Setting this feedback thread in advance for Randy's Digital Insider #17, due to go live tomorrow.
Could be interesting, or, maybe WotC won't say much at this point.
Could be interesting, or, maybe WotC won't say much at this point.
trust wotc to not tell anything. - but most likely, the personell will be around for one more month or so, to give over their reigns. maybe some things will spill.
this is a list confirmed by lisa from paizo:
Randy Buehler (VP of digital gaming)
Andrew Finch (director of digital games)
Stacy Longstreet (senior art director)
Julia Martin (editor)
William Meyers (creative manager, digital design)
Dave Noonan (game designer)
Jennifer Paige (online community manager)
Jennifer Powers (marketing)
Jonathan Tweet (game designer)
my conclusion: wotc has not learned a single bit from its past. it's one of those hire and fire companies you should avoid. still, it's a big player in the RP business, you can't deny that
I thought all of Martial power was going to be in the update, not just parts of it.
"Those of you who are already enjoying the Closed Beta will probably want to download the new version as well because it includes some UI improvements, bug fixes, and some new data (including October magazine content and large parts of Martial Power)."
I thought all of Martial power was going to be in the update, not just parts of it.
Could he be referring to the plan to only be the first 3 levels? I'm hoping that's what he means. Sorry to see him get the pink slip, I was beginning to enjoy hearing from him every week *via these updates*.
Ug. I dont like the sound of this one bit.
1 playtest is fine. I could care less about a preview. The druid one was neat but lets be real. The book comes out in 3 months. It is only useable by someone playing a 1st level druid and not planning to level often. Its not that useable really.
If playtests and preivews start getting out of hand I'll stop my subscription.
The Open Beta would be available next week.
CLosed Beta testers will want to grab the new software too.
It seems logical, then, to assume the new version will be out sometime next week.
You'll know the same way the rest of us do - when it's posted someplace and MB, or one of us NGs pick up on it and make a post about it in the announcements forum.
Weird, I can't get to any part of the D&D website at all this morning.
What's the error(s) you're getting?
Tried the cache/cookie flush yet?
Every article should be useful a year from now or longer, not become redundant or outdated after the book is published. I'm not paying for the same material twice. The number of actual articles for December seems to be less, but I'll wait until I can count the pages at the end of the month and compare them to the last few months issues (which were excellent).
I'm fine with one playtest article once in a while, as part of the DDI subscription, but do they really belong in Dragon or Dungeon magazines? I don't think so.
Also, things like the Druid preview are interesting, and don't eat up many pages, but they are kind of useless for actual play since they are limited to so few levels. Since they are a) dirt easy cut-and-paste articles and take next to no time to prepare and b) useless to players in actual play and c) going to become redundant in a few months, I don't see much value here compared to a regular Dragon feature article.
Please don't dilute the amount of quality new material you include in Dragon by adding a bunch of these cheap 'articles'.
On a different note, I'm sorry to hear about the job losses in the DDI department, and I wish all those who found themselves holding a pink slip all the best. I've enjoyed the DDI news from Randy, and I hope his successor can keep it up.
Verys
(PS the only way I could find this weeks DDI news was from the link in the OP...it doesn't seem to show up on the main site anywhere?)
More original content, and Playtest articles only every three months please.
I don't want to see new material in Dragon being replaced by cut-and-paste 'preview' (aka Excerpt) articles. If they want to add them as bonus material, fine, but that is NOT what I subscribed for.
Fortunately, that seems to be what they are doing. One playtest article every other month, plus a variety of preview material included as bonus content.
I really don't get this outrage about getting this extra content. It isn't subtracting from the normal number of articles and columns, it seems to be entirely an extra benefit given to subscribers. Sure, I get not wanting them to replace all the normal features with it - but since they aren't doing that, complaining about free stuff just seems silly.
I can now get to the site, but DDI17 is nowhere to be found on the site.
I can get to the site through Firefox, but not through IE. Weird. I do see DDI17, though, in the news box on the main dnd page.
I thought all of Martial power was going to be in the update, not just parts of it.
