D&D 4E Is it me, or are we in a 4e dry spell?

[AntlerDruid]

Yeah it is seems like a dry spell. There is nothing to look forward to until Heroes of Shadow which unfortunately got delayed for a month.

They said that the books that got canceled would still appear....but beyond that....nothing.

Dragon continues to be lacking in Feb. I don't like the 4 new Dragon articles as they pertain to DMs.

They aren't promoting anything except Encounters and Fortune Cards....both of which I have no interest in.

I ended up letting my DDI membership expire....no point in it for me. The CB still doesn't allow House Rules. Dragon sucks. No interest in Dungeon since i never DM. Even beta testing the Virtual Table wasn't that great since there are tons of other programs that already do the same.

If they could at least start showing decent previews again, then maybe people would start getting excited again.

 

[huank]

Well, I'm kind of excited for the Heroes of Shadow book... It just sounds great... I'm also looking forward for new updates for the CB which still sucks, but maybe, having the old character sheet will make it a little bit better (we hate the new sheets)

 

[the Jester]

I ended up letting my DDI membership expire....no point in it for me. The CB still doesn't allow House Rules. Dragon sucks. No interest in Dungeon since i never DM. Even beta testing the Virtual Table wasn't that great since there are tons of other programs that already do the same.

If they could at least start showing decent previews again, then maybe people would start getting excited again.

Well, I think one of the things that soured some people on DDI was how much of the paid content was previews- or rather, advertising for forthcoming products.

Why on earth should I subscribe to something where 50% of what I get is something I'm going to pay for again when I buy the book??

All preview material should be in front of the paywall. Playtest material is a different sort of beast, but previews? The whole point is to get customers to buy the books, and if the only customers you are advertising to is the ones least likely to buy the books ("Hey, it'll all be in the Compendium anyhow"), there's a huge marketing FAIL happening.

 

[AntlerDruid]

Well, I think one of the things that soured some people on DDI was how much of the paid content was previews- or rather, advertising for forthcoming products.

Why on earth should I subscribe to something where 50% of what I get is something I'm going to pay for again when I buy the book??

All preview material should be in front of the paywall. Playtest material is a different sort of beast, but previews? The whole point is to get customers to buy the books, and if the only customers you are advertising to is the ones least likely to buy the books ("Hey, it'll all be in the Compendium anyhow"), there's a huge marketing FAIL happening.

Totally agree

issue is no previews and majorly decreased DDI Dragon material

Previews should be free to non-DDI subscribers.

But when you are paying for lacking Dragon & still not completed CB, it makes the idea of subscribing seem not worth it.

Even though HoS has been moved back another month, there should already be material to preview....as they only said it was to change it from soft cover to hard cover.

Why not show at least another preview power or feat in the meantime??

 

[mudlock]

Well, I think one of the things that soured some people on DDI was how much of the paid content was previews- or rather, advertising for forthcoming products.

Huh?

One, "previews" is the monthly "here's what we're doing this month" and they "hey, this product is being released soon!" articles, and they have never been paywalled.

I think you mean "excerpts"... but THEY have never been paywalled either!

Go check the list yourself: Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game Official Home Page - Archive

So I have no idea what you (or the people responding to cheer you on) are talking about.

 

[The Little Raven]

We've also gotten advance content, such as the Barbarian class before it was completed and released, as well, which is something Dragon has done forever (along with actual advertisements as well).

 

[MichaelSomething]

Would you rather complain about how WOTC is pumping out too many books in an attempt to milk the game for all its worth?

 

[Dice4Hire]

Would you rather complain about how WOTC is pumping out too many books in an attempt to milk the game for all its worth?

Actually yes. I like new books.

 

[delericho]

Would you rather complain about how WOTC is pumping out too many books in an attempt to milk the game for all its worth?

Why are our only choices "too many" or "too few"? Is there no happy medium?

Personally, I think WotC should be producing something for the game every month, just to keep a bit of buzz going.

Of course, if Dragon and Dungeon magazines were still well regarded and/or, even better, still in print, this would do the job nicely. But let's be honest here: the magazines as they stand now are really not well regarded.

(And, yeah, I know it's controversial bringing Pathfinder up here, but this is something Paizo has always done right - receiving the monthly Adventure Path installment is something I always look forward to, it is always of very high quality, and it leaves me predisposed to liking both the company and the game. And that despite the fact that I have never run one of the Pathfinder paths, I have never played Pathfinder, and I in fact concluded that it just isn't the game for me.)

 

[MrMyth]

So I have no idea what you (or the people responding to cheer you on) are talking about.

I'm pretty sure his comments are regarding a (relatively brief) period of time before PHB3 came out, where extra previews showed up as part of DDI - with the advantage over regular previews being how far in advance they were available.

I... never saw it as a great selling feature, nor did I find it distracted from other content. It didn't bother me either way, and I don't think there is any need to worry about its absence. As you note, WotC provides a ton of free previews of upcoming products.

The reduction in magazine is a more serious issue, of course, but I don't think it ties into previews in any legitimate way.