ELEMENTAL EVIL Player's Companion - FREE!

The Elemental Evil Player's Companion is available for free download over at DTRPG (and RPGNow). It includes new races (aarakocra, deep gnome, genasi, and goliath) and ove 40 new spells. The PDF is a full-colour 25-page PDF; according to the first page, the genasi in chapter 1 and all of the spells in chapter 2 also appear in the appendices of Princes of the Apocalypse, the adventure due to hit store shelves very soon.

"Not inherently evil, elemental power can be mastered by those with both malevolent and benign intentions. The Elemental Evil Player’s Companion provides everything players need to build a character that is tied directly into the Elemental Evil storyline.

New race options include the aarakocra, deep gnome, genasi, and goliath. Additionally, a plethora of new spells put the elements directly at your command.

The Elemental Evil Player’s Companion, was original designed by Richard Baker, Robert J. Schwalb and Stephen Schubert, with additional design and development by Wizards D&D R&D.

This accessory is specifically meant to support the Elemental Evil–Princes of the Apocalypse adventure product."

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[BryonD]

It was long ago established that nobody from WOTC is really at EnWorld anymore. They used to be, but they're not anymore. So, I suspect it was never on their radar. I think it's unwise to judge someone, to this level, for something they, 1) did not know was out there, and 2) did not authorize to be released.

Being completely oblivious that your own internal mock-up cover is on a major website is no excuse.

Not frequenting is one thing. Being oblivious is still very poor PR.

It seemed to me like he was saying, "I didn't plan that product, so I didn't change plans. I didn't tell the clients we were doing that, so why are the clients telling me I did that?" And that's what happened it seems - imagine the first time you become aware of something from a client, is when they're accusing you of cancelling one of their projects you supposedly announced to them when you never announced any such thing. And imagine on top of that you find out the reason the client even thinks it was announced is because some anonymous person leaked some R&D experimental mock-ups you had someone do, and you don't even know how or why that leak happened.

And now you have 140 characters per Tweet to respond to that.

Yeah, I can definitely imagine one reasonable response would be,

"Someone sent you what looks like a new piece of planned product support? No, that's not right, we didn't announce that. You're upset we're saying this cancelled product support? We can't cancel product support we never planned to do or announced to you. You see, what happened here is we do a lot of stuff that may or may not end up as released product support, and this is was one of those. We've played things close to the vest on product support for a reason. It remains a huge, open question on what support should look like. Because our past experience over the last 15 years demonstrates doing too much support of a certain type can be bad for our clients. So we're doing a lot of internal experiments, and there are more to come, and this was one of those experiments. It was not intended to be released like that to our clients, and we're not sure how you got that."

Which is a paraphrase of what Mike Meals said, in a string of 140 character Tweets in reaction to some Tweets he got.

Understood. It is understandable and forgivable. It was still a bad move. Move on, don't double down.

What fast one?

How did ENWorld get their internal cover in the first place? (It *is* the cover that ended up on the free version).
They need to own their product and the communications around it.
If their internal cover is out and then they say "it wasn't announced" then that is a "fast one".

 

[I'm A Banana]

Except when they do it volontarely, like film studio excutives, corporations like Apple or politicians who want some info to be leaked.

This happens. There's no particular reason to believe that it happened here.

When did WotC claimed that Kettie leaked the info without WotC's permission? Do you have that statement? That was my question to Mistwell and I never got the info from him.

They don't have to claim that - it's a leak. By the definition of "leak," the leaker doesn't have WotC's permission. They never claimed otherwise. That WotC gave permission in secret for this is pure speculation without any specific evidence. Just because sometimes leaks are intentional doesn't follow that this time this leak was.

That is your moral judgement. Other people see it differently. You could explain to them why they are wrong for doing so. I'm not your target audience. Sorry.

It's not a moral judgement, just a factual one - if someone sees a leak as reliable marketing communication, they are factually wrong, and if they expect to see a product based entirely on a leak, they are quite likely to be wrong in their expectation.

 

[Nellisir]

It's good to see the Svirfneblin back, I remember when they were overpowered cheese in 2e,

HEY! That's Asilud Sunnilda Gelud-Diedelindadottur you're talking about! Best cleric/illusionist ever!
...And yeah, totally overpowered. She was the primary arcane caster in the party (wand of fireballs), primary thief-type (knock & wraithform), secondary divine caster (we had a sun-god priest), and decent in combat.