The Open beta will have all the powers from Martial Powers. The powers linked to animal companions will not be fully calculated ont he power cards though (for example, the 1[b] damage will not be replaced by the appropriate damage die based on your companion's choice). Naturally, the companions will be supported for the full release. We just couldn't implement it in time for getting our open Beta build.
I just re-downloaded the CB, but it doesn't look like it's a different version yet. Any info on when they'll release the new build?
We are working on getting the open beta out. For now, the download is still featuring the closed Beta version indeed, and we plan to get the open Beta out sometime next week, as mentionned in Randy's post.
We are working on getting the open beta out. For now, the download is still featuring the closed Beta version indeed, and we plan to get the open Beta out sometime next week, as mentionned in Randy's post.
Has a successor for Randy's VP of digital gaming post been named? I'm sorry to hear about the layoffs, but I'm hopeful that one of good folks can get the jobs and push the digitial products, and that this was the reason for some of the layoffs.
I mean, Randy admitted in his insider news that the delays were unacceptable:
I’ll be honest, it feels good to deliver a product that’s so well received after a year in which we failed to accomplish all the goals we set for ourselves in the digital space. Between this product and the new Magic game for XBox Live Arcade, I think Wizards of the Coast is well on its way to reversing that trend and growing up to be a for-real digital gaming company. I don’t actually expect you to believe me until you see the quality for yourselves, but that’s why I’m so excited to get the Character Builder into everyone’s hands.
Fortunately, that seems to be what they are doing. One playtest article every other month, plus a variety of preview material included as bonus content.
I really don't get this outrage about getting this extra content. It isn't subtracting from the normal number of articles and columns, it seems to be entirely an extra benefit given to subscribers. Sure, I get not wanting them to replace all the normal features with it - but since they aren't doing that, complaining about free stuff just seems silly.
This December issue 370 will have the lowest number of features - 5 - to date. (compared to 6 in # 367, 369, 7 in 364, 365, 368, and 9 in 366, though Role-Vs-Roll has been a feature previous to this issue).
Now if the page count is high, then I will be convinced that this 'extra content' is really extra, and not replacements. Though since the pay version the page number has dropped significantly in 369.
364 85 pages
365 80
366 87
367 75
368 100 (coincidently, the first pay issue was the largest)
369 71
370 ?
Also, the editorial calendar is listing the Druid preview as part of Dragon, but the table of contents does not. If the Druid preview is not part of Dragon, which seems to be the case, then the only Dragon update we got Monday was a very short editorial/advertisement.
The past 2-3 issues of Dragon have been great. I just hope that the quality and quantity of content doesn't slide now that they have subscribers. I'll be watching this issue carefully to see how it goes - it is early yet.
For the next month or so, subscribers and the general public will both have access to the same level 1-3 Open Beta, but at some point shortly after the holidays being a subscriber goes back to being special again as we start rolling out more levels for Insiders only
That worries me, sounds like the plan is to release the CB vary slowly. mind you happy to get some more usability out of my subscription.
As for Randy Buehler & Jennifer Paige thats a big lose for the on-line community.Dave Noonan, Jonathan Tweet will be missed for there Impact on the game we love. Andrew Finch, William Meyers I'm shocked that with on-line push your department was hit so hard.Stacy Longstreet, as a Art Dept rat I feel for you, Your work was stellar( I'll let Loudwater slip:D ).Jennifer Powers,Julia Martin and any others that I don't know of my, sympathies. As for WotC/Hasbro bean counters shame on you!!!!
That worries me, sounds like the plan is to release the CB vary slowly. mind you happy to get some more usability out of my subscription.
I don't read it that way.
I read it as, between Januaryish and when the CB is complete, DDI subscribers will slowly have the number of levels available in their closed beta version of the software increase.
As part of the Adventurer's Vault II development, may we have some guidelines for incorporating items from the 3.5 edition "Magic Items Compendium" into D&D 4.0? I am thinking of items like the Everlasting Rations Bag found page 160 of that book, as well as the Everlasting Feedbag and the Everfull Mug found on the same page. These are relatively low-level items that go a long way towards easing the logistics of a long trek through the wilderness. I think that at least one of the items from this book, the Healing Belt found on page 110, has made its way into the Adventuer's Vault as the Healer's Sash. Though I would have implemented the Healer's Sash as an item that gives a +2 competence bonus to one's Heal skill and 3 healing surges per day (renewable each day at dawn) that can be used either on one's self or on whomever you touch as a standard action.
