2010: Is it Dragonlance? (hint)

Electronic content can be published very, very cheaply compared to wood pulp.

While I don't want to shoot down the idea of support through DDI (which I think is a good one), this is a misconception that fuels, among other things, a lot of the debate on PDF pricing.

Production costs are a relatively small factor when it comes to publishing on WotC's scale. Development costs far outweigh the cost of the paper and printing; the savings in going electronic are not insignificant, but are pretty minor in the grand scheme of things. (Compared to smaller companies, WotC's large print runs drive production costs down; their high production values drive R&D, art, and design costs up. Even in small companies, anyone paying their designers a living wage spends more on development than printing.)

Electronic publishing does reduce the time to market and eliminates a lot of logistical headaches, which makes it well suited for riskier endeavors such as supporting campaign settings. (And that alone is a bit of a cost saver.)

But ultimately, while there are a lot of real advantages to electronic publishing, saving on print costs is pretty minor.
 

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I really hope it has Thri-Keens and mostly Psionic races in general (I need my Elan!). I hope the Half-Giants options also talk/show the more animal type ones that were in Dark Sun (if memory serves me right).

Only true giants came in the 'beast-head' varieties. Half-Giants looked about the same as in the Expanded Psionic Handbook, except that in Dark Sun they were large.
 


So what is it? The coincidence # 29?

mi20090618a_mhp.jpg



ariakas.jpg
 





That's Ariakas.

It's not a coincidence. Indeed, WotC is celebrating 25 years of Dragonlance. ;)

Heh. I notice the Ariakas in the picture is left-handed, but the mini is right-handed. (Not that I don't think it's the same character - it obviously is, just look at the sword hilt - but apparently the sculptor didn't pay attention to which hand the sword was in.)

Does this mean we have to go back to arguing about whether or not that bastard is a wizard or a cleric?

...evidence mounting...

I thought it was canonical that he was a wizard (presumably with some kind of special exemption from Takhisis on the usual rules about wizards wearing armor).

...Although, now that I think about it, Tanis simply assumes he's a wizard based on the magical barrier around him; Tanis not being a wizard himself, he could have made a mistake. Raistlin's intervention allows Tanis to win, and Raistlin later mentions Ariakas as the "one man who could have bested [him]," which both suggest wizard, but again, neither is definitive. Huh.

Okay, yeah, I see where the arguments get started. I'd say the writers definitely intended him as a wizard when he was first introduced, but perhaps they later retconned it over the armor question?
 
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