My gripe about 3.5e

[Paragon]

I'm pro progress, I'm all for fixes, updates, new editions etc. my gripe is, why do I have to go and backward compatable books that came out long after they knew they were going to 3.5? like the fiend folio. didn't buy it, not going to. Why because I knew it wouldn't mesh with the new system seamlessly. I know they have said the changes would be minimal but you know what, imo, there shouldn't be any changes to work out if you know you are going to tinker with the system. I'm not anti-3.5 but I'm just having trouble figuring out why a company wouldn't make the transition as smooth as possible for it's customers to entice them into going that direction.
Any thoughts?

Paragon

 

[Tsyr]

If you refuse to let anything change, well... You refuse to let anything change

In other words, if they were trying to be too religious about backwards compatibility, they couldn't make some of the changes they want to make. I'm sure each one was weighed against the overall change to the system before it was included.

 

[WizarDru]

I'm pro progress, I'm all for fixes, updates, new editions etc. my gripe is, why do I have to go and backward compatable books that came out long after they knew they were going to 3.5? like the fiend folio.

Because sometimes the books are written over a year ahead of time, while 3.5e wasn't fully solidified until maybe a month ago, give or take? That's my assumption, anyhow. Ghostwalk, for example, was written over a year ago, at least.

They are releasing free web-enhancements with conversion information for several specific books, such as the Fiend Folio, as well as general translation instructions.

 

[EricNoah]

Re: Re: My gripe about 3.5e

Because sometimes the books are written over a year ahead of time, while 3.5e wasn't fully solidified until maybe a month ago, give or take? That's my assumption, anyhow.

Yeah that sounds about right.

Another alternative would be to not publish anything that has rules/stats in it while 3.5 was being developed. That doesn't sound like a viable strategy.

 

[TiQuinn]

It's tough for a company to say that they won't release any new products until the new edition comes out. That's basically saying "We're going to take a hit on sales this quarter because we want to keep everything in development until it's juuust right". Most of the time, that just doesn't fly. So you try to make sure that the new releases are in accordance with the new ruleset as much as possible. I don't know about Fiend Folio, but with Ghostwalk, it was written over a year ago and by folks who are no longer with WotC. That moves it a little bit further down the totem pole of priority, probably.

 

[Ron]

Paragon, perhaps you should wait till Wizards post its conversion document and them evaluate which of the 3.0 products are worthy of buying and upgrading yourself. Think of it as an errata.

 

[Liquid Snake]

Delaying Releases

Sword & Sorcery's "Creature Collection Revised" and all of its splat books were scheduled for early this year, then came the Revision announcement. S&S delayed all this products to make them 100% 3.5e compatible -now the CCR is truly going to be revised- and I really appreciate that they did it. They still have released Scarred Lands campaign setting elements like "Shelzar: City of Sins" and most recently "Blood Bayou", so it hasn't been that much of a dry period.

It was frustating when I realized the "Fiend Folio" is only partially compatible to 3.5e, the DRs are clearly still 3rd E., so we'll have to wait for a Web Enhancement or Errata article to be released. WotC should had delayed the "Fiend Folio" a few months to make ot more "customer-friendly".

 

[Goobermunch]

Perhaps WotC should have delayed. Perhaps not. In this sub-optimal economy (potentially offensive word removed for the sake of Eric's Grandmother), WotC may be having liquidity problems. Furthermore, it's probably not a great idea to hold up publication of several books for months and then to release Savage Species, the Fiend Folio, Races of Faerun, Unapproachable East, Ghostwalk, and the Revised books all at the same time. That just sets up those books to do poorly in sales.

This is because each of those books would be in competition with the others. Sales of SS, FF, RoF, UE, and GW would be poorer because most of their target audience would spend $90 on the revised Core books reducing their discretionary income by that factor.

By continuing the releases over the course of several months, each of those products was able to do well in the market. WotC plans its releases around your paychecks. It's funny, but true. They don't want to swamp the market because doing so will hurt their sales.

--G