Sage Advice - multiclassing

[rkanodia]

This may be heresy, but I sort of hope they drop multiclassing as the primary means of mixing classes. I much prefer the previously described class feat trees. Want to multiclass as a fighter/wizard, but not suck as a wizard? Grab a series of fighter feats that unlock progressively better fighter abilities.

In 3E, if you are a 14th level Fighter and you take a level of Wizard, you can now do everything a 1st-level Wizard can do: a whole lot of things which are all useless. I'd love to see Class Training feats that instead give you just one or two abilities, but have them be equal in power to something you'd see from a character of that class at your level.

 

[Zaruthustran]

Well here's an answer to the typesetting question:

What else is going on around here right now? The Player's Handbook is in Typesetting, and we're poring over the galleys to make every last improvement we can before it goes to print. The Monster Manual is in its last two weeks of Managing Editing, the stage right before it goes into Typesetting. And the Dungeon Master's Guide is about to leave Editing and enter its Managing Editing stage. So, from a certain point of view, the end of the process is in sight. At the same time, all kinds of other things are in process or just beginning.

From http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dramp/20080125&authentic=true

 

[Lizard]

Video content is harder to reproduce on external sites like ENworld. The point of the video posts is: "have something unique to Gleemax, so people have to come to Gleemax if they want to see it."

It's all about driving traffic. Secondary benefit is that the video ads put a human face to WotC, making the relationship between content producer and content consumer more intimate.

How about the part where I loathe video/podcasts (unless they deliver content which cannot be delivered as effectively through text), and studiously avoid sites which offer it? I've been reading the Onion a lot less since they moved to more video/audio, less articles.

They are driving me away from Gleemax with this gimmick.

 

[Zaruthustran]

I never said it was a good plan.

Well, actually I do like the cartoons they've been producing. Those are funny. But then again, that's a whole different strategy; the cartoons are directly released on YouTube and are designed for brand positioning and buzz.

 

[Lizard]

I never said it was a good plan.

Well, actually I do like the cartoons they've been producing. Those are funny. But then again, that's a whole different strategy; the cartoons are directly released on YouTube and are designed for brand positioning and buzz.

See, the little cartoons are things which (by definition) aren't doable by text. They work. A film of some WOTC guy talking about multiclassing for 30 seconds doesn't build brand loyalty -- it builds frustration and resentment.

Then again, pretty much all of 4e seems designed to personally alienate me. I can only assume I mortally offended Mike Mearls at some point in the past. Mike, man, whatever it was I did, I'm sorry!

 

[Roman]

How about the part where I loathe video/podcasts (unless they deliver content which cannot be delivered as effectively through text)

I agree - I prefer text for obtaining information.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

To be honest, I can't see the value of having whizzy video answers to questions which were recorded so long ago that they can't give current answers (or in some case any answers) to the questions.

There is a time and a place when video answers can be a nice idea - but this stage in the launch of a new edition isn't really it IMO.

Cheers

Yes, I agree. The videos are a very cool idea and I want them to continue doing that, but they should show up-to-date videos. Especially since the question always pops up again with these videos: "What, they're going to typesetting, and haven't cleared the details on X yet!". That's neither in WotC interest nor in that of the fans.

Well, considering the reactions of many critics of 4E, I thing they still need to improve their marketing efforts and strategy.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Video content is harder to reproduce on external sites like ENworld. The point of the video posts is: "have something unique to Gleemax, so people have to come to Gleemax if they want to see it."

It's all about driving traffic. Secondary benefit is that the video ads put a human face to WotC, making the relationship between content producer and content consumer more intimate.



Well typesetting takes a while, especially since typeset proofs have to be reviewed and corrected (some errors aren't apparent until you hold the object in your hands). And then there are those last-minute changes to the text, which require re-typesetting. But the big time delay is shipping:

Most non-time-sensitive printed material sold in the US is produced in China. If it's not a magazine or newspaper, it's likely printed and bound somewhere overseas and put on a slow boat to the US. Freighters are HUGE and they don't leave until they're full, so any shipment will be delayed until the freighter is filled. Once filled it has to physically travel across the Pacific,

Is this where people wanting to pirate D&D products enter the "game"?

 

[jeffh]

Video content is harder to reproduce on external sites like ENworld. The point of the video posts is: "have something unique to Gleemax, so people have to come to Gleemax if they want to see it."

It's all about driving traffic. Secondary benefit is that the video ads put a human face to WotC, making the relationship between content producer and content consumer more intimate.



Well typesetting takes a while, especially since typeset proofs have to be reviewed and corrected (some errors aren't apparent until you hold the object in your hands). And then there are those last-minute changes to the text, which require re-typesetting. But the big time delay is shipping:

Most non-time-sensitive printed material sold in the US is produced in China. If it's not a magazine or newspaper, it's likely printed and bound somewhere overseas and put on a slow boat to the US. Freighters are HUGE and they don't leave until they're full, so any shipment will be delayed until the freighter is filled. Once filled it has to physically travel across the Pacific, wait for a berth, be vetted by Customs, be unloaded, be found by the shipping company, be broken out and loaded onto trucks or trains, and then be sent to distribution. From distribution it has to be loaded and sent to retail.

That whole process, if well-managed, takes 2-3 months*.

Yeah, June is 6 months away. But remember that we've only heard a rumor that the PHB has been sent to typesetting. We haven't heard anything about the state of the DMG or MM. All three books are supposed to come out on the same day. It makes sense to send the one completed book, and have the printer work on that while the devs polish up the DMG and MM.

So that's why it'd make sense to send the PHB material to typesetting in January even though it's not due to come out until June.

-z

* You can rush the process (bump to priority placement on an almost-full freighter, go air freight, or even print in the US) but it's ridiculously expensive. The new PHB is not the new Harry Potter.

All the WotC books I have within easy reach clearly say they were printed in the US.

 

[The Ubbergeek]

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