John Cooper's Revenge - MM3 errata

[MerricB]

Once upon a time, John Cooper wrote a review of Monster Manual III, where he pointed out every error he could find in the book.

I think I'll email a link to this review to the folks at WotC - if it doesn't give them a wake-up call, at least I can start them well on the way toward their Monster Manual III errata list.

Well, the errata to MM3 is now out:
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/er/20050128b

It basically is everything that John pointed out - I think there might be one or two extra things (and it also includes some changes that I don't think are necessary - see Powerful Charge), but it runs to 3 and a bit pages...

Congratulations, John. Keep on sending in errata notices to Wizards, so they're aware of the problems they have!

(And the rest of us will benefit thereby).

One thing that I really like about Wizards - they publish errata.

Cheers!

 

[Eremite]

(snip) One thing that I really like about Wizards - they publish errata. (snip)

Um, yes, but that's because they need to publish errata. :\

I don't mean that sarcastically: the reality is that the development process at WotC leaves too much to be desired but that's been covered in a plethora of other threads.

 

[johnsemlak]

Um, yes, but that's because they need to publish errata. :\

I don't mean that sarcastically: the reality is that the development process at WotC leaves too much to be desired but that's been covered in a plethora of other threads.

Unlike those RPG publishers that perfectly edit their works, like, well, um, ... just a moment, it'll come to me...

 

[Testament]

Unlike those RPG publishers that perfectly edit their works, like, well, um, ... just a moment, it'll come to me...

Like Mongoose? Or Fast Forward?

 

[Darrin Drader]

Amazing! It finally becomes apparent that the game designers and developers at WotC are... *gasp!* Human!

Of course if you would prefer that robots write your books, I'm sure that can be arranged. Just don't get too mad if they improve 4th edition by releasing it in hexadecimal.

 

[pogre]

Amazing! It finally becomes apparent that the game designers and developers at WotC are... *gasp!* Human!

I think we are all willing to cut them some slack, but next time they could add one small step to the editing process - Run the stat blocks past John Cooper

 

[Treebore]

I have been recently converting some old 1E modules to 3E. All I can say is I have a new respect for doing those #%&!$% stat blocks! They are not easy to get straight.

 

[Eremite]

Amazing! It finally becomes apparent that the game designers and developers at WotC are... *gasp!* Human! Of course if you would prefer that robots write your books, I'm sure that can be arranged. Just don't get too mad if they improve 4th edition by releasing it in hexadecimal.

No, I'd like robots to edit the books that WotC publishes. Designers and developers should remain human (although some half-robots might be appropriate as developers to hopefully stop some of the more egregious errors from slipping through).

This has nothing to do with being human; it's about, you know, quality control. Industry leader, pride in your work and all that. After all, if the non-professionals can pick these errors up so quickly it raises questions about what the professionals are doing, yes?

Oh, and a hexadecimal version of 4E wouldn't sell. :\

 

[Tarril Wolfeye]

Oh, and a hexadecimal version of 4E wouldn't sell. :\

That's because it's 78

 

[Sammael]

Amazing! It finally becomes apparent that the game designers and developers at WotC are... *gasp!* Human!

No, it becomes apparent that WotC, the industry leader, is too cheap to hire editors.

Nobody expects designers to turn in perfect stat blocks. But I damn well expect the editors to at least look at the material before it goes to print, which was clearly not the case with MM3.