D&D 4E Ben Riggs' "What the Heck Happened with 4th Edition?" seminar at Gen Con 2023

[Micah Sweet]

I guess some people. Maybe WotC decided there was interest based on how well SKT did. And/or based on the popularity and universality of giants in myth and folklore in general, which makes them an interesting antagonist not linked to/limited by a particular IP or fictional universe.

Why do you ask? Is it a problem if they print books other people are interested in, that you're not?

No, of course not. But I never heard or read any demand for a giant book from any D&D player, so the choice didn't seem motivated by demand to me. Dragon? Of course. Undead? Sure. Giant? Seemed and seems odd to me.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Did it sold or not? Were you forced to buy it in any way?

There is a demand for books about dragon, why not about giants?

If you are not interested in giants, do you feel like you’re missing out on anything?

Thanks for insisting my question was motivated by personal desire. I didn't say anything about what I wanted. That's an assumption on your part.

 

[Mannahnin]

No, of course not. But I never heard or read any demand for a giant book from any D&D player, so the choice didn't seem motivated by demand to me. Dragon? Of course. Undead? Sure. Giant? Seemed and seems odd to me.

That's pure personal taste, and anecdotal observation, though.

Someone could say the same for undead. Personally, while I think dragons are pretty cool, I can't imagine ever needing a whole book on them. Giants would be easier to build a campaign around. Undead easier still, so that's order of utility for me.

 

[Micah Sweet]

That's pure personal taste, and anecdotal observation, though.

Someone could say the same for undead. Personally, while I think dragons are pretty cool, I can't imagine ever needing a whole book on them. Giants would be easier to build a campaign around. Undead easier still, so that's order of utility for me.

Maybe. My own thought is that giant lore has a lot of WotC IP attached to it (proper names and such), so it appealed to the bean counters that actually run the company to accentuate that. The fact that I personally don't think giants are all that interesting is irrelevant.

 

[Red Castle]

Thanks for insisting my question was motivated by personal desire. I didn't say anything about what I wanted. That's an assumption on your part.

Well, you seems to assume that nobody wanted a book about giants so yeah, I can only assume that you are basing this assumption based on your own personal preference and anecdotal evidence (you never seen someone specifically said that they want a book about giants hence nobody wants it).

The only way to judge if a book was wanted or not is if the book sold or not. If it sold, then there was demand, if not then there was none…

And here we are talking about a company that is supposedly making products as cash grab… but making a book takes time and money, so if there is no demands (read that nobody is interested), how can it be considered a cash grab if they don’t think it will sell?

If they made a book about giants, it’s because they considered that there was a demand for it. And if there was demand for it, then the release was warranted. We then go back to my first quote: how dare a company make a product that I might be interested in?

 

[Micah Sweet]

Well, you seems to assume that nobody wanted a book about giants so yeah, I can only assume that you are basing this assumption based on your own personal preference and anecdotal evidence (you never seen someone specifically said that they want a book about giants hence nobody wants it).

The only way to judge if a book was wanted or not is if the book sold or not. If it sold, then there was demand, if not then there was none…

And here we are talking about a company that is supposedly making products as cash grab… but making a book takes time and money, so if there is no demands (read that nobody is interested), how can it be considered a cash grab if they don’t think it will sell?

If they made a book about giants, it’s because they considered that there was a demand for it.

I haven't said anything about a cash grab that I recall. And anecdotal evidence is what I've got. What are you going to do?

 

[Mannahnin]

Maybe. My own thought is that giant lore has a lot of WotC IP attached to it (proper names and such), so it appealed to the bean counters that actually run the company to accentuate that. The fact that I personally don't think giants are all that interesting is irrelevant.

How would this appeal to the bean counters if they didn't expect people to actually buy it?

 

[Red Castle]

I haven't said anything about a cash grab that I recall. And anecdotal evidence is what I've got. What are you going to do?

You were replying to my message about it, so now I’m really confuse about what was your point…

 

[Justice and Rule]

Who had demand for a book all about giants?

You're not going to find a bigger Wizards critic than I, but I'm totally down to read that sort of stuff. If Wizards was doing less terrible stuff, I probably would have bought it. Some people are just lore junkies, other people love to steal ideas. Do we not all have an RPG that we buy books for just to read?

 

[Red Castle]

You're not going to find a bigger Wizards critic than I, but I'm totally down to read that sort of stuff. If Wizards was doing less terrible stuff, I probably would have bought it. Some people are just lore junkies, other people love to steal ideas. Do we not all have an RPG that we buy books for just to read?

To be honest, I didn’t knew it existed since I’m not really interested in 5e (as a DM) but now wished they made one for 4e!

I might end up buying it and see what I can take from it!