4E Subscription Costs

[dberg_usa]

I keep hearing that a lot of people are opposed to the $15.00 per month 4E subscription price. There are reports that it drops to $10 a month for full year subscriptions. This poll addresses the question "What is a good price threshold for such a service $2.5/$5/$7.5/$10/$12.5/$15 per month?" I'm being reasonable since they will actually have to pay for the equipment, bandwidth, server space, and royalties to deliver the content. That's why even though we'd all like to see it for free, I've set the bottom amount to $2.50. I doubt they could deliver much at that, but I'm interested to see what everyone thinks is fair.

[Knight of Roses]

I naturally voted low. I figure if I am already paying for the books, the subscription service should not be that expensive.

[Barrok]

I am totally with KoR on this. Due to the fact that I pay quite a lot of money for books - I would want the amount paid a month to be low. As the monthly running costs for such a service with the amount of end users actually using it would generate a lot of profit if it was just $2.50.. though perhaps for Big Business and shareholder $5 would be acceptable too. I must admit I cannot see myself paying $10 a month to play D&D through WotC.

[dberg_usa]

I'm with you on the book costs. Perhaps they should look at 3 to 6 months of "free service" with each book sale. That keeps people buying their core content and helps make a player & DM pool readily available for playing it online.

[mexal]

Given that the only playing online I'm likely to do is here... what exactly is going to be on offer? I don't find the WotC messageboards a very congenial place and most of the D&D Insider stuff is no more than OK.

[Sunfist]

Quite frankly, I'm just not sure I'm ready to pay for something like this. I've withheld my vote in this poll, since my answer would either just be the lowest number or a random vote.

[MindForge]

I'll pay $10 a month for it but no more.

I believe it will probably be something like $7-8 though.

[Skurvy]

I havn't voted, because I don't intend to pay Wizards any more money than I already have, and so won't be subscribing. Just wanted to say that although it is nice that they have finally cottoned on to the potential of online roleplaying, its a shame they seem to view the whole thing as a money-spinner.

$15.00 for something you can mostly get free elsewhere just doesn't seem to make much sense to me. I'll be sticking to doing my gaming here on the Tower!

Skurvy

[MindForge]

They have been supporting the Insider with a lot of content. There is new stuff on almost a daily basis. 5-6 adventures a month and more. It is kind of like getting the magazines.

I would pay $15 a month if I got
an electronic Dungeon and Dragon mag with all the content. So I could print the ones I wanted. Or at least a print version once every 6 months or something.
My .pdf book versions I buy (already part of insider)
All the bells and whistles for the online gaming.

[Skurvy]

My only concern would be how long they could keep that rate of content up for ... Wizards as a general rule are answerable only to themselves, and when they decide to drop something, boy does it disappear fast.

Still, that is a discussion for another time and place ... I will buy the books, but I think subscription fees on top are too much.

Skurvy

[boundry]

voted low as well. i'd consider it but really it seems like a lot of the information can be found online anyway, that and money doesn't quite grow on trees yet. then there's the books as well.

[Barrok]

*points out paper money is made out of trees and thus could be argued that it does grow on trees*

I will wonder if there are going to be other site offering a somewhat similar service to that of wizards but for a cheaper subscription cost? Is this another start of an updated MMORP?

[MindForge]

Ok. I guess it is official that it is 14.99/month USD but they will offer a free period then a reduced price period and then instate the full price. That sucks.

[boundry]

jep won't be affording that :p not with uni costs anyhow :mad:

[xaotik1]

I'll probably just end up using the Fantasy Grounds virtual desktop I already have and not pay any additional money at all for the privilege of playing a game I already bought the books for. Seems to me that a one time fee to get Battlegrounds, Fantasy Grounds, Screen Monkey, etc is a much better investment than forking over a set amount of cash monthly for the same thing I get almost free now.

I do understand the draw of online gaming, as it is about the only kind of gaming I get, but I don't see why anyone would pay for something they can get free elsewhere. Frankly, I have too many other expenses to cover.

[Sunfist]

I don't see why anyone would pay for something they can get free elsewhere.
I've never understood prostitution either.

