Is this the benefit of an R&D department

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

When any company does something just for sales, I think it's kind of sad. I'd be hoping that quality and innovation is somewhere in their thought process.

But, to each his own. If someone wants to buy a book just because its title is teh bomb, go right ahead.

Who said they were doing that?

Not to say that the book can't be a quality book, but from the blurb, it does sound like they rushed it.

I see nothing suggestive of a rush. They know their publishing schedule far enough out in advance to have spent plenty of time developing Dragon Magic.

And I didn't buy it because the title was cool.

Didja buy it because it was dragons?

It's not. The bad part is their focus. They're interested with sales, not quality.

Who says? The two are not mutually exclusive of one another.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I wish it were wrong, because I would like to think that people are not that receptive to thinly veiled marketing gimmicks.

In addition, this type of design work is what keeps me away from Wizards books. I like to see variety, and Wizards just doesn't offer it.

Hmmm, this marketing gimmick -- the gimmick being "give people what they want" -- looks to have created a new set of optional rules, spells, PrCs, classes and more, based on a new-to-D&D idea. So it is variety, much like Tome of Magic, Magic of Incarnum, Weapons of Legacy, the Book of Nine Swords and other recent books have featured variety.

Now, it may not be your cup of tea (I own none of the above list and only intend to pick up ToM), but it's certainly variety.

 

[Barak]

Pop-Tarts were developed quickly, but still are tasty!

On the other hand, it took a long time to come up with "Project Runway", and I still hate that show.

 

[Jdvn1]

Who said they were doing that?

I see nothing suggestive of a rush. They know their publishing schedule far enough out in advance to have spent plenty of time developing Dragon Magic.

That's the impression I get from the information given, anyway. WotC had free time, and made a book with a title that would sell well. They didn't have decide to make a good book, they decided to have a book that sells. I'm sure the designers intend for the book to be good, as they intend for all of their books to be good, but the book was quickly developed, which sounds an awful like a "rush" to me.

Didja buy it because it was dragons?

I bought it because everything I heard about the book was cool.

Who says? The two are not mutually exclusive of one another.

Sorry, I meant their primary focus. From the blurb given, "sales" is mentioned as a reasoning for making the book, to the exclusion of everything else. When I hear more information about the book, I may change my mind.

 

[ThirdWizard]

I think this will show WotC what they get for making jokes.

 

[Vocenoctum]

That's the impression I get from the information given, anyway. WotC had free time, and made a book with a title that would sell well. They didn't have decide to make a good book, they decided to have a book that sells. I'm sure the designers intend for the book to be good, as they intend for all of their books to be good, but the book was quickly developed, which sounds an awful like a "rush" to me.

They needed a book for a September release, as they had an opening there. Since their schedules are done at least 6 months ahead of time, they still had plenty time to develop the game. R&D may have not had it long before sending out to authors and artists to begin the work. That doesn't mean quality was affected at all, it's more a sign of how long it takes Wizards to normally develop a book.

There will probably still be more time put into a "rushed" WotC book than most 3rd party makers, and with greater resources, there's no reason to assume the book will be less of a book for it.

 

[Mercule]

But why do you wish it was wrong? How many people on this board own Complete Arcane? I'd venture the majority of them, and more than own any one of the others.

How many own the Draconomicon, especially as compared to the other monster series books?

That might also be because those two books seem to have had the best work done on them, compared with others in their respective series.

 

[Jdvn1]

They needed a book for a September release, as they had an opening there. Since their schedules are done at least 6 months ahead of time, they still had plenty time to develop the game. R&D may have not had it long before sending out to authors and artists to begin the work. That doesn't mean quality was affected at all, it's more a sign of how long it takes Wizards to normally develop a book.

How long does it take Wizards to normally develop a book? How long did it take for them to develop Dragon Magic? I figured they said "quickly developed" because they went through the process quickly (as opposed to not doing it quickly, but still in a shorter amount of time, though I suppose from the blurb it's a hard distinction to make). Or are you saying that Wizards normally drags their feet? I'm not sure I see how your point meshes with the information given.

There will probably still be more time put into a "rushed" WotC book than most 3rd party makers, and with greater resources, there's no reason to assume the book will be less of a book for it.

My impression is that third party makers tend to have fewer people working on each product, though I'm not sure why any mention of third party makers is significant. Different companies will take different amount of times doing their jobs. It doesn't detract from the point that Wizards made Dragon Magic quickly.

 

[Vocenoctum]

It doesn't detract from the point that Wizards made Dragon Magic quickly.

The point is, quicker than normal =/= worse than normal. It does not equal "rushed" either. It means that they had space to fit in another book and fit one in.

That's assuming it wasn't just a joke that is taken out of context. I don't think they even meant "quickly" in regards to the development cycle, but moreso "we saw a slot open and quickly decided on something to put in there", but who knows from the little blurb.

Either way, within the arena of "Dungeons and Dragons", WotC has been doing quite a few new and different products (Incarnum, ToM & ToB, and others). Sure they haven't done lots of stuff that break the mold of the D&D genre, but that's the setting they're working in.

The third party comment is simply that good books can and are made in significantly less time than WotC normally takes, and so Dragon Magic being done "quicker" is meaningless in regards to quality.

 

[BlueBlackRed]

Hey, they did enough research to discover a corellation between the words and sales. That's not as easy a task as you might imagine. They're paying attention to what sells - that's important.

That's not a sneaky backhanded slap aimed at the era of the fall of TSR is it?