What will happen to 3.x errata for WotC books now?

In this thread here, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, an Associate Developer in WotC RPG R&D said that WotC would start releasing errata on a quarterly basis for 3.x books. What errata would be released first would be determined by the severity of the issue (with most severe problems being dealt with first obviously).

Now that 4E has been announced, is this still going to go ahead? Or will WotC just concentrate on 4E now?

Olaf the Stout

I think they'll release them. Apparently, they've been spending time working on the errata, figuring out a process for releasing them, so they wouldn't want to waste that time. Nor would they want to engender the ill-feelings they'd get from announcing errata and reneging.

Alan Shutko said:

I think they'll release them. Apparently, they've been spending time working on the errata, figuring out a process for releasing them, so they wouldn't want to waste that time. Nor would they want to engender the ill-feelings they'd get from announcing errata and reneging.

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I'm of the exact opposite opinion

From some of the threads I've read, I'm of the opinion that what they consider errata and what we consider errata are vastly different things. With the advent of a new edition, why bother expending the resources to errata a system that will be replaced in less than 12 months?

That said, I've always wondered why there isn't an ENWorld Unofficial Errata section to the site here. The rules forum is has some extremely knowledgable people and despite the sniping and snide posts is an incredibly valuable resource regarding rules questions. While there might be disagreement on some interpretations, you generally get a pretty good idea of what the problem with a particular rule is and the issues surrounding fixes for it.

Nyarlathotep said:

That said, I've always wondered why there isn't an ENWorld Unofficial Errata section to the site here. The rules forum is has some extremely knowledgable people and despite the sniping and snide posts is an incredibly valuable resource regarding rules questions. While there might be disagreement on some interpretations, you generally get a pretty good idea of what the problem with a particular rule is and the issues surrounding fixes for it.

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Errata isn't always rules issues. I maintain an errata post for Eyes of the Lich Queen and half the errata is something else (incorrect map scale, map locations, etc.)

As for WotC publishing errata, I look it as a good test of their veracity. We'll see if they maintain their commitment to put it out in a timely fashion after the big announcement. I do expect they will follow through.

Olaf the Stout said:

Now that 4E has been announced, is this still going to go ahead? Or will WotC just concentrate on 4E now?

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It's a pretty good bet that they'll just concenrate on 4E now. They may consider the Rules Compendium to represent the work that they were doing on "errata" issues.

Unfortunately, I expect we will see a half-hearted attempt at errata at best. As others have said: resources are being used in the development of 4E, so there is not much point in working on issues with older products.

I really think this is unfortunate, as WotC is one of the few companies to actually have full time staff that can address these issues. I want to be clear and say that I think WotC has great people working for them, who are really above-board sort of folks, but the way errata has been handled for many books is, frankly, sloppy and unprofessional. I would expect that the designers would agree with that, but I work for a large company too, and I know that you don't always get to set your priorities in the way you might like.

Hopefully the new edition will address this with more frequent errata and updates, but I'll say that I'm not going to pay for errata for a product that I buy. Now I know that it has been announced that errata will be free, but if it is the same quality as what we have now (take a look at the errata for Complete Divine to see what I mean), and the real updates are all for pay, to my mind that's simply unacceptable.

I don't want this post to end on a negative note, so I'll say that I really hope we get to see a last batch for 3.5 before the new edition. I think that would go a long way to patching up some of the concerns of a lot of the play-base. I think that could take something that's been a negative and really turn it around into a positive situation for everyone. Here's to hoping that happens!

--Steve

I am willing to bet that the 3.5 errata will suffer the same fate in the 4e era as 3.0 errata did in the 3.5 era. I think that the 3.5 errata will be ignored, or will be put on a very low priority. They will work on errata and FAQs for 4e books and eventually will get to the point where the 3.5 errata will be deemed "unimportant" and abandoned.

Olaf the Stout said:

In this thread here, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, an Associate Developer in WotC RPG R&D said that WotC would start releasing errata on a quarterly basis for 3.x books. What errata would be released first would be determined by the severity of the issue (with most severe problems being dealt with first obviously).

Now that 4E has been announced, is this still going to go ahead? Or will WotC just concentrate on 4E now?

Olaf the Stout

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The plan to release 3.5 errata is still going ahead, and we are still on track to release a first, "soft" update very soon including errata for Magic Item Compendium and our first official quarterly release of errata in October.

One of our goals in creating this errata process was to create a system that was edition proof. We will supply errata for 3.5 as long as 3.5 is our published and living game. After the release of 4th Edition, the process moves forward, but the 4th Edition releases will the subject of the updates.

A bit more on the errata process (3.5 and 4) from Logan:

WotC_Logan said:

The quarterly cycle is the intended method of delivering rules changes in 4E (assuming it works out to everybody's satisfaction). A major aim of the 3.5 errata process is establishing something that will work for 4E. We want to make sure we have a schedule so we don't fall behind again.

If you're asking whether the quarterly updates will continue to give 3.5 changes after 4E is out, I doubt they will. I'm not sure how many books will be included in the first quarterly update, but we intend to hit some of the most popular books (like Spell Compendium).

Rules Compendium is not a book made to sell you errata. It's a reference book that has the rules you need at the table when you run the game, put into an easy-to-read and easy-to-reference format. It includes stuff out of the core books (like grapple and incorporeality) and rules that were added to the game later (like swift and immediate actions).

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