Considering that WotC acknowledges they can't please all of the people all of the time, and that they know there are things they can't fit into a typical core rulebook, and that there are things they leave out intentionally to make the game accessible and easy for players new and old... I wonder why they (or any gaming company, really) don't take a page from DVD sales and make a 'special edition' version with 'extras' (real extras. Not errata, special covers and a cloth bookmark.)
Looking at the "three things you would fix about 4e" thread or the various spawn of the "when did I stop being their target audience" thread, it seems like there is tremendous opportunity to sell "advanced", "gold standard" or "special" versions of core rulebooks not by including more of the crunch you want to use to sell later splatbooks, but rather with fluff and optional systems you have no intention of making part of the core game at release.
I could have forked from one of these, but I think everything is forked up enough. Pun intended.
Looking at the "things you would fix" thread: You have people asking for a look behind the scenes to see how they balanced powers or worked out a certain rule. Well, SE DVDs have behind the scenes and special effects features on them. You have people who want fluff, pure and simple. (Character profiles and "The World of..." extras on DVDs.) You have people that want the non-encounter systems they didn't want to include in the game, but many are going to try to shoehorn into it anyway ("Deleted Scenes".)
It seems to me that they could have spared us the preview books (which it turns out were based on outdated materials and concepts that evolved before final release) and spent probably an equal amount of time creating a book that would have actually drawn more of these people who are on the fence, or perhaps even against, 4e with a special edition of the edition. And probably gotten a few extra bucks per book as well.
It would be more or less fully compatible... it's just that one guy would have a deeper insight into why a rule is the way it is, or have more fluff, or have an optional system most of us don't need to play the game.
I suppose the main point is, why do gaming companies like WotC seem to put out 'collector's editions' of their core books that are basically the same book with a somewhat better cover and binding? It seems like their marketing schemes are always a little heavy on the 'schemes' and light on the 'marketing.' Wouldn't they sell a lot more of these things if they added a page or two here and there, perhaps eliminated some art for an extra sidebar explaining why they came up with the rule on the opposite page, etc?
Would you buy a DVD-style special edition of an RPG? What kind of things would you look for in it?
Looking at the "three things you would fix about 4e" thread or the various spawn of the "when did I stop being their target audience" thread, it seems like there is tremendous opportunity to sell "advanced", "gold standard" or "special" versions of core rulebooks not by including more of the crunch you want to use to sell later splatbooks, but rather with fluff and optional systems you have no intention of making part of the core game at release.
I could have forked from one of these, but I think everything is forked up enough. Pun intended.
Looking at the "things you would fix" thread: You have people asking for a look behind the scenes to see how they balanced powers or worked out a certain rule. Well, SE DVDs have behind the scenes and special effects features on them. You have people who want fluff, pure and simple. (Character profiles and "The World of..." extras on DVDs.) You have people that want the non-encounter systems they didn't want to include in the game, but many are going to try to shoehorn into it anyway ("Deleted Scenes".)
It seems to me that they could have spared us the preview books (which it turns out were based on outdated materials and concepts that evolved before final release) and spent probably an equal amount of time creating a book that would have actually drawn more of these people who are on the fence, or perhaps even against, 4e with a special edition of the edition. And probably gotten a few extra bucks per book as well.
It would be more or less fully compatible... it's just that one guy would have a deeper insight into why a rule is the way it is, or have more fluff, or have an optional system most of us don't need to play the game.
I suppose the main point is, why do gaming companies like WotC seem to put out 'collector's editions' of their core books that are basically the same book with a somewhat better cover and binding? It seems like their marketing schemes are always a little heavy on the 'schemes' and light on the 'marketing.' Wouldn't they sell a lot more of these things if they added a page or two here and there, perhaps eliminated some art for an extra sidebar explaining why they came up with the rule on the opposite page, etc?
Would you buy a DVD-style special edition of an RPG? What kind of things would you look for in it?
