D&D Stage III: Genre, Races, Environment, Creature, Hero, Rulesbuilder

[Azlan]

It means that they're actually serious about supporting the product, that they actually have a plan for the future, that they actually do study their market somewhat, and most importantly that it's not going to end up the haphazard mess that it ended up being under TSR.

That, of course, remains to be seen.

 

[Kesh]

Eberron Campaign Setting

* Pre-order promotion
- Free warforged minis for your customers
- Drives Eberron Campaign Setting sales

Warforged. Minis.

Mmmph. I wish the ENWorld store could get in on that action. I might have to see if the local RPG shop where I'm moving to will be getting this... it'd be worth pre-ordering for that.

 

[francisca]

For me, I'd say it's a "lifestyle inclusion." I post regularly to several D&D message forums, I buy one RPG product AT LEAST every 2 months (more when I have money and time), and I game on average once a week. Some extreme sport devotees don't devote as much time to their hobby as I do RPG's.

Yeah, I can along with that. D&D is part of my lifestyle. I post semi-regularly here, lurk at a few other boards, spend, oh I dunno, maybe 6-12 hours per week either reading gaming material or working on my homebrew, subscribe to Dragon and KoDT, have around 300 RPG products on my shelf, and to answer Merric's question, I game 2-3 times a month.

:\ Errrmmm, maybe it is a lifestyle afterall

But, I also have a job, wife, kids, other (non-gaming) hobbies, friends who don't game, etc.., so while it is a large minority of my collective lifestyle, D&D isn't what defines my lifestyle, nor is it a lifestyle in and of itself (for me at least).

Well, that's my story anyway, and I'm stickin' to it.

 

[francisca]

Heh.

How often do you play D&D?

2-3 times a month

I think by the "backlist" they talk about things like the Complete Warrior - the next printing of it will have "Hero Book I" or something printed on it; perhaps a different cover (though unlikely).

Cheers!

Ah! That's probably a good guess.

 

[Impeesa]

I get the impression from this whole series thing that 3.5 is here for the long haul.

Indeed. It looks like they've given a lot of thought to how they can continue to crank out supplements without losing all sense of a cohesive line or falling prey to another revision. That's a good thing, IMHO.

--Impeesa--

 

[TwoSix]

I get the impression from this whole series thing that 3.5 is here for the long haul.

I also get the feeling that with the level of organization they're providing, and the continued support of the d20 system, that 4e will not be a dramatic change in the system. A reorganization, perhaps, with a simple base and more customization options. But I think the majority of the rules will stay the same, so that most of the books that are put out now will remain viable. Just a guess, but the change from 3e to 4e will be similar to the differences from 1e to 2e, than from 2e to 3e.

 

[Ranger REG]

Sound like there's a pattern emerging. Every odd-numbered editions would introduce whole new rulesets, and every even-numbered editions tries to refine them. I just hope that we will get comfortable with 3.5e for some time before they pull out yet another edition.

BTW, I can't helped but laugh at one of the Migration Goals: increase purchase behavior.

My translation: encourage impulse buying disorder. It's like my problem is not worse enough for them. Hehehe.

 

[Estlor]

D&D to the designer and the player may be, at its heart, a creative effort, but I'm really heartened to see this kind of stuff coming out of WotC. Bottom line - D&D is a franchise and a brand name. It provides awareness to consumers and drives sales. It's a business. And business conducted without strategy, planning, and goals rarely works. What we're seeing here is a concentrated effort by WotC to set down guidelines and barriers to keep D&D focused on providing useful supplements that drive sales.

I'm behind it 100%.

Recent WotC products have shown more care in the planning, balancing, and producing areas than ever before. We're getting genuinely useful books that fill big aspects of the hobby, not just niche markets. Materials since 3.5e suffer from very few balance snafus, a sign that the company and its designers have a handle on the D20 rules system. Compare Complete Warrior to Sword and Fist and you'll see exactly what I mean. One is useful, balanced, and attractive as a product. The other is all over the board in terms of quality, usefulness, and balance.

It's about time WotC got their act together and made a vision and mission for the continued life of D&D.

 

[SSquirrel]

Recent WotC products have shown more care in the planning, balancing, and producing areas than ever before. We're getting genuinely useful books that fill big aspects of the hobby, not just niche markets. Materials since 3.5e suffer from very few balance snafus, a sign that the company and its designers have a handle on the D20 rules system. Compare Complete Warrior to Sword and Fist and you'll see exactly what I mean. One is useful, balanced, and attractive as a product. The other is all over the board in terms of quality, usefulness, and balance.

It's about time WotC got their act together and made a vision and mission for the continued life of D&D.

Well ya know they SHOULD have a good handle on teh rules...3E has been out for 3 adn a half freakin years already *grin*

My glance at Complete Warrior yesterday was very impressive. I now wonder if they'll be producing Complete Spellcasting or will it be Complete Arcana followed by Complete Divine? That way you would have Wizards and Sorcerors (Oh yeah and Bards and Rangers) in one and Clerics and Druids in another.

Hagen

 

[MerricB]

Well ya know they SHOULD have a good handle on teh rules...3E has been out for 3 adn a half freakin years already *grin*

My glance at Complete Warrior yesterday was very impressive. I now wonder if they'll be producing Complete Spellcasting or will it be Complete Arcana followed by Complete Divine? That way you would have Wizards and Sorcerors (Oh yeah and Bards and Rangers) in one and Clerics and Druids in another.

G'day!

Complete Divine is the next up (May), and after that Complete Arcane, though we don't have a date on it yet - either late 2004 or early 2005, I guess.

Cheers!