A 4e version of the everfull mug has already been out, I think in the Dragon article Bizarre of the Bazaar. Dragon # 369 page 17 to be precise. Flagon of Ale Procurement
I would also like to echo the views of others that don't consider the previews content. They are not and they are not what we are paying money for. We expect original content and that is what we should get. Take a close look at the page count on the past 5-6 Dungeon and Dragon magazines and count up the "original content" pages and try to keep that number in a fairly constant range in the future and all should be well. Then if you throw in extra editorials or previews they will be just that "extra" and there will be no reason for complaints. You'll get them anyway ofcourse ;) but at least you will have a solid defense of the magazine's value.
Good to hear a January date for the rest of the levels of the character builder. I think it is probably time to start giving out some previews of the next DDI feature on the list: the Character Visualizer. This isn't actually a huge deal for me - just a cool extra, but what is important is the feeeling that this product line continues to come together. The visualizer was the next stated priority (by Randy) after the character generator, so that's what we should hear about next. To build confidence (which seemed to be important in Randy's last post) in the DDI product line, what we need is regular updates. The past 5-6 DDI News posts have been very good in this respect and I expect that to continue.
I would also like to echo the views of others that don't consider the previews content. They are not and they are not what we are paying money for. We expect original content and that is what we should get. Take a close look at the page count on the past 5-6 Dungeon and Dragon magazines and count up the "original content" pages and try to keep that number in a fairly constant range in the future and all should be well. Then if you throw in extra editorials or previews they will be just that "extra" and there will be no reason for complaints. You'll get them anyway ofcourse ;) but at least you will have a solid defense of the magazine's value.
As far as this month’s playtest goes, we’ll be showing a batch of magic items from next year’s Adventurer’s Vault 2 to Insiders this coming Monday. That book is being actively designed and developed by our R&D group right now so they are very interested in hearing your experiences with these items. The idea behind these playtests is to give Insiders a chance to take a personal hand in improving the game we all love so much.
I really hope there is more to this "playtest" than just a batch of magic items. We get new magic items in normal Dragon and Dungeon articles. I was hoping for something that was new and special about AV2, the way alchemy or vehicles were for AV1, maybe something like 4e rules for legacy items or anything other than a boring list of new items. Hopefully these new items will at least have some level of new mechanics being introduced in AV2 or at least push at the edges of the currant magic item power curve, anything to justify the need to categorize them as being a playtest rather than just Bazaar of the Bizarre under a different name.
As to preview content becoming a regular feature Dragon and Dungeon, no thank you. I was psyched by the prospect of two playtests class in one month but now that they've been recast as previews, featuring only level 1-3, I feel let down. WotC should save the previews for the free excerpts leading up to the book's release. If there are going to be preview articles I'd like something more along the lines of what one might see in a movie trailer, where we get to see small pieces of multiple parts of the book but all at once so we get a rough idea of the lay out of the whole book. Something like an expanded table of contents with a short preview from each chapter (such as a paragraph or two along with the occasional power, feat, and magic item). Enough to wet the pallet and get excitement building but nothing that pretends to be playable on a practical level.
Speaking of playtest classes, I love them but would like to see them altered somewhat in the future. It's probably been said by others elsewhere, but instead of showing us only one build and its related powers, I would like to see both builds with powers split evenly between each build (though a few build neutral powers mixed in would be fine). Being able to test out the Rageblood Barbarian and the Battlesmith Artificer is nice, but it's hard to evaluate the breadth of each class's options based on only a single path. This seems especially noticeable in the lack of material concerning the Thaneborn Barbarian, which other than having leader like tendencies, we have no idea how it works and thus no way to fully judge the Barbarian's structure. If WotC had provided both class features and a selection of powers related to both, I feel that the feed back could have been better. Under such a model we might not get as full a picture of what each build does, but we'd get enough to have a rough idea, and our overall picture of the class as a whole would be more complete.
