[D&DI]Upcoming Changes

[NPCMook]

For those of you who are also D&D Insiders, if you checked your mail recently would have noticed an E-Mail from Wizards talking about changes to D&DI. Apparently we will be getting completed material each month from PHB 3 until its release in March 2010, a total of 102 pages to be exact. This is going to begin July 7th, 2009.

For people now interested in D&D Insider they are going to be raising the prices also on July 7th, if you subscribe before then you will be charged the current rates.

[valadil]

TY for the heads up. I haven't decided if I'll subscribe yet (as I'm not in a regular 4e game yet) but I marked July 7 on my calendar.

[RTGoodman]

I saw this somewhere else a little while ago (on Amazon.com), but I haven't gotten the e-mail yet. Here's part that post, in case anyone's interested, though:

The good news: Starting 7/7, DDI will be debuting complete sections of final playable PHB3 material each month. There will also be an article talking about the material each month. Over those 9 months we'll get 102 pages before anyone else.

The bad news: With this "extra content" DDI prices are going up to 9.95 monthly, 23.85 quarterly, and 71.40 annually. It's to pay for the "extra value" we're going to be getting.

I'll say, it's still not that bad (especially the yearly price), but I'll definitely be renewing my subscription before then...


EDIT: Actually, it appears that the guy from Amazon is also from Texas. NPCMook, is that you?

[skywalker]

What are the current prices?

[NPCMook]

I saw this somewhere else a little while ago (on Amazon.com), but I haven't gotten the e-mail yet. Here's part that post, in case anyone's interested, though:



I'll say, it's still not that bad (especially the yearly price), but I'll definitely be renewing my subscription before then...


EDIT: Actually, it appears that the guy from Amazon is also from Texas. NPCMook, is that you?

Nope, not I

[RTGoodman]

From the FAQ:

The current subscription plan options are as follows:

* 12 Months = $59.40 ($4.95 per month)
* 3 Months = $19.95 ($6.65 per month)
* 1 Month = $7.95 ($7.95 per month)

Basically, if you think you're going to want D&DI access (and you probably do), it's best to get it before the switchover, especially if you're going for the yearly subscription.

[Awesomologist]

Just read the main link here: DDI Prices and PHP3 Cover

More important, turns out PHB3 will be Psionic, Divine, and Primal.
Cover has a Minotaur (likely a reprint from the Dragon Article) and one of the Gith races (I could never tell them apart).

Divine and Primal getting another go around? Interesting... No Shadow or Elemental.

[NPCMook]

I saw that cover earlier hoping it was a shoop/troll, but I guess I was wrong... I honestly thought they were going to only do 4 classes per Core Power Source, I guess people can still have hopes for a Martial controller then, eh?

[Gralamin]

I saw that cover earlier hoping it was a shoop/troll, but I guess I was wrong... I honestly thought they were going to only do 4 classes per Core Power Source, I guess people can still have hopes for a Martial controller then, eh?

We already have 6 arcane classes (Wizard, Warlock, Artificer, Swordmage, Bard, Sorcerer).
I predict they will follow the 4/2/2 pattern and We'll end up with
Martial 4/Arcane 6/Divine 6/Primal 6/Psionic 4

Which means PHB4 will probably be something like: Shadow, Martial and Psionic.

[Awesomologist]

I saw that cover earlier hoping it was a shoop/troll, but I guess I was wrong... I honestly thought they were going to only do 4 classes per Core Power Source, I guess people can still have hopes for a Martial controller then, eh?

You should take a look at the new Monk. The only thing "psionic" about it is the enchant-able fists. Otherwise it's as close to the martial controller we're going to see.

[Blackdrop]

So begins the endless speculation on the new divine and primal classes.

Anyhoo, they must really be wanting to draw subscribers in.

[Shadow_Elf]

Whoa, Ninja'd by an entire thread! That's a new one for me.

I'm hoping for a Primal Striker focused on more... exotic things than "Hulk SMASH", and maybe for a less interesting Primal Leader.
In addition, I'm hoping for a good Invoker/Cleric Mesh in the form of a "Favoured Soul", and for a Divine Defender a little more sticky than the Paladin, possibly named the "Crusader".
For Psionic, I'm hoping for Telepath/Psion (Controller), Monk (Striker), Psychic Warrior (Defender) and Empath (Leader).

[eepop]

From the looks of that Minotaur, the divine classes might very well be based more on classes for evil divine entities.

