Exclusive Races/Classes in Dragon: Why the Angst?

[JoeGKushner]

Maybe it's because I'm old but...

When I was younger, if you wanted to play a paladin variant, and your GM was cool enough to let you play an "NPC" class, you had to have an issue of Dragon magazine. Witch? Incantirix? Berserker? Bounty Hunter?

Wanted to have a cool spell that not everyone else did?

Wanted to play a Halfling Guardian?

Wanted to play a scout instead of a rogue?

Is it just because Dragon's electronic now that it's a thing of angst when 'unique' content comes out for it?

Back in the day, I remember making copies of numerous articles for my campaign and I don't recall the other players complaing about it.

Am I just that old where Dragon having 'exlcusive' content was normal or ?

 

[tmatk]

Back in the day, we didn't have internet forums and blogs to complain on!!

 

[Pseudonym]

Am I just that old where Dragon having 'exlcusive' content was normal or ?

No, you're not old. Or rather, I guess I'm old too. My experience was the same.

 

[Shroomy]

I got into a disagreement with my DM and fellow DDI subscriber over September's assassin release. He thought that material of this length should only be released in a book because he learns better when it is presented in that format; I argued that while I originally felt that way, after running an artificer since September using only the Dragon pdf and the Character Builder, I learned that at least for me, it no longer made a difference.

While I do think that some people do learn better from deadtree format, I also think some of the resistance comes from lack of familiarity with using digital format in this way. There's also the argument that DDI-subscriber only content creates haves and have nots, but I think that's largely a false argument since it applies to more than just DDI content.

 

[thecasualoblivion]

I actually find 4E books fairly impenetrable. I can skim through powers, but I can't force myself to read them in detail. I'm a system mastery guy, I mastered 3.5E, and my playstyle demands that I master 4E as well. I didn't get a strong handle on 4E until I started making characters by the dozen. I did it first with dead tree character sheets and a stack of books. I got to the point where I could make Paragon characters(complete will a full and unique slate of equipment) in 15 minutes the old fashioned way.

Now I just use Character Builder. Saves a lot of trouble.

 

[Agamon]

While I do think that some people do learn better from deadtree format, I also think some of the resistance comes from lack of familiarity with using digital format in this way. There's also the argument that DDI-subscriber only content creates haves and have nots, but I think that's largely a false argument since it applies to more than just DDI content.

Yeah, exactly, I don't get it. If one would rather read a new class on paper, print it out. Haves and have nots? Buy a DDI sub for a month and get it. If the class did come out in a book, and you don't buy the book, are you not still a have not?

 

[Fallen Seraph]

I am a great fan of exclusive content. I wouldn't want to have stuff done twice, since not only does it make DDI slightly (and very slightly) less attractive of a thing to have but it means that for myself that book has a whole section that is useless since I already have the content. So it could have been filled with something else new.

 

[Greatwyrm]

Back in the day, we didn't have internet forums and blogs to complain on!!

I think that's a lot of it right there. The amount of complaining probably hasn't changed as fast as the ability to complain to the whole world has.

At the same time, I've seen some pretty creative complaining.

--They'll probably put it in a book later, so they're screwing us into paying for it twice.

--They'll never put it in a book, so I'm getting screwed for not having a credit card/computer/Windows computer.

--They'll never support it like other stuff, so we'll get screwed by only getting a half done project.

--They'll support it in Dragon / Dungeon, so we'll get screwed out of page count on my favorite column.

 

[Cadfan]

Because marketing works.

Saying that something is an "exclusive" really just means "published here and not elsewhere." Which is the regular state of affairs for everything, unless they double publish, which no one wants.

But "exclusive" makes it sound all exotic and different and new, and people fall for it, both fans and... other sorts.

 

[Orius]

I got into a disagreement with my DM and fellow DDI subscriber over September's assassin release. He thought that material of this length should only be released in a book because he learns better when it is presented in that format;

Then he should print it. No big deal.

I really don't see what the big deal is. There's always been stuff published in Dragon. Sometimes the popular/good stuff gets put into a book.