Rant on Errata and what Wizards need to do to move forward.

[Mr. Patient]

As others have said upthread, much of the errata is minor stuff, but the bits that are major are MAJOR. Without having my DMG handy, I am struggling to recall any part of that book that hasn't been errata'ed and/or supplanted by the RC: skill DCs, skill challenges, monster creation/modification, encounter design, disease, and trap DCs, treasure allocation, etc. It seems like all that's left is DMing advice, Fallcrest, and Kobold Hall. None of which I have the slightest need for.

The PH errata consists mostly of a lot of power changes that are no big deal in and of themselves, but the design philosophy underpinning large sections of the book has been tossed by the wayside as well (e.g., the V-shaped classes and their associated powers, magic item design, etc.).

The MM1 errata similarly appears minor, but again, the design principles underlying the monsters have long since been abandoned. To challenge my PCs at all, I have to make on-the-fly changes to most of the monsters, and some, like the purple worm, are completely unusable. Having to invest additionally in DDI or MV or MM3 to get monsters that actually work properly without effort on my part is quite irritating.

3.0/3.5 had a megaton of errata as well, but I never felt like the core books were simply invalidated like we have with 4e. And I say this as a fan of 4e who played a great session the other night.

 

[Incenjucar]

The DMG1 was always a pretty replaceable book. While it's an extremely valuable guide for new DMs, and remains so, for those of us with experience it wasn't that big a deal aside from a few numbers. I doubt that the DM Kit compares to it, but I can't say from experience.

 

[Dannager]

The MM1 errata similarly appears minor, but again, the design principles underlying the monsters have long since been abandoned. To challenge my PCs at all, I have to make on-the-fly changes to most of the monsters, and some, like the purple worm, are completely unusable. Having to invest additionally in DDI or MV or MM3 to get monsters that actually work properly without effort on my part is quite irritating.

Just DDI, really.

 

[Badwe]

So... to summarize the original post: Assign more man hours to develop each product, assign man hours to developing new ways to consume the product based only on the original purchase, and branch out into several highly risky, tangential markets with already niche IP to sell new kinds of products... except board games and children's novels don't count because those don't specifically interest me.

WotC has made plenty of business mistakes, more glaringly in the last 6 months. None of what was suggested in the first post are good business decisions. No amount of good will generated for fans will turn pursuits like that into profit, and profit is necessary to keep a franchise afloat.

Comparisons to marvel are naive. Marvel has spent twice the number of decades developing their IP as has every company or person who has owned D&D combined. The fact that they have made a shift from comics to movies is also misleading: the medium of comic is more prolific than pen and paper RPGs, and the first major breakout movie was the original spiderman in 1999. They have been at this for over a DECADE! Even then, this emergent business model they are pursuing ( valuing the properties over the medium) represents not even a quarter of the time they have been working up these beloved characters.

 

[Ninja-to]

So... to summarize the original post: Assign more man hours to develop each product, assign man hours to developing new ways to consume the product based only on the original purchase, and branch out into several highly risky, tangential markets with already niche IP to sell new kinds of products... except board games and children's novels don't count because those don't specifically interest me.

WotC has made plenty of business mistakes, more glaringly in the last 6 months. None of what was suggested in the first post are good business decisions. No amount of good will generated for fans will turn pursuits like that into profit, and profit is necessary to keep a franchise afloat.

Comparisons to marvel are naive. Marvel has spent twice the number of decades developing their IP as has every company or person who has owned D&D combined. The fact that they have made a shift from comics to movies is also misleading: the medium of comic is more prolific than pen and paper RPGs, and the first major breakout movie was the original spiderman in 1999. They have been at this for over a DECADE! Even then, this emergent business model they are pursuing ( valuing the properties over the medium) represents not even a quarter of the time they have been working up these beloved characters.

Here's my own version of a summary, minus the sarcasm.

Develop products and release them when they've been properly playtested and are READY for release. Not before. Create a solid, well developed base of products that work when bought off the shelf, and branch out from there.

Give customers the choice of being able to run and play D&D using a single app, not 3 or 4 buggy, very underdeveloped and unreliable programmes. It seems nobody is reading half of the NEW threads on how horrible the new CB is.

If the board games and children's novels are working, then good. I don't believe they are. I have no access to the sales figures and I believe neither does anyone here on these boards. Simply speculating is a waste of time. I have no children's books on my shelves and as a fan of D&D for 20+ years I don't see myself buying the children's books or the board games. I do see myself buying DVD's of D&D movies, TV shows, music, and other merchandise but sadly it does not exist. The movies, yes. Don't get me started on those.

