Turkey day and the resulting family obligations pushed this Audio Report episode back a bit, so we’re happy to get this one out there. We got some serious hate on for WotC’s Dungeon Survival Guide and the overall flawed 4th Edition preview marketing approach thus far. Miniatures throwing gang signs, Scandanavian LARPs, and Keira Knightley all may or may not be significant to the rest of the episode, but we certainly pimp the 2007 OgreCave Christmas Gift Guide. Have a listen, and tell us what you think.
I can see why you thought the Dungeon Survival Guide was a rulebook. I thought they had re-released the first edition D&D book Dungeoneer’s Survival Guide, which had a lot of rules and GM-related information in it.
Fun show.
Regards,
Lee Valentine
We have not moved a single copy of that piece of crap….
Glad you liked The Simpsons Game, Allan.
> Glad you liked The Simpsons Game, Allan.
Sure did. Good platformer elements, mixed with a free-roaming GTA type of interlude between missions, which are well-scripted and highly amusing. I’m sure we’ll be gathered around the ol’ Xbox 360 this holiday at some point, sipping hot chocolate and roving the streets of Springfield.
Allan nailed it on the head about “Wizards Presents: Races and Classes.” Early leaks on ENWorld have shown that the book is full of outdated info, and already Wizards staffers have come out and said “well, that was true when the book was written, but it’s changed since then.”
I’m ok with buying a book of game design discussions and art, but if you’re going to sell it on the basis of being a “preview” book, it’s bad form to provide inaccurate info.
I get the feeling that the folks at WotC are living in their own little bubble and not engaging with what anyone else in the RPG world is doing. It’s the only way I can think to explain their failure to learn from the good and the bad of what other RPG companies are doing, especially with their online stuff. It seems to me that WotCs web stuff is driven by branding and marketing concerns: getting the right brand image, promoting the brand identity, and highlighting the current marketing message. What annoys me about that is that there is no consistency, the navigation is crazy as you jump around between different brand sub-sites, and there is little or no thought given to making old material accessible, let alone having it organised in a sensible way or searchable. I guess that’s last month’s message and they don’t really want us to be reading it.