[superhal]

i saw a preview of 4e, i hate it, they destroyed my damn warlock, DESTROYED!

[MindForge]

I have started to think that I will be doing more live play than online play. So, I doubt I will be paying for this. Besides, they will probably end up doing either a bi-yearly Dungeon/Dragon combo in print or a yearly version of each. That is my bet anyway. I would. They already have the art. They already have the content. Formating would be the only issue and they have people who could do that quick, I bet.

So, I am going to check it out while it is free and decide if I will indeed be paying the extra amount.

[Niko_Kaze]

*points out that USA currency isn't paper technically it's cotton which is not a tree, more like a shrubbery* Nee!

Anyways why pay for this would be my question. They are already playing yearly releases on PHB, DMG, and MM. If I need to create a character or adventure I'm talented enough to do it with someone online telling me how or doing it for me. It's degrading in away. "Oh you aren't imaginitive enough so pay us and we'll do it for you." I worry that WotC may try and prevent others from running games online "off the grid" so to speak kind of like the media companies are doing with online sharing, and the like. Personally I thought the CD in 3.0 was kind of neat and wouldn't mind a promotion like that in the front of my PHB. They could include an update CD in each of the later books they send out.

[Gorthaur the Cruel]

As a side note, they've been talking about giving you free access when the books are purchased. In other words, for people like me (who collect splatbooks like pokemon), its completely free as long as I buy a new book every month or so. Which sucks, but I understand it. :P

As far as it goes, I will -not- be doing the subscription service. I already pay for WoW, which I think solves a lot of fundamental P&P problems (that nothing will fix, honestly). I will not be doing the same for D&D, especially since MsPaint, AIM and imageshack do most of the work for me. It just isn't as pretty.

Depending on the quality of content, its entirely possible that I will renege on this statement, but who knows.

[Hesketh]

I don't buy things on the internet but i buy them at stores.

[MindForge]

Yeah, if they can provide something I can always use then I will use it. I like printed material though. I will not pay that fee if I am only using the Dungeon/Dragon end of it.

[Sunfist]

I worry that WotC may try and prevent others from running games online "off the grid" so to speak kind of like the media companies are doing with online sharing, and the like.
I don't really see WotC doing that, at all, and there's a fundamental difference between playing a game with a friend over the internet and "sharing" (which is better known as stealing).

[MindForge]

Ok. If they give me something on par with ETools (a great character generator), Dungeon and Dragon magazines, Tool that can be used offline to make my game prep easier I might consider paying $15/month for it.

I better get so much content though. I am one of those people that personally do not want my Dungeon and Dragon magazines off the screen. I loved getting them in the mail and I would have paid more to see them stay (I currently pay 10.99 per issue for some of my graphic design mags), I would have easily paid that per issue. But, I still have them that is the key, I still like to pour over them when I lay in bed getting ready to sleep.

Ok. So give me all of the tools I had in the ETools Toolbox - easy to use, printable in many formats (including just word copy/pasting). If I cannot print to a character sheet or a .pdf file I probably will not be getting these tools. I loved ETools even though it was a little glitchy.

I want about double the online content for the Dungeon and Dragon magazines. This is primarily because now, I will not even be looking at half the material that they release because I will not have a month of the mag sitting around the house. I will only be reading the things that look interesting now - if I get the software.

I have a real life gaming group and could easily get another. I don't need the online game group. It would be fun, but I don't need it.

All in all, I will probably get it in the beginnning - at least for a year or so. I will probably can it after that if it doesn't suit my needs.

[xaotik1]

Damn Code Monkey for discontinuing E-tools! I had a copy at one time but lost it when my computer took a dive. Now I can't ever repurchase it. . .and it's a loss, let me tell you. If the insider does indeed have a utility like E-Tools, I will likely join up. It's just that handy a program. . .

[MindForge]

Codemonkey did not discontinue it. Wizards pulled their license from them. No doubt because of this new system coming.

[xaotik1]

Hmmm. . .perhaps they will reinstate a 4E edition then. . .just the thought brightens my little corner of the world :lol: