So after gushing about this book for several paragraphs, you gave it 3.75 because of the availability constraints? Really?
No not really. The availability constraints are just part of the reason that I gave them an AVERAGE score on the product. You'll also note that this is a $29.95 book and only 160-pages, which puts it as one of the worst content-to-price books WotC has given us under 4E. Sure AV2 was the same price, but it didn't have availability constraints, which made gamers like me spend 12 bucks in gas and pay full retail for a book I could have gotten at 20% off and free shipping from Amazon.
This is the sort of revisionism I've come to tire of when it comes to Enworld (postings and reviews). A new product will come up and be proclaimed a great departure from previous designs, and to finally cater to the type of designs fans have been clamouring for.
What bollocks. AV 2 was vastly different to AV 1 in exactly the quoted regard, and to lump them together to make MME stand out more smacks of bad advertising.
Whoa there, I think it is important to mention here that I don't ADVERTISE, I REVIEW.
And I never made any claim that D&D fans had been "clamouring" for a new design type. But I did note that MME had substantial origin "fluff" information regarding magic items, plus many entries containing 4E interpretations of "old school" magic items from previous editions, and new rules for armor, weapons, cursed items, etc.
Any "clamouring" mentioned in my review was with regards to experienced D&D gamers finally getting access to magic items they remember fondly from previous editions on their old characters. I've seen interest in "old school" magic items from players in my own games, heard it at gaming conventions, and read it in comments on various blogsites - I think adding so many of them back into 4E is a good thing, right?
And yes, MME has substantially more "fluff" text and sidebars regarding magic items than AV2 had. Pointing this out should not be interpreted as maligning AV2, but rather as encouraging WotC to continue their trend of presenting more background material and adventure hooks when they write their supplements, which offers more options for DMs to create unique adventures for their groups by expanding on the "fluff".
I can't be bothered to check them all, but some of these things I didn't have to "hold my breath for" because they were already in 4E. E.g. Ioun Stones in AV 2.
In fact, you completely fail to mention that a lot of material in MME is repeated from AV 1 and AV 2.
Yes, Ioun Stones were in AV2, but MME introduced 6 new ones. I think using words like "a lot" to discuss the amount of previously released magic items from AV1 and AV2 in MME is exaggeration, and can't be taken seriously.
For example:
Arm Slots - 11 new, no reprints
Feet Slots - 7 new, no reprints
Hand Slots - 5 new, 1 reprint
Head Slots - 14 new, 4 reprints
Neck Slots - 11 new, 5 reprints
I hardly think that 10 items out of nearly 60 named here counts as "a lot" - but then it's a subjective term, and open to interpretation. You're certainly entitled to your opinion and interpretation.
However I still stand by my review and the ratings I gave this supplement, and thank you for your feedback, which I hope offers other readers more insight into the review process.