Druid preview is interesting to look at but why am I paying $5 to see an advertisement for your next book?
Maybe the playtest is me paying $5 to test your product for you, but it sure felt a lot better. Maybe it was just having more meat to the article or maybe it was the feeling of contributing to one of my favorite hobbies.
Hopefully Content is just down do to Holiday time off, only time will tell I suppose.
I have a lot of sympathy for them all though. It does seem as if WoTC can be quite a brutal company to work for, if they've gone through so many lay-offs over the past 10 years or so. No real job security there and the constant background stress of the remaining staff wondering if they'll be next, and when it might happen.
I wish the staff all the very best in their future endeavours.
I am already dismayed by the overly large font and woefully small page count that the Forgotten Realms books came with. This made me upset that they would likely be tricking out the vast ammounts of unprinted information in Dungeon or Dragon articles (if we are lucky).
It feels like we are buying half books and hoping that the rest gets pringed in a pay magazine. When I buy the Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide, I want all the information, not just a table listing of dieties. Now I have to hope for better coverage in a magazine article some day, but chances of that are lessened when they are busy advertising future products.
Magazines should be a player resource, not a supplement for plumeting page counts or an andvertisement for their products.
Earlier playtests would be good -- a lot of your work has balance issues, just check out the errata formus or enworld (we know you do). If this were M:tG, you at least be publishing a watch list and then banning cards if they continued to be a problem. D&D is nice in that you can publish errata (or updates, if you must be so careful with your wording) and playgroups can adopt these new rules when they see them. But your last update was in early August, and Adventurer's Vault has come out since then with a huge number of potential problems, or even just honest-to-goodness mistakes (items not matching up between price - level, between table - text, etc.). Get the content to the players earlier, read their feedback and make changes. Establish the D&D equivalent of the Future Future League and put some powergamers in there to try to break the system.
Maybe a new editorial / article about things you're aware of and keeping an eye on would at least help reassure some of us that you're not just concerned with getting out the next splat book to make even more money.
I like seeing new race options -- it's very important in 4E to choose a race with at least one stat attribute that matches your class, and most players will choose a race with two complementary stats. That leaves a lot of people out cold without using MM races, so it's good to see articles like the Warforged, Gnoll, or Minotaur ones, but at the same time, can we again work on some balance issues here? Almost every Warforged ability is strictly better than the Minotaur ones, so there's not much to promote the Minotaur as an alternative choice except flavor reasons, and it's hard to sacrifice viability and power for flavor (at least for me and a number of other players).
This month's schedule indicates that I'm getting less than half of what I expect from Dragon in terms of new and original useful content.
I don't want to pay for content that will be obsoleted in six months by publications.
This is not in-line with the strategy for Dragon taken during the free trials. There was far more original content : look what was produced when the FR books came out.
Oh, and I find it really annoying that all the content in Dragon so far this month is effectively advertising ... be it for the novel, the latest release, or a distant future release. Paying for advertising sucks.
Oh, and I find it really annoying that all the content in Dragon so far this month is effectively advertising ... be it for the novel, the latest release, or a distant future release. Paying for advertising sucks.
Features
Her Majesty's Secret Servants
By Robert J. Schwalb
Chromatic dragons aren't the only ones that serve Tiamat.
NOT AN AD
Riven Justice: The Mercykillers
By Robert J. Schwalb
The Mercykillers return to D&D, complete with information on how your character can join their ranks.
NOT AN AD
Lords of Chaos: Mual-tar
By James Wyatt
A new recurring feature that introduces new primordials premieres with Mual-tar, the chained serpent featured on this issue's cover.
NOT AN AD
Regions of the Realms
By Chris Tulach
Whether you're playing a Living FR campaign or not, you'll want to take a look at these regionally inspired extras for your character.
NOT AN AD
Bestiary: Monsters of the Demonweb
By Logan Bonner
New monsters fresh from the newest D&D Miniatures release are presented here for inclusion in your campaign.
