D&D 4th Edition - Initial Thoughts on D&D Insider
written by Donat P. Fevre
August 28th, 2007 · 2 Comments
If you’ve watched the videos about D&D 4th Edition, then I’m sure you’ve heard about the new subscription service that Wizards of the Coast plans to roll out, D&D Insider. So to start off, here’s my initial thoughts on it.
Dragon and Dungeon Magazine
Yup, both are indeed being put online, as part of the D&D Insider service. Personally, I actually like having a physical magazine that I can hold and flip through, but perhaps I’m a bit old fashioned. Logically, this kind of move makes sense, since it’s actually much cheaper to publish content to a website than on paper.
One possible benefit of this may be the fact that articles will be interspersed throughout a month (3x/week, if I heard the announcers in the video correctly). So you’ll have something new to read on a regular basis, rather than having to wait a whole month. However, if you so desire, Wizards will also be releasing a monthly compilation of whatever articles were posted, basically mimicking the monthly periodical format in a way.
I really do hope that the quality of the articles in both magazines remain as they have been on their printed form. While articles on the older version of Wizards site were interesting, I have read many comments about how they lack the quality that had been found in Dragon and Dungeon. If the quality of the articles for both magazines plummet due to Wizards taking control of them, I’m sure there will be plenty of ticked-off fans. 
Unlockable Content
However, apparently D&D Insider is more than just an online form of our favorite magazines. As was said in the videos, each 4th Ed. book we buy will contain code, which can be used to unlock additional content for your D&D Insider account. I actually think this is kinda cool. It also makes me think of the CD keys you’ll find on many PC games, and, in particular, how Bioware offered additional services if you registered your CD keys to your account on their website (though it’s completely free there).
As long as the additional content is consistently of great quality, this portion of the D&D Insider service may be very well worth the price of admission. 
Software Tools
Of course, along with the unlockable content will be the tools that you’ll be able to use through your subscription. And as you buy more books, apparently more tools will be made available to you. Though I imagine that it’s just a case of, say, more character classes to choose from, then the tools you already have (such as the character creator) will simply have the new classes added on. Another very cool thing!
Also, I’m sure the tools that Wizards plans to release will set a pretty good standard for the community. As it is, they look pretty sweet just from the demo they announcers gave in the videos. If anyone is going to want to create better tools, they may have to do better than what the current offerings have been. Of course, this all ultimately depends on the quality of Wizards tools.
Next: An Actual Inside Look
I’ve already signed up for a free D&D Insider account, though Wizards will begin charging for the service eventually. Tomorrow, I’ll give you the low-down on what to expect so far from it.
Oh, and if anyone’s curious, the deer on Catalina Island have gotten rather friendly. 
Topics: D&D In the News
The unlockable content sounds like fluff. Vista promised “Ultimate Extras” and where is that content. Not trying to spread FUD, but don’t expect anything more than what you get on release day or you might be let down.
I agree with Grizz. Also, the less they put into books, the less I can hand to my players to look at. It means everyone at the gaming table needs to have a book to get the ‘unlocked’ content (completed tables, like the announcers said).
Also, they’ll probably restrict what you can do with the online content, no giving copies to friends, or taking it away from their site. (Even though you BOUGHT that content!)