D&D 4E Rant on the 4E "Presentation"

[Nifft]

and the curmudgeon grognards.

don't forget us.

Didn't he already address whiners?

Or does the hat make you different?

Cheers, -- N

 

[ColonelHardisson]

It wasn't, it was really quite good. Proximity doesn't necessarily indicate cause.

That's a relief. It can be hard to gauge what is or isn't acceptable at EN World after spending time at CM. One gets used to the more...freewheeling...climate over there...

 

[Scholar & Brutalman]

The squeaky wheel gets the grease.

It's my experience that some wheels just keep on squeaking. The grease may even act as positive reinforcement.

 

[Vigilance]

I think WotC would be well served by doing a "Q-and-A" type column where (like pre-3E Dragon used the letters column) they get to select what "letters" see "print", and then answer the most common concerns as far as they are able.

You mean like the multiple Q&A's that Wizards have done in their podcast since the announcement?

Sorry RC, they have provided a fair number of specific answers to specific questions.

They just haven't answered everything.

At the 3e launch, it was easy to make it appear that they were answering everything, because they could pick certain letters to Dragon and then answer them.

Something tells me the questions they answered were far, far less than the volume of questions received.

 

[Azgulor]

It kills me that we are bending over backwards to give out as much information as we feel is in the best interest of keeping people engaged and excited 8 months before the launch when we are still playtestsing and we get crapped on for doing what we do.

Never in my years working in marketing have I seen a company be this interactive and responsive to a community and we still get blamed for being "corporate" and "faceless". I bet if we gave these same people a one hundred dollar bill they would complain because it wasn't two. :\

Scott, I recognize that there is a fine line WotC has to walk between too much and too little info. I don't condone personal attacks directed at WotC employees. As a big fan of capitalism, I don't begrudge WotC for wanting to make a profit. With all due respect however, WotC is not setting the high-water mark as the industry leader for "interactivity" or "responsiveness".

I'll tell you what I (and I think a lot of other people) want:
The respect and commitment to customers exhibited by companies like Paizo, Green Ronin, and others of what I would call the "premier" 3rd party publishers.

Using Paizo as an example, the loss of Dragon and Dungeon could have been a critical blow. WotC didn't do themselves any favors with how it was handled. I'm sure WotC had valid business reasons behind the move. Paizo went out of their way to portray WotC in the best possible light given the situation (and continues to do so to this day) while WotC was largely silent. Rather than suffer the loss and lick their wounds, they redirected their energies into new products, producing Pathfinder and Gamemastery modules. In my opinion, in doing so, they have become the high-water mark by which I compare other RPG companies, both from a product and customer focus perspective.

Paizo, Green Ronin, and these other "Premier Players" don't tell their customers that they're doing things wrong, that their prior products are broken, or preach the inevitability of change and how customers need to get on board the train or be left behind. They inform their customers why they make changes in their products and business plans, and provide tangible examples of what they're doing to stay interactive and responsive.

When Green Ronin began development on True20, they told their customers the business reasons behind the move. When they took Freeport in a setting-only direction, they highlighted how companion books would supplement the setting with different rules sets.

The reality is, these companies have to be responsive to their customers. They aren't the 800 lb. gorilla of the RPG industry. I think everyone acknowledges that WotC is, but you aren't doing yourselves any favors by rubbing your customers noses in it. And whether you believe you are doing so or not, many of your customers are feeling that way.

Sorry to take things off topic a bit, but I don't think WotC is being interactive or responsive enough. I recognize I'm just one customer among many. Quality and customer focus speak for themselves. Just because a company says they're for those things doesn't make it true even when the employees believe it to be the case. You can't tell you're customers "trust us, we love D&D and know what we're doing", you have to show your customers why they should trust you. For this gamer of 20+ years, that is where WotC is falling far, far behind companies like Paizo, Green Ronin, and others.

 

[Piratecat]

Didn't he already address whiners?

I don't remember reading anything that said that insults were suddenly okay. Tone back the snark, please.

 

[Nifft]

I don't remember reading anything that said that insults were suddenly okay. Tone back the snark, please.

Sorry. I thought we had shifted into "humor thread" mode.

Edit required?

Thanks, -- N

 

[Pale]

Seriously. Haven't they said layout on the PHB was almost ready? You don't do layout without a finalized text, to my understanding. Because you can't change it so much once layout has begun, god forbid finished.

Someone please correct if I'm mistaken.

You are mistaken.

I layout newspapers for a living and have layed out a few products for Necromancer Games (some of the free PDFs and Lost City of Barakus).

Now, with the Necro work, yes, the text I got was fully edited (but not completely formated). However, when doing layout in-house you begin layout before the copy is completely ready for print. You know, roughly, the length of the copy, boxes and tables that will go with it, the art should be finalized at this point and you know how many pages it's going to take up.

The whole layout process is (or ideally should) be a give and take between the editors and layout designers. Making minor changes to copy once it's in layout is not a problem at all with at least a semi-decent publishing program (QuarkExpress and/or InDesign are the best).

I can't believe that as of 5 years ago White Wolf was putting together entire hardcover books with Pagemaker. *shudder*

 

[Henry]

However, when doing layout in-house you begin layout before the copy is completely ready for print.

In fact, that's where the best-publicized mistakes in print come from, bored layout designers who get a little too inventive with their filler copy and don't find it in the final check.

 

[Holy Bovine]

Sorry to take things off topic a bit, but I don't think WotC is being interactive or responsive enough. I recognize I'm just one customer among many. Quality and customer focus speak for themselves. Just because a company says they're for those things doesn't make it true even when the employees believe it to be the case. You can't tell you're customers "trust us, we love D&D and know what we're doing", you have to show your customers why they should trust you. For this gamer of 20+ years, that is where WotC is falling far, far behind companies like Paizo, Green Ronin, and others.

Wow. As far as I can remember this is just about the most interactive a company has been in developing an entire new game system. Blog posts of playtest sessions, posts of the developers thoughts on new rules (positive and negative) and so much more I can't begin to list it all.

Did you want that $200 instead?