NOT AN AD
Columns
Design & Development: Cosmology
By Rich Baker and James Wyatt
Rich and James discuss how the cosmology of D&D evolved with the design of 4th Edition.
NOT AN AD
Roll vs. Role: Harbinger of Yule-tide Woe
By Chris Sims
A special holiday Roll vs. Role! Some dragons stock their hordes through subtle means. Some take a more active role in their plundering.
NOT AN AD
Designing Skill Challenges
By Mike Mearls
Mike explores the ins and outs of the skill challenge system, with examples of unique implementations.
NOT AN AD
Confessions of a Full-Time Wizard
By Shelly Mazzanoble
Shelly ponders what she'd like to give the players in her group … and what she'd like to give their characters.
NOT AN AD
D&D Alumni
By Bart Carroll and Steve Winter
A look back at the D&D cosmology through past editions.
NOT AN AD
RPGA Report
By Chris Tulach
The Living FR campaign is in full swing. Learn more about how to get involved!
NOT AN AD
Ampersand
By Bill Slavicsek
Bill previews more of the druid and looks further ahead to another 2009 release.
A little bit of an ad
I haven't seen the other stuff yet, it wasn't released.
So far this month in Dragon :
An editorial that was entirely an advertisement for Manual of the Planes
A Preview of the Druid, effectively an advertisement for PH II
Excerpts for... Manual of the Planes, another advertisement
Excerpts for Plague of Spells, another advertisement.
So far this month in Dragon, all adverts. Read what I wrote before blowing up at me.
Did he write one? Did he know he was being laid off when he wrote it? Or, will we be introduced to the new DDI lead? Or, is DDI dead?
Could be interesting, or, maybe WotC won't say much at this point.
Take another look at Digital Insider #16.
The same thing missing on #17 is missing from #16 - the signature with job title.
I would suspect he has known since then.
Excerpts for... Manual of the Planes, another advertisement
Excerpts for Plague of Spells, another advertisement.
These two are not part of Dragon. They are part of the web content that Wizards provided before the magazines were put online, that they said they would continue to provide.
These two items are free to anyone that visits the webpage.
I really want to see the 4th edition version (mainly to see if it makes more or less sense to me than the 3.0-3.5 version).
I myself have done Martial Arts for over 12 years (which for me is over half my life) and I've always enjoyed creating Martial Artist Character's and NPCs.
When will we get to see a monk playtest?
I really want to see the 4th edition version (mainly to see if it makes more or less sense to me than the 3.0-3.5 version).
I myself have done Martial Arts for over 12 years (which for me is over half my life) and I've always enjoyed creating Martial Artist Character's and NPCs.
Based on the current release schedule and which power source they decide to use in PHBIII I would say late 2009 or late 2010. That is if it is one of the classes they decide to preview. And if we see Psychic and Shadow power sources before Ki, it could be late 2011.
Basically:
If you want to play a Martial Artist anytime in the near future, I would highly recommend one of the two third party books that have been published, both of which feature that class.
Based on the current release schedule and which power source they decide to use in PHBIII I would say late 2009 or late 2010. That is if it is one of the classes they decide to preview. And if we see Psychic and Shadow power sources before Ki, it could be late 2011.
Basically:
If you want to play a Martial Artist anytime in the near future, I would highly recommend one of the two third party books that have been published, both of which feature that class.
Well, that's depressing to hear,
but, thanks for the suggestion, Could you give me a link to get to sites with such?
Hopefully Content is just down do to Holiday time off, only time will tell I suppose.
yea, I may actually close my subscription if we have two more months of this.
(and I'm a 4e DDI nut)
Features
Her Majesty's Secret Servants
By Robert J. Schwalb
Chromatic dragons aren't the only ones that serve Tiamat.
NOT AN AD
Content that could have been in the Draconomnicon, which was released late last month.... smells like promotion for that product to me.
Riven Justice: The Mercykillers
By Robert J. Schwalb
The Mercykillers return to D&D, complete with information on how your character can join their ranks.
NOT AN AD
Given that Manual of the Planes is due this month, this strikes me as an Ad. Its either content that should have been in the Manual, or its a glorified ad.
