[ladyofdragons]

I've been kicking around this idea for quite a while, and working on it on and off. Given that I don't have much time to work on it currently, it's not a possible reality anytime soon, so this is just a "hmm I wonder" post to fish for some response and maybe kick around some ideas.
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1. Would you purchase a product that listed all D20 Fantasy products ever produced with descriptions and purchase information (if the product was still available)?

2. If yes, would it be preferrable as something you could download and use offline, or something available via the web?

3. Would available ratings & reviews of each book make a difference to your decision? What about links to reviews on the web?

4. Would it be a bonus to be able to search or filter by book content type (feats, skills, prestige classes), or search via keywords?

5. Would links to web enhancements/errata for each product be useful?

6. Would an index of items in each book make a difference to your decision? Would you want to use this index offline? Would you want to print filtered indexes?

7. What if the download product was free but a small paid subscription was necessary to get updates? How would you feel if it had banner advertising of D20 Fantasy products & websites?

8. Are there any other functions that would make such a product enticing to you?
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Honestly, putting together and managing the information for such a project is an incredibly huge venture, which is why I think I would only consider doing it if I could manage somehow to make some income off of it, since coordinating it and entering data would be nothing short of a second job. I'd appreciate any input into the idea, personally I think it's a worthwhile project, making your existing D20 library more useful and letting you know about cool D20 products you may never have heard of otherwise.

[Vaskre]

1. Maybe, but only for a glance at non-wizard products. It'd depend largely on cost, I think.

2. Download, that way it's easier for the manufacturer to update, cheaper, and it might be possible for me to receive updates about additions to the product.

3. Yes.

4. Yes.

5. Yes.

6. No.

7. I'd be fine with the banner, but I'd prefer a one-time fee instead of monthly, unless it was cheap. Monthly fees add up, you know.

8. Not that I can think of at the moment.


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Hope that helps, Lady.

[ladyofdragons]

Vaskre, on Sep 23 2005, 12:28 PM, said:

7. I'd be fine with the banner, but I'd prefer a one-time fee instead of monthly, unless it was cheap. Monthly fees add up, you know.
Hope that helps, Lady.

Yup it does. How about a yearly subscription? One subscription rate gets you 12 months worth of updates, kind of like a magazine.

[Axel]

1. No. I've no desire to have an index of things I'll never shell out for.

[Vaskre]

Yup, I could do with a yearly fee.

[Antouron]

That would be pretty cool, especially for us noobs. I like the yearly fee idea as well.

[Dthclaw]

1. Maybe, depending on final cost.

2. Web-based, if not printed (which is more expensive, I know, but I don't like staring at a blob of text for too long)

3. Most certainly to the first; a little unsure of the second.

4. Hell yes.

5. More for web enhancements, not so much for errata.

6. An index would be awesome, since for me at least the items are half the reason I buy a given book.

7. Yes to all.

8. Um... maybe a copy of a given book's table of contents?

[dragonhand777]

1. Yes

2. Definately downloadable

3. Ratings and reviews are good ideas. Maybe posting like a four or five star rating system in the document itself, then provide a link to the web for a more detailed review.

4. Being filtered as well as word search would be preferable.

5. Yes

6. Offline

7. If I was to pay a fee, it would need to be a one time fee with no ads. I would also be willing to pay a smaller fee for updates.
If it was free, banner ads would be acceptable, otherwise no.

8. It should be grouped be publisher. Each entry should also contain the author's name.

It is a worthwhile project.

[ladyofdragons]

Thanks for the feedback. This definitely gives me a better handle on most desirable features and possible licensing structure.

My current thought process for license/purchase would be:

* Freeware download with banner advertising and a set version of the catalog. The free catalog would be updated rarely, just to keep it useful.
* 1-year subscription purchase to catalog updates for a relatively low price (maybe $18/year? I'm not sure if that's too low or too high). During the subscription period, the banner advertising disappears and you get monthly updates to the catalog and usage of the book index feature.
* Option to purchase one-off updates to the catalog (maybe for $5) rather than subscription. One-off updates would not remove the banner advertising, but would get you the book index.

Any thoughts?

[WoeTheSinner]

I think the freeware version will go over well. I would make the subscription price 19.99 yearly. Honestly people like seeing numbers like that. To be earnest though I dont see many poeple paying but I do see lots of people downloading a freeware version.

[Vaskre]

Yeah I'd have to go with Woe on this one. 19.99 seems fair and people -do- like seeing numbers like that. I would pay 19.99 yearly for it.

[dragonhand777]

WoeTheSinner, on Sep 27 2005, 10:25 AM, said:

I think the freeware version will go over well. I would make the subscription price 19.99 yearly. Honestly people like seeing numbers like that. To be earnest though I dont see many poeple paying but I do see lots of people downloading a freeware version.

Vaskre, on Sep 28 2005, 02:26 PM, said:

Yeah I'd have to go with Woe on this one. 19.99 seems fair and people -do- like seeing numbers like that. I would pay 19.99 yearly for it.

Have you two been smoking crack?
And not sharing?
You evil dooers!

I think that whole $19.99 thing is a marketing ploy. It's another way of getting 20 bucks w/o coming right out and saying 20 bucks.

Even in the event I am not right about that, I still strongly disagree with the statement that people like that sorta thing. But yes, we do live in a world where countless millions have grown up seeing that type of price tag on products in comercials.

People like bargins.

But I trust ladyofdragons will keep the price reasonable. 15 to 18 dollars sounds fair.

[ladyofdragons]

dragonhand777, on Sep 29 2005, 04:39 AM, said:

I think that whole $19.99 thing is a marketing ploy. It's another way of getting 20 bucks w/o coming right out and saying 20 bucks.

That's like how I currently pay $2.899 per gallon of gas. I've always hated that, why not just make it $2.90???? I know someone somewhere is getting rich off that last 10th of a cent. probably oil companies.

[WoeTheSinner]

Quote

I think that whole $19.99 thing is a marketing ploy. It's another way of getting 20 bucks w/o coming right out and saying 20 bucks.

Exactly. This is marketing research after all. $15 would be better...maby even $14.99

[ladyofdragons]

I think $18 is good. That way you're paying basically $1.50 per update. That's less than half the price of a good comic book these days. Less than the price of a small cup of coffee at Starbucks, even.

So, next question is what the heck I call the darn thing. I've got a couple ideas:
- D20FX (The D20 Fantasy Index)
- RPGMonster (taming the D&D compatible book pile!)
- DCCC (D&D Compatible Card Catalog)

I'm not sure if I can use "D20" in the title without paying some sort of license fee, but it may be just a permission thing.

I welcome naming ideas, if anyone can think of something nifty.