Maybe we'll be seeing things like Blackguard, etc.

[NPCMook]

From the looks of that Minotaur, the divine classes might very well be based more on classes for evil divine entities.

Maybe we'll be seeing things like Blackguard, etc.

Well they did do an article on Bane one or two issues ago, giving him a Channel Divinity Feat and even a Paragon Path!

Well I personally didn't count Swordmage and Artificer as Core Classes, but I guess I'll start counting them now.

[shadzar]

They surely are grasping for straws now. Wanting to raise the price and not even allow people to be able to get subscriptions that do not have access to credit cards and more than willing to use paypal, but DDI doesn't allow PayPal for subscriptions.

As well as other account management problems like disabling auto-renew and such; yet increase the price before fixing any of the backend to the entire subscription model.

Good luck to any and all that try to subscribe on the 2nd, cause I am sure there will be plenty of problems with current track records from DR and WotC. I would advise everyone to NOT subscribe or renew during that transitional period.

[Colmarr]

For those who are interested, this is the full text of WotC's email. I received it this morning:

Dear Insider,


As a valued D&D Insider™ subscriber, we wanted to make sure that you were among the first to know about some changes to D&DI that will be coming this July.


Starting Tuesday, July 7, D&D Insider will debut complete sections of final, playable, Player's Handbook® 3 material each month leading up to the book's release in March 2010. As a D&DI subscriber, you will be the first to receive nine months of content totaling 102 pages available only through your D&DI subscription.


Each month, the PH3 content will be made available to you through the Character Builder and Compendium accompanied by a comprehensive article. You can read more detail about the debut content in Bill Slavicsek's upcoming Ampersand column.


Beginning July 2, introductory pricing for D&D Insider will expire and subscription prices will change to reflect the increasing value and new content. Starting today, you have 44 days to take advantage of the introductory pricing before it is no longer available. As a current subscriber, you can extend or upgrade your current subscription to get the most value possible. To ensure that you're getting the most value for your money, be sure to visit our FAQ to determine whether a subscription upgrade or extension is right for you.


The deadline for taking advantage of introductory pricing is July 1 at 12 midnight EDT.*


New pricing for D&D Insider beginning July 2:

$9.95 for 1 month
$23.85 for 3 months (save 20%)
$71.40 for an annual subscription (save 40%)


If you have any questions about either of the changes listed above, or about your subscription, you can visit the FAQ or contact the Wizards of the Coast Customer Service team by visiting http://wizards.custhelp.com.


* expiration of your subscription and subsequent renewal or renewal after July 1 will be at the increased rate.

The number 102 is interesting. It's way less than PH1 and significantly less than PH2 (which Amazon says was 224 pages). It would therefore appear that you're not getting the entirety of PH3, but are likely getting approximately half. The utility of that half will obviously depend on which bits they give you

Regardless, to my mind, this is a HUGE step towards making DDI an attractive proposition for the average gamer.

... account management problems like disabling auto-renew and such...

For what it's worth, I recently cancelled my auto-renew and it went through without a hitch. In fact the cancellation request was acknowledged in approximately 1 hour and processed within 24 hours.

[shadzar]

For what it's worth, I recently cancelled my auto-renew and it went through without a hitch. In fact the cancellation request was acknowledged in approximately 1 hour and processed within 24 hours.

The problem is it should be opt-in, not opt-out service.

It shouldn't go ahead and add things that will incur more costs. Those are things that the paying customer should actively choose rather than an automated script to just decide for you that you want it.

Auto-renew should be OFF be default with the option to turn it on at a later date. There is no connect fee, so renewing late isn't really a problem as it would be the same price with just a few missed days. While not wanting to renew and being charged for it anyway because you have to go through even a single step to turn it off, could be constituted gaining money by false pretenses aka Fraudulent charges.

Not that the method hasn't been made to work better, but it shouldn't exist in the way in the first place.

OOPS you didn't want to renew but we charged you anyway. Too bad you don't have the money and now you have to pay up financing charges as well the bank so it will cost you maybe near $120 for something you didn't want in the first place, after all the service charges for insufficient funds, etc.

[Colmarr]

The problem is it should be opt-in, not opt-out service.

There is no should. It's a commercial contract between two consenting parties. The default can be whatever it wants to be. And giving that WotC is offering you the opportunity to opt in, they get to set the default.

