People who are close to the edge financially are going to be cutting back drastically on 'luxury' spending. If you've just lost your job and know it might be months or even years before you can get a new one, you're not going to be spending what little money you have on D&D books. The guys and girls running the show at WotC/Hasbro know this and are probably terrified.
It may or may not be the right solution (and abject fear tends to inspire really stupid decisions), but it's completely understandable that WotC are playing things very, very 'safe' right now. That means smaller print-runs, as well as concentrating more on the much larger (and therefore more dependable) US market, rather than the (relatively tiny) UK market. They're not going to want to risk shipping a lot of (heavy) books to a tiny little island in the Atlantic unless they're absolutely sure they are going to sell.
It's really annoying to us Brits, of course, and (IMO at least) it's exactly the wrong decision for the long term. WotC runs the risk of killing D&D in the UK altogether and essentially handing Games Workshop a monopoly on the UK tabletop gaming market. But big corporations tend to favour the short term over the long term, especially in times of economic trouble (when taking a hit in the short term might mean you aren't around to benefit in the long term).
So, is this annoying? Hell, yes! Is it going to come back to bite WotC in the rear? Probably. Is it insane or indefensible or even remotely unexpected? Not at all.
It does seem that the UK market is not important to WotC
DDi will tide me over, but having just received PHB2 last week (and what a pretty book it is!), I'm a little downbeat... It doesn't help that Amazon fabricate their estimated delivery times, mind.
mine been delayed to 6-12th of may, which is driving me mad having ordered the book three months ago, what i dont understand is how some people have had there copy for three weeks and we have to wait another three. My local gaming store are supposed to be getting it in today, so i will phone up a reserve a copy in twenty mins when the store is open, as i have to spend all day travelling by train and this was going to keep me sane. They have also not sent me E1 deaths reach on the same reasoning. Im furious and cant understand what they are playing at. I do not know why amazon dont feel it appropriate to let customers know in advance that they cannot meet there order expectations and only change it after the books should have been dispatched.
I'm in your same situation, with the difference that I cannot get a copy from any of my FLGSs (since I live in Italy, which is a stupid country in which noone understands English and therefore noone sells books in English). The funny thing is that, with the CB updating next week, I could easily avoid buying the book.
That's what I was wondering too. I pre-ordered Arcane Power over a month ago, and now Amazon.co.uk tells me it's been delayed. And this isn't the first time that's happed; the Draconomicon, Open Grave, and the Manual of the Planes, which I pre-ordered at Amazon, were all delayed by two or three weeks. With the PHBII arriving on time, I thought they'd fixed whatever it was that was delaying those orders, but apperently they haven't.
I'm still waiting for my PHB2 from Amazon. I suspect that this is Wizards policy to damage Amazon, possibly due to the agressive discounting. I'm also waiting for my AP which is currently delayed.
My FLGS is closing, otherwise they'd have had my business, like the've had for the past 15 years.
I'm still waiting for my PHB2 from Amazon. I suspect that this is Wizards policy to damage Amazon, possibly due to the agressive discounting. I'm also waiting for my AP which is currently delayed.
My FLGS is closing, otherwise they'd have had my business, like the've had for the past 15 years.
It's not just Wizards products they do this with, RPGs, computer games, etc. It seems if it's in high demand Amazon will delay a bucketload of Pre-oreders because they don't have enough in stock.
They simply don't take they number of Pre-orders into account when ordering in and don't bother to tell customers this until the last minute.
and will not buy another book until this arrives. I'm not sure if WOTC are being conservative with print runs, Amazon are poor at pre-orders, or (whisper it... the haters are listening) D&D4 is exceeding expectations.
I'd like to think it is the third, but have no evidence.
It says 28 April - 5 May.
Has said that since I placed the order.
I have had trouble with amazon before though.
"Stealing" (scare-quotes here, because the suggestion that it is such a thing is ludicrous) gave me a method of acquiring a book that I'd already paid for, ahead of time.
