Quote:
Originally Posted by The Disgruntled Poet
My own bias is that I am looking forward to exploring the new ruleset since I liked some of the consistency and and reworking of the rules in 3.0/3.5 but got tired of the novel-sized stat blocks involved in monsters & NPCs. So if it keeps the options and customizing, the more intuitive rule structure, but eliminates the needless complexity, then yay! It will be a fun game when you want to play a good tactical kill-'em-and-take-their-stuff crawl, and can probably be used for other things as well.
So how would capitalizing on the buzz by offering a $20 softcover with some behind-the-scenes design tidbits be pissing in the punchbowl? There's nothing required in the book, it's just a little marketing ploy and teaser for people who are curious and have some disposable income.
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It's also essentially an advertisement that, instead of being free, is priced like a WotC splatbook. 96 pages, $19.97.
Releasing a free teaser to keep the demand pumped up would've done so admirably, and generated some positive publicity for the product itself. Instead, they charge the same price as a sourcebook for something that has no play value. $9.97 might've been more reasonable, or at least generated less negative buzz. In any case, it's enough to irk people who would otherwise be interested in the new game. Maybe enough to disillusion them about WotC's motives (particularly after the early release of 3.5, and the terrible 30th Anniversary celebration and book), maybe not.
For the sake of those wanting the book, I rather hope for 'maybe not'. I may be through with D&D, but the world at large isn't.