D&D 5E Signs & Portents (that we can read into) about the ETA of 5E

[jeffh]

doesn't wotc publish in the US? does that change the speculation? without the slow boat from china don't they have a faster turn around?

Well, of course they publish in the US, for certain senses of "publish". I assume you mean "print". And I'm pretty sure they do that in China, or some products in the US (or Canada) and some in China.

But I can only assume the estimates for printing time I've seen in this thread ARE for printing in the US. Two months, from China, is laughable - five or six is more realistic for a project of this scale.

 

[Mistwell]

Well, of course they publish in the US, for certain senses of "publish". I assume you mean "print". And I'm pretty sure they do that in China, or some products in the US (or Canada) and some in China.

But I can only assume the estimates for printing time I've seen in this thread ARE for printing in the US. Two months, from China, is laughable - five or six is more realistic for a project of this scale.

I disagree. Shipping is three weeks from a Chinese port to the Seattle port. Turn-around time depends entirely on the size of the factory. I'd say 3 months is probably a fair estimate, if you have an existing relationship with the factory and can reasonably rely on their proofs and quality control.

 

[Mistwell]

Double post

 

[jeffh]

I disagree. Shipping is three weeks from a Chinese port to the Seattle port. Turn-around time depends entirely on the size of the factory. I'd say 3 months is probably a fair estimate, if you have an existing relationship with the factory and can reasonably rely on their proofs and quality control.

I'm not guessing here. My previous post is based on actual quotes from Chinese printers, and for much smaller volumes than WotC would be getting.

 

[Mistwell]

I'm not guessing here. My previous post is based on actual quotes from Chinese printers, and for much smaller volumes than WotC would be getting.

I'm not guessing either. Much of my job is importing from China, Viet Nam, and Pakistan. I am juggling six imports at work this week.

It goes much better when you're bigger and have longer term established relations with a broker. You use the bigger factories, they have much bigger capacity, and you rank much higher in their priority list. The small jobs from newer clients usually get put-off for a while, and shifted to the newer factories. In fact, unless you actually visit (which we do, most years), you don't even know what factory is actually doing your job, as they themselves outsource to other factories as part of a group.

Three months is a decent estimate for a company like Hasbro working with a larger print job, established broker, and known factory.

 

[jodyjohnson]

What is "Battle of Emridy Meadows"? I'm familiar with the TOEE reference, but I don't read Dragon anymore so I missed mention of it until now. Could someone provide some details?

November Dungeon 220 has a preview blurb:

"THE BATTLE OF EMRIDY MEADOWS
By Jon Leitheusser & Christopher Perkins
The forces of good are marching against the hordes
of Elemental Evil, and battle lines have been
drawn across the fields of Emridy Meadows. Relive
the greatest conflict never told in this D&D Next
adventure for characters of levels 5–7."

The Dungeon 221 ToC has the levels as 6-8th.

 

[Mark CMG]

Someone on FB shared this quote from somewhere -

"We want to let you know that December 15th, 2013 is the last day to access the playtest materials online. After that date, they’ll no longer be available, so we encourage you to download the latest packet if you haven’t done so already."

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/DnDNext.aspx

 

[jodyjohnson]

It matches the post on the DND Main page.
http://www.wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4news/playtest

 

[Scorpio616]

The small jobs from newer clients usually get put-off for a while, and shifted to the newer factories. In fact, unless you actually visit (which we do, most years), you don't even know what factory is actually doing your job, as they themselves outsource to other factories as part of a group.

Uhm, that sounds like a recipe for a shell game, with the ball being slave labor or toxic materials. "Look inside! This factory is clean and the workers are well paid and the ink is not toxic, see! And once the nosey business parter is back on the plane, they pass the work off to a labor camp.

It isn't just china, it can happen anywhere, maybe right beneath one's feet.

 

[Jester David]

Well, of course they publish in the US, for certain senses of "publish". I assume you mean "print". And I'm pretty sure they do that in China, or some products in the US (or Canada) and some in China.

But I can only assume the estimates for printing time I've seen in this thread ARE for printing in the US. Two months, from China, is laughable - five or six is more realistic for a project of this scale.

In an interview with the Tome Show, Mike Mearls says that it's four to six months printing in the US and twelve for a boxed product from China.

I imagine they can hammer out a small product release in four months, but for the numbers require from a new edition launch it'll be the longer six month mark.

They're not going to get much work done over Christmas. So end of January would be the earliest for a July release. At that point they might as well give it an extra 30 days of polish and editing and release at GenCon.