Do You Read This News?

[h=3]EN World News[/h]

• In my never-ending quest to try to optimize the time I spend on different aspects of EN World, I'm trying to ascertain whether this news page is still popular or useful in the face of big mega-companies like Facebook, Twitter, and Google. (I know I occasionally ask this - it's important, I think to keep asking every year or so!) It's the busiest page of the site, for sure, but that may be just because it's the most common landing page - I can't tell whether folks actually read it, and I get very little feedback or response which would let me know. So, a small ask - if you read this page, please drop a quick note in the comments so that I can get a rough idea (and indeed, which bits of it you read). Then I can make an informed decision on how to spend time to improve things for everyone! The page is a lot of effort every day (and I've been doing it for about 12 years!) and I'm happy to do it, but I'm also happy to do other things, too, which would also be cool!
• In Pretty Darn Fun (a look at new PDFs) This week we have 10 new PDFs, 4 WotC rereleases, 4 new adventures and 1 excellent Spotlight of the Week. Some are previews, some are new systems, some are supplements for a game you are likely already playing, but all are good PDFs that look of interest to a wide range of players.
• The ENnie Awards are still looking for booth volunteers.

[h=3]D&D News[/h]

• I Don’t Know What It Is, but I Like It by James Wyatt -- James provides us with descriptions for several good-aligned creatures that have animal forms. Come see what menagerie he has assembled for you to view and discuss this week!
• 2E AD&D Core Rulebooks Premium Reprints Released![FONT=&amp] For many gamers, the 2nd Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons core rulebooks were their introduction to the role-playing game hobby. Now players can celebrate those dungeon-storming campaigns with this set of special premium editions released by Wizards of the Coast today. The AD&D 2^nd Edition Player’s Handbook, Monstrous Manual and Dungeon Master Handbook (each sold separately) contain [/FONT] [FONT=&amp]all of the original content and art that fans will remember, but each rulebook has a new cover design to commemorate the reprint.[/FONT]

[h=3]Pathfinder RPG News[/h]

• Mark Moreland previews Doom Comes to Dustpawn, by 2012 RPG Superstar contestant Mike Welham.

[h=3]RPG News[/h]

• Cubicle7's First Doctor Sourcebook hit US stores recently, and will be appearing in UK stores this week. "Celebrating the 50th anniversary year of Doctor Who, this 160 page hardcover sourcebook explores the First Doctor's adventures. With detailed information on all the allies, enemies, aliens and gadgets that he encounters, as well as examining each of his adventures, the book contains a wealth of material for the Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space RPG, and is also being a fact-packed resource for fans of the show!"
• Forbes has reviewed 13th Age, and has a video Q&A with Rob Heinsoo and Jonathan Tweet. "It’s fun, fast, and accessible and encourages imagination from players and GM alike. It bakes some very cool new ideas into the d20 ecosystem while keeping all the major pieces intact. Of the many systems I’ve read recently, it’s one of the best."

[video=youtube;e3qPQhTns64]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=e3qPQhTns64[/video]
​

[h=3]Community News[/h]

• Sarah Darkmagic talks about End to End, a book of fairy tales, and using such tales as game inspiration.
• Kobold Press posts a 1000-word rebuttal against its own article; in yesterday's news I mentioned Against the Nostalgia Fetish in Fantasy Roleplaying; today, the kobolds have posted Against the Fetish of Progressive Design.
• Gnome Stew's guest writer, Richard Dansky (Wraith: The Oblivion) writes about What GMing Can Take From GameDev.

[h=3]Boardgaming News[/h]

• Forbes has reviewed Lords of Waterdeep. It says "Lords of Waterdeep is one of the most unique and surprising D&D boardgames on the market" but - and this may just be me - is that a non-statement? It's the most 'surprising' of the half dozen boardgames WotC has out at the moment? Still, the rest of the review is fairly glowing.
• Play Board Games has reviewed Astlan. Aztlan is an area control game with an Aztec theme. You must control domains that contain specific terrain to score big points and win. But look out your opponents might just overpower you and remove your pieces from the board.

 

[Gilladian]

As many have said, I'm not a big facebook or twitter user; this is where I get my daily dose of gamer news. I don't read every bit of it every day, but I do skim it and follow up on articles that intrigue me.

 

[Scotley]

I do read the news most days. I'd read more often if I had more time. I don't go anywhere else for my gaming news. I hit Pazio's or Wizard's sites perhaps once for every 10 times I come to the main page here. I spend most of my time here on pbp gaming, but I do follow the news. My main interest is Pathfinder or D&D. I didn't fight in the edition wars and love all things D&D. I am also interested in 3rd party stuff, but not so much other games. Again mostly because of time constraints. I'm not on Facebook specifically because of the time factor. I usually only hit the twitter feed when I discover ENWorld is down. I like the columns, coming soon links and the Pretty Darn Fun stuff as well. I really like the recent activity widget for letting me see what people are talking about quickly. That damn time thing again. Keep up the good work. My one request beyond the news page is to get the dice roller back for play by posters!

 

[Ramaster]

It would be a pity to lose the news page, I check it out at least twice a day, and really miss it every time it's skipped. It helps me get a bunch of information without having to follow 20+ people/companies on facebook, tweeter, etc. I appreciate the effort that is put into it.

 

[stevelabny]

Get my RPG (and occasionally other geek news) from ENWorld, my board game news from BoardGameGeek (not that I'm against the coverage here, but its not as complete), get comic book news from comic book sites, get Game of Thrones news from winteriscoming. It keeps me from having to go to a "geek-catchall" page like IGN or something, where they will pick and choose which mainstream projects deserve mention.

Big sites have big cracks that little products and projects fall through.

 

[MadAxe]

Like many others I read the news page almost every day, sometimes checking it two or three times. I almost always find at least one article of interest to click through to, and even the summaries are often informative enough for me. Keep it up!

 

[SkidAce]

I scan it daily and dig deeper into the interesting articles before heading to the forums.

 

[scruffygrognard]

At this point the news page is the only page I use on ENWorld, since I've lost most of my interest in D&D... but still like keeping up with what's new.

 

[GhostShip Blue]

I confess - it's the landing page. I occasionally scan it before I move on to the Forums. Now, when something catches my eye, I do read it, but most often I click by. I suck, I know.

 

[Smoss]

The front page is often the ONLY page I use. Sometimes I check the forums, but since I care more about general RPG stuff going on, the news is what is important. Having left D&D and other commercial systems behind for my own system makes me an odd reader I guess.

I do quite enjoy news of new systems and other things. You never know when there is a good idea to "requisition".
Smoss

 

[meien]

i read the news page almost every day. it's a nice roundup of what's going on in the gaming world.