Before the .pdfs were revoked, I would have paid for most 4e books even though I could have downloaded them for free, to support Wizards and their creation of a game I get lots of enjoyment out of. The last thing I would like is for wizards to go broke.
After this.. well.. I guess I'll have to think about it. But it's really tempting to cancel my pre-order and wait for the inevitable scans to show up. It's just a crappy move by Wizards. Anyone familiar with prisoner's dilemma? Wizards and I are on the brink of going from cooperation to mutual disdain.
"Stealing" (scare-quotes here, because the suggestion that it is such a thing is ludicrous) gave me a method of acquiring a book that I'd already paid for, ahead of time.
Before the .pdfs were revoked, I would have paid for most 4e books even though I could have downloaded them for free, to support Wizards and their creation of a game I get lots of enjoyment out of. The last thing I would like is for wizards to go broke.
This. I bought every 4ed supplement (besides the adventures - and I wouldn't even bother to download pirated copies of those, since I'd just waste space on my hard disk) but I had to wait, sometimes wait a lot, to get my copy from Amazon. Today I learned that I'd probably receive my copy 2 weeks or so after the official release date, which means nearly a month after the Japanese got their own. WTF? When there were the PDFs, I could have had access to the handbooks while I was waiting for my copy; now I can just curse at random people who got their copies.
Where is the fun in all this? What does WotC earn? The Compendium and the CB will be updated well before I could have my copy of AP: being a subscriber - which I am - is also a way not to pay for a copy of the book, and it's perfectly legal.
Think about that, WotC. You're making me - and not only me - less and less willing to pay for your products.
Have had to tide myself over with the FRPG - mmm, spellscars...
http://orcsnest.com/blurber.asp?Title=Arcane%20Power%20Sourcebook
Came release day, walked in the FLGS, no copy. They said they still don't know when they'll get some in. I tried other stores and they didn't had any stock either.
So went back on Amazon US and made an order, it shipped the same day.
Next time, I'm just gonna preorder from Amazon Japan and get it sooner.
Orc's Nest also sell online, it may be worth asking them if they've still got stock. They charge more than Amazon, but at least I managed to get a copy!
http://orcsnest.com/blurber.asp?Title=Arcane%20Power%20Sourcebook
I say, all hail the FLGS. (Friendly "Leisure Games" Store)
I'm in your same situation, with the difference that I cannot get a copy from any of my FLGSs (since I live in Italy, which is a stupid country in which noone understands English and therefore noone sells books in English). The funny thing is that, with the CB updating next week, I could easily avoid buying the book.
This may not be relevant to you, but there is a nice little place in Rome, just around the corner from the Spanish steps and past the leather shop, that sells English books of all sorts. Though I very much doubt they have Arcane Power in stock, they can probably order it for you, but it may well cost you more than just getting it shipped from Amazon UK.
Especially if you don't live in Rome (sorry, you didn't specify... ;) ).
Anyway, Amazon claims to have shipped my AP, hopefully it will arrive Monday. Strangely though, I never experienced any of the problems that so many others had with the PHII...
I just wandered into my FLGS the day after release day (Released on Tuesday, I game there on Wednesdays) and picked a copy right off the shelf. Then two of my gaming buddies came in and picked up copies for themselves.
On Saturday, when I went in to play Legend of 5 Rings, they had another 3 in stock. I didn't hear about any problems at all...
That said, my friends who have been buying from amazon have had all kinda of problems for nearly all the 4th ed books - one was waiting for his Manual of the Planes for nearly 2 months before it arrived, even when he preordered it...
Oh and if anybody is wondering, I don't even live in a big city - a largish town, sure, but nowhere near the size of the cities like London, Leeds, Manchester or anything...
Has anyone in the UK got Arcane power?
Harry Potter is the first who comes to mind...
WotC's distribution channels seem to be run about as professionally as their marketing channels...as in NOT AT ALL