D&D 3.5 Reprints in September?

[Morrus]

EN World member Warunsun spotted entries for the D&D 3.5 rulebooks (with errata) on Barnes & Noble's website.

UPDATE: Barnes & Noble has removed these items from the website. Speculation is that this was some kind of third-party hoax, based on the fact that a recent board game reissue from WotC appeared on that site and disappeared after WotC confirmed that it was a fake. Additionally, a fourth item simply named "Provalone" disappeared; some folks thought that might be the Monster Manual, and other very optimistic people put forward the idea that It might be a secret code name for a rushed D&D Next release this year. Whatever the truth of it, the 3.5 PHB, DMG, "Dungeon!", and Provalone have all disappeared, and the Dungeon! entry has been confirmed as a hoax.

UPDATE 2: OK, so it turns out the Dungeon! entry was NOT fake. It has now appeared on WotC's own website. Oh, I'm so confused.

Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook: Core Rulebook I, V. 3.5 with Errata
ISBN-13: 9780786962464
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
Publication date: 9/18/2012
Pages: 320
This item will be available on September 18, 2012.

Dungeons & Dragons Dungeons Master's Guide: Core Rulebook II, V. 3.5 with Errata
ISBN-13: 9780786962440
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
Publication date: 9/18/2012
Pages: 320
This item will be available on September 18, 2012.

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[DimitriX]

I wonder if this is my Monte left. He wanted piles of cash in order for WotC to re-release the old 3.5 stuff and they wouldn't pay out.

 

[ruemere]

Is it April the 1st already?

Weird. Seriously weird - to what purpose WotC would print an obsolete version of the system (yes, I know that there are people out there who still play 3.5 instead of its several descendants but the numbers should not be sufficient to justify an entirely new edition)? Especially since there are handy electronic equivalents already...

Regards,
Ruemere

 

[mudbunny]

Is it April the 1st already?

Weird. Seriously weird - to what purpose WotC would print an obsolete version of the system (yes, I know that there are people out there who still play 3.5 instead of its several descendants but the numbers should not be sufficient to justify an entirely new edition)? Especially since there are handy electronic equivalents already...

Regards,
Ruemere

Because there are many, many people out there that have expressed the desire to give WotC $$$ in exchange for 3.5 that has been updated with the errata.

 

[Umbran]

I wonder if this is my Monte left. He wanted piles of cash in order for WotC to re-release the old 3.5 stuff and they wouldn't pay out.

He might disagree with the business decision to reprint material, but it is pretty clear that WotC holds the copyright on 3.5e, not the individual designers. Monte would have to be pretty far out there to expect any money out of the reprint.

 

[kitsune9]

3.5? Really? Why not 2e after 1e and then follow it up with 3.0 and then 3.5. Probably going to pass on this lot.

 

[JeffB]

Cheap prices too.


I suspect this is part of WOTCs goodwill support all the editions intention, like they did with the 1E books. They are not trying to make money off these books, they are trying to bring back lapsed/pissed off customers...which will hopefully make them money in the long haul.

 

[am181d]

3.5? Really? Why not 2e after 1e and then follow it up with 3.0 and then 3.5. Probably going to pass on this lot.

If this is legit, I don't think Wizards has any expectations about how well this is going to sell. There'll be some collectors who want a copy and some folks who are still playing 3.5, but it's not like they're suddenly going to start supporting 3.5 with new content.

 

[malkav666]

I really enjoyed 3.5. I will probably pick these up tbh. My 3.5 PHB has seen better days. May not get the DMG but the PHB reprint make its way to my 3.x shelf. I like the idea of reprints of the more popular rule books. It seems like these types of release are a great way to fill the sparse 4e new release landscape until 5e hits the shelves. And I have a sneaking suspicion that the 1e and 3.5 releases with be the best selling D&D products for WOTC in 2012. So it makes sense to me from a business perspective as well.


Love,

malkav

 

[Umbran]

3.5? Really? Why not 2e after 1e and then follow it up with 3.0 and then 3.5.

I wouldn't be surprised if they think there's just more desire for 1e and 3.x than for 2e.

 

[Jack Daniel]

I wouldn't be surprised if they think there's just more desire for 1e and 3.x than for 2e.

It's part of WotC's devious plan to reach out to the Trekkie/D&Der crossover market. "Unlike Trek movies, it's the odd-numbered D&D editions that don't suck!"

 

[DMKastmaria]

The Plot Thickens:

BARNES & NOBLE | "Provolone" by Wizards RPG Team, Wizards of the Coast | Hardcover

 

[Grogg of the North]

As nice as it would be to have all the errata in the book for me, I kinda feel annoyed that they'd expect me to pay $20 for material I already own.

Now if they offered some sort of trade in program where I could exchange my old books I'd be more interested....

 

[ggroy]

The Plot Thickens:

BARNES & NOBLE | "Provolone" by Wizards RPG Team, Wizards of the Coast | Hardcover

Heh.

WotC entering the Italian cheese business?

 

[DMKastmaria]

Heh.

WotC entering the Italian cheese business?

Joe Bloch had an interesting take on this:

Greyhawk Grognard: Is "Provolone" D&D Next?

Seems too early, but its possible WotC is tentatively planning on rushing this thing out the door and the B&N entries are Placeholders, using code to disguise that fact.

Could a rushed release be what prompted Monte to resign?

 

[freeAgent]

Joe Bloch had an interesting take on this:

Greyhawk Grognard: Is "Provolone" D&D Next?

Seems too early, but its possible WotC is tentatively planning on rushing this thing out the door and the B&N entries are Placeholders, using code to disguise that fact.

Could a rushed release be what prompted Monte to resign?

"Provolone" certainly doesn't sound like a real name to me, so my bets would also be on this and possibly the "3.5" books being part of the D&D Next release.

 

[ExploderWizard]

Anyone else find it strange that the PHB and DMG have the same pagecount?

IIRC the PHB was a bit thicker than the DMG.

 

[Grimstaff]

Anyone else find it strange that the PHB and DMG have the same pagecount?

IIRC the PHB was a bit thicker than the DMG.

Its more economical (especially in limited print runs) to adhere to certain page counts. Content may very well stay the same, as things like art, font size, and margins can be tweaked to meet the page count restriction.

 

[scruffygrognard]

Dungeon boardgame re-release

To add to the re-releases:
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Dungeon-Board-Game-Refresh-Wizards/dp/0786962984/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS?ie=UTF8&coliid=I1LGAVVS4CV5FT&colid=1T64FMGZ42CKI"]Dungeon![/ame]

 

[scruffygrognard]

"Provolone" certainly doesn't sound like a real name to me, so my bets would also be on this and possibly the "3.5" books being part of the D&D Next release.

Sounds cheesy to me...