D&D 4E 4e previews due in December

[Knight Otu]

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

...was posted in the middle of the month, 13 days to go to the next month. Of these, there were two days of Christmas, and I believe four days of weekend, leaving 7 days for 7 articles. The schedule was highly optimistic from the start, and I'm not surprised that it didn't work out. I am very unimpressed with the handling of the online content so far (how long was it until the compiled Dragon 360 was posted? Aren't we also expecting a compiled version of Dungeon?). It is disappointing, and Wizards isn't making a good impression of their ability to do online content that deserves being paid for. It may be free now, but that doesn't mean they should reduce its priority overmuch, as it also should serve as preview and advertisment for the pay service.

 

[Rechan]

It's also possible that all these articles will be released when they release the big PDF of Dragon 362, rather than post the individual articles.

 

[Glyfair]

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.

If I can't compare it to the future service, I can certainly compare it to the previous service. This is severely lacking compared to the previous free content WotC used to post (even over the holidays).

If it's bad compared to last year, bad compared to what I expect for next year and bad compared to what they announced two weeks ago, then it is bad. It certainly doesn't inspire confidence in what they are going to start charging us for.

 

[shilsen]

It's also possible that all these articles will be released when they release the big PDF of Dragon 362, rather than post the individual articles.

Now that would be nice!

 

[Voss]

I also don't see whats unfair about judging a service by what they are actually providing, free or not. This is a preview period for the web stuff. If its questionable now, there isn't any reason to suspect it won't be questionable later.

That said, given my experiences with the paper magazines, it isn't replacing something of any worth, so I'm not really concerned about it. All I want from wotc is the core rules.

 

[Oldtimer]

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

Are you serious? I know my work report for December contains seventeen workdays (though I did take half day off this Friday). Maybe you work less days in the US, but only ten days? I must live in the wrong country.

But even so, the article was published on the 18th. It did promise seven preview articles. We got one so far (a different one). There's really no excuse for that. That's just bad planning.

Impatient? I don't think so.

 

[Knight Otu]

But even so, the article was published on the 18th. It did promise seven preview articles. We got one so far (a different one). There's really no excuse for that. That's just bad planning.

Impatient? I don't think so.

Exactly. If you create a schedule that doesn't account for holidays or other days off, and the plans fail as a consequence, it isn't the fault of the holidays. It's the planner's fault. Holidays aren't that sneaky.

 

[the Jester]

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

Right, and who forced that schedule on them?

My point is, if they aren't going to be able to meet the commitments they are making, they should stop making those unmeetable commitments. If they came online and said, "Hey, guys, we've overestimated what we can do pre-release, so the free preview content that we're trying to use to sell you on DDI will be sparse, but once the 4e release is out we'll get right on it!", I'd be disappointed, but I'd understand. As it is, I feel like we keep getting, "Er, well, umm, we'll have all these previews up... soon... er, by the end of the month... ahh, I mean, we're all working hard, so we're a little unfocused... but no, really, we'll do better next month..."

So far I have seen absolutely nothing that makes me think the e-versions of Dungeon and Dragon will keep on schedule or provide anywhere near the value that they did in print (during any era of the magazines). I have been wanting to believe in the WotC digital initiative, but if they're going to wow gamers around the world, they really need to start working on it NOW so that, in a year, some of us believe that the DDI will live up to its promise. Because, honestly, I see a lot of promise in it- but so far, the amount of follow through has been... wanting.

Honestly, a magazine for September should be complete at the beginning of September. Otherwise, it's really an October rag, innit?

Again, my advice to WotC: Give us a schedule ONLY if you are actually going to meet it. And if you're going to drop the ball on Dragon and Dungeon during the "free preview" period, I suspect you're going to have a lot of ground to make up to lure people back in to the point where they will pay for them/DDI. And really, if you aren't gonna make the e-mags work, license them again to someone who will make them work. We know from the 3e years that they will thrive in the hands of those that love them and have the time to work on them. If WotC lacks the time- and anyone who suggests that they lack the love is probably just trying to start a fight- then give 'em to someone who has it.

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

According to the WotC previews article here, the following topics were to be covered in Dragon in December: . . .

I'm glad I'm not the only one to notice this. I don't think there is any excuse.

 

[Rechan]

As someone who is pretty much full on pro-4e, I find this having no excuse.

As I said,t hey might have shoved all the articles itno the December PDF compilation of Dragon 362, but I doubt it.

This is sloppy and unprofessional, etc etc.