What is going on with the release schedule? Now metaplot?

Despite the fact that the D&D essentials looks like it's designed more for entry level players... some of it interests me quite a bit...

The Red Box, if only for nostalgia reasons... It has a damn Larry Elmore picture on it! How can I NOT want that!

The Monster Catalog thing... With counters for all the monsters??? YES PLEASE!

Following the release of Monster Manual 3 (which I now refer to as See Page XX because I cannot believe that the editors still aren't catching this error), I've decided that I profoundly dislike the direction that WotC is taking its story elements. I am also certain that infecting each of their worlds with the same metaplot is going to brown off pretty much every fan.

I like a lot of the mechanical stuff that WotC produces but I am liking the story changes less and less.

Actually I'm hoping this Abyssal Plague leads to the reigniting of the Blood War. I think that would turn around and please a lot of fans of all worlds, though admittedly Dark Sun neither wants or needs that.

This could also be some sort of precursor for the suspected new setting in 2011, maybe a result of this plague, or discovered because of it. I always liked how Magic handled the multiverse and their sort of planar plot lines effecting worlds and sometimes creating fractured or new ones. Could be something like that.

Hm, maybe we'll get a demon god, just as Asmodeus up and became the devil god. Unleash Tharizdun!

AbdulAlhazred said:

As far as future releases of 4e material goes I think what we have to realize is that 4e has been on a balls-to-the-wall release cycle for the last 3 years. I have 23!!!! hardcover 4e books on my shelf right now. I don't think 1e and 2e combined released 23 hardcover books in its 20 some year history, and I don't have every book by any means, there must be north of 30 books out there now.

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There were actually slightly more than 23 hardcovers published for 1st and 2nd Edition AD&D. I count 27 plus one for D&D.
[sblock]D&D
Rules Cyclopedia

AD&D
Monster Manual
Players Handbook
Dungeon Masters Guide
Deities and Demigods Cyclopedia/Legends & Lore
Fiend Folio
Monster Manual II
Oriental Adventures
Unearthed Arcana
Dungeoneer's Survival Guide
Wilderness Survival Guide
Manual of the Planes
Dragonlance Adventures
Greyhawk Adventures

AD&D2
Player's Handbook
Dungeon Master's Guide
Forgotten Realms Adventures
Legends & Lore
Tome of Magic
Dragon Kings
Monstrous Manual
Book of Artifacts
Combat & Tactics
Skills & Powers
High-Level Campaigns
Spells & Magic
Domains of Dread
Council of Wyrms
[/sblock]If you have 23 D&D4 books, you are missing eight .

I count 31 published hardcovers for 4e so far (not counting the Deluxe versions of the core books). The trend to hardcovers started with 3.0 D&D though, and there were a whopping 102 released during 3.0/3.5.

Come to think of it, I recall making a graph of D&D products by type a while back. Yes, here it is. I should probably update that graph to include 2010...

Now that I have picked my jaw up off the floor

That was like a bad second edition flashback.






Board game looks sort of cool.

Echohawk said:

There were actually slightly more than 23 hardcovers published for 1st and 2nd Edition AD&D. I count 27 plus one for D&D.

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But so many non-hardbacks. 4-5 a month for a while.

I don't think they will expand their sells with novels since everyone that goes to the Series section of the bookstore is probably already a gamer. What I think they should do is put out a really good video game that features the new edition. That will put their name in the hands of all ages.

Here's that graph, updated to include 2010.

If they DO switch to soft cover it might be a good way to drop the price of the books, making it more attractive to have both a DDI subscription, and still buy the books.

If the price lowers, and the flavor continues along the lines of MM3 and Hammerfast... It will certainly make ME think more about buying the books along with my account.

Right now, I hardly touch the player books.

Echohawk said:

• An event that has, as a meta-plot, something that affects all of the currently-supported D&D worlds (Point of Light, Forgotten Realms, Eberron and Dark Sun) at the same time.

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This wouldn't be much different than most other "world changing events", such as: Time of Troubles, Greyhawk Wars, the Spellplague, etc ...

Two of these came with a change in edition. A extreme curmudgeon would argue this is a prelude to a Gencon 2011 announcement for 5E D&D.