Why no love for WotC? (and why now?)

[TheAuldGrump]

I like what WotC's doing. Keep it coming, please (including updates to the SRDs).



I hope WotC doesn't listen to the constant complaints like this. Merric's point about miniatures is an important lesson. If WotC made non-random miniatures we'd have about four figures to choose from; an Ogre, an Orc, a Goblin, and a Human.

Instead, because D&D miniatures are random we get ~10 different Kobolds which is exciting to some people (people that aren't me but that's ok ). But I at least appreciate the variety of things that I like that others don't and the variety of beasties that others like that I don't. Everyone wins with randomness and everyone loses otherwise. Ebay solves the problem for anyone who only wants Orcs while WotC makes choice available to the rest of us, and you can even get variety in your Orc hordes due to D&D miniature randomness.

I really, really hope that WotC does listen to posts like this, and does what they originally intended, releasing some of the commons and uncommons as 'sets' like orcs and adventurers.

I have not purchased any, and will not purchase any for as long as the random assortmentis the only way to buy them.

The Auld Grump

 

[jokamachi]

For me, the books have been hit and miss... but hit more often than not, I guess: the revision was pricy, but necessary overall; I liked the monster series (monster manuals, libris mortis, etc.); haven't liked the environment series at all; enjoyed the complete series; and have had mixed feelings on the race series (I only bought Races of Stone). Overall, I'd give Wizards a B- on their books to date, but the upcoming year will see me buy zero from them.

The miniatures, however, have done a lot to keep me interested. They're vibrant, innovative, and make the battlemat aspect of 3.5 a reality to contend with. I have collected these things like they're going out of style and my collection rivals what I had envisioned as a ten year-old player all those years ago.

I'm not at all excited to see 4e, and by what I'm seeing down the road, it won't appear for some time, which is good, but it makes me wonder if Wizards can really keep people's interest with releases such as Magic Incarnum, DMGII, and Heroes of Battle. This will sound critical, but I get the feeling Wotc is running out of ideas and they're grabbing at whatever ideas float across the desk these days.

Another bone of contention deals with the lack of playtesting and typographical errors that seem to plague every book they have released since the core revision. This displays an ambivalent, if not contempuous attitude towards the people who buy these books. They can put something together with intricate rules, provide artwork and a decent binding, but they can't think beyond their spellchecker, which is really pathetic when you consider how much these bonehead errors take away from the overall product. This game has a lot of devoted fans, though, so perhaps that's why Wizards is still around, and will continue to be for some time, errors notwithstanding.

 

[Dalprin]

I, too, do not hate WotC. I enjoyed Magic the Gathering before I got burned out on the arms race of having to buy new expansions in order to compete. They also became an amazing source of fantasy art as artists flocked to provide artwork for the cards, and later, the games.

WotC basically saved my favorite form of fantasy roleplaying when TSR crashed and burned. (TSR side rant// How could you have the hottest game I have ever seen, Dragon Dice, and still not make money? The store I worked for at the time literally could not keep enough boxes on the shelves and we ordered ALOT. Over one hundred dice sets sold per day for months.) :\

3.0 was a welcome breath of fresh air after the Player's Options books had destroyed any hope of game balance in a 2nd edition game.

However, I was angered when 3.5 came out. It seemed like I was being forced to buy three new core books for information that could have been released as errata. Since I dislike feeling like I was being told I have to buy something, I didn't. So, my group and I continue to play 3.0 and will continue to do so until a new edition comes along and makes the purchase of a new set of the three core books worthwhile.

 

[Breakdaddy]

I dont have any personal issues with WOTC, I simply haven't been keen on most of their newest releases. Eberron is not my cup o' tea, and these seem to be the higher quality books that WOTC is releasing lately. I will buy if something comes out that grabs me, but will probably be concentrating on my modern military game since the gaming goodness of Spycraft 2.0 hit my shelf.

 

[caudor]

I'm very pleased with Wotc right now. Overall, I think D&D 3.0 revived the game and 3.5 improved the game even further. Just think back to the 2e days and compare.

