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<blockquote data-quote="resistor" data-source="post: 4434504" data-attributes="member: 9142">I don't think anyone is claiming it's deceptive marketing (or at least I'm not), but it's a terrible way to generate good PR.It's funny that you chose Windows Vista, actually, because in my industry it is regarded as one of the largest PR disasters in recent memory, largely because of those early feature announcements and release timeframes that were then not followed through on.&nbsp; (If you're seen my employer's ads, they like to make fun of it sometimes.)I don't claim that the &quot;taking everything as a promise&quot; attitude is justified or correct.&nbsp; But it happens.&nbsp; It's a fact of business, just as changing plans are.&nbsp; That is why it is very important to have a good marketing/PR department to make the call of when it is time to announce something.Too early and you risk incurring &quot;broken promise&quot; syndrome when something changes, too late and you risk not generating any hype.I think you're taking his claim more literally than it was intended.&nbsp; Let me propose an analogy:Suppose I own a PlayStation 2.&nbsp; I have LOTS of games, many of which I still haven't played.&nbsp; When the PlayStation 3 comes out, I'm somewhat indifferent, because I still have tons of games left to play on my existing system.Then I hear that Sony is making SuperAwesomeAdventure XIV for the PlayStation 3.&nbsp; SuperAwesomeAdventure XIII was my favorite game ever, so I'm incredibly excited for SAAXIV, so I go out and buy a PS3.And then SAAXIV is cancelled.&nbsp; Is my PS3 now worthless?&nbsp; Well, no, but I wouldn't have bought it if it weren't for SAAXIV.&nbsp; So, in some sense, I've been mislead into buying it.----------D&amp;DI is a companion product.&nbsp; It's meant to encourage people to buy the 4e books.&nbsp; And it appears to have had that effect in at least a few cases:&nbsp; people have bought the books because they want to be able to use the D&amp;DI.&nbsp; And then when it's not available (or massively delayed), they feel misled because they wouldn't have bought them otherwise.-----------My meta-point in all of this is that it doesn't really matter if the people who feel that promises were broken or who feel misled are right or not.&nbsp; They still feel that way, whether or not it's justified.&nbsp; A wise PR strategy accounts for an tries to minimize the opportunity for those kinds of perceptions to occur.This is the root of the &quot;The customer is always right&quot; mantra.&nbsp; It doesn't matter if they're objectively wrong, making them happy (and thus more likely to continue buying) is more important in the end.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="resistor, post: 4434504, member: 9142"] I don't think anyone is claiming it's deceptive marketing (or at least I'm not), but it's a [I]terrible[/I] way to generate good PR. It's funny that you chose Windows Vista, actually, because in my industry it is regarded as one of the largest PR disasters in recent memory, largely because of those early feature announcements and release timeframes that were then not followed through on. (If you're seen my employer's ads, they like to make fun of it sometimes.) I don't claim that the "taking everything as a promise" attitude is justified or correct. But it happens. It's a fact of business, just as changing plans are. That is why it is very important to have a good marketing/PR department to make the call of when it is time to announce something. Too early and you risk incurring "broken promise" syndrome when something changes, too late and you risk not generating any hype. I think you're taking his claim more literally than it was intended. Let me propose an analogy: Suppose I own a PlayStation 2. I have LOTS of games, many of which I still haven't played. When the PlayStation 3 comes out, I'm somewhat indifferent, because I still have tons of games left to play on my existing system. Then I hear that Sony is making SuperAwesomeAdventure XIV for the PlayStation 3. SuperAwesomeAdventure XIII was my favorite game ever, so I'm incredibly excited for SAAXIV, so I go out and buy a PS3. And then SAAXIV is cancelled. Is my PS3 now worthless? Well, no, but I wouldn't have bought it if it weren't for SAAXIV. So, in some sense, I've been mislead into buying it. ---------- D&DI is a companion product. It's meant to encourage people to buy the 4e books. And it appears to have had that effect in at least a few cases: people have bought the books because they want to be able to use the D&DI. And then when it's not available (or massively delayed), they feel misled because they wouldn't have bought them otherwise. ----------- My meta-point in all of this is that it doesn't really matter if the people who feel that promises were broken or who feel misled are right or not. They still feel that way, whether or not it's justified. A wise PR strategy accounts for an tries to minimize the opportunity for those kinds of perceptions to occur. This is the root of the "The customer is always right" mantra. It doesn't matter if they're objectively wrong, making them happy (and thus more likely to continue buying) is more important in the end. [/QUOTE]

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