D&D 4E The still "complete" list of official 4E products, now with 2011!

[Mercurius]

Maybe they're heeding my advice and changing it from a digest book to a hardcover.

 

[ggroy]

Let's examine what the confirmed D&D titles are so far, for the first half of 2011 or so.


December 2010

- [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Dungeon-Tiles-Master-Set-Wilderness/dp/0786956127"]Dungeon Tiles Master Set: The Wilderness[/ame] (tiles set)
- [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Wrath-Ashardalon-Boardgame-Peter-Lee/dp/0786955708"]Wrath of Ashardalon[/ame] (board game)

January 2011

- [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Caverns-Icewind-Dale-Dungeon-Accessory/dp/0786957468"]Dungeon Tiles: Caverns of Icewind Dale[/ame] (tiles set)

February 2011

- [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Deluxe-Dungeon-Masters-Screen-Accessory/dp/0786957433"]Deluxe DM screen[/ame]


March 2011

- [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Players-Option-Heroes-Shadow-Supplement/dp/078695745X"]Player's Option: Heroes of Shadow[/ame]


April 2011

- [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Mordenkainens-Magnificent-Emporium-4th-Supplement/dp/0786957441"]Mordenkainen's Magnificent Emporium[/ame]


May 2011

- nothing ?


So over the six month post-Essentials period from December 2010 to May 2011, the release schedule for 4E D&D splatbooks is rather scant with only two splatbooks being scheduled for release.

The last time the D&D release schedule was this scant for D&D splatbooks, was back in 2002. (This is excluding the time period of the 3.5E -> 4E transition back in early 2008, when very few splatbooks were released). During the six month time period from August 2002 to January 2003, only three D&D splatbooks were released:

- [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Monster-Dungeons-Dragons-Roleplaying-Supplement/dp/0786928735"]3E Monster Manual 2[/ame] (September 2002)

- [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-Fantasy-Roleplaying-Forgotten/dp/0786928743"]City of the Spider Queen[/ame] (September 2002)

- [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Darkness-Dungeons-Dragons-Roleplaying-Supplement/dp/0786926503"]Book of Vile Darkness[/ame] (October 2002)


We all know what happen afterward.

 

[Mercurius]

Wasn't Wrath of Ashardalon originally coming out in November? As some have mentioned elsewhere, that would make more sense as a Christmas gift--Dec 14 is a bit on the late side.

But my guess is that we'll see a few more items pop-up in the first quarter--as I mentioned elsewhere, there are no new D&D books planned for a whole three months from mid-November to mid-February; if Nentir Vale is being pushed back, that would be four months which almost seems disastrous. Maybe they're shuffling the schedule a bit and trying to push Nentir Vale up to January or December, and other products to the first quarter?

On the other hand, I wouldn't be surprised to see this gap leading to a bit push later in the year. No, it wouldn't be "4.5" but it would probably be revised core rulebooks, which I would welcome at this point.

There is also the speculation that WotC is waiting to see how Essentials does. If it does really well they might revise the future of D&D altogether; if it does reasonably well, it will be business as usual; if it does poorly, we might see 5E sooner than we think!

 

[ggroy]

There is also the speculation that WotC is waiting to see how Essentials does. If it does really well they might revise the future of D&D altogether; if it does reasonably well, it will be business as usual; if it does poorly, we might see 5E sooner than we think!

We'll know soon enough, if they end up firing some of the key D&D designers and developers in the upcoming (traditional) year end WotC layoffs this coming December.

 

[Jhaelen]

There is also the speculation that WotC is waiting to see how Essentials does. If it does really well they might revise the future of D&D altogether; if it does reasonably well, it will be business as usual; if it does poorly, we might see 5E sooner than we think!

I doubt it. The way it currently looks is that post-Essentials 'standard' products will be influenced by the design choices they made for the Essentials products. I.e. books will have feats descriptions similar to Essentials, class write-ups will borrow elements from Essentials classes, etc.

If Essentials does poorly, they'd be better advised to return to the pre-Essentials schedule and design principles.

5e is something we're going to see earlier if Essentials products _and_ standard 4e products sell poorly.

 

[ggroy]

5e is something we're going to see earlier if Essentials products _and_ standard 4e products sell poorly.

In such a lose-lose scenario, there's also the possibility that Hasbro could just close down the D&D division entirely, and shelve the D&D IP for many years.

 

[Sir Brennen]

Just want to point out that Amazon shows "Player's Essentials: Heroes of the Fallen Lands" as being in stock, though the list here shows it as coming Oct. 19th (and in the order I placed it's already in "Shipping Soon" status - meaning it's already at the point where I can't edit or cancel my order because it's almost out the door.)

 

[Mercurius]

Yes, it came out on Sept 21 - I got it that day via Amazon Prime.

 

[ggroy]

On the other hand, I wouldn't be surprised to see this gap leading to a bit push later in the year. No, it wouldn't be "4.5" but it would probably be revised core rulebooks, which I would welcome at this point.

In the case of revised 4E D&D core books, I suspect they'll be taking a "wait and see" approach on this.

If 4E Essentials gives a jolt to the sales of the older 4E D&D core books and clears out the remaining inventory from their own warehouse (and their distributors' warehouses) in due time, it would not be surprising if they end up doing a set of revised 4E D&D core books later in late-2011 or 2012 . On the other hand, if sales of the older 4E D&D core books moves at a snail's pace with plenty of inventory still in warehouses, then the revised 4E D&D core books will most likely be placed on the backburner.

 

[ggroy]

More amazon updates.


- [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Wrath-Ashardalon-Boardgame-Peter-Lee/dp/0786955708"]Wrath of Ashardalon[/ame] (February 15, 2011)

- [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Shadowfell-Gloomwrought-Dungeons-Dragons-Supplement/dp/0786958480"]The Shadowfell: Gloomwrought and Beyond[/ame] (May 17, 2011)

- [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Witchlight-Fens-Dungeon-Dungeons-Accessory/dp/0786958006"]The Witchlight Fens - Dungeon Tiles[/ame] (June 21, 2011)

- [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Monster-Vault-Threats-Dungeons-Supplement/dp/0786958383"]Monster Vault: Threats to the Nentir Vale[/ame] (June 21, 2011)