WotC Blogs II

[Glyfair]

Greg Bilsland most recent update covers errata (both 3.5 and 4E):

\’era-‘ta-‘twê n: a seasoned stew made of typos, mistakes, miscalculations, unforeseen problems, and incompatibility.

I met on Wednesday with Chris Tulach, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, and Sam Simpson, who works in customer service, to discuss my acquisition of the errata responsibilities over the next few weeks. Errata for supplements has admittedly been few and far between, but in our discussion of the upcoming months, we talked about what efforts we might take to be more consistent.

Mostly the discussion centered around my efforts to coordinate the different errata resources. The process goes something like this: each week, customer services and online services record all the mind-boggling questions and issues that people have. Then, depending on which supplement we’re focusing on, I go online and search the forums for material that constitutes errata. I bring all the suitable material from the three resources together and we discuss it, deciding what should become official errata and what shouldn’t.

The crew has already compiled the errata for Spell Compendium and Magic Item Compendium and that should be available soon—we’ll be ratifying it next week. The next target will be Player’s Handbook II. Now I don’t want an onslaught of messages saying, “You printed “teh” on page 42,” but I would extend an open invitation for lists of problems or major concerns. The more information I can gather, the more thorough the errata will be.

My personal reasoning for taking on the errata responsibilities are concerned with 4th Edition. Once 4th Edition is released, the 3rd Edition errata will stop and we will focus on concerns with the present edition (which hopefully—given the amount of development and playtesting going in–will be few). As an editor, knowing the errata and the changes to rules, monsters, classes, etc., puts me at great advantage in performing my job and keeping mistakes from being repeated in future supplements.

Another factor that will change the face of errata is the implementation of the database, which plays such a central role in our management of 4 Edition. With the institution of ebooks that accompany one’s physical copy, we have the option of keeping one’s ebook updated with the latest changes, from the very small (a “+2” instead of a “+3”) to the very big (changing the text of an ability or feat). That’s not to say there still won’t be a physical copy of the errata, but we might simply compile quarterly changes made in the database into a readable format, rather than the sporadic release that now exists.

I don’t have a specific date for the release of the Spell Compendium and Magic Item Compendium errata, but it should be sometime soon. I know that Stephen mentioned one of the topics being addressed was runestaffs. Look for that in the coming week or two.

 

[Glyfair]

I do hope they don't just update the electronic books without an announcement of some sort. The implication is that the e-books will be updated regularly, and the downloadable documents quarterly. That could lead to a lot of "wait, when did that change?" moments.

 

[Dire Bare]

I'm dead serious. I take it you aren't familiar with the Elements of Style? At 80 pages or so, it should be standard issue for anyone who has to write for a living. And doing a company blog certainly seems like it would qualify.

While it has been a while, I'm certainly familiar with Strunk and White. Which is why I'm so perplexed you feel it's a necessary resource for a blog entry.

Blogs are informal pieces of writing. Even employee blogs on company websites.

Now, I'm not saying that WotC employee bloggers should throw out all concerns regarding grammar, writing style and so on . . . . but to criticize an informal piece of writing for not being up to collegiate and professional writing standards is silly, IMO.

Are you an english teacher?

 

[Glyfair]

Now, I'm not saying that WotC employee bloggers should throw out all concerns regarding grammar, writing style and so on . . . .

Wait, I thought WotC was aiming at the young internet user. Shouldn't the blogs be in Leetspeak, with no capital letters, no paragraphs and no grammar?

 

[Snapdragyn]

Wait, I thought WotC was aiming at the young internet user. Shouldn't the blogs be in Leetspeak, with no capital letters, no paragraphs and no grammar?

u can't evn spell l33+sp34k, n00b!!!1! lolz

 

[Mercule]

I do hope they don't just update the electronic books without an announcement of some sort. The implication is that the e-books will be updated regularly, and the downloadable documents quarterly. That could lead to a lot of "wait, when did that change?" moments.

That was exactly my first thought. On the other hand, I don't want my ebooks (which I'm sure I'll be getting) to be constantly filled with highlighter marks to indicate the new changes.

My preferrence might be (but probably isn't) to have the errata briefs updated continuously and have the ebooks update once a quarter. As long as they have some high-visibility way of telling me "The rogue's sneak attack ability has been updated. See PHB p 38," I'll be happy.

 

[Glyfair]

That was exactly my first thought. On the other hand, I don't want my ebooks (which I'm sure I'll be getting) to be constantly filled with highlighter marks to indicate the new changes.

What might work is if they use that approach in a way where the book can be highlighted and the highlights can be hidden with a toggle. Don't know if Acrobat has that option (I've never seen it used), but then I don't know they'll be using Acrobat.

 

[Mercule]

What might work is if they use that approach in a way where the book can be highlighted and the highlights can be hidden with a toggle. Don't know if Acrobat has that option (I've never seen it used), but then I don't know they'll be using Acrobat.

That, sir, is one part of the ideal solution. I'd still like to know I should look at my books, though.

I would put a pretty good bet that it'll be PDF. That's what they've used for various book-like things for years and it's the industry standard for ebooks. The only thing I can see against PDF is the rumored ability to do a cross-book search.

 

[Glyfair]

David Noonan's latest blog covers his most recent playtest session.

Possible 4E info:

• Ritual magic is mentioned, but it might just be flavor.
• The Warlord/Wizard cast fireball (no big surprise, we knew it survived)
• The rogue evades the minotaurs attacks and counterattacks. Might be abilities, might be flavor.
• The Warlock/Warlord had "magically-aided battlefield mobility" that set up flanking/sneak attack opportunities (sneak attacks are still in)
• Cleric has a seal of righteousness with a rules loophole they will be addressing (see they do fix things in playtests)

 

[Yergi]

Rich Baker just made a blog detailing more about the Swordmage, here's some of the juicier bits:

* Swordmages aren't "gishes" or bladesingers. Someone over on EN World made an uncannily accurate prediction about the class, which I can confirm here: A swordmage is a warrior who uses magic to fight better.
* Swordmages use spells of armorning and protection instead of wearing heavy armor. At the most basic level, it's something along the lines of an always-on mage armor spell, renewed each morning. Since they're defenders, they need hit points and AC comparable to fighters, and swordmages get there by using persistent magic effects.I think there are other persistent wards in play too, spells that provide some energy resistance, mental defense, things of that sort.
* Swordmages have lots of room for fun, combat-focused "immediate" spells and "move" spells. For example, my character Geran makes use of a few short-range teleports and transpositions, as well as instant shield-like effects. The movement effects will work great for a defender--what better way to get the troll to stop beating on the wizard than to simply trade places with your unarmored friend?
* Swordmages have room for fun attack powers, too. For example, I have Geran make use of a short-duration, self-only strength spell, as well as another one that wreathes his sword in magical flames. There are a few others I touched on in my novel, but I don't want to give any more away 'cause I don't want to spoil things.