The main problem is having a closed beta test as your final testing. I know they want to keep the game a secret until release but I would rather have more eyes looking at the rules so we would have less errata.
There are different kinds of errata, right? There are fixes to typos, omissions, etc. which are inevitable but hopefully minimal, and then there errata that constitute deliberate rules changes. It's this second type of errata that I'd just as soon avoid.
I wonder how many pages of errata of AdnD we would have gotten had TSR actually bothered to print any. Note I am aware that the did print a very small amount in Dragon a couple of times.
I can't even comprehend the point of view of someone who does not want errata.
I can't even comprehend the point of view of someone who does not want errata.
Once again, for the 3rd time I think, nobody here is realistically expecting an errata free game. Several other posters have already said this but I want to say it again; large amounts of errata are the problem. Nobody is against actually fixing things, what I am against is things a 5 year old child could see, is being missed.I can't even comprehend the point of view of someone who does not want errata. All the editions before 4e are choc-a-bloc with typographical errors, poorly worded rules text, and more than a few game bustingly broken things that you just had to learn to read, interpret, and ignore respectively. 4e as printed is actually far better in this regard than any previous edition, but the designers did you one better and issued clarifications and fixes for the things that remained. 95% of the errata for 4e doesn't actually change the functionality of the game. It's just clarifications, the addition of keywords where they are obviously missing, or fixing things so they work as they are clearly intended to do. You just notice it more because instead of pretending all the errors don't exist and leaving the product as-is they actually put out a regular document highlighting the errors and fixing them. Do you so soon forget that 3.5 was essentially one big patch that made you re-buy all your books?
It'd be lovely if game designers could issue material with zero errors, perfect clarity, and with all the broken things caught in playtesting before it's released. Unfortunately we live in real life where human beings write this stuff on a deadline and then playtest with a small group compared to the overall population of consumers for a limited period of time. You will never get a game without errors or things that couldn't possibly be written better. Better that they own up to their mistakes and fix them rather than pretending they didn't happen and leaving DMs to house rule and hand waive everything on their own.