What's With Paying for Previews???

[Imaro]

Um, few if none?

Video games give screen shots and a blurb, and maybe a demo. Movies just provide a trailer which is 30 seconds (or a minute if it's at the movies) and a blurb about the plot.

What companies do provide a lot of information?

Usually it's just hype.

Car companies
Videogames
Movies
Comic books
Music

Of course you'll pull the...but I said alot of info...Which in and of itself is subjective to the individual. Personally, I think a better question is how many of these make you pay for it?

Not extensive = mechanics.

Huh? Not extensive = no mechanics + things which may or may not be in the book

 

[Hussar]

To be fair, I agree with Imaro on this one. Most companies do do extensive previews. Particularly video games. Looking at the ginormous downloads for previews of most games, you get pretty much the entire game, but shortened down. Certainly enough to play the game for a couple of hours and decide whether or not you want to buy.

However, in the past, we bought Dragon for the articles and got articles for the previous edition plus previews of the next. In other words, we got less content for what we were playing at the time to make space for advertising for a game we hadn't tried yet.

Still no free previews.

But, I'm thinking that if you're a member of En World, these books are not aimed at you. Move along, nothing to see here.

 

[Spinachcat]

1) It's $13 on Amazon. That's the same I spend on a movie with parking. That's less than I spend on a graphic novel. That's lunch with a tip. AKA, no real expense.

2) It's going to be great toilet bowl reading since we don't have any in-print gaming magazines anymore. Plus it's weird to lug the laptop into the bathroom and then post from the potty.

3) It will probably have great fluff. Fluff that can be used to spice up any edition of D&D which means as a big fan of OD&D and C&C, these "previews" may prove more useful than the actual 4e books.

4) It has thoughts from the designers. I love reading about why decisions were made and what inspired the choices.

 

[Vigilance]

Of course you'll pull the...but I said alot of info...Which in and of itself is subjective to the individual. Personally, I think a better question is how many of these make you pay for it?

I'm fairly certain none of them MAKE you pay for it.

Again, there was the pay per view Madden special, but to my knowledge no one was FORCED at gunpoint to pay 20 bucks to watch it.

Same here.

If you don't want it, don't buy it.

 

[catsclaw227]

If you don't want it, don't buy it.

QFT.

 

[Umbran]

Movies just provide a trailer which is 30 seconds (or a minute if it's at the movies) and a blurb about the plot.

Funny. The copy of the Gotham Times newspaper I came across today seemed to contain quite a bit of new setting information for the next Batman movie, detailing some of the ways the situation in Gotham had changed since the last movie. Nothing you'd absolutely need to understand the movie, or that they wouldn't also cover int eh movie, but good stuff nontheless.

Certainly, it is more than a 30 second trailer and a blurb.

 

[Rechan]

Funny. The copy of the Gotham Times newspaper I came across today seemed to contain quite a bit of new setting information for the next Batman movie, detailing some of the ways the situation in Gotham had changed since the last movie. Nothing you'd absolutely need to understand the movie, or that they wouldn't also cover int eh movie, but good stuff nontheless.

And how common is that?

That sounds like an exception rather than the norm.

 

[Dire Bare]

What's with the sudden shift by WotC to paying for previews? What's up with that?

First it was the Dungeon Survival Guide (which is anything but) and now the two new preview books for 4E.

Let me get this straight, you want us to pay to preview 4E??? How about WotC showcases 4E to win over its fanbase.

Every comment I've heard about the Dungeon Survival Guide was that it's a ripoff. So with that in mind, am I going to spend money on preview products? I don't think so!

This is the type of "marketing" behaviour that ends up encouraging people to rip off your product on the internet.

Bizarre strategy, IMO.

Sorry, but the "Dungeon Survival Guide" is not in anyway or shape a preview book, nor could someone who actually read the product catalog blurb (or backcover blurb) or the product itself honestly mistake it for so. And while many cranky gamers (who just couldn't understand the concept of a D&D product that was not aimed or marketing at them) bitched and moaned about the "fluff" only "Dungeon Survival Guide", many other people bought and enjoyed the book, as well as its cousins "The Practical Guide to Dragons" and "The Practical Guide to Monsters" for themselves or their children.

And the "Wizards Presents" preview books have been quite clearly described as what they are, fluffy previews with full-color art and no stats for quite some time (from the start, actually). Most certainly a dead horse you're beating there. While you may not care for the format yourself, why act so victimized when it's so clear that others are excited for these preview books? Again, why do some gamers get so uptight about a D&D product that isn't targeting directly at them, but at a slightly different audience?

Well, eventually Amazon will ship me my copy of "Races & Classes" and I will eagerly devour it and be happy while the crankfest on the intertubes continues unabated . . .

 

[Ogrork the Mighty]

Sorry, but the "Dungeon Survival Guide" is not in anyway or shape a preview book...

No, it was a review book marketed in a way that confused a lot of buyers into thinking it was something it wasn't. You can deny that all you want, but take one look at the reviews on Amazon and you'll see what I'm talking about.

As for the victimized part, I'm not the one being victimized. I'm the one who sees the "scam" for what it is.

 

[Dire Bare]

No, it was a review book marketed in a way that confused a lot of buyers into thinking it was something it wasn't. You can deny that all you want, but take one look at the reviews on Amazon and you'll see what I'm talking about.

As for the victimized part, I'm not the one being victimized. I'm the one who sees the "scam" for what it is.

Hmmm, I never got confused about what the "Dungeon" book and its siblings were all about, but then that's anecdotal evidence about my own experience . . .

Guess I'll be getting scammed, in a week or so, then again in January for "Worlds & Monsters". I'm just such a sucker . . .