Well, let me help you out here then...
...a disappointment
To you. Someone who has played rpgs for 20 years, as your sig suggests. But you are not the targeted demo of this Red Box.
...a missed opportunity
To produce a game that could be played by itself, never wanting or requiring additional purchase. That is an opportunity that I personally would gladly have them miss so that they'll actually sell more stuff and stay in business.
...par for the WotC course
That they produce things that aren't geared for you and your 20 years of experience and knowledge of the rpg industry.
...a demonstration that WotC continues to successfully avoid influence from Hasbro to its detriment
Ironic statement, in that most people would claim WotC is almost always supposedly beholden to Hasbro's "Evil Corporation Practices!!!" that attempts to squeeze as much money out of the little guy as possible. To say that WotC isn't being influenced by Hasbro is actually going out on a limb there.
...a demonstration that WotC continues to successfully avoid learning the right lessons from its past successes and failures to its detriment
Seeing as how they are still in business and are still able to produce games (which many game companies cannot say the same), I think they've learned quite a number of the right lessons.
...probably going to do more harm than good to D&D and 4E long-term
Which has been claimed by people ever since the company bought the D&D property in the first place, which means your prognostication is one in a long line of ones that we'll discover to be a little off the mark.
...at best going to be a very moderate success in terms of bringing new and lapsed players to the game (it will probably be profitable on its own since so little was invested in it).
Probably the most accurate statement you made.
Ok, I'm at work, so I don't have time to disagree with you line by line here.
I'm not in favor of unbiased WotC bashing, and I don't have an issue with them making a dollar, if they don't, they won't put stuff out anymore.
I reject the notion that anyone that disagrees that this box is a gem or the best thing WotC is capable of putting out needs to budget and demonstrate how they would put out something better. You may also want to re-evaluate your position with a little bit more objectivity. If you think this thing is a resounding success than you are flat out incorrect. The degree to which this box fails is subjective however.
This product is (or should be if it isn't) designed to be a gift for one person to learn the very basics of Dungeons and Dragons and then get some friends to play with him.
You can disagree with this point, but there is only one book to create the character and since there aren't any handouts or quick references, each person is required to go through the whole booklet to create a character. Now, I don't know about you, but if I'm person number four or five waiting for this process while I'm hanging out with my friends, than I am bored. And probably less excited to play or try this, particularly if the fantasy genre isn't my thing.
The choose your own adventure idea thing is awesome, say, for the prospective DM to go through in advance, so he can help the others make characters. But, the thing is, there is nothing to support the fledgling DM after this initial foray into the product. There is no solid reference to the characters, what they can do, or the necessary stats.
I'll say it again, and many, many others agree with me, but this product would have been a lot better if it had at least included two pages on each class, and some more choices on gear. I had my wife go through it, and she was kind of annoyed that she couldn't use a bow, or loot one from the goblins, for example.
I can understand being a fanboi for Wizards, I like some of the stuff they do. But you need to remember that Pathfinder isn't really offering the same thing they are, and that for all intents and purposes, they don't have real commercial competition to speak of. If people don't speak up when they screw up or do poorly they don't necessarily notice it sometimes.
There is a line in the sand here. On one side, you have jerks complaining about everything that WotC does and bemoaning the fact they charge for stuff to pay their designers.
On the other side of the line, you have people like me, that opened this box with higher expectations, based upon the original box that the outside design was copied from. The box did not contain everything needed for a "world of adventure". It was not properly thought out and not enough focus testing was done on this product. It is an incomplete advertisement designed to get me to spend more money.
A better designed product truly would have had everything a DM needed to run groups 1-3 effectively. That may have led them to their FLGS to excitedly buy a new book or something to level to four.
I think the idea they have is really good, and from a marketing standpoint it makes a lot of sense. I have a lot of respect for the direction they are moving. They need to not cut corners on important aspects of project planning and implementation to save a buck. I'd have paid five more dollars for a more properly tested and implemented product.
