D&D 4E 4E: What we think we know

[Xyxox]

I am loving just about every aspect of this announcement. C'mon May!

I'm going to pre-order the World and Monsters and the Classes and Races supplements to get ready for next May.

 

[thundershot]

I'm going to pre-order the World and Monsters and the Classes and Races supplements to get ready for next May.

We're sure that those are "preview books"? Just curious...



Thanks
Chris

 

[catsclaw227]

Interesting about Eberron -- a "retrospective" books?

http://www.amazon.com/Eberron-Survi...0786948558/ref=pd_sim_b_1/103-7215605-2547032

 

[JoeBlank]

I don't understand this D&D Insider thing. Specifically, I don't understand the limits on the system.

Limiting you to three games per month is possibly reasonable, if they're concerned about people sharing passwords. This makes it so that sharing your password with someone else directly reduces the amount of times you can play. But there's objections to this: first, why three times? If a game runs on a weekly basis, that number needs to be 5 (to encompass 30 day weeks where the game starts on day 1 or 2). And second, there certainly has to be a better way to do this than to impose an arbitrary limit. Many other online communities have handled password sharing problems, I'm sure D&D could do the same.

What really doesn't make sense to me is limiting a player to 10 stored characters, and/or 10 stored versions of the same character. Why? It can't possibly be file space. A character sheet is a low file size item. Even if you allowed players to upload multiple high definition jpegs of their characters, you wouldn't expect to pass a megabyte in storage.

I am betting you can pay for upgrades to increase your storage or games per month.

 

[Rangoric]

I'm in this one all the way. I'll definitely subscribe to D&D Insider and the online Dungeon and Dragon magazine content now.

An SRD released under the OGL was my requirement and they met it.

Hold on Matilda, I'm drinkin' the KOOLAID!

Same here. Now to just finish up all my 3.5 projects lol.

 

[Drkfathr1]

Maybe the "basic" D&D Insider package will be free, and the subscription service will allow unlimited or at least more options?

The whole Insider thing still hinges on the price for me. I can see a slew of third party software that will mimic or actually surpass the Insider ware. So it might be more advantageous for some to buy software for a onetime price, rather than a monthly fee for limited or buggy content. (not trying to be negative, just being realistic)

And I have to add....4E as OGL....YAY!

 

[WayneLigon]

http://www.therepublic.com/main.asp?SectionID=393&SubSectionID=979&ArticleID=111814

In short, the mechanics aren't changing a lot

Well, damn. I guess I'll see what's offered, then, but now it sounds like we're really seeing 3.75

 

[Knight Otu]

Open Gaming Licence
* 4th Edition will fall under the OGL, and there'll be a new SRD (this post by thormagni)
* Wizards wants 3rd party publishers to produce 4e-compatible material. (this post by thormagni)
* 3rd party publishers will be able to get licenses to create 4e material from Wizards. (??)(source: jgbrowning This post)
* Fans will be able to publish material on Gleemax under (free) license from Wizards. (This material will be available to Wizards to republish; see discussion on Gleemax TOS).
* The OGL/SRD/d20 Licenses will still exist - details still to come (source: this post)

I kind of didn't like the second-to last point in this when I first read it, but thormagni's post sort of soothes my fear - that Wizards would not want fan-created material to appear anywhere else but on Gleemax (and somehow would try to enforce this). If the OGL will in fact remain, then probably fan-created material should be tolerated elsewhere.
I for one am not quite thrilled that apparently there will be "previews for sale." I guess those two books do release far more information and imagery than could reasonably be expected for free, but still...

 

[The Grumpy Celt]

What does it mean that “4th Edition will fall under the OGL” but that at the same time “3rd party publishers will be able to get licenses to create 4e material from Wizards.” Those sound like contradictory statements; i.e. the presence of OGL by its nature means 3rd party publishers do not have to get licenses to create 4e material.

 

[Zaukrie]

10 characters is a real problem for me. What about NPCs for DMs? Also, I run games for young kids - who I don't want having accounts right now - but I'd like to be able to manager their characters there....

