Issues with news for today (Friday 21-Sep-2007)

[tomBitonti]

So, I was reading the news today:

A new playtest report by Dave Noonan ...

Bill Slavicsek's column, Ampersand, covers the subject of 4th Edition rumors and speculation. ...

And both of those are in tine D&D Insider portion of the website. Today that is free, but won't that eventually be in the subscriber area of the website? Or, will the website have "free" and "priced" areas? I'm finding it frustrating to have to log into access what is basically news and reviews, and am worried about being charged for it.

Also, this bit:

He also talks about conversion from 3rd Edition to 4th Edition, pointing out that straight character conversion will not be possible, and that you'll need to reinvent your character for 4th Edition - 3rd Edition has been around for eight years and has spawned a ton of books; not all of the options in those many, many books are going to fit in a 288-page Player's Handbook.

And I have to cry foul. How hard will it be to convert a character that uses just the three current core books?

 

[EricNoah]

Or, will the website have "free" and "priced" areas?

I believe this is the case.

 

[Morrus]

Eventually, yes, what you're talking about are issues of Dragon, Dungeon, etc., whch won't be free. For now the Insider area is free, although Dragon/Dungeon haven't launched yet.

 

[hexgrid]

And I have to cry foul. How hard will it be to convert a character that uses just the three current core books?

The article discusses this in bit more detail than the summary you've quoted.

 

[jolt]

The problem here is that when these WotC staffers give out information it's either incomplete, misleading, or ends up being contradicted later.

Supposedly, there will be no sorcerers, monks, bards and maybe not even druids. So if you play one of those classes you're kind of screwed. Maybe. Will I be able to make a nature orientated wizard? I don't know. All I know is that an 18th lvl wizard can cast all of his spells and still be at about 80% effectiveness. Or that's what they're saying now anyway. What does that actually mean? Not a clue.

Another problem is that for all their posting and blogging we're not really getting any concrete info, just vague half-snippets that may or may not change and that may or may not be completely misleading.

As a worldbuilder, it's extremely frustrating as I'd really like to start making changes to the world now so that it's ready to use when 4E comes out rather than having to scramble and do it all half-baked at the last minute. Now this assumes that I even like 4E to begin with. If I get the books and say, "This sucks like moose urine!" (which I hope isn't the case), I'm in even a worse position.

Unfortunately, it's my belief that frustration, misundersanding and vagueness are going to be the norm for the next eight months rather than the exception.

jolt

 

[Morrus]

As a worldbuilder, it's extremely frustrating as I'd really like to start making changes to the world now so that it's ready to use when 4E comes out rather than having to scramble and do it all half-baked at the last minute. Now this assumes that I even like 4E to begin with. If I get the books and say, "This sucks like moose urine!" (which I hope isn't the case), I'm in even a worse position.

Is it that important that you start playing 4E the very day it comes out?

Back before "teh intrawebs" were invented, you'd know pretty much nothing about it. You'd buy it when it came out (after maybe looking through it in the store), take it home, read it, and then start thinking about changes you want to make to your campaign. You might have seen some mention if it in Dragon magazine, or heard a friend talk about it, but that's about all you'd get.

While lots of info right now would be lovely, I don't think not having lots of info is something to complain about. Why not check out 4E when it's released with an eye to playing it a few months after that?

The truth is, we're spoilt. We have so much more information than we need at this stage, and a hundred times more than we'd had when, say, 2E was being developed.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Unfortunately, it's my belief that frustration, misundersanding and vagueness are going to be the norm for the next eight months rather than the exception.

Hang in there until January. They ship their preview books at that point. Those won't tell us every bit of fiddly rules, but it'll be a massive infodump at that point.

That's also theoretically when they'll be turning over the draft SRD to select 3rd party publishers, so I'd expect more hints to trickle out at that point, since the ruleset will be close to a final state.

Honestly, at this point of the game, we're doing a lot better than we were than when 3E was announced.

 

[Stone Dog]

I thought the preview books would be ready in mid December.

 

[Oldtimer]

The truth is, we're spoilt. We have so much more information than we need at this stage, and a hundred times more than we'd had when, say, 2E was being developed.

I personally would be the exception to that. At this point - a month after GenCon - during 2e development I was busy reading through the manuscripts I'd had from Jon Pickens at GenCon.

So I feel a little less spoilt this time, actually.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I thought the preview books would be ready in mid December.

Last I looked, it was one in December, one in January.