A "Basic" mistake

Around this time yesterday, I was just leaving my FLGS, having purchased the 4e core rules. (This meant I had to pay almost the full RRP, which was quite unpleasant, but I bought my Red Box basic set there twenty years ago, so it was a matter of principle.)

Anyway, before heading on to my regularly scheduled game of WFRP, I spent some time browsing various stores in town, where I was shocked to find they'd released "Species IV" (I mean, why? 2 and 3 both sucked, and the fourth entry in any series is almost invariably awful.)

My last stop was in Waterstones, where I was surprised to see an advert on the door "Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition now in stock". This was probably a good thing, although it puts yet more pressure on my FLGS.

Within said bookstore, I found a kid browsing their RPG selection, clearly considering whether to ask his parents if he could buy the "D&D Basic Game".

Good, right?

Well, no, because this was of course the 3.5e Basic set, and therefore he would be buying into and learning a set of rules that is already obselete.

Of course, this being Waterstones, there was no-one on hand to set the kid right. (Except me, but I don't talk to random children, for reasons that should be obvious. Besides, I'm not in a position where I can make a recommendation for or against 4e at this time.)

In the event, the kid put the box back on the shelf, and left.

Finally getting to the point, in my opinion it is a big mistake for WotC not to release a "4th Edition Basic Set" at the same time as the 4e core rulebooks. It seems that there actually is some hype surrounding the new game, albeit at a fairly low level, and so now would seem to be the time to grab some new players. But the "4th Edition Core Rulebook Collection" is big, heavy, and very intimidating. You won't grab many new players with it. (The kid in Waterstones seem to even consider it, and while he was there he didn't flick through, or even pick up, any of the three core rulebooks.)

Am I alone in this opinion?

What's wrong with the kid getting the 3.5 Basic Set? OD&D, 4e, basic set, starter set, they're all games where you go down holes, kill orcs and nick their shinies.

Btw, WotC are releasing a new basic set, the D&D Roleplaying Game Starter Set, in November. Probably no coincidence that the marketing of D&D towards people who haven't played rpgs before is due to start 6 months after the launch of 4e or thereabouts.

The "Basic intro box set" has been tried a couple of times since the classic D&D days, and I think it's pretty much always a failure. Just how long have those 3.5 basic sets been sitting on the shelves?

The existing player base doesn't buy them because they already have the full game. And if they have a friend they want to introduce to the game they are perfectly capable of making an introductory scenario complete with pregenerated characters. I think we've all done that once or twice.

So really the only target market is people who are interested in D&D but don't know anyone who plays it. And of that segment a boxed set really only does favors for a small group looking to dip their toes in the water to see if they want to buy the full books.

Consider. Would you think it would be a good deal if you could buy a $45 version of Keep on the Shadowfell that came in a box with minis of all the heros, tokens for all the monsters, a set of dice, and a coupon for $10 off the gift set?

WotC didn't think so, or they could have made that just as easily as the $30 module they did sell. The Red box was different, because it was the full system, up to level (6? 8? I forget.) Then you bought the Expert set and so on up the chain. The more recent box sets are just shadows of a larger system.

Doug McCrae said:

What's wrong with the kid getting the 3.5 Basic Set?

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It's not the worst thing in the world, but the problem with starter sets is that if you don't like the game, you've wasted your $40 (or whatever), while if you do like the game, you get to graduate to the 'real' rules, and throw away your $40. With the 3.5e set, not only do you get the pleasures of that, but worse still, you get to find that the rules you've just learned are completely wrong - you've wasted your time as well as your money. Huzzah!

I always had the impression that KoTS IS the basic set for 4E. Wonder how different will the new basic set be....

With the 3.5e set, not only do you get the pleasures of that, but worse still, you get to find that the rules you've just learned are completely wrong - you've wasted your time as well as your money.

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Only if you're interested in playing 4E. I suspect that if someone new to the hobby found 3.5, bought the books, and liked it, he'd be far less likely to buy into 4E. There are still more than enough 3.5 players around to support him, too - if there weren't any, then sure, he'd probably go to 4E after finding that out.

Doug McCrae said:

Btw, WotC are releasing a new basic set, the D&D Roleplaying Game Starter Set, in November. Probably no coincidence that the marketing of D&D towards people who haven't played rpgs before is due to start 6 months after the launch of 4e or thereabouts.

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Also no coincidence it's right before Christmas.

Cheers, -- N

Andor said:

The "Basic intro box set" has been tried a couple of times since the classic D&D days, and I think it's pretty much always a failure. Just how long have those 3.5 basic sets been sitting on the shelves?

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I'd disagree that it's a "failure" or else they would have stopped putting them out years ago.

The purpose of the basic set is to be inexpensive enough to lure new players to the game and give them enough "cool stuff" that they can learn the game and want more. It's not intended for vet players like us!

If I was you Delericho I might suggest the mini basic set that came out a few months ago. The mini game is also a great "gateway" game to D&D proper as it teaches tactics.

bento said:

If I was you Delericho I might suggest the mini basic set that came out a few months ago. The mini game is also a great "gateway" game to D&D proper as it teaches tactics.

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That's a good point. I don't play DDM, so I am prone to forgetting about it, but the new version does appear to be a decent intro to 4e.

I don't recall if Waterstones had any miniatures, mostly since I wasn't looking. I do recall they had a surprisingly large array of WFPR books, though.

delericho said:

(snip)...where I was shocked to find they'd released "Species IV" (I mean, why? 2 and 3 both sucked, and the fourth entry in any series is almost invariably awful.)

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Think your unconscious mind has something against 4e? Or are you just being sly?