To me, it comes down to respect. Not for WotC, but for the people that work there. They frequent these boards and are a member of this community. We enjoy their posts and humor. They are equals amongst our internet friends - and deserve our respect and cooperation.

One of the joys of their job is getting to preview and release information about the sets. They have a plan for how to release the information. They spend a lot of time figuring out how to best release the information to insure that everyone is intrigued throughout the preview process, and at the time that the full stats are released.

When people steal information from WotC and post it prematurely, they steal the thunder of the WotC people. It is the equivalent of finding out what a friend intends to give to someone else on that person's birthday, and then telling the birthday person that they are going to receive. If that happened to me, as a gift giver, I'd be pretty disappointed.

However, WotC employees seem to realize that if there are leaks, there is not much that can be done to contain them. They can control the leaks on the WotC boards. They could ask that the major independent boards not allow the leaks to be posted. However, they seem to realize that smaller independent entities will distribute the information once it hits the internet, regardless of what they do. Accordingly, they have not gone overboard in trying to stop people from posting the information, although they have made it clear that it is very disappointing to them when it is posted.

The spread of information relating to leaks is much faster if that information spends some time on Maxminis or Hordelings. Although there are other equally effective methods of releasing the information, the majority of the major leaks have begun on Maxminis and Hordelings. If these boards were not involved in the leaks, the spread would have been much slower...

For my part - as a matter of respect for the people that work at WotC, I want to stop the people that post these spoilers from posting them. If it is posted and we can slow the spread of the information a bit by keeping them off the major boards and seeing if they still proliferate, I'm all for it. However, once a spoiler is out there, I'm more than happy to seek it out. You can't put the genie back in the bottle.

I recognize that certain pieces of information can have an economic effect on people. If there were a leak that an uncommon fiendish umber hulk were in Unhallowed, people that have 2 to 5 Harbinger Umber Hulks ("HUHs") might try to sell some of their HUHs before the information was widely available. in those situations, where there is a substantial financial impact that can be anticipated, I see some reason in allowing the information to remain on the major boards. Despite the 'spoiled present' aspect of a leak, there are competing factors in those situations that require attention. However, unless the value of the older figure averages more than ~$30 on Ebay, I don't think that should be a factor.

Posted By Harneloot on 02/09/2007 9:06 PM
Now? We're Embedded with the corporation.....

Posted By Harneloot on 02/09/2007 9:06 PM

This is the only fan base that this quirk exists in. Video Games, Sports, Comics, Technology, Finance - its all about the latest rumor and inside info. I still don't get how/why Hasbro/WoTC gets a special deflection modifier on this.

Posted By Gallandv on 02/10/2007 7:30 AM
I guess I will have to try Hordelings for info and see if they are as uptight.

Posted By sage_raistlin on 02/10/2007 6:54 AM
Stupid stupid stupid. The whole point of sites like this it to get information about upcoming releases/rumors. If you guess are going to act like the Gestapo about it, then then it changes the entire idea of the site.

This should be a site to freely publish infomation about figure. If somoene breaks a NDA, as Mods it's not up to you to enforce it. The figures for the next two sets are most likely being made right now. If somone in the factory sees/reads them and posts about them, so be it. We are talking about figures, not national security issues that need to be keep secret. If the factory were stateside, we'd now about the figures almost the instant they were made. The list the was released was so vague and had no picutes that it is stupid to jump on it and delete. Mods are over reacting to the whole leaks situation period.

All this does is hurt the community as a whole, people are going to be afraid to post info/rumors for fear of the Mods banning them, just because they don't want to offend WOTC. Leaks and rumors can have a positive effect on preorders and excitement in reguards to prereleases. If I have seen the whole set or close to it a few weeks before release, it will tempt me to preorder more before the release.

Mods, you need to lay off the gestapo tactics and allow this community to do what it is ment to do. Have open and honest disscussions about what we love best. WOTC need to understand this community is not employed by them and in this current time everything will get out and leak. If they are going to be aggressive about it towards message boards on the internet, then it's it going to end up hurting the company as a whole and give them negative PR. Just look at Games Workshop and how their aggressive greed has had a major impact on the company overall sales.

I'm sure my post will last all of five mins before this gets taken down and I get banned, but you know what. I'm tired of the whole walking on eggshells and this needed to be said.

Posted By sage_raistlin on 02/10/2007 6:54 AM
Stupid stupid stupid. The whole point of sites like this it to get information about upcoming releases/rumors. If you guess are going to act like the Gestapo about it, then then it changes the entire idea of the site.

I'm sure my post will last all of five mins before this gets taken down and I get banned, but you know what. I'm tired of the whole walking on eggshells and this needed to be said.Â

Posted By Harneloot on 02/10/2007 9:41 AM
Maybe the Mods are getting secret Mini kickbacks for playing the role of WoTC Watchdogs!

Posted By greyhaze on 02/10/2007 10:34 PM
For those of you asking, I will post the list in question tomorrow on my own site. No need to involve maxminis.

Posted By Prince o the Raven Banner on 02/11/2007 1:17 AM


Oh sweet baby I wish!
I'd take out the whole internet for enough minis. Though, then I wouldn't have anywhere to brag about it.

Posted By Harneloot on 02/11/2007 7:37 AM
Well said Humbel Minion.

Is Hordelings as oppressive as Maxminis has become? Maybe its finally time to migrate...

Posted By Stormhand on 02/11/2007 9:16 AM
Here's my personal point of view.....

My guess is it all comes down to money. WotC generate revenues by "selling" some exclusive previews to magazines or other commercial vehicules. If the people behind the game cannot generate enough revenues and make this line of product profitable, then Hasbrow, owner of WotC, could decide to end that line of product and possibly cut all jobs related to it. I'm certain that this is the last thing employees would want, hence their request to minimize the publication of leaks by the various fan sites so that they may generate as much other revenues as possible to make it worthwhile.

I don't know if you've seen the latest financial results of Hasbrow. They made a very nice profit which was led by increased revenues in products unrelated to WotC, hence certainly not related to DDM. So my guess is that if DDM is not a profitable line, it will be abandoned sooner than later. And since there is a big event coming this week, I'd assume WotC would want as many people as possible to attend and have a first real peak at the coming collection. Again, it all comes down to money.

I could be wrong, obviously...... But since I work in a financial environnement, I tend to analyse a lot of companies' decisions based on return on investments and the likes. It's certainly not something important for the majority of fans and/or players, but it's extreemly important for the investors, and thus on higher management.

Can I wait a little longuer to find out what's in the next collection if it means the game can last longuer in terms of production? Certainly. But that's only me......

Posted By greyhaze on 02/11/2007 10:05 AM
List is posted. Cheers.

Posted By greyhaze on 02/11/2007 1:48 PM
If a magazine is given an exclusive the magazine might be able to sell more copies of that particular issue. When the exclusive is stolen away by spoilers, it no longer has that particular alure to offer a potential purchaser.

Sirohk: http://www.ddmspoilers.com/unh_stats.html is the link, try refreshing while holding down shift. It is in the grey area at the top, it is text only.