D&D 4E 4e previews due in December

[JoeGKushner]

Well, as of the last Dragon editorial, I'm taking anything they say with such a huge grain of salt that I shalln't need to go grocery shopping for salt for the rest of my life time. After all, they may have decided that those articles weren't what we actually needed at this point.

 

[Nikosandros]

Maybe someone got confused with the dates, maybe the release schedule has been changed, but still it would be nice it they took care to update the page, with some more solid info.

 

[Glyfair]

To be fair, that December and Beyond article that announced those articles ...

In fact, that series of articles if the perfect example of the WotC web team's lackadaisical approach to being on time. Several of the articles weren't released until the end of the month in the title. When the September and Beyond article comes out in October and focuses on previews for products that have been on the shelves for weeks it isn't very useful.

Wow, this is a bad sign for the future of Dungeon and Dragon mags... it seems like, without a deadline to go to press, they can't meet the commitments that they've made.

This could very well be part of it. I do think a large part of it is that the people writing the articles are swamped with deadlines getting 4E actually out on time. I'm sure those projects take precedence.

Even taking that into account, it doesn't bode well for the online magazines. There are always going to be things that can seem higher priority. We know how the WotC drops their focus on the regular customer towards GenCon (and some other summer conventions). It sometimes seems they feel the non-GenCOn customer can take a flying leap when they are prepping for GenCon (certainly the RPGA uses GenCon as an excuse on a regular basis).

Will the articles see a similar lack of attention and release when GenCon comes around? What about other major RPG releases? Will next years PHB II, MM II & DMG II cause this sort of shutdown?

I'm not going to say it's definite, but I can see it being a concern.

Edit: I will note this last week has been barren of releases. There have been one or two articles, but nothing even like a slow week of releases. I know the WotC site has slowed down for the Christmas holiday before, but not like this.

 

[Remathilis]

Dude, there is still one more day in December....

MASSIVE UPDATE ON WIZARDS.COM TOMORROW! You heard it hear first...

 

[Stogoe]

Whatever. Their schedule was ambitious for what's essentially a ten work-day month. Stop being so impatient.

 

[Glyfair]

Edit: I will note this last week has been barren of releases. There have been one or two articles, but nothing even like a slow week of releases. I know the WotC site has slowed down for the Christmas holiday before, but not like this.

Just to check I went in and looked at the articles posted in the last week. Only the Plague Tree adventure and an Xen'drik Adventures update was posted in the last week. Even the last Sage Advice was the 21st.

I'm not saying that WotC doesn't deserve a vacation over Christmas. However, previously there was at least one article a day posted on the site Christmas week except Christmas Day.

Whatever. Their schedule was ambitious for what's essentially a ten work-day month. Stop being so impatient.

Are they going to give us a discount next year for December's DDI if they follow this pattern next year?

 

[Uzzy]

It's not at all a case of being impatient. It's more a case of recognising that WoTC said there would be these articles released in December, and failing to deliver one of them. They did, however, put up the Elves and Eldarin article.

It's kinda worrying. It does appear more and more as if they just do not have the resources to run the magazine. And given that their stated aim with Dragon at the moment is 'preparing' us for 4th Edition, it can't be that hard to create stuff can it? I mean, others around the office would be doing the heavy lifting.

 

[The Little Raven]

Are they going to give us a discount next year for December's DDI if they follow this pattern next year?

I don't see why judging a service 6 months away from it's official release is fair. Right now, the digital magazines are a free, work-in-progress service which appears to be their second priority behind getting their flagship product ready for release.

 

[HeinorNY]

I don't see why judging a service 6 months away from it's official release is fair. Right now, the digital magazines are a free, work-in-progress service which appears to be their second priority behind getting their flagship product ready for release.

I don't know if it's fair or not, but I know it's inevitable.
I hope WotC knows that too.

 

[coyote6]

I thought WotC was one of those companies that shut down completely between Christmas and New Year's. I wouldn't expect anything to be posted until after New Year's Day.