Interesting statement from a WizO on the D&D forum:

[jgbrowning]

I'd be really surprised if we don't see an announcement at D&D Experience.

I'm in agreement with you.

joe b.

 

[Maggan]

Bah. All signs point that its coming soon.

Well, some people went on the record saying that all signs pointed to it being released during 2006, so forgive me if I take all signs pointing at 4e with a grain of salt.

/M

 

[DaveMage]

D&D takes too much time to play (prep + actual game) for the younger generation. Well, actually, the time isn't the problem, it's the amount of game progess that occurs within a game session that's the problem. Currently, 3 or 4 complex combats and 2-4 hours have passed. Compare that with online games, 3 or 4 complex combats take about 5-10 minutes, tops.

Therefore, I expect the next edition to be a completely different animal. If it's not, it will probably fail (or at least, not do any better than the current edition).

In other words, it probably won't be the D&D we all know and (some of us) love.

3E brought in players who had left. There are no other players to find in the current design paradigm. A new paradigm is probably needed for any new edition to flourish.

 

[DragonLancer]

I'm fairly sure I remember reading something previously somewhere (possibly on ENWorld or the WOTC messagboards) about how, as part of Hasbro (a publicly traded company) WOTC have to be quite careful about making claims about future product releases and developments that are underway - and only do so within a certain lead time or when products are in a published catalogue, as to do otherwise could potentially be seen as some form of attempt to manipulate the share price (I think)

That can't be right, surely? My only real beef with the gaming industry is not letting it's customer base know potential and upcoming releases, or anything planned for them. What better way is there to drum up interest in a product than to keep the customer informed.
I can't believe that they keep quiet for something like this.

*Confuzzled*

 

[Umbran]

I can't believe that they keep quiet for something like this.

What better way is there to cheese off a customer base than to give out upcoming product information before the product plan is 100% finalized? By making personnel stick to only official announcements, they make darned sure the left hand knows what the right hand is saying. conflict with their own statements is the fast road to looking unprofessional.

 

[DragonLancer]

What better way is there to cheese off a customer base than to give out upcoming product information before the product plan is 100% finalized? By making personnel stick to only official announcements, they make darned sure the left hand knows what the right hand is saying. conflict with their own statements is the fast road to looking unprofessional.

I'm not on about information. I'm say that theres no harm in saying that X company has a book of X planned for end of 2007, or that the next set of miniatures after this is about X. Giving out that does more good and drums up interest than staying quiet all the time.

If a company does say book X will have X, X and X, and then fails to put those in, then fine I would agree. But I'm not saying that.

Give players some small idea (proposed product names for instance, no info just the working title) of what's coming up. Thats the way to do it IMO.

 

[Relique du Madde]

That can't be right, surely? My only real beef with the gaming industry is not letting it's customer base know potential and upcoming releases, or anything planned for them. What better way is there to drum up interest in a product than to keep the customer informed.
I can't believe that they keep quiet for something like this.

*Confuzzled*

There is one reason why they would hold that information secret: Profit.

If Wizards announced today that DnD 4.0 were to come out at Winter Fantasy 08 you can almost count on there being reduced sales on DnD supplements (especially class books) through out the 4th quarter (and maybe 3rd quarter) of 07. This would be because many players/dms would refuse to pay $30+ a month on rules that might become obsolete (especially if Wizards announces the end of the OGL and SRD).

 

[DragonLancer]

There is one reason why they would hold that information secret: Profit.

If Wizards announced today that DnD 4.0 were to come out at Winter Fantasy 08 you can almost count on there being reduced sales on DnD supplements (especially class books) through out the 4th quarter (and maybe 3rd quarter) of 07. This would be because many players/dms would refuse to pay $30+ a month on rules that might become obsolete (especially if Wizards announces the end of the OGL and SRD).

Yes, I agree there. I was commenting more generally than just 4.0 ed.

 

[Crothian]

There is one reason why they would hold that information secret: Profit.

I think they would see a profit hit as soon as it was announced. I can see quite a few people not buying any d20 books and just waiting for the new edition. And if one didn't like the new edition changes are those books they didn't buy at full price would be dicounted as soon as the new game was out.

 

[mhacdebhandia]

I'm not on about information. I'm say that theres no harm in saying that X company has a book of X planned for end of 2007, or that the next set of miniatures after this is about X.

Yes, there is, because plans can change. It doesn't happen often with Wizards of the Coast, but it has happened - they've had to push books back from their original release date, like Ghostwalk; they've quietly cancelled some announced books, like d20 Spectaculars; they've even put together at least one book in less than their usual leisurely (for this industry) time frame because of a hole in their schedule, like Dragon Magic.

Look at smaller companies in the industry (they're all much smaller): there are dozens of companies which never release books they've announced, push books further and further back on the schedule, rush books out the door faster than they should have been, et cetera.

All of these things are usually done for a reason, which usually involves money, but all of them damage the consumer's confidence in and loyalty to the company. How many people playing Buffy and Angel are upset that Eden Studios delayed certain sourcebooks for a long time and then ended up losing the license? How many Palladium gamers are bitter about certain sourcebooks that were announced over and over again for years - were even known to have been delivered in manuscript to the company by the author - and never, ever released?

It's simply bad for business to announce a schedule you cannot stick to. The fact that Wizards of the Coast has these problems rarely doesn't mean they don't have them, and it certainly doesn't mean that they can afford to simply ignore these principles.