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3 years ago ::
Sep 30, 2010 - 7:38PM
#111
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Date Joined:
Jan 29, 2008
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Crossposting Having beta tested MTGO 3.0, I can safely say that I'm fully aware that WotC's entire software development divsion is two guys and a cat sitting in a boat balanced on a revolving portal to the underworld- which is to say they don't have enough resources, enough time, or enough respect for the job they do. It's a thankless job, and it's especially hard on the cat because he doesn't have opposable thumbs. But keep in mind that, as a subsidiary of Hasbro, this really isn't WotC's fault. Hasbro sets and enforces strict limits on the resources and manpower that goes into a given area- and unfortunately, Hasbro doesn't seem to put much value on software development- anyone whose played any of those inane games they included as part of a cereal promotion some five years ago could tell you that. There's also the matter of what sort of procedural messup permited them to hire a cat, or why they reopened the portal to hell after a MTGO 3.0 beta tester closed it the first time. These delays are unfortunately, and as a DDI member, I sometimes rant and rage about them, but honestly there really isn't much I, or WotC can do. Contrary to the law of internet trolling, the WotC software division, all three of them (four, if you count the boat), are working their arses off. It's in their best interests to get this out as fast as possible, and giant threads complaining about how they aren't getting it out as fast as possible are pretty useless, because they don't accomplish anything but to draw the involved posters into a comisseration spiral over how WotC is the antichrist, and has a cat as the project lead on Software Dev. What you need to do, if you have an issue, is email Customer Service. Those emails get read, and WotC becomes aware you have an issue. You can discuss renumeration with them at your leisure. Making a thread like this is, really, just ego stroking. 
Oh Content, where art thou?
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3 years ago ::
Sep 30, 2010 - 7:55PM
#112
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Date Joined:
Sep 21, 2008
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I'm truly torn between renewing and not.
On one hand, Wizards of the Coast has pretty much only Ubisoft as a competitor in the "not delivering" department. If there were ever a company I am tempted to flip the finger at and cancel my subscription, it's them. You made promises, you didn't deliver; then you made us pay for content that you didn't deliver. Your magazines, which the price is going to go up on soon for us renewers who used the discount, have increasingly less content with more flaws. Why would I _EVER_ want to renew this subscription?
On the other hand... I know how the world works. If we all stop paying for D&DI, Hasbro cuts the cord. Programmers get fired or reassigned, and suddenly Dungeons and Dragons is a pen and paper game. I kind of want to keep my money going towards them simply so that they'll give me the future content maybe one day.
And that's what you've left me with, Wizards. Treat you as you deserve to be treated for your lack of quality and quantity and your empty promises... or treat you like a charity, donating my money in the desperate hope that one day you'll climb out of your refrigerator box, set aside the wine bottle and start doing decent work.
I don't know. I don't have a lot of money to give to you guys as charity.
So get off your **** and stop being a charity case and start being a COMPANY again.
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3 years ago ::
Sep 30, 2010 - 8:16PM
#113
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Date Joined:
Jun 19, 2008
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I kind of want to keep my money going towards them simply so that they'll give me the future content maybe one day.
That pretty much sums up my attitude about DDI. I believe in the potentiality of the process to become a very nice actuality. I just haven't seen a lot of movement toward that with "austerity measures" that seem to be taking hold across the board in DDI. Just in this thread to agree with this statement.
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3 years ago ::
Sep 30, 2010 - 8:38PM
#114
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Date Joined:
Oct 11, 2007
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I kind of want to keep my money going towards them simply so that they'll give me the future content maybe one day.
Same...except then they take that money and made Essentials, in all its 3e contrived class design, lack of variety or choice, poor mechanic'd glory.
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3 years ago ::
Oct 01, 2010 - 1:34AM
#115
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Date Joined:
Sep 28, 2007
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I think nor I nor my players will renew the DDI subscription.
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3 years ago ::
Oct 01, 2010 - 9:52AM
#116
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I'm truly torn between renewing and not.
On one hand, Wizards of the Coast has pretty much only Ubisoft as a competitor in the "not delivering" department. If there were ever a company I am tempted to flip the finger at and cancel my subscription, it's them. You made promises, you didn't deliver; then you made us pay for content that you didn't deliver. Your magazines, which the price is going to go up on soon for us renewers who used the discount, have increasingly less content with more flaws. Why would I _EVER_ want to renew this subscription?
On the other hand... I know how the world works. If we all stop paying for D&DI, Hasbro cuts the cord. Programmers get fired or reassigned, and suddenly Dungeons and Dragons is a pen and paper game. I kind of want to keep my money going towards them simply so that they'll give me the future content maybe one day.
And that's what you've left me with, Wizards. Treat you as you deserve to be treated for your lack of quality and quantity and your empty promises... or treat you like a charity, donating my money in the desperate hope that one day you'll climb out of your refrigerator box, set aside the wine bottle and start doing decent work.
I don't know. I don't have a lot of money to give to you guys as charity.
So get off your **** and stop being a charity case and start being a COMPANY again.
Brilliant post. Could not have put it better myself.
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3 years ago ::
Oct 04, 2010 - 12:58PM
#117
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Date Joined:
Aug 17, 2007
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When they came out with the full version and started taking money, they took the Coming Soon down, and redesigned the whole DDi section to reflect only what it included, and then mudbunny made an exstensive post about DDi and stickied it in the forums.
This is not the way I recall the sequence of events. As I remember it, "Coming Soon" was displayed for the Character Builder, Character Visualizer, and VTT several weeks (if not longer) after WotC began accepting payments.
Can you show evidence of that?
Just for the record, and before someone goes delving deep into the forums and images to see if someone has a screenshot of just this. The absence of evidence does -not- mean it didn't happen. A fairly sizable number of people remember the events, and while human memory -can- be wrong, it isn't always. I know a number of people who live life on 'evidence only' grounds and it becomes frustrating talking to them about normal events that occur.
DnD Insider went pay on 10-16-2008.. first mention in Magazines regarding pay service: Ampersand article on 11-3-2008, Dragon #369
Site redesign, removing elements of VTT is a bit trickier, as after it happened the forums exploded and WotC did some scrubbing. The earliest date I can see mention of this removal is Apr 2009, when they sued those six for distributing DnD material. I spent several hours looking for this information. It's unsurprisingly missing from the website.
What I could find is that VTT was still being developed well into the pay structure of DDI. It had yet to be shelved, meaning that at least 1 day passed where the advert was available.. not to mention.. the videos and book advertisements.
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3 years ago ::
Oct 04, 2010 - 1:04PM
#118
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Date Joined:
Sep 28, 2006
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You mean images like this:   and  For a couple of montyhs, they did have "upcoming feature" on them for the wensite, and then people complained that it was "misleading" (despite it being clearly spelled out on the purchase page) and so WotC removed them. (Which, of course, leads to complaints that WotC is trying to get people to ferget about them.)
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3 years ago ::
Oct 04, 2010 - 1:08PM
#119
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WotC is trying to get people to ferget about them.)
I think WotC started the "fugetaboutit" when they announced they were suspending further work on the VTT. That was what almost a year ago?
Your Dungeons & Dragons Insider subscription has recently ended. This could be because your billing information failed to process successfully as an Auto-Renew or because your Manual Renew subscription lapsed. Either way, we wanted to invite you back.
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3 years ago ::
Oct 04, 2010 - 1:42PM
#120
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Date Joined:
Oct 26, 2005
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WotC is trying to get people to ferget about them.)
I think WotC started the "fugetaboutit" when they announced they were suspending further work on the VTT. That was what almost a year ago?
Over a year ago.
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