Lords of Chaos: Mual-tar
By James Wyatt
A new recurring feature that introduces new primordials premieres with Mual-tar, the chained serpent featured on this issue's cover.
NOT AN AD
Again, looks like cut content from the Manual of the Planes. Yes that means this is pretty much an Ad.
Regions of the Realms
By Chris Tulach
Whether you're playing a Living FR campaign or not, you'll want to take a look at these regionally inspired extras for your character.
NOT AN AD
Hey this one might not actually be cut content and thus be a real article.
Bestiary: Monsters of the Demonweb
By Logan Bonner
New monsters fresh from the newest D&D Miniatures release are presented here for inclusion in your campaign.
NOT AN AD
Its the last DDM style set, this is an ad to promote sales of what is likely to be the worst selling set to date, due to its coinciding with the death of DDM. (Note I applaud WotC for revealing this before putting the set on the shelf, it was incredibly fair treatment of the DDM players, yet it means us RP folks need to buy more of the set to keep it from being a disaster - hence this is an ad.)
Columns
Hey guess what - Columns are not Features either, and the concern is loss of features to preview material.
Yes I like the Previews and Playtest articles, but I don't want more of them at the expense of the content I signed up for, an additional Column "Preview & Playtest" would be great, but not at the expense of even one feature article a month. I think this is what WotC may not have understood; Preview/Playtest is cool, and we do like it, but its not what we subscribed for, and we don't want it subtracting from what we did subscribe for, which is new content.
Page count is no longer an issue for the magazines, all that matters is quality of content. If WotC wants to use cut and paste content to pad the magazine I'm fine with that as long as its not subtracting from the stuff that was there before they added it.
I wanted to clarify this. The January release will be a beta of all 30 levels. The complete product, with the full installer. Unless something surprising happens. It is all put together now and working, we are putting the last few changes on the updater and installer and updating it with all the data that it will need to include for January.
This will be the complete character builder. I think we will be calling the data during its first month beta data. New data will be added each month in this way.
as we start rolling out more levels for Insiders only
Glad to hear that, the wording had me a bit worried.
Features
Her Majesty's Secret Servants
By Robert J. Schwalb
Chromatic dragons aren't the only ones that serve Tiamat.
NOT AN AD
they used to call that web enhancement and give it to us for freeB-
Riven Justice: The Mercykillers
By Robert J. Schwalb
The Mercykillers return to D&D, complete with information on how your character can join their ranks.
NOT AN AD
web enhancement? maybe not , will have to seeB-
Lords of Chaos: Mual-tar
By James Wyatt
A new recurring feature that introduces new primordials premieres with Mual-tar, the chained serpent featured on this issue's cover.
NOT AN AD
web enhancement? maybe not , will have to seeOK, I will call this content rather then a web enhancement, call it a B
Regions of the Realms
By Chris Tulach
Whether you're playing a Living FR campaign or not, you'll want to take a look at these regionally inspired extras for your character.
NOT AN AD
web enhancement? maybe not , will have to see but after the lack of beef in the FR books I'd say web enhancement. now that I've seen it, looks like stuff that should have been in the PGFR, still nice content thou, call it a A-
Bestiary: Monsters of the Demonweb
By Logan Bonner
New monsters fresh from the newest D&D Miniatures release are presented here for inclusion in your campaign.
NOT AN AD
ad
Columns
Design & Development: Cosmology
By Rich Baker and James Wyatt
Rich and James discuss how the cosmology of D&D evolved with the design of 4th Edition.
NOT AN AD
no thats not a Ad for the Manual of the Planes
Roll vs. Role: Harbinger of Yule-tide Woe
By Chris Sims
A special holiday Roll vs. Role! Some dragons stock their hordes through subtle means. Some take a more active role in their plundering.
NOT AN AD
Draconomicon I: Chromatic Dragons came out when?
Designing Skill Challenges
By Mike Mearls
Mike explores the ins and outs of the skill challenge system, with examples of unique implementations.
NOT AN AD
I wont call this a ad, but I don't think it needed to be stretched out over 2+ issues
Confessions of a Full-Time Wizard
By Shelly Mazzanoble
Shelly ponders what she'd like to give the players in her group … and what she'd like to give their characters.
