EmbraCraig
Explorer
Delighted to hear that the play test is coming soon - assuming this'll be them putting the starter rules on the website to use at home, I'll give myself a couple of weeks to digest whatever they put up then look at running a game for one of my regular groups... one has a mix of people who really like 4E, and some who really can't get on with it, so it should be an interesting test.
As to the timing of the announcement - maybe Monte made his intention to leave known at WotC a while back, but decided to wait until this first phase of development was done before he actually went? I know if I was working on a big project that I actually cared about (as Monte Cook genuinely seems to do), then I'd try give plenty of notice and leave at a sensible point in the project cycle, rather than on short notice, right in the middle of whatever was going on.
As to the timing of the announcement - maybe Monte made his intention to leave known at WotC a while back, but decided to wait until this first phase of development was done before he actually went? I know if I was working on a big project that I actually cared about (as Monte Cook genuinely seems to do), then I'd try give plenty of notice and leave at a sensible point in the project cycle, rather than on short notice, right in the middle of whatever was going on.