Player's Handbook II (and other May releases)

[Altalazar]

Uh...this isn't negative how? Are you saying, yet again, that WotC will do anything to chase cash the game be damned? Or that this is destined to be bad for the game but good for cashflow? Again. You don't seem to have made the statement less negative.

I can see possible negative connotations as well, in that he's saying cash comes first, customers second. But this is leaving out the fundamental rule of the market - the BEST way to get a LOT of cash is to make a superior product. So really, cash and quality are not competing - they are linked. If you make a crappy product, not only will you not make as much money on that product, but it can potentially impact the sales of your other products as well as the "stain" of your poor quality affects them. In this internet age, with tons of information and reviews online, both here and on places like amazon.com where many (including me) often order the books, it is hard to hide information indicating a book is a stinker.

 

[Mercule]

Uh...this isn't negative how? Are you saying, yet again, that WotC will do anything to chase cash the game be damned? Or that this is destined to be bad for the game but good for cashflow? Again. You don't seem to have made the statement less negative.

It probably sounds different to someone who is at a high level in a business (eg. owner, executive, etc.) and sees the financials all the time.

Not that I'm in that role, but Phil's comments didn't sound at all negative to me.

 

[caudor]

I don't have DMG II yet, but I wondering what material might be in the Player's Handbook II? I do not think they will just reprint a bunch of stuff from the complete books. Stuff I figure we'll see are:

-Section on how to be a good players
-Details on preparing character backgrounds, motivations, etc.
-Maybe some new crunch..spells, equip., etc.
-Section on tactics for each class

Anyway, I'm thinking something along those lines.

 

[Mercule]

Yeah, my initial feeling for PHBII was "Wow, so they're going to gut the PrC's from the Complete series and slap that in a big book?"

That'd actually probably sell pretty well to my players. Complete Arcane is the only class-builder book that anyone besides me picked up, but they've all got interest in some of the bits from all of them.

Heck, I'd shell out $40 for a bunch of reprints if it was the better bits, just so I could carry one book, rather than four to the table.

 

[Aaron L]

Im looking forward to it. Even though circumstances have made me more of gaming spectator now, Id still have a nice new gaming book to read.

 

[philreed]

Uh...this isn't negative how? Are you saying, yet again, that WotC will do anything to chase cash the game be damned? Or that this is destined to be bad for the game but good for cashflow? Again. You don't seem to have made the statement less negative.

It's not (meant to be) negative for a number of reasons, the most important of which is:

A lot of players and DMs will want this book. Unlike something like Frostburn (which I like, I just picked it as an example), a massive number of players and DMs should be able to get a lot of use out of a PHB II. Basically "it's all about the cash" would be an inaccurate statement if lots of people didn't want a PHB II.

To be clear, I think this book is a great idea.

 

[MerricB]

If Wizards make a successful product, it means they made something people wanted. That seems a good business outcome to me.

Cheers!

 

[caudor]

If Wizards make a successful product, it means they made something people wanted. That seems a good business outcome to me.

Cheers!

I could not have said it better.

 

[I'm A Banana]

But...but....Wot©!? Aren't they THE MAN?! Shouldn't we be STICKING IT TO THEM because MONEY IS BAD and CORPORATIONS HATE BABY SEALS?!

 

[Tuzenbach]

We should have known.

I'll have you know, I first brought the subject up in February! Although not in the guise of "WotC will soon be releasing PHB II", but "WotC SHOULD release a PHB II".

I sincerely hope they *do* reprint all the core classes & races previously released in their Complete series books and others:


Warlock
Scout
Marshal
Healer
Noble
Soul Knife
Wu-Jen
etc.

Warforged, et. al.