"Think of it like a set you could hand to a board gamer to make them into a new DM running D&D." -
Mike Mearls
This is quite enlightening. I think most of us around here are still failing to see what is the
purpose of the Starter Set:
it's a starting point product for a whole group of people who haven't possibly played D&D/RPG before.
It is
not a product for
one player to learn everything about 5e. That's what I used to think it would be, i.e. a slimmed-down version of the PHB ("Basic" characters only) so that the owner could play at the same table with people owning a PHB, but it is not.
It is
not a product to teach someone the whole experience of DMing a RPG.
It is
not a product to play the game on a long term.
So in a sense, it really is a "teaser product", even tho a year-and-half ago Mearls specifically said they were not going to do a teaser, eventually they changed their plans.
In other words, this is really NOT a product for people like us. Many of us will buy it anyway, just because they cannot wait one more month for the PHB, or because they are collectors... but then don't complain if it's of limited use for us, you have been warned
This Starter Set is REALLY the product that should sit on a supermarket shelf or a toy shop, with a super-cheap price tag that screams "try me!" to people who DON'T already play RPGs. It is also the product that regular players should buy to their non-gamer friends and relatives for Xmas, to make them possibly interested in playing or DMing with you.
Then, we don't know what they have in mind for the "transitional step" between SS and PHB, but if it's an online tool it better be
free. I don't see why someone who bought the SS would also spend money on a "second step", especially if it's a subscription, only to then buy the core books anyway. If it's a subscription that works as an
alternative to the core books, then yes it makes sense (some people may prefer to spend a few $ per months, other to spend 150$ at once and forever), but not if it's another
intermediate version of the game IMHO. If it's an Android/iOS/Windows app, then it's another matter, since usually those are very cheap, so it can afford to be again a teaser of the whole game.
When 4e came out, the character generator program let you make characters up to 3rd level for free. And it was pretty constantly updated.
3e originally came with a character generator going up to 20lv. It was never updated, but 3e was not supposed to be constantly updated (only revised once).
