D&D 5E (2014) GAMA Trade Show and Game Developer Conference start Monday - announcement Tomorrow?

[Jester David]

First Reaction: That's so cool and exciting!

Second Reaction: All they really announced was that there would be three core books and a starter set. This is not exactly revolutionary.
They reiterated some stuff on the Tyranny of Dragons, but little of that had not been said before.

They didn't tell us the dates and prices. I don't see anything about page counts or contents of the PHB and if the PHB will contain the rules for running or if that will be in the DMG.
It's cool for the people who were there and could see the covers and art. A little anticlimactic for the rest of us, who've been starved for news for three months since the playtest ended.

 

[Agamon]

To me, August is in summer, and "Later" than summer means not August. I didn't read that as "later" than the date the Starter set is released, but later than the Summer release schedule. Regardless, I believe the Starter set and the PHB had the same release date with Barnes and Noble, and we now know that's not accurate.

They were listed in different months, with the Starter coming out before. So nothing they said disputes anything B&N posted.

Which makes more sense if you think about it. Which is more likely: WotC sent B&N some SKU info and it accidentally got posted, or someone just made some stuff up and posted it?

 

[jodyjohnson]

So no official release date and no official price.

Could it be because they're still not sure they can hit a mid-August deadline?

Thaumaturge.

It's all an elaborate ruse to make it seem like they are taking the play testing process seriously.

I will not be bamboozled!

 

[Agamon]

First Reaction: That's so cool and exciting!

Second Reaction: All they really announced was that there would be three core books and a starter set. This is not exactly revolutionary.
They reiterated some stuff on the Tyranny of Dragons, but little of that had not been said before.

They didn't tell us the dates and prices. I don't see anything about page counts or contents of the PHB and if the PHB will contain the rules for running or if that will be in the DMG.
It's cool for the people who were there and could see the covers and art. A little anticlimactic for the rest of us, who've been starved for news for three months since the playtest ended.

I was hoping for pics, but I would have been more surprised with any more info than we got.

 

[gweinel]

They reiterated some stuff on the Tyranny of Dragons, but little of that had not been said before.

Also they tied Tyranny of Dragons to Forgotten Realms which is a let down for me. I would prefer a neutral approach to their first adventure path, a more enclosing approach to the various gamestyles and tastes than a focused one.

Probably I wouldn't mind if we hadn't all this Forgotten Realms overload from WotC the last months in comparrison with the other settings, but right now i am kind of fed up.

 

[darjr]

Oh. It looks like the idea that the starter set is more like 4e vs PFBB is the opinion of the twitter accounts owner. So it may still be a full game.

And why no pictures? Why no footage? I'd think that photos and footage and even filming it themselves and putting it on youtube would be a huge win.

 

[Jester David]

Question: Did they say they were going to be printing/publishing 4e or selling 4e?

It's a big difference. One is keeping the books in stock for those that want them, the other is them just clearing out back inventory until it's gone.

 

[Jester David]

Oh. It looks like the idea that the starter set is more like 4e vs PFBB is the opinion of the twitter accounts owner. So it may still be a full game.

And why no pictures? Why no footage? I'd think that photos and footage and even filming it themselves and putting it on youtube would be a huge win.

Because they want to hold that information back until they're ready to release it to the fans and not a crowd of 50 in some industry convention.

Why? Reasons. Building buzz and anticipation. Controlling the story. Whatever. Who knows.

 

[Jeff Carlsen]

Yes. They're even called out as optional, with the default being a stat increase, and they're not assumed in the mechanics.

And I think of feats as highly optional. I'll probably not use them. I think a lot of people won't.

Sure. But both feats and magic items are going to be often used modules. Including both in the PHB would cover the needs of a rather wide audience.

I don't mind too much, but I was kind of hoping for more of the game to be in the Player's Handbook.

 

[Sword of Spirit]

Because they want to hold that information back until they're ready to release it to the fans and not a crowd of 50 in some industry convention.

Why? Reasons. Building buzz and anticipation. Controlling the story. Whatever. Who knows.

For game balance of course!