I posted this on a similar topic on the WotC boards.
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I believe the Compendium is the source of a number of things.
Firstly, one of the developers (don't remember who off hand) was poling a few months ago for what people thought was more enticing "Magic Item Compendium" or "Arms & Equipment Guide". Obviously it was in reference to this, so its been on the plate for a while now. They admitted early on that they had to cut a lot of magic items from the 'drawing board' to fit the limited page count of the magic item real estate in the DMG.
It was also mentioned that magic item layout will be more like the 3X Magic Item Compendium, which means they take up a lot more real estate in the book than what appeared in the 3X DMG. This means to keep to page count, the DMG selection of items is going to be a lot smaller.
As mentioned, a LOT of magic items were converted and designed, such as the "concepts" for rods. Obviously most of these didn't make the page count cut for the DMG so they got a book of their own. The 3X version is 224 pages and the 4X version is slated to be the same page count.
Overall, I think it was a good move on WotC's part to do the Compendium as the first major splatbook to include all the work that had to be cut from the DMG. Even though the reliance on items is less in 4E, the variety is supposed to be better. Keep in mind this also probably includes a more full list of the new "Special Materials" and effects that are mentioned in the armor preview in Races & Classes.
JMHO.
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I believe the Compendium is the source of a number of things.
Firstly, one of the developers (don't remember who off hand) was poling a few months ago for what people thought was more enticing "Magic Item Compendium" or "Arms & Equipment Guide". Obviously it was in reference to this, so its been on the plate for a while now. They admitted early on that they had to cut a lot of magic items from the 'drawing board' to fit the limited page count of the magic item real estate in the DMG.
It was also mentioned that magic item layout will be more like the 3X Magic Item Compendium, which means they take up a lot more real estate in the book than what appeared in the 3X DMG. This means to keep to page count, the DMG selection of items is going to be a lot smaller.
As mentioned, a LOT of magic items were converted and designed, such as the "concepts" for rods. Obviously most of these didn't make the page count cut for the DMG so they got a book of their own. The 3X version is 224 pages and the 4X version is slated to be the same page count.
Overall, I think it was a good move on WotC's part to do the Compendium as the first major splatbook to include all the work that had to be cut from the DMG. Even though the reliance on items is less in 4E, the variety is supposed to be better. Keep in mind this also probably includes a more full list of the new "Special Materials" and effects that are mentioned in the armor preview in Races & Classes.
JMHO.
