Gleemax is Dead

Wizards of the Coast (WotC) has killed the Gleemax social network.

Gleemax was WotC's attempt to bring social networking to the gaming world, an attempt WotC's VP of online gaming admits was "too ambitious." He now says that until the online games and gaming resources they offer are up to snuff, they will receive the lion's share of the company's attention.

My question is: why separate yourself from the crowd?

WotC needs to get with the Web 2.0; there are too many social networks out there already and all of them have groups dedicated to RPG and gaming, in general. The new model (covered here a few weeks back) is far more appropriate, but still sticks too closely to the "proprietary" model the collapse of AOL proves will not work. Proprietary models are so 1998, guys! Even Microsoft is opening-up their source for some products.

If WotC isn't careful, they will manage to alienate the fanbase they have worked so hard to recapture since the 1990s. While they also want to bring younger players into the fold, these younger gamers have always had this technology and are not as familiar with the proprietary model as some of us older folk; I have a feeling that once they figure out they can't do what they want with the software when and where they want to, and it's costing them out the frame just to have it, there's going to be a backlash.

© C Harris Lynn, 2008