HIGH-CLASS overpowered cheese.

 

[Mistwell]

Being completely oblivious that your own internal mock-up cover is on a major website is no excuse.

Not frequenting is one thing. Being oblivious is still very poor PR.

And I think that's holding WOTC to an unfair standard. Much large companies than them are unaware of leaks. Huge Governments, including the U.S., have been unaware something's been leaked for months until a reporter tells them. I don't know where this high level standard for PR and knowledge-gathering for potential leaks for a company like WOTC is coming from, but it doesn't seem like a reasonable standard to me.

Understood. It is understandable and forgivable. It was still a bad move. Move on, don't double down.

How did they double down on it? That was their first reaction.

How did ENWorld get their internal cover in the first place? (It *is* the cover that ended up on the free version).
They need to own their product and the communications around it.
If their internal cover is out and then they say "it wasn't announced" then that is a "fast one".

How is that a fast one? I don't know of any definition of that phrase that seems to match the way you're using it. Fast one implies a nefarious intent, that they're trying to trick someone by misrepresenting something. I am just not getting your tone on this - it seems over the top.

 

[TarionzCousin]

I like free stuff.

 

[Kramodlog]

This happens. There's no particular reason to believe that it happened here.

Like there is no paticular reason to believe Kettie leaked it or that is was all an accident.

Well, actually, since it happened twice, an accident or doing it without WotC's consent seems less likely. WotC's guards its secret, don't you agree? And they aren't afraid to warn people with C&D letters. Why wouldn't they have warn Kettie to stop the leaks in August? Why give them the covers of the books in January knowing they can't be trusted? Something doesn't add-up.

They don't have to claim that - it's a leak. By the definition of "leak," the leaker doesn't have WotC's permission.

Actually, as I showed, someone can make a leak volontarely. To repeat myself film executives, politicians, corporations do it all the time. Merriam-webster's definition supports that.

WotC could have done it as a marketing strategy. That you disagree with this sort of strategy doesn't mean that WotC didn't do it. What would make it untrue is WotC saying Kettie leaked it or Kettie saying "we leaked it without WotC's consent." None of these statements have been made so far. I do not think they will be made either. So we are left with speculations.

That WotC gave permission in secret for this is pure speculation without any specific evidence.

Just like saying Kettie did it without WotC's consent. That is my point. That both are speculation. That is the crux of my argument. I'm not sure why this is not clear.

It's not a moral judgement, just a factual one

No. It is your opinion. Nothing wrong with opinions, except claiming they are facts.

if someone sees a leak as reliable marketing communication, they are factually wrong, and if they expect to see a product based entirely on a leak, they are quite likely to be wrong in their expectation.

The amount of correct leaks indicate your opinion is not factual. The problem with your opinion is that you start with the premise that leaks cannot be factual.

 

[kettite]

For what must be the third time on this site, there was no "leak". This is where all the information came from:
http://edelweiss.abovethetreeline.com/CatalogOverview.aspx?catalogID=407200

 

[Kramodlog]

how DO you cancel something not announced?

The error you are making is to think that you need to announce something to cancel it.

Merriam-Webster defines cancel this way: to stop doing or planning to do (something) : to decide that something (such as a game, performance, etc.) will not happen. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cancel

Mike Mearls can go up to the guys at Sasquatch Games and say: "Sorry guys. You have been working very hard on the Adventurer's Handbook, but its release is cancelled. We will not print it. You can stop working on it." And this is how you cancel something that is not announced.

 

[Kramodlog]

For what must be the third time on this site, there was no "leak". This is where all the information came from:
http://edelweiss.abovethetreeline.com/CatalogOverview.aspx?catalogID=407200

Heh. I thought Kettite was the name website that sold the books. Sorry dude. Every time I used the word Kettite, I ment the online distributor. I hope that clarifies things.

 

[Lazorne]

Anyone from WotC reading this thread?
Would be nice to get a printer-friendly version of this supplement like the ones from HotDQ and RoT.

I messaged Mearls on twitter yesterday and he said he will look into it