WotC's use of their errata forums.

[Aberzanzorax]

I'm going to admit that I don't subscribe to insider. A part of the reason is that the reports I've been reading have been less than what I'd want in a product. I'll say no more than that...I don't want to discolor the responses to this post, but I do want to admit a negative bias.


That said, I'm aware that WotC has forums for their errors/gaffes/misspellings/typos/"broken" or unbalanced rules/mislabelings of maps/and any other possible sort of thing that can go wrong when putting together a magazine.


I've also read (repeatedly) that they don't actually use the forums to correct those errors/etc.


What I have read could very well be wrong. That's the point of this post. Does WotC actually correct their errors (be they as involved as game balance or as uninvolved as a clear typo that could be very easily corrected without, say, a design meeting needed)? They could correct them in either the actual article or the final release of their pdf...or perhaps in some other format I may not be aware of.


Regardless, the question I have is: "They have set up forums for errata. People regularly post the errors they find. Are these errors corrected at some point before a 'final' product is released?"


Thank you to those in the know who respond to this.

 

[Cadfan]

They correct some of them. Some of them they don't. Some reported errors aren't.

 

[Aberzanzorax]

Anyone (or Cadfan) able to give more clarity on how much gets corrected and how much doesn't? "Some" is kinda vague.

Is it "most are corrected" or "it's very rare to see corrections" or what?

 

[Jack99]

Anyone (or Cadfan) able to give more clarity on how much gets corrected and how much doesn't? "Some" is kinda vague.

Is it "most are corrected" or "it's very rare to see corrections" or what?

The real question should be: What percentage of the complaints posted are even relevant? When you can answer that, I can tell you how much gets errataed.

 

[Aberzanzorax]

Jack99...good point.

I'll rephrase:

What percentage of the clearly incorrect errors that are posted are corrected?


That is, I'm not talking about "that guy was a ranger...he should totally have been a rogue IMO".

I'm talking about verifiably correct/incorrect items such as typos/misspellings/incorrect math/mislabelings of maps and locales, etc.

 

[Piratecat]

I know that I've seen those forums used to corect Dragon/Dungeon articles.

 

[Harr]

Jack99...good point.
I'm talking about verifiably correct/incorrect items such as typos/misspellings/incorrect math/mislabelings of maps and locales, etc.

From what I've seen the majority of that stuff does get corrected in the end, but I have serious doubts that any of it is coming from the 'errata' forums as opposed to simple in-house editing and double-checking.

It strikes me that those 'errata' forums were created not really as a place where people get a direct line to correct anything, but more as a natural topic of conversation (ie, people like to discuss errata and corrections, so let's give them a forum where they can do that) where -maybe- every once in a while a staff member -might- casually pop in and have a look to see if there's anything important being said.

So yeah there is the odd situation where it does happen but mostly it's just people talking.

 

[Jack99]

Jack99...good point.

I'll rephrase:

What percentage of the clearly incorrect errors that are posted are corrected?


That is, I'm not talking about "that guy was a ranger...he should totally have been a rogue IMO".

I'm talking about verifiably correct/incorrect items such as typos/misspellings/incorrect math/mislabelings of maps and locales, etc.

Hard to put a number on these things, but when I browse through my DDI, I tend to notice a good deal of errata (It has a note when it has been errata'ed). I know that some of the more vocal guys on the CO boards constantly bitch about some PP's/powers/whatever not being errataed, but to be honest, I think they are wrong. Many of the things called broken are merely broken when put together with several other very specific feats/abilities/PP's/ED's. On it's own, in a normal campaign, such things won't break anything.

Summa summarum: It is my impression that they fix most of what needs a fix (adventures being those which are errata'ed the least). Although YMMV about how much needs fixing.

 

[The Little Raven]

I know that I've seen those forums used to corect Dragon/Dungeon articles.

So have I. I've posted corrections that have made it into the compilations. As was pointed out, some "errors" are just differences of opinion.

 

[Kwalish Kid]

I know that I've seen those forums used to corect Dragon/Dungeon articles.

How do we correct posts here?