I enjoy the current products as well; so much so, that I'm way behind on books/accessories/miniatures that I want to purchase. Jeez, I haven't even budgeted in my first Eberron product yet. Still, I feel like a kid in a candy store.

Future products? I really like what's in the pipeline too...Magic of Incarnum, more adventures, the horror-based book (forget the title).

Maybe I'm just easy to please, but pleased I am.

 

[shadow]

If WotC made non-random miniatures we'd have about four figures to choose from; an Ogre, an Orc, a Goblin, and a Human.

Instead, because D&D miniatures are random we get ~10 different Kobolds which is exciting to some people (people that aren't me but that's ok ). But I at least appreciate the variety of things that I like that others don't and the variety of beasties that others like that I don't. Everyone wins with randomness and everyone loses otherwise. Ebay solves the problem for anyone who only wants Orcs while WotC makes choice available to the rest of us, and you can even get variety in your Orc hordes due to D&D miniature randomness.

The problem with randomn miniatures is...well they're random. It really sucks getting another Tordek the Dwarf mini when you're really needing an ogre mini. I've heard people talking about the "secondary market", but has anyone actually looked into it!? I have no desire to spend a huge amount of money outbiding someone on Ebay, then have to spend several more dollars for shipping. Even at my FLGS, which sells individual minis, some "rare" D&D miniatures routinely run up to $15. Granted that I might pay $15 for a nice, large pewter miniature (such as a dragon), but $15 for a cheap plastic, pre-painted mini is absurd.

As far as variety, Wizards could have solved the problem by doing boxed sets of minis. For example..."set of fighters", containing several fighter minis, "set of wizards", "set of orcs", "set of aberrations", etc.

 

[Hussar]

I have no beefs with WOTC. I buy what looks like it will see airplay in my game. When running a Scarred Lands Campaign set around the Ukrudan desert, I picked up Sandstorm and it saw heavy use immedietely. If I ever run a cold area campaign, I'll probably pick up frostburn. Since I almost exclusivly DM, the Complete series hasn't interested me since I would use so little of it. Then again, I treat other gaming companies in exactly the same way.

The only way I personally rank a book is by how much time it spends on my shelf. If I buy a book, use it twice and then let it gather dust, well, that was a total waste of money. If a book get's used all the time, then it was money well spent.

On a side thought. People like to compare gaming to computer gaming. Computer gamers spend hundreds of dollars a year buying computer games. That's true. But, most of those gamers then spend dozens, if not hundreds, of hours using that product. RPG gaming is different in that you might buy a book and never use it or only use it once or twice. Not because the book is bad, but because the book just doesn't relate to what's going on in your game.

To me, WOTC gets treated the same in my mind as every other publisher. If I see a need for something, I hit up the reviews find what people think is one of the better books covering the topic, and buy it. If it's WOTC, great, if it's someone else, so be it. I feel no particular loyalty or dislike of any company. If the product gets the job done, then that's all that matters to me. Not who published it. The name on the cover doesn't mean a whole lot to me.

 

[Glyfair]

I'm not sure that what you seem to be implying is actually what happened. It could just be that the licence expired, and both parties chose not to renew. We just don't have enough information to be certain, and I doubt we ever will. Regardless, WotC is a business first and foremost.

Indeed, my impression of the press release is that Arthaus chose to give the licenses back. It may not be explicit, but that's what my impression was from reading it.

 

[JoeGKushner]

I really, really hope that WotC does listen to posts like this, and does what they originally intended, releasing some of the commons and uncommons as 'sets' like orcs and adventurers.

I have not purchased any, and will not purchase any for as long as the random assortmentis the only way to buy them.

The Auld Grump

One way to 'test' the waters so to speak, would be to release a set of figures that aren't found in the random sets but are filling the void in standard play and see how well it sells. If it sold poorly, would people still feel that WoTC owed it to them to continue making products that didn't sell and were non-random?

 

[diaglo]

I think it's more because the game is to me most interesting in its core, and everything added later, whether still interesting, is less important.

quoted for truth.

OD&D(1974) is the only true game. All the other editions are just poor imitations of the real thing.