NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Tav_Behemoth" data-source="post: 4990269" data-attributes="member: 18017">Having co-written the Warden Essentials article, I'm interested in how the series is perceived. Here are some things I can say:1) The comparison with video game guides is inappropriate because a guide doesn't alter the way the video game functions. As others have pointed out, the Essentials add new options for each class, so it's as if the video game guide came with a bunch of downloadable add-ons. Also, the Essentials can clarify aspects of the rules, so it's like a guide + a patch or revision. I know that reading the CharOps guides, one often gets bogged down in differing interpretations of the rules. Having the Essentials article support one interpretation helps clarify the situation because DDI is official content and goes through review by the developers for accuracy. I know that I found it useful to see which things I said in my original manuscript that did or didn't pass official review.2) Of the six Essentials that have been published, only one of them has been by someone who is part of the Wizards staff (Logan Bonner); the others are the work of freelancers. WotC's internal play culture seems unlikely to be a global influence; certainly I didn't see any edits to my piece that I felt was related to this.3) Dunno about the other authors, but I know that I used the CharOps board & guides as part of my research in writing the Warden Essentials. It served as a great resource for ideas and things to think about, but I spent plenty of time decoding the jargon, considering the assumptions, resolving contradictions between the viewpoints of different posters, and considering how the issues raised there would drive the design of the new powers, feats, and paragon path for the class. As a result, I don't think it's an either-or situation. The CharOps guides are more in-depth, both in that they assume a higher level of user savvy and in that they comprehensively evaluate specific options at each level. The Essentials are more new-reader-friendly, offer new content, and can provide an official perspective on rules interpretations.</blockquote>

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