D&D 4E Enough to start playing 4e with the "Wizard's Presents" preview products?

[Beckett]

As I stated in another thread I'm very interested in designers' notes, so I'll keep an eye on those two books.

Same here. That's the main reason I'll probably pick up the Rules Compendium, even though I'm pretty sure I'm switching to 4E.

 

[Jer]

What will be the value of these books once 4.0 is out?

I suspect that the main value is to have D&D product on game store shelves for two months that might actually have half a chance of getting bought. It must be pretty darn tough to figure out how to fill a product schedule between editions. I suspect that's also why we're getting the quickstart adventure the month BEFORE the PHB comes out - that's one more month of product on the shelves that people might buy before the 4e run "officially" starts.

OTOH - knowing that there are going to be developer notes in these things raises my interest substantially. I figured they'd be mostly "thick brochures" giving tastes of tidbits of the rules and therefore completely missable. Developer notes actually give me something I might want to read - though it still may not be enough to get me to pick it up. I'll have to see what it looks like when it hits the shelves (and what other companies are putting out that month).

 

[Pygon]

Just like with Rules Compendium, looks like I'll be waiting to read reviews to find out exactly what's in them before I buy.

 

[FATDRAGONGAMES]

Just like with Rules Compendium, looks like I'll be waiting to read reviews to find out exactly what's in them before I buy.

Yep, same here. I'm not buying anything else sight-unseen until Keep on the Shadowfell comes out.

 

[Jhaelen]

Color me disappointed. I was (obviously) really hoping for preview crunch...enough to start messing around with the game itself.

Sounds like the first adventure module will be the right purchase for you. It's supposed to contain enough rules to give 4th.ed. a start.

 

[Bryntryst]

I remember when the 3.0 preview pamphlets came out, there wasn't much in the line of playable rules included. Doubt they'd deviate too far.

 

[The_Universe]

Sounds like the first adventure module will be the right purchase for you. It's supposed to contain enough rules to give 4th.ed. a start.

That's my impression, as well.

 

[FreeXenon]

Perhaps those people who are really into game mechanics, balance, and creating their own mechanic (feats and spells and stuff) and rules might find this of value. Also in situations where an ability might get used in a way that was not normally intended this book may provide some insight as to how the rules are set up and designed.

I think I have almost talked myself into buying them....

 

[tlantl]

When third edition was coming I remember how every month Dragon magazine had teasers and little tidbits of information on the up coming game. Perhaps once these basically useless "preview" books are released we'll see more useful information (or the same stuff from the previews) from the magazine.

With that said I realize that there are no more magazines. Just the misguided electronic thing that I will likely not be subscribing to. I never bought Dragon every month I usually thumbed through them to see if there was anything useful. I don't care for much of the junk published in dragon. I bought only the ones with decent content. Now that I would have to pay $10.00 a month for something that would be relatively useless to me, I don't plan on going there.

As for usable content before the game launches, well we all know that the WotC people are in it for the money. Maybe not the people actually doing the work, but the corporate managers and the head of the division who are constantly under pressure to turn a very large profit. Things like previews are designed by the marketing people who's job it is to ensure that there uis a constant stream of cash flowing. Not by the developers who might be more inclined to actually give us something useful. I know that I wont be forking over $40.00 US for a bunch of essays and half way accurate information on something I'll have to wait half a year to actually use.

 

[GoodKingJayIII]

If anything, the idea of a crunch-only preview book makes it less valuable. If these were just preview books with example characters and half-described rules, I would've waited until May. The fact that they've included design notes and essays intrigues me, and now I'm more likely to get a hold on these books than I was before. So color me interested (and a potential customer).