Comparisons to Marvel are anything but naive. You do not need a 'prolific' medium to create quality film. Since when did we need to read comics before a movie was released? Your comment makes absolutely no sense. Calling me naive is also a weak attempt at sounding mature and all-knowing which doesn't do much in helping make your point of view seem more valid.

What I find interesting is the number of posts that claim to know figures and numbers and man hours involved in all of the development processes at work at WotC. Who here is really privy to the budgets, man hours, business models and risks to markets and all the rest of the jargon thrown about here as if you're all having lunch with the Wizards bosses and asking them as you type? If even a single person that has made such comments can post exact numbers and back them up, then please stop pulling such information out your ass. It's not impressing anyone.

Aside from that, I still believe in my idea. We need to go all digital AND have the choice of still using the books. How we do that is up to Hasbro.

 

[Dannager]

Give customers the choice of being able to run and play D&D using a single app, not 3 or 4 buggy, very underdeveloped and unreliable programmes. It seems nobody is reading half of the NEW threads on how horrible the new CB is.

You're right. We're too busy playing with the new CB to read threads on how awful it was months ago.

 

[Nullzone]

Ninja-to, if you want to be upset, that's your perogative, but can you at least stop belittling an entire demographic by calling the comic books childrens books? There's a pretty big difference between the two.

 

[Charwoman Gene]

Develop products and release them when they've been properly playtested and are READY for release. Not before.

I guess you aren't reading the scores of new threads whining about Wizards slowing down the release schedule due to implementing EXACTLY this.

 

[Obryn]

You're right. We're too busy playing with the new CB to read threads on how awful it was months ago.

I was, without a doubt, one of the more critical fans when the new Character Builder came out. Seriously, if you can search, look it up.

Don't base your opinions off of whining, especially in the WotC forums. While I'm glad I can get there from work these days (bizarrely), they are about the whiniest forums I have visited.

Right now, I'll go so far as to say the online version is just fine. It could be better in a few areas, but I don't want to tear my face off ten seconds after booting it, and it's no wackier in rules than the offline version.

-O

 

[MrBeens]

Here's my own version of a summary, minus the sarcasm.

Develop products and release them when they've been properly playtested and are READY for release. Not before. Create a solid, well developed base of products that work when bought off the shelf, and branch out from there.

Give customers the choice of being able to run and play D&D using a single app, not 3 or 4 buggy, very underdeveloped and unreliable programmes. It seems nobody is reading half of the NEW threads on how horrible the new CB is.

If the board games and children's novels are working, then good. I don't believe they are. I have no access to the sales figures and I believe neither does anyone here on these boards. Simply speculating is a waste of time. I have no children's books on my shelves and as a fan of D&D for 20+ years I don't see myself buying the children's books or the board games. I do see myself buying DVD's of D&D movies, TV shows, music, and other merchandise but sadly it does not exist. The movies, yes. Don't get me started on those.

Comparisons to Marvel are anything but naive. You do not need a 'prolific' medium to create quality film. Since when did we need to read comics before a movie was released? Your comment makes absolutely no sense. Calling me naive is also a weak attempt at sounding mature and all-knowing which doesn't do much in helping make your point of view seem more valid.

What I find interesting is the number of posts that claim to know figures and numbers and man hours involved in all of the development processes at work at WotC. Who here is really privy to the budgets, man hours, business models and risks to markets and all the rest of the jargon thrown about here as if you're all having lunch with the Wizards bosses and asking them as you type? If even a single person that has made such comments can post exact numbers and back them up, then please stop pulling such information out your ass. It's not impressing anyone.

Aside from that, I still believe in my idea. We need to go all digital AND have the choice of still using the books. How we do that is up to Hasbro.

Whilst you have some fair arguments you cannot on one had say "If the board games and children's novels are working, then good. I don't believe they are." and then on the other hand call people out for "pulling information out of their ass". In stating that you don't believe a product is selling well, you are pulling that information out of your ass just as much as people who are saying they are doing well.

Also you seem to be part of the problem you are actually painting.
In an earlier post you stated that you thought the mini line was a good idea and that WoTC were making a profit on it, but you don't buy them.
They were not making a profit and they have been cancelled. Partly because not enough people were buying them