Putting that issue to one side, when I subscribed in April (and I admit this may have been different for earlier subscribers), WotC's confirmation screen made it very clear that auto-renew was on, and how I could turn it off. On top of that, they have an FAQ on their site that gives you step-by-step instructions on how to do so. It couldn't have been clearer.

I've heard that there were problems with this before (and the conspiracy theories surrounding that fact), but it simply isn't the case any more.

[Kurald Galain]

There is no should. It's a commercial contract between two consenting parties.

This is not about law but about ethics.

[Colmarr]

This is not about law but about ethics.

And how exactly is it ethically wrong for WotC to have auto-renew on as the default?

I subscribed and then cancelled within 5 minutes of each other. If I was dumb enough to save my cancellation until the day before auto-renew and then forgot to do it, then I have to take responsibility for my choices and mistakes.

It's more convenient for a portion of WotC's customers (those who don't want a continuing susbcription) for auto-renew to be off. It's more convenient for everyone else (including WotC) if it is on.

There simply isn't an ethics issue here that I can see.

[shadzar]

This is not about law but about ethics.

No solely that, but who has the right to choose.

Taking the magazine subscription route, if you don't send in the renew card for them to charge again, or another payment for the renewal, then they send you an issue after your subscription has expired and then try to bill you for it, you are not responsible because:
-by law you did not ask for the item mailed to you and not responsible to pay for it and may keep it.
-you may have found it to be not worth any money and just threw the latest issues in the trash and no have more refuse to dispose of at your cost from garbage collection agencies, etc.

Likewise for a non-tangible service such as car insurance. So you can switch insurance companies, but company X cannot force you to pay for more service from then after your term of service has expired.

Take it again like cellphones or other things where you have a term contract. after your 2-year service contract has expired, they cannot force you to continue and just decide to charge without your authorization.

The consumer has the right to choose and has to put forth the effort in all these cases as to whether they wish to renew your services.

With DR/WotC, they aren't given you that choice, but forcing you up front to agree to a perpetual lifetime subscription. You have so many ways that could allow the system to breakdown and fail to be able to remove the auto-renew from the system in a timely fashion, that could later cost you money because of fault from the company in the case of system failure or human error. Likewise there is no protection from act of god in the case of personal power failure so that you may go online, or anything to protect should your ISP screw up so that you cannot disable the auto-renew should a time in the future come you decide to discontinue use of the service for whatever reason.

There are many more hoops to jump through on both sides to get the auto-renew cancelled and many more possible things to be lost because of it including but not limited to money, man hours, etc; just to stop a subscription from being renewed.

That is why the method has always ben let the consumer take the time to make sure they renew.

With the WotC model (at current) that all back issues of Dragon/Dungeon are available perpetually, and the CB has everything in it and updates instantly, then there is little loss from having the system as opt-in.

The only people that benefit from the current system is Digital River. A customer may miss the latest articles today because they forgot to renew, but can get them tomorrow or the next day, how ever long it takes for the new subscription to take effect int he system. Surely less than a months time where you have really missed any content.

It is better for all when you can get something you missed, than lose something you never had....like you can always add more, but cannot take away when cooking.

If someone would actually weigh the things and how much work it has taken so far due to this opt-out system they would see how it doesn't work as well as people would assume.

When you take the right of choice away from the customer, you begin to look more like a criminal and con man and your product or service will look like the latest Ponzi scam.

I mean what customer cannot take the time to renew by hand if they want to turn it on ONCE and leave it one always to always have it done. That just shows they really do want it, rather than forcing everyone that does not want it to have to jump through hoops and red tape to try to disable the feature by hand.

A- people subscribing with the option to turn it on are already using the system resources to subscribe. They get the option to auto-renew right on the subscription form and can turn it on there. Once done they have it and don't need to log back into the system and cause any lag or server stress to it. They continue on to the WotC site and enjoy their subscription.

B- people not wanting to auto-renew have no option to turn it off at sign-up and forced to accept it. AFTER they are done with the system, they must log back into it to cancel the auto-renew. EXOFLOOD! (j/k) But seriously it does take resources away from the system that could have been served better by having the option to select, rather than forced default with no CHOICE to turn it on or off, but having to go back into the account to adjust it later.

Ethics, cost, time, resources; all these things play into the differences between default on with no initial option to turn off, and default off with the option to turn on at initial sign-up to the service.

<label>Auto-renew:</label>
<b>ON</b><input type="radio" name="auto_renew" value="1">&nbsp;
<b>OFF</b><input type="radio" name="auto_renew" value="0" checked>

TADA!