Losing the digital initiative…
Gleemax Alpha? Very clearly an Alpha version. Try to find/navigate a single WotC staff blog. I haven’t been able to figure it out yet.
Dungeon and Dragon? Not horrible, but so far mostly articles that are either columns that Wizards has been giving away for free for awhile now (Save My Game, Design and Development, Steal this Hook, etc.) or previews of/advertisements for 4e.
So far, I am less than impressed, and I’m somewhat disappointed that they’re rushing these things out the door before they are anywhere near done.
Whilst it’s a general rule in business to get the product out there ASAP, and worry about the finer details later, there’s a reason why Alphas are usually developed in-house only.
It’s because they don’t work yet.
When your early adopters see a Beta, they have a vague idea of how things are going to work when the product goes Gold. It doesn’t work properly, but it does work… mostly.
If it doesn’t work at all, then your strongest advocates are going to let everyone know about it—long after the Gold release. And scores of potential customers are going to head to the nearest competition, be it TT or ENWorld or whatever.
This sort of slackness could potentially derail the Digital Initiative.
I know that RPG companies are generally leakier than a sieve, but WotC should’ve been onto Gleemax another 3-6 months earlier, and there should’ve been a Beta up and running before they made their official announcement.
Yeah. At the very least, they ought not to be actively transferring things over to it while it is still in Alpha. ::sigh::
Assuming their character creator, character visualizer, and virtual tabletop work – it could be an awesome resource.
Of course, the fact that they announced it will be Windows-only and their track record so far with usability have lowered my expectations and hopes.