Stephen Schubert's Latest Post-- anybody buy it?

[Fobok]

Most of the information that made it onto this site with 3rd edition came from Dragon magazine. Some didn't, but I'm pretty sure I remember the most of it being from Dragon. So, you were paying for it then too, or you were reading it here after the fact... which you'll probably be able to do this time too.

So.. what's the difference?

 

[Henry]

Yeah. Cuz we're getting nothing now, no information. No one is telling us a damn thing. [/sarcasm]

After 3e was announced, how much info was available a few weeks later? How clear was everything? Because that's where we are now. A few weeks.

This is a great point that everyone in the "INSTANT INTERNET AGE" sometimes forgets - it's been a month and a half since announcement, and there's still eight months until release. Further, those "black pages" people keep referencing contain a year's worth of hints - scarcely little by this time in 1999. I'd say we know MORE now at this time than we did back then. To wit:

• Star Wars Saga Edition and book of nine swords we know give us the general gist how some of the core mechanics (spell system, saves, etc.) will work. No exactly, but then, we didn't have exactly how the sorcerer or cleric turning undead worked at this time in 1999, either.
• We know the mechanic of having immediate actions happen when certain monsters reach half hit points, or three-quarters hit points, etc. At this time we had no idea how the skill system worked in 3E.
• The "10 ways you can play 3E" back then gave us the general gist of cleric spell swapping, of increasing AC, of any class/race combos, etc. The Saga system and Tome of Battle we already have available gives us tons of mechanics to speculate and try with.

As for previews being charged for, I'm on a "wait and see" attitude. The customer always has the option of not buying, and I guarantee NO ONE with an ENWorld, WotC forums, or RPG.net account will need to buy one to get the high points of what's in those previews.

 

[DaveMage]

I just read the post by Stephen Schubert on the news page here, and it made me want to laugh. "we're not showing details yet because their not ready and we may change things, blah , blah, excuse, justification, blah"

The truth of the matter is this. Back when 3e was coming, we had these great "black pages" of Eric Noahs, detailing classes, racial abilities, feats, skill lists, etc that was good. It was not the "final" version by any means. a lot of that stuff DID change in fact before the actual release. But at least it was information.

Now, the truth of what WotC is doing, is that NOW they want to CHARGE US money to get these neat little previews-- the Wizards Presents products coming in time for Christmas. Previews, that no doubt, will themselves be changed & different from the real release of 4E.

So they are not trying to protect you the consumer, they are trying to create a profit margin on information that had previously been free, and much more in the spirit of Open Source than I think 4e will be-- despite Wizards claims otherwise.

Yeah, real info has been pretty scarce - it's mostly been hype. But, the best thing you can do is vote with your wallet and don't buy the preview books. I'm sure all the good info will be posted here as soon as the books are out anyway.

 

[Rechan]

I'll second that. Although i'm waiting eagerly for may to come, i wont buy the preview books in december (mainly because i dont know what kind of content they wil hold and how usefull it will be for actual play). The previews we get now are great and i hope they keep that pace till may.

From the looks of what descriptions I've seen, I suspect it will be design notes. Philosophy, examples of stuff they tossed out, concept sketches, etc.

Although it will also probably give us a full list of what's in the PHB Race/class wise and what's in the MM, and give concrete examples of class, race or monster abilities.

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

I'd also like to add that, on a scale of 1-5, 5 being best, I score the rate and quantity of 4E preview info as a 4.

I like the designer's blogs.
I like new stuff on the website 2-3 times a week.
And while 'paying for a preview' is a little bit of a bitter pill to swallow, at the same time I'm looking forward to buying the preview books.

It's not like everyone isn't going to know what's in them within five minutes of publication. I'm pretty damn well familiar with DMG II, thanks almost entirely to discussion here.

 

[Vysirez]

While I'm fairly happy with the info released so far about 4e, I have to say that my first response to Stephen's post was to disagree with him.

Yes, it's true that a lot of things are in flux and they don't want to release info because of that. But it's also true that they are specifically holding back some information for marketing and hype reasons.

The main example that came to mind as I read Stephens post was classes in PHB. They know what classes are going to be in the PHB for release. But they are not telling us. It's not because they haven't decided for sure, and might change which classes make it into the PHB. It's for hype and marketing. I don't really have a problem with that. I understand they want to build expectations. But when you are doing that, it's kinda annoying to pretend that you aren't.

Edit: Fixed typo.

 

[hong]

Actually, if you want the counterexample, you just have to look at the recent example of Black Industry publishing and the 4th edition of Talisman.

Before it was released, they were telling everyone about the "fixes" they'd made to Talisman, and how things were changing.

I picked up my copy last weekend, and I was astonished to find that half of what they'd previewed wasn't actually in the set. I've been exchanging posts with one of the guys who was demoing the game, playing it as if the changes were going to be made, and he's astounded that they're not there.

There are a few people who have decided not to get the new set because of that.

It is really, really hard previewing something that is still in a state of flux.

Cheers!

Wait, what? There's a new version of Talisman? As in, the board game?

 

[Simia Saturnalia]

Things remain in flux. It's barely two months since the information first hit our fragile little ears, and the release is months away.

I'm not only buying it, you do your professional self a grave disservice by this constant belittling of Wizards and their employees.

 

[FadedC]

Wait, what? There's a new version of Talisman? As in, the board game?

There is original Talisman and then there is the 2nd edition, both of which came out a very long time ago. I'm not aware of a 3rd edition, but if you never played the 2nd edition then there is a new to you version.

 

[RPG_Tweaker]

Wait, what? There's a new version of Talisman? As in, the board game?

Yup.

Talisman 4th Edition