GDC 08: WotC & Gleemax
I've got to admit, when I first heard about Gleemax way back at Digital Life, I was skeptical. Partially this was because I'd just stumbled off the plane from Tokyo and was, frankly, no longer familiar with the direction formerly known as "up." Also, I underestimated both Wizards of the Coast and the momentum generated by their three-pronged approach to modernizing tabletop gaming with awesome gaming reference resources and actual gaming toolsets, a gaming portal, and social networking.
But their showing at GDC stepped up their game big time. From their position as platinum sponsor of the IGF awards, and the dead-awesome awards they had manufactured (a brain in a green sphere gripped by some kind of awesome bronze steampunk business), it became obvious that Wizards is taking Gleemax all the way. While an alpha of the site is open now, don't expect the full features to be rolled out until later in the year when D&D 4.0 arrives - and when the site does go fully live, a certain subset of gamers will be psyched to explore the community portal. More will follow, because WotC is giving Gleemax something for everyone.
Lorewhores like myself will go ape over the Dungeons & Dragons Insider, and Gleemax will enliven that content with blogs from industry leaders and the good word on all things competitive such as tourneys and contests.
D&D gamers are probably used to seeing their DM accompanied by a laptop or online reference setup, but Gleemax will bring Neverwinter Nights-esque capabilities alongside its more robust online reference and gaming toolsets - you'll be able to do anything from run a campaign online to simply offloading most of the distracting mechanics from your pen & paper sessions - it's not intended as a total replacement for the traditional experience, but Gleemax will offer you and your friends as much or as little supplementary functionality as you desire. I'm excited to see how this part plays out.
Gleemax will also function as a games portal, and will probably see an excellent selection of games, since Wizards seems to know their customers quite well - although with the way the term "games portal" is bandied about these days, we'll have to wait and see before we can pronounce victory on that front.
Also in the wait-and-see category is anything remotely social network-y, but for what it's worth, Gleemax looks like it will fit very well into a pre-defined ecosystem of gamers and provide a genuinely helpful service as well. I may not just run and check to see what kind of games all my Gleemax friends are playing, but you can bet your bottom dollar (or your bottom) that Gleemax will be the go-to portal for anyone who wants to get into a D&D group or find more friends to trade and battle cards with. If I've got even one friend on Gleemax, it will be fun to see who he or she knows in my area, and could potentially provide a lot of surface area for like-minded gamers to meet up and connect. It sounds like Manhunt for WotC fans and hobby gamers, but without the hustlers and stretch marks!
tiny dancer
Posted to GDC, Miscellany on 26 February 2008
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Other stuff like this: gdc 2008, gleemax, wizards of the coast, wotc
This is twice now I've ready that as "Gleemonex."