Dan OXM wrote:
Onza wrote:
Is OXM Digital "the disc, but online"? Not really; I think I should clarify what Fran says in her editorial. Her point was that people who currently enjoy the disc will not be left out.
Anyway, not clear to me...
OXMD is not the "Disc -> save as DLC." They are different products. But...some content may be shared between the two products, particularly demos, of which there are a finite amount. Some of the videos, for instance, may only appear in one or the other product, or they might be edited differently (say, an interview about a game's single-player campaign on the disc and an interview with the same person about the game's multiplayer aspects on the other).
Yes, it will be more clear later, when I know all the elements that are going into the first OXMD issue. :)
Thanks for the clarifications Dan. I just wished I knew this phantom thread was here before I posted a few long posts in the other thread. I would highly suggest reading my posts there before you reply to my next few comments. It will explain a few things and help you understand where I'm coming from.
With that said, here comes some criticism. My first gut reaction to your comments above is ""Bloody ***!". I guess my fears were realized. I was sure hoping that OXMD = OXM Disc on Live Marketplace, but it seems that's not so. When I first read Fran's letter I got the feeling that wasn't the case, but I was hopeful that I read it wrong. I'm not exactly sure what OXM hopes to obtain by making separate content between the two. Though your example of different video content for each medium seems to point to your intentions. It seems you want to nickel and dime us. I can't understand how you expect existing subscribers to not be upset by such an idea. Current subscribers won't want to cancel their subscriptions and just get the digital version since they would be missing on the exclusive content on the disc. But they don't want to miss out on the extra content the OXMD may have either. They're going to be thinking they should already be getting that content as part of the subscription they've already paid for. But instead they're now realizing they will have to pay an additional $30 a year to get the complete package. If you think this will "make as many people happy as we can" then I don't think you've really thought this through.
None of this I've mentioned even considers the fact that you're in effect charging for free demos. By doing this you're setting a dangerous precedent that Microsoft might notice. Something I think everybody on Xbox Live might hate you for a very long time. In my other comments I mentioned that offering the exclusive demos free and separate from the other content would be a much better alternative. You could still offer it in such a way that shows that they came from you instead of Microsoft. For Example, you could say "Free demo sponsored by OXM" and maybe offer a commercial or static ad along with the free demo. But if your *** bent on including the demo as part of your $2.50 download, then I sure hope you understand that the rest of the content better be worth that or more. Because if it's not, then people will just see it as you charging for demos and it will fail.
For subscribers who think they're getting robbed of the extra content, I hope you have a way for them to get that extra content without having to spend the whole $2.50. Maybe you could offer free codes in OXMU that can be used on OXMD to get that content free? Or maybe you'll offer the extra content a la carte at very low and reasonable prices?
Dan, you say disc users are not going to be abandoned due to OXMD, but I can't help but think of the transition to the Xbox 360-only demo disc. You abandoned the original Xbox even though it was very valuable to a lot of readers. So who's to say you won't do that in this case? I can foresee the possibility that you will start offering more and more exclusive content on OXMD such that the disc is no longer needed. Things would have been a lot easier and nicer if you had just made OXMD = OXM Disc on Live Marketplace. Oh well.
Anyway, I hope you read my other posts on this matter. I gave you some constructive feedback on how you can keep OXMD from failing. Just remember the focus of OXMD needs to be on the extra content and NOT demos. You only have one chance to get this right or you'll catch all matter of *** for it. Good luck.
Tommy McClain