Eric Noah's Info

[JoeGKushner]

It would be interesting to compare what was in the TSR pipeline the year before GenCon 1999. I don't know how much it would help predict a release date, though.

Lots of campaign ending stuff like Die Vecna Die and the Apocalypse stone.

Speaking of which, may be why we've seen a lack of a Age of Worms compendium or Dragon Compendium II. No point putting out something that's going to be obsolete in a few months for that type of format.

But does make me wonder what would happen to Dungeon and Dragon magazines.

 

[solomoncane]

Perhaps we should just do a POD of this thread and call it 4E for Dummies (or 4E for the snarkily-inclined or simply 4EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!).

 

[Vigilance]

Why don't other games follow the "revise, reset, resell" model? Like chess, poker, baseball, etc.? Wouldn't companies that make those products be better off revising the rules and selling new products to all the players every few years? Or is there an advantage to grognards always being able to teach the game to newbies, fathers-to-sons, etc.?

Many card games DO, even traditional ones.

How many different kinds of Uno are there? There's collectible Uno, variant rule uno, etc.

Also, what do you think all those Hoyle books are?

Finally, do you know of a company that makes pinochle as its main product?

RPG companies adopt the "revise, reset, resell" strategy because it's something approaching a real business model. You know, profit? Like all sorts of crazy avarice like maybe being able to offer your employees some dental coverage? (crazy I know)

Chuck

 

[JoeGKushner]

Wargames and RPG-wargame hybrids aren't more popular than RPGs, they're just more expensive and thus more profitable per player.

And generally have higher turnover rates and new editions. Confrontation is one 3rd edition I believe.

Cadwaldon (spelling?) is mini-based RPG.

Warhammer is going on... 6th ed?

There's a lot of turnover but also a lot of new blood.

The new blood likes that it can get in on the ground floor of something new without all the intimidation factors of dozens of books/backgrounds, etc... and then they grow up and move on and the new edition comes out.

 

[Clefton Twain]

I dont think there IS a limit to what people will buy, except what interests them or does not interest them. The number of people who say "I buy so many books I could never use them" which translates to any beancounter as "I will buy books I will never use out of a collecting/completist impulse" actually gives them MORE incentive to make new editions.

To some extent, I think you're right. But there is definitely a breed of consumers who will not jump on the bandwagon at the drop of a hat. Obviously WotC would be betting on the type of person who will gobble up anything and everything. I tend to pick and choose what I want--this adds up to about 3-4 books a year. Mostly this is because of either poor design, uninteresting subject matter, or lack of anything I can actually use. My gaming group tends to share books so that only one person ends up buying about half of the books we use.

In a slightly related rant:

[rant]

One thing I think WotC really needs to pay more attention to is the actual GAME DESIGN. I am still very unhappy with the fact that they have to release errata for so many of their products. I don't really care about typos or grammatical errors (though, being a former journalist, these really bug me a lot when they're in an official book I'm supposed to want to buy). When they royally mess up game mechanics it's a problem. What's worse is when they do this and then force you to buy another book to get the *real* fix.

They also tend to develop books in a proverbial vacuum. This usually results in two different spells, feats, prestige classes etc. with the same name, or two different versions of said rule. Some of the current spells have gone through FIVE iterations in five different books. In a one particular instance, there was a spell that was revamped and fixed in the Spell Compendium, only to be reverted back to its original form in Fiendish Codex I. Obviously I know which version to use but why did this happen? There have been 3.5 books released in just the last couple of years that still included old, out-of-date rules (one or two have included original 3e material that was obsolete). This is usually because WotC have been sitting on the book for a while, I think. Taking into consideration the whole publishing process it is probably unavoidable. But this is why the rule needs to be correct the first go-around.

This has been a problem from the get-go and I think it's only getting worse. I can't very well copy and paste errata into physical books so I type up the rules for myself so that I can change them every other week when WotC's "patches" come out.

[/rant]

--CT

 

[Pants]

Yeah but see if Eric has the rumor, some of us are inclinded to believe it.

WTF does that have to do with anything I said?

 

[EricNoah]

But does make me wonder what would happen to Dungeon and Dragon magazines.

Me too.

Can someone point me to info on who does what at Paizo now? There were some position shifts fairly recently, right, up to and including Erik Mona's role at the company?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Whichever one has the biggest typeface.

The question is whether C&C or OSRIC will get to market first with their large print edition.

 

[Mr. Draco]

I, for one, welcome 4E no matter the shape it turns out to be.

If it's a new, more awesome D&D ruleset, then I'll buy it and enjoy.

If it's a mini-centric wargame, I'll buy up all the 3.5E books I want, on the cheap, when they go on sale and hit the bargain bin in the local bookstore in response to the emergence of 4E.

Either way, I get more years of role-playing enjoyment.

 

[solomoncane]

I, for one, welcome 4E no matter the shape it turns out to be.

If it's a new, more awesome D&D ruleset, then I'll buy it and enjoy.

If it's a mini-centric wargame, I'll buy up all the 3.5E books I want, on the cheap, when they go on sale and hit the bargain bin in the local bookstore in response to the emergence of 4E.

Either way, I get more years of role-playing enjoyment.

QFT--win-win.