D&D 4E 4E WotC way of saying your fired?

[Zurai]

Here's something for the "Oh, but they're still playtesting, how can they let the 3rd party companies have a copy of the rules?" people:

David Noonan just blogged that the core of the 4e rules are finished, as in not likely to be changed.

His exact words:

Which is why I'm glad that the core rules themselves are pretty much bedrock now.

So why can't they do a little 16-page (or whatever) mini-rules expose for the 3rd party publishers, again?

 

[The Little Raven]

How could the playtest possibly be a PR campaign when everyone involved in the playtest is under an NDA?

And I don't think the guy gets that these playtest reports are simply from the blogger's game only, not the widespread RPGA/D&DI playtest that is occurring right now, so there's a lot more testing going on than it appears.

 

[The Little Raven]

So why can't they do a little 16-page (or whatever) mini-rules expose for the 3rd party publishers, again?

Well, when they stated the October 5th deadline for the PHB material, they said they would still need to incorporate the playtest changes, so I don't expect them to have an actual final version of the game for a month or two.

 

[Glyfair]

David Noonan just blogged that the core of the 4e rules are finished, as in not likely to be changed.

From the context, I'm pretty sure we have yet another meaning for "core rules." It sounds like he means "the foundation rules, that everything else builds on."

Why not get a copy of those rules to 3rd party developers? For one, that takes time from the design and editing team. They have to figure out what rules are done and edit them in a document. Also, I'll wager that most publishers want stuff from the MM & DMG, that are still being worked on. If they do that, those people have to stop working on 4E.

I know Paizo knows how work gets prioritized and certain things are more important than others. If they forget, ask them when they are going to finish getting up the online supplements to the last 5 issues of Dungeon. Their stock answer is "we have to put thing that directly earn us money ahead of such things." I understand it, bit Erik seems to forget other companies have to consider that as well.

 

[Zurai]

Well, when they stated the October 5th deadline for the PHB material, they said they would still need to incorporate the playtest changes, so I don't expect them to have an actual final version of the game for a month or two.

3rd party publishers don't NEED a final version of the rules. They just need a baseline so they know how the rules work in general.

Again, see my 2E->3E example: Paizo doesn't need to know that K: Nobility gives a +2 synergy bonus to Diplomacy, just that players can train skills as they go up in levels, and that skills can be used to define challenges in a mechanical manner (which wasn't present in 2E).

 

[Glyfair]

3rd party publishers don't NEED a final version of the rules. They just need a baseline so they know how the rules work in general.

Again, see my 2E->3E example: Paizo doesn't need to know that K: Nobility gives a +2 synergy bonus to Diplomacy, just that players can train skills as they go up in levels, and that skills can be used to define challenges in a mechanical manner (which wasn't present in 2E).

And then we end up with the early 3E products that only follow some of the rules (remember the Creature Collection issues?)

 

[Gundark]

Snip* double post

 

[Gundark]

"I honestly trust and expect that 4.0 will allow us to do that, so my default assumption, to be frank, is that we'll convert whole hog to 4.0 at some point or another.

--Erik Mona"

That's a long rant just to come to this conclusion. 3.5 support until Feburary 2009? Looks like I won't be buying any Paizo product anytime soon. I really think that Paizo is hurting themselves by doing this. Many on the Paizo forums seem to be leaning to the anti 4e side, Erik seems to be swayed by this crowd (just by going off this particular rant for what it's worth). I know it's important to listen to your fan base, however I would like to think Paizo is listening to D&D as a whole rather than a few Grognards on their forums.

 

[Glyfair]

Looks like I won't be buying any Paizo product anytime soon.

I will. Their non-gaming specific stuff is great (Item Cards, Flip-Mats, Combat Pad). I already decided to pass on Pathfinder (too much money for something I really think are flooding the market).

 

[DItheringFool]

I feel like I've been fired and it sucks.