But each one presents a number of new builds or classes (depending on how you want to look at it), and I just can't see any reasonable interpretation of that content which involves dismissing it as simply reprinting of existing content.
But I'm not saying that it is
simply reprinting old material - and I already corrected you on that. I am saying that it is
mainly reformatting, repackaging, and rehashing old material (which is also different from "reprinting"). There is a big difference between
simply, which means
only, and
mainly, which means "for the most part, but not entirely."
Regardless of to what degree Essentials actually provides new material, from what I've seen so far it is not enough for me to buy everything, and it is also not enough for me to not feel disappointed in WotC's output over the 7-8 month period in question because not only is there a relatively small amount of actually new material, but it is included in reformatting of old material, and it is almost entirely new "crunch" with little to no new "fluff."
To put it another way, let's say that 4E books pre-Essentials have been of three basic kinds:
1) Core books and their expansions (
PHB 1-3, DMG 1-2, MM 1-3)
2) Crunch-centered supplements (The
Power books; Player's Guides)
3) Fluff-centered supplments (Campaign settings and theme books, e.g.
Demonomicon, planar books, etc)
I buy all of 1 and 3 and almost none of 2 but instead get occasional DDI updates. During the 7-8 month period in question, there are no books in the 3rd category, with lots of books that re-format the 1st and offer bits of the 2nd. So the new material that is being offered is A) Integrated with a lot of old material that I already have, and B) Of the crunch-centric variety that is of less interest to me and that I can get through DDI.
Again, I'm not saying that this is "wrong" or that WotC is evil for not providing me with what I want, but it
is a pretty significant gap in their publication schedule with a rather narrow variety of books being presented.
In this case, yes, WotC is deciding to have a period focusing on new players. They have still tried to include content in that period that will appeal to existing players, and I think many will still pick up such content. I could be wrong - your feelings on this might be widespread and vast, and WotC will take a huge hit by doing so. But... I've got a suspicion that isn't the case.
I think my feelings are in the minority, although maybe a significantly sized minority. To be honest I am surprised at how many people seem to be taking to Essentials whole-heartedly.
Hundreds of dollars? $40 for Heroes of the Fallen Lands and Forgotten Kingdoms. Maybe also the Monster Vault - those are the products that have some amount of new content along some amount of old content. And then Heroes of Shadow, which should be entirely new content.
And let's look at that actual price tag. Heroes of the Fallen Lands offers 4 classes that feature 5 new builds, and some new feats. Alongside it is some older feats and items. It is certainly less content than one might find in Martial Power. On the other hand... it's 2/3 the cost.
If you don't want the content, that is fine. But that is a different thing than that content not being there.
Again, I'm not saying that new content is not there but that A) it is mixed in with a lot (more, really) old content that I'm not interested in re-purchasing, and B) it is of a narrow variety without any "fluff-centered" products.
As for the price, WotC has effectively split one $35 hardcover (
PHB) into three $20 softcovers (the two
Heroes books and the
Rules Compendium). That's $60 to just get the Essentialized versions of the material in the
PHB, $80 if you include the
Class Compendium.
At this point the only Essentials product that I feel is worth my money is the
Rules Compendium, because it is a nice table reference. I may also pick up the
Monster Vault and, despite my misgivings with the format and my wish for a revised
PHB, I am curious about the
Class Compendium. But for me regular purchasing of WotC D&D books won't start up again until
Heroes of Shadow.