NOT AN AD
not entirely sure why we have this but it's not a ad this monthI got this wrong, hyper link to the open beta of CB and big push for Adventures Vault one of her worst B-
D&D Alumni
By Bart Carroll and Steve Winter
A look back at the D&D cosmology through past editions.
NOT AN AD
no thats not a Ad for the Manual of the Planes
RPGA Report
By Chris Tulach
The Living FR campaign is in full swing. Learn more about how to get involved!
NOT AN AD
what part of a article supporting a marketing department initiative makes this not a ad
Ampersand
By Bill Slavicsek
Bill previews more of the druid and looks further ahead to another 2009 release.
A little bit of an ad
let see two ads for the price of one, one for DDI and one for PH2
These articles were great on their own and one thing I like about Dragon is to provide stuff to support the material in the books. So an article detailing a planar faction like the mercykillers article is fine by me as long as it does not reprint stuff from a print product (like the playtest/preview articles).
Besides, if you pay for a book with 160 pages why should you get material cut from the book for free? Providing it through Dragon magazine seems to be a good idea for me.
Above all I said it is important for me we get high quality articles. That means the stuff needs to be original, creative, entertaining and diversive. As much as I don't like a whole isssue centered on playtest, I don't like a whole issue devoted to the Draconomicon.
- Any Forgotten Realms material;
- Any material having to do with dragons; and
- Any material having to do with the planes;
To be a bit more serious, I think that it is a bit silly to expect that once a book has been released, that the writers at WotC are *never* allowed to publish in Dragon magazine anything about that topic again.
shoot, we need more backdrop articles (EB and FR)
People need to be careful when they start callingthings ads. Based on some of the responses above, the following topics are no longer permitted in Dragon Magazine because they are "ads":
- Any Forgotten Realms material;
- Any material having to do with dragons; and
- Any material having to do with the planes;
Exactly. Those who complain about this can never be satisfied. I'm sure if those articles would be replaced by something completely different, we'd hear complaints from them like "where's material supporting the FR?". It never stops.
Of course your right but the preponderance of product pimping articles, specifically this month is way to high. We have a responsibility to help the magazines provide the types and quality of articles that we have come to expect. I suspect that most of us want DDI to succeed. Useful articles like Primordial Paths walks a fine line between leaving the reader thinking that it should have been in the book they just or are about to purchase and giving us bright shinny new toy. Playtests are if used correctly are useful, previews of are much less useful, almost pointless.
Sometimes an issue is light and you need filler space. As long as its sometimes and not regularly.
The excerpts are fine as they arent in Dragon and are extras on the side.
Personally I don't mind paying for play tests too much as long as it is usable (the druid preview was nice but not really what I would call usable, nor something I would like to be anything but additional content) Levels 1-10 of multiple builds with perhaps a few heroic feats for the class is generally usable. (since the previewed material will be out by paragon) Both me and my players would enjoy that, even more then the 1-30 single build previews (since I will be buying the book hopefully before 11). There will be 2-3 campaigns starting within a month and I was hoping for Druid / Invoker to be more playable. Aside from the previews I enjoy the racial additions, and alternative class builds (like illusionist).
I'm apparently way in the minority here, because I'm all about the playtests and usable previews. It's a large chunk of why I subscribed - so I can be So Special and see stuff that won't be out for 6+ months (well, 4 months now). The rest of the Dragon stuff is, in general, much less interesting to me.
However, admittedly, the other reason I subscribed was because of the gladiators article. Totally honest. If that hadn't sounded so good, I wouldn't have bought in.
Will the patch automatically download when we launch the previous version, or do we need to do a fresh download of the whole package?
ALSO
Is there an update on when this will drop?
I have a question regarding Open Beta of the Character Builder:
Will the patch automatically download when we launch the previous version, or do we need to do a fresh download of the whole package?
From the article I believe that it will have to be a fresh download. Though from what mdonais has posted the full version (when released and this too will probably be a new download) will be able to update through the program.
Is there an update on when this will drop?
The word so far is probably late this week.