Comment Re:I'm not buying any more WoTC products... (Score 1) 463
Dragon and Dungeon being digital only is a blasphemy. It's like having a digital Elvis and charging concert ticket prices to view it!
Apparently they will post new content several times a week and at the end of the month it will be collectively considered an "issue". They still want to charge for it, $10/month if I recall, which is more than the issues were individually. No printing or binding costs; no distribution costs. This move reeks of large profit & tightening controls.
The published material has been leaning toward the card based miniature game market for the past couple years. The formats in the latest books for monsters is a great example. Hasbro understands action figures, Wizards love collectible card games, why not force D&D into these two molds. Everything is being dumbed down for the widest possible market for $$$.
The things that are popping up in the channels over at WotC's forums are troubling at best. the Online Wizards Community is supposed to be a sort of DnD Myspace. Previews of the new edition already indicate that it will be incompatible with 3rd ed in any functional way.
Once or twice before I recall D&D being dumbed down and simplified to appeal to a broader group. We had Basic and Advanced D&D. Basic vanished because the less intellectual, short attention span base group was more suited to video games. Smarter, more creative players needed advanced rules to satisfy them. People who just didn't get it simply never played again...
I've watched this happen several times with D&D, and with many other game systems/companies over the years.
This is taken it to a new level. It will hurt them more than help!
I looked over my 1st and 2nd edition AD&D books and actually cracked open my old Champions(Hero Games) and Star Wars (West End Games) books after reading the 4th ed announcement. I may just go back to my roots...
In the mean time I have a ton of 3.0, 3.5 and OGL books and material that'll keep me playing for years to come!!
