Wizards in a rough patch?

[der_kluge]

I honestly can't remember the last time I bought a WoTC product. I just don't have any desire for any of their stuff anymore. A lot of the most broken, overpowered spells and rules out there are WoTC rules. Book of Exalted Deeds, anyone?

No thanks.

I find 3rd party stuff to be more interesting, and more in line with my tastes.

 

[Ranger REG]

I honestly don't know if WotC is in a rough patch. All I know is I am not impressed with some of the new products. Overall, I can't honestly say I like the Complete series. I still want my Ninja of the Crescent Moon, Red Fist Avenger, and Deepwood Sniper updated, and that CW samurai class still bug me to no end. Of the environment books, I only like Stormwrack. I'm planning on getting DMG2 but wary of PHB2. I only bought Races of the Wild and I'm not too wild about the purchase (I should've bought Races of Faerun; at least they have more details to offer for centaur PCs).

I guess my bliss with WotC 3e since 2000 is pretty much over.

 

[Greg K]

I would not call it a rough spot, because that would assume I view the majority of WOTC's past DND releases as being worth spending money upon. Since the release of 3.0, I have found only a handful of WOTC's DND products (excluding core books, modules and setting specific) worth a rating of 3 stars or better and, therefore, spending money upon- Unearthed Arcana, Dragonomicon, Lords of Madness, Stormwrack, the DMG2 ( a must for new DMs and even some experienced DMs may find it useful), and Complete Warrior (note: I am still unsure regarding Sandstorm).

Like der kluge, I find third party products to be more to my taste. Interestingly, I have found third party products by current and former WOTC employees/freelancers to often be better and more interesting than the stuff which they produce(d) for WOTC. I can only conclude it has something to do with the development or design process at WOTC.

 

[Hand of Evil]

I don't know; my local game store seems to sale WotC items before all other products and there are a number of people I know that only buy WotC and I could say even turn their noses up at non-WotC products. Personally I have found them to be hit and miss, some items are great, some not but it has been going on for years, the worst being the 2nd edition days!

 

[Jack of Shadows]

If I was sure, I wouldn't have solicited opinions.

That said, I am not the only person to complain about Weapons of Legacy.

Well Psion,

Usually you and I think a like. However, I actually liked WoL a lot. It did something for me that I fealt 3.X had been missing and that was that magic items didn't feel "special" anymore. All the items in Weapons of Legacy brought that back for me. Here I could have legendary items that my players went "Oohh!!!" at again. I'm not sold on ALL its contents but I am using the book and don't feel that it was money wasted.

Now, getting back to the core of the thread I do think that WotC has been making some very niche products this year. The environmentals (Frostburn, Sandstorm et al.) have been left on the shelves by me and a fair number of others. The setting how-to books (Heroes of Battle, Heroes of Horror) feel like WotC trying to support the people that like Dark Sun and Ravenloft without actually supporting those settings. I don't know if these have been profitable but from Mark One eyeball testing their seems to be a lot of copies still on the shelves.

Looking forward I don't see a lot of general products in the pipeline (I miss the way ENWorld used to show everything upcoming in the sidebars). Everything is either D&D Minis (I count the Fantastic Locations here), Eberron or Realms specific. I know PHB2 is on the horizin but bugger me if I can figure out what they'll put in it (the cynic in me says more Races, Classes PrC's and Feats).

Actually this leads me to a good question, what do you think WotC SHOULD be producing? I think I'll post a seperate thread for it though.

Jack

 

[TheGM]

yep, no interest at all in any new WotC products - but stuff for Midnight, Blackmoor, Wilderlands, and (though it's not really d20) C&C ist still on my "to buy" list

I haven't had experience with Midnight, but otherwise, your buy list is my buy list. Just got Castle Zagyg, Yggsburgh today. Some of the best stuff TL has put out yet. Still waiting on my copy of Wilderlands, my FLGS seems to be having distributor problems.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

It's funny how perceptions differ. I thought they were doing more innovation now than ever.

* Fantastic Locations - adventure + mini-scaled maps.
* Weapons of Legacy - advancing weapons.
* Heroes of Battle - new format of DM advice. The entire "battle as dungeon" idea and the structure to do so; completely different from the traditional method of "let's sell a wargame".
* Races of Eberron - mindset spells

Weapons of Legacy has been absurdly popular with my players. To their eyes and mine, the penalties are well worth the bonuses they get. OTOH, I find Lords of Madness to be profoundly uninteresting.

Cheers!

I'll concede that they've done some things that are new to D&D, but some of them aren't what I'd call exactly new in general.

Fantastic Locations seems pretty cool, but I'd swear I recall a minis company doing something similar to this concept many years ago. I could be mistaken.

Weapons of Legacy - Hey, like the concept, and plan on getting the book, but the concept isn't even new to WotC - the basic idea showed up in Unearthed Arcana.

Heroes of Battle - just got it. Haven't had a chance to read it yet. I do like all the statblocks and army/unit breakdowns.

Races of Eberron - I don't have it, and don't really have much interest in it (I love the Eberron setting, though). What are mindset spells?

Anyway, I guess I could see that some of what they've done is innovative - for D&D itself. Plus, don't get me wrong - I love a lot of what they've done. It's just that a lot of it doesn't seem new in the realm of RPGs in general.

 

[mhacdebhandia]

Mindset spells are spells which, when prepared, place the caster in a particular "mindset" and offer a minor benefit lasting until the time they are cast.

 

[derbacher]

Since it's all personal opinion, I'll add mine.

This is the first month that I can remember in the past year when I have not bought a book from WotC. DMGII in June, Five Nations in July, Explorer's Handbook in August to name the last three. The environment and races of series do nothing for me, however, and I don't need another magic system (i.e. Incarnum). I will get Magic of Eberron, just because it is my setting of choice at the moment. The spell compendium intrigues me, but I'll be looking for reviews and opinions before I pick it up. PHB II is a no-brainer if it is anywhere near as good as the DMG II.

We all buy what interests us. If WotC does it well we buy it. I also buy stuff from Green Ronin, FFG, Necromancer, and others. I buy PDFs by the score. It's just a matter of personal taste, and I don't think anyone is right or wrong in the choices they make.

 

[Greg K]

but it has been going on for years, the worst being the 2nd edition days!

For me its currently about the same as the 2e days, if not worst. The only difference is that the underlying core mechanics of 3.x are better. Given a choice, I'll take

1) The 2e "Complete Thieves Handbook" over either "Song and Silence" or "Complete Adventurer"

2) 2e "PO: Spells and Magic" and , perhaps, even 2e "Complete Wizard's Handbook" over both "Tome and Blood" and "Complete Arcane".

3) Both the "Complete Priest's Handbook" and the "Complete Druid's Handbook" over both "Defender's of the Faith" , "Masters of the Wild" and "Complete Divine"