It all hinges on the cost, oh, and the actual utility of the applications. But, I look forward to anything that makes it easier to actually play the game....

My oldest son loves to build characters, I want a tool that allows us to do that. Will they also offer a generator application I can install? I doubt it.

 

[Remathilis]

What does it mean that “4th Edition will fall under the OGL” but that at the same time “3rd party publishers will be able to get licenses to create 4e material from Wizards.” Those sound like contradictory statements; i.e. the presence of OGL by its nature means 3rd party publishers do not have to get licenses to create 4e material.

Not necessarily; maybe the license is to play in their sandbox with their IP (Gods, mind flayers, Eberron, etc)?

 

[Bacris]

What does it mean that “4th Edition will fall under the OGL” but that at the same time “3rd party publishers will be able to get licenses to create 4e material from Wizards.” Those sound like contradictory statements; i.e. the presence of OGL by its nature means 3rd party publishers do not have to get licenses to create 4e material.

it's because Joseph Browning, a 3rd party publisher with Expeditious Retreat, has posted that there will be licensing arrangements, while thormagni posted that at the GenCon announcement, they said 4E will be under OGL / SRD.

Until it's not 2nd hand info, I assume Merric is trying to keep all the information posted available - once the "official" doc from WotC is available, I assume it'll be updated accordingly

 

[TheLe]

I'm not entirely convinced that's a bad thing, depending on how hard/expensive they make it to licence 4E. There are some great 3rd-party publishers to be certain, but (over the years) there has been some very, very bad ones too.

Maybe requiring a licencing fee will keep the quality up from the very beginning. Just a thought.

A high licensing cost ($1000+) will easily eliminate 50% or more of the publishers out there.

`Le

 

[DaveMage]

Well, if the mechanics *don't* change significantly, then I may stay on board....

 

[WhatGravitas]

I was at the press announcement last night (I work for an Indiana newspaper) and they very definitely said that 4e would fall under OGL and they would be releasing a new SRD. They very clearly expressed a desire for third parties to continue to produce D&D compatible material.

Makes. Me. Happy.

I'm stoked 'bout 4E. And cannot wait to read the (hopefully) new-fangled, sparkling holographic announcement on the wizards.com-website.

Cheers, LT.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

But there's objections to this: first, why three times? If a game runs on a weekly basis, that number needs to be 5 (to encompass 30 day weeks where the game starts on day 1 or 2). And second, there certainly has to be a better way to do this than to impose an arbitrary limit. Many other online communities have handled password sharing problems, I'm sure D&D could do the same.

I have no information regarding this whatsoever. However my bet is they'll allow you to have more games for a fee. The number is low enough so guys like me are tempted. Three games is ideal in my case. I suspect a lot of other dads feel the same way. Three games a month with one "week off" so your group can schedule around holidays without "losing" a game day.

 

[Rangoric]

Well, damn. I guess I'll see what's offered, then, but now it sounds like we're really seeing 3.75

Well, I don't see the mechanics changing all that much. The mechanical change between 3.0 to 3.5 was small.

Content and how its presented and created is what I expect to change.

So basically you will play the game the same way, but the actual things you will be playing with will be different.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

A high licensing cost ($1000+) will easily eliminate 50% or more of the publishers out there.

Sheesh. A low licensing cost would do the trick for most of them.

Which isn't necessarily bad if the goal of the license is to earn a few bucks while preventing a market glut and to keep control of the brand (e.g. Book of Erotic Fantasy 2: The FATAL Edition)

 

[Drkfathr1]

I wonder how much of the "change" will be identical to the Star Wars Saga edition?

 

[Maggan]

What does it mean that “4th Edition will fall under the OGL” but that at the same time “3rd party publishers will be able to get licenses to create 4e material from Wizards.” Those sound like contradictory statements; i.e. the presence of OGL by its nature means 3rd party publishers do not have to get licenses to create 4e material.

3rd parties with licenses can probably put a snazzy official WotC logo on their stuff, which OGL publishers can't.

/M