunately not being able to please everyone with those funds.

Windows, for most companies, is still the "best bet" for successful software - it still has the broadest installed support base, period.

Please note, that I strongly support the idea that Wizards should provided cross-platform support ASAP (out of the gate would have been nice, but it just wasn't in the cards, apparently).

My post was more to peel away some of what I felt to be hyperbole. Wizards isn't calling you up to say "HA! We don't want your dirty MAC money!" It's simply an issue that they've chosen (at this time) to focus on the broader Windows market. The unfortunate side effect of that is that it does leave some customers out, but they had their reasons for this choice.

By all means, keep reminding them that there are Mac and Linux fans out there - all of whom have chosen their platforms for their own reasons. I, personally, would just ask that you be careful how you deliver the message. You don't want to appear overly emotional in your request, or else it (unfortunately) can be easy to "write you off" as someone who can't be reasoned with.

Thanks Wolfstar, your post eases my angst somewhat!