GenCon 2008 Podcasts So Far

A preview of my weekly compilation of podcasts every Thursday...

• Fist Full of Comics and Games episodes: Gen Con 2008: Thursday, Gen Con 2008: Friday.
• This Just In From GenCon episodes: Thursday (11 am, 5 pm), Friday (11 am, 5 pm), Saturday (11 am, 5 pm), Sunday (11 am, 5 pm).
• Gamers With Jobs episodes: D&D 4E Exclusive Interview.
• Gamer Radio Zero episodes: GenCon 2008 Intro, Randy Buehler on D&D Insider, Dragon and Dungeon Magazine, WS76, Ken Troop on D&Di Updates and Community Feedback, D&D Insider Character Visualizer, Living Forgotten Realms RPGA, D&Di Applications Interview, Geno Salvatore on Stowaway and D&D, Ed Greenwood on Living Forgotten Realms, Sara Girard and Shelly Mazzanoble, Forgotten Realms, D&Di Character Builder.

Essay: Two Areas for Improvement in the Tabletop RPG Community

Every Wednesday, I have an essay on any topic that catches my fancy!

I'm a big fan of RPGs, especially Dungeons & Dragons, but unlike many gamers out there, I wasn't playing during the Gygaxian era. My first D&D game involved a D&D Basic Set (using AD&D Rules for levels 1-3) that was set in Mystara, featured character templates using what I would later find out to be Dragonlance Art, and included a CD that described specific locations and encounters. I was the GM for my first game that involved two of my classmates and it lasted for about an hour before I tucked the box away, never to be opened again. Luckily, 3rd Edition came along and renewed my interest and I quickly progressed from neophyte to rules lawyer. So you could call me a D&D 3rd Edition baby but this essay isn't about the glories of 3rd Edition. Rather, it's about me witnessing some changes in the RPG Industry/Community, and how various gamers don't take advantage of these changes.

The first issue I want to tackle are PDFs. To some gamers, the immediate response when you bring up the topic of PDFs is that "I don't want 'em, I want something to hold in my hands". Well, if you don't like to read on a computer screen, I won't try to convince you otherwise but there's a point where I think people are exaggerating how much they can't stand reading on the computer. I mean if this was a person complaining to me about PDFs in a face-to-face conversation, that's perfectly fine but when you're reading about it in a message board that's ten pages long, well, how bad can it truly be?

Of course what I want to clear up with PDFs when it comes to the RPG industry is that products aren't limited to reading texts. There's a misconception that PDFs equal rule books or adventures when that's not always the case. Small, independent RPG companies out there are publishing PDF products that are neither rule books nor adventures. They could be maps. They could be tokens. They could be three-dimensional figures which you cut up and fold. They could even be sound clips which you can insert into your game. I'm not saying that there's a PDF product for every gamer out there (although there most likely is) but don't immediately shut down your options just because you have a bias against PDFs. Give them a look and when you find that you have no use for them, that's fine. But bear in mind that PDFs are more than just a book of rules not printed on paper.

And then when it comes to PDFs that are actually full of rules, well, here are some advantages of the medium. First off, there are the bookmarks (assuming the PDF publisher included this in the product) and search function. You don't have to bring your PDF "book" to your actual game but during game preparation, finding that piece of nugget is easier than scanning through the table of contents or the index (let's not even get started with indexes in game books). It's for that same reason that I find the online d20 SRD more useful than the actual Player's Handbook/Dungeon Master's Guide/Monster's Manual when preparing for games or making characters. Second, if you're the person that types their GM notes or characters on the computer, PDFs are a godsend. It's easier to multitask using various PDFs and your word processor (especially on a Mac) compared to you-and-your-one-dozen-books and your word processor. And let's not forget the convenience of copy/paste. Third--and this might very well not apply to you--some gamers find it more convenient to lug around their laptop or their flash drive as opposed to their half-a-dozen gaming books. You might have no use for PDF products but other gamers or someone else in your gaming group might. Fourth is the price. If you're tired of buying gaming books that costs $30.00 and you're only using 25% of it, the PDF market is the place to buy books wherein you use 100% of the material and is costing you significantly less than $30.00. Just want one class or prestige class? You can probably buy a PDF of it for $1.00. Just want all fluff? Or all the crunch? There's probably such a PDF product. The PDF market isn't limited by shipping and economies of scale after all.

