4th & Dragon : Dungeons and Dragons...and stuff

Can’t say I didn’t see this comming.

Ultimately I am encouraged by the possibility of added resources for DDi.  What discourages me at the very same time is that if they are shutting down Gleemax in order to add resources to the DDi team, and those resources won’t be available until “sometime in September,” what does that mean for when we’ll see more DDi?  The probably answer to that question isn’t what any of us will want to hear.

why cannot any tabletop - non computer game company get their I.T right look at GW constant failure there, its a real shame. One of the few I can think of that works really well - Battlefront - Little New Zealand wargames company that makes Flames of war - theres is one of the best.

Well now that I’ve got all the players I need, fine by me.  It’s been a great resource for me to find new local players when I’ve needed them. 

I agree though, I hope their “excuse” really produces fruit.

No, delay DDI! More free Dungeon and Dragon mags!

I don’t anyone will lament that overblown forum…

Well, let’s see where this goes.  If it means an acceleration of the release of DDI components, then it’ll be a good thing.

"something truly awesome”? I like your optimism. I think they’re more concerned with “something truly passable” that is also “something truly not 6 months late”. They’re just learning to walk over there. By the time 5e comes around, I think it will probably look like the sell job the Marketing dept has whipped up.

why cannot any tabletop - non computer game company get their I.T right

Companies always struggle to focus on their core competencies. They invariably look at the cost of using an outside resource and say “how tough can it be, we’ve got smart people, we can figure it out and do it cheaper.” If they excel at creating Fantasy Role-Playing or Collectible Card/Miniature games, they should be able to sit down with a vendor that excels at creating beautiful, stable, interactive multi-customer web applications and collaborate on a killer suite of tools.

Of course, the lack of competency focus also exists in those “outside resource” companies as well. Wizards could easily outsource their digital design to a company that is equally (or more) incompetent at the task. Additionally, this type of initiative is very difficult to implement in a rigid time/cost structure. Furthermore, they completely mismanaged customer expectations by driving in 10 different directions without a solid understanding of the effort and resources such an undertaking required.

I waited for my delayed 4e books (although that was Amazon’s fault), and I will wait just as anxiously for the components of D&DI;. I just hope Wizards can regroup and focus on making D&DI;the best online resource for its games. If they do that, the money will follow.

Wizards of the Coast has made the decision to pull down its Gleemax social networking site in order to focus on other aspects of our digital initiatives, especially Magic Online and Dungeons & Dragons Insider.

So the theory that DDI (and MtG) will see more resources is making the assumption that they had resources on gleemax to begin with.  There is a likelyhood that they are abandoning gleemax for the foreseeable future because they didn’t have any resources on it - and maybe that’s why it didn’t go anywhere.  Granted I didn’t know what gleemax was (beyond a forum) until today but I have my doubts that the will see more/faster DDI material then we would have without this “decision”.

So, uh, what exactly was Gleemax? I just saw it as another thing I had to register an account with to post on WotC’s forums.

Check out this thread: http://www.dragonavenue.com/forums/viewthread/986/

I asked that very question there.

The only thing this means to me is that I’m still left upset about Dragon and Dungeon magazines disappearing because at least that format was solid and dependable.  Paizo seems to have their online stuff together though but I didn’t doubt it with Monte and Sean working over there now (even though their page was together before they started working there). 

Maybe D&D should bring another company that has their “stuff” together in the online department already.  *shrug*

Dragon and Dungeon aren’t going anywhere.  Just Gleemax, and as indicated, the driving vision isn’t going away; it’s just being put on the backburner for now.

Well, fair enough.  I was just noting what they said.

Alright, now I’m a bit confused.  Didn’t Gleemax also publish the D&Di;stuff? I know they didn’t create it, but they published it, right?

No.  Two totally separate entities.  Gleemax was an attempt to make a Facebook of sorts exclusively for gamers.  D&DI;is a suite of programs to create and run D&D online.

Gleemax and D&DI;had nothing to do with each other apart from maybe sharing a few code monkeys.  Ultimately, the demise of Gleemax (or even just setting it on the backburner) has no effect on D&DI;.  Except that it will free people to work exclusively on D&DI;and hopefully speed the release of the applications suite.