At Least 4 Months For Conversion Documents

Those waiting for official conversion documents from earlier editions of D&D to 5th edition are going to have to wait a bit longer. WotC's Mike Mearls says that "the person who needs to do the final approvals on them is serving on a jury that will take another 4 or so months. Sorry!" So it looks like we're talking July/August at the earliest. Thanks to Adrian for the scoop.

 

[SkidAce]

As for the jury thing, yeah, WotC lacks credibility. Saying it was jury duty sounded like the dog ate their homework. It is amateurish PR. It needs to be said or they won't try to improve. The road will be long though. They need a lot of work to regain credibility and good will from fans. It won't happen over night.

1. WotC does not lack credibility.

2. It was not amateurish PR.

3. Does't need to be said.

4. They still have credibility and good will from the fans.

It appears that we have conflicting opinions. However, I'm just going to say my piece and be done. YMMV.

 

[Kramodlog]

1. WotC does not lack credibility.

Sure it does.

2. It was not amateurish PR.

Yes, it was.

3. Does't need to be said.

What exactly?

4. They still have credibility and good will from the fans.

Some fans? Sure. A lot? That is less sure.

It appears that we have conflicting opinions.

I blame the internet.

However, I'm just going to say my piece and be done. YMMV.

We work in kilometers here.

 

[bmfrosty]

Or, to paraphrase Mr. Neil Gaiman, "WotC is not your beyotch."

Can this become official board policy?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

As for the jury thing, yeah, WotC lacks credibility. Saying it was jury duty sounded like the dog ate their homework. It is amateurish PR.

This is starting to sound like Dave Chappelle's skit about the R. Kelly trial...

 

[Iosue]

Incidentally, here's the full jury duty twitter exchange:

Mike Mearls, Hi! There's a chance you can update us about the writing of the D&D 5e conversion documents?

Wolf Hunter, the person who needs to do the final approvals on them is serving on a jury that will take another 4 or so months. Sorry!

Mike Mearls, Wow, this was unexpected! But it's ok: is the so-called "force majeure". Waiting a little more is definitely not a problem. ;-)

I'm hard-pressed to call that a failure of communication.

 

[billd91]

I'm hard-pressed to call that a failure of communication.

It's fine communication between Mike Mearls and Wolf Hunter. But it's something of an aside as far as D&D team communication to customers who may be interested in that project or waiting for it before they start up a new version of their old campaign.

 

[Trickster Spirit]

It's fine communication between Mike Mearls and Wolf Hunter. But it's something of an aside as far as D&D team communication to customers who may be interested in that project or waiting for it before they start up a new version of their old campaign.

If I'm understanding correctly, you don't seem to have any complaints about how Mearls (or Crawford, Perkins, et al.) handle their personal communications with fans, but are upset with the level of "official" communication from the D&D team. Is that a fair summary?

From what we've seen so far, the only "official" communications regarding projects are release announcements (or article releases i.e. Unearthed Arcana and Sage Advice, but we're not really discussing those here). It's perfectly in keeping with Wizards' behavior so far to not have any official communication about the conversion documents until they're ready to release them. Mearls gave the fans a heads up that they'll be a few more months because of the jury duty situation, but from an official standpoint, It's Done When It's Done™. Which is true of everything Wizards' haven't attached an official, publicly announced release date to.

I asked earlier, but only S_Daalsgard bothered answering, so all ask again - for everyone whose criticizing WotC for a "lack of communcation" and asking them to be more forthcoming with project info, what does acknowledging internal delays or cancellations of unannounced projects get them?

 

[Umbran]

If WotC keeps dropping the ball....

Let us be clear - we are not talking about some major product that had loads of hype, and that folks were slathering to buy at this point. Someone correct me if I am wrong, but this was probably going to be offered *for free*. Oh, geeze, I may have to wait for that thing that I don't have to pay for! Cry me a river!

So, sir, I call this a solid First World Problem, and I again raise the note about how we have too high a sense of entitlement, and are overly-critical.

 

[bmfrosty]

WotC is not your beyotch!

 

[billd91]

I asked earlier, but only S_Daalsgard bothered answering, so all ask again - for everyone whose criticizing WotC for a "lack of communcation" and asking them to be more forthcoming with project info, what does acknowledging internal delays or cancellations of unannounced projects get them?

Happier and more understanding customers with appropriately set expectations. As I've said, haters are gonna hate but they probably aren't the majority of potential customers. WotC communication won't affect how they feel or what they post. But it does affect how the rest of us feel about them. I thought WotC got a lot of well-deserved credit for opening up the design discussion and surveys in the run-up to 5e. I think they handled the delayed release of the DMG reasonably well and, though I don't know what exactly held it up, they set my expectations fairly well.