Moving on, the second issue I want to tackle are podcasts. Yes, I'm being biased here since I love podcasts and I'm one of the people who compiles the various podcasts on the Internet, but many gamers don't even give podcasts a second look, or are simply unaware of them (between PDFs and podcasts, the former is more ubiquitous). Perhaps what irks me the most is that many people are asking for help or suggestions in various other mediums yet it's freely available in podcasts. Want interviews? There are a lot of podcasts that interview various people in the gaming industry, whether you're a Steve Jackson or Fred Hicks. Want GMing advice? There are a lot of shows which tackle that particular topic. Game reviews? Check. Gaming anecdotes? Check. Retrospectives on old games? Check. And here's one feature that podcasts are able to deliver that other mediums can't: actual game recordings. Why would you want to listen to an actual game recording? Well, for one thing, it shows you how other people play the game. It's your one-part free intro/preview into the game and your one-part game review without the reviewer directly telling what's good/bad about it (you're free to judge for yourself). Other podcasts like Virtual Play (oh no all that editing!) even enhances their game discussions by giving concrete examples based on their actual experiences on the game table.

Oh, and podcasts are free! And are portable (you can listen to them on the computer, burn them onto a CD and listen to it on your car stereo or on the game store's CD player, or upload them to your mp3 player). Here's my own podcast story: I love making stat blocks, whether it's my PCs or monsters. But let's face it, for some people, those pre-game preparations can be boring. During those times when I'm writing stat blocks, I listen to podcasts. It alleviates the boredom and apparently I can multitask reading game text (but not fiction) while listening to podcasts. The same logic extends to when I'm commuting. Or waiting for my gaming group when they come to the game late.

I know how some gamers can be reticent when it comes to change but hey, look at all these great tools that are available.

My D&D 4E Books Are Here!

Bad News: My local gaming store doesn't carry the latest 4E Dungeons & Dragons books (or the latest 3.5 books either for that matter).

Good News: The 4E Dungeons & Dragons books just arrived at my local comic store.

For the past few weeks, I've been passing by Comic Quest every Thursday (they get their stocks every Wednesday evening but fate has not been kind as ever since Memorial Day, their stocks have been arriving a day or two late--this isn't limited to just that particular comic shop) hoping to catch Keep on the Shadowfell. Today, I passed by and disposed of half of my monthly income. It was a windfall as not only was Keep on the Shadowfell there but so were the 4E Boxed Set and some dice. Here's the breakdown:

Keep on the Shadowfell: P1,500 or $35.00
Dungeons & Dragon Dice: P600 or $14.00
Player's Handbook: P1,500 or $35.00
Boxed Set: P4,000 or $93.00

I only bought Keep on the Shadowfell and the Boxed Set. I'm still deliberating whether to buy the dice mainly because the local gaming store only sells d6's (Warhammer!) and d20s (Magic: The Gathering life tracker? D&D Miniatures?).

Now I'm broke. But I have a game on Saturday, so...

Essay: Comments on the Unexpected Release of Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition

Every Wednesday, I have an essay on any topic that catches my fancy!

The release date of Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition isn't until June 6th but last week, Wizards of the Coast took some hard hitting blows. The first was that Buy.com was releasing some of the books ahead of the release date. The second, and perhaps more impacting event, was the fact that a printer-ready PDF of the books was released on torrent sites. The following are my commentaries.

The first is quick and easy to tackle. Retailers do sell books ahead of time (and distributors should distribute them ahead of time if they want retailers to actually be able to sell the product on the targeted release date), either by mistake or unintentionally. As much as possible, publishers want to avoid this, especially if there's a huge marketing push related to the book's launch (i.e. Harry Potter). In other circumstances, I don't think the author or the publisher is going to mind if their book gets sold early (and if a mid-list author finds his book available two days before the release date, he or she will probably tell you buy them rather than chide you for reading them "ahead of time"). In this case however, there was a marketing program planned for it. Ultimately, I don't think sending one or two books is going to harm the overall release but the bigger problem is how a retailer such as Buy.com disregards release dates. And as popular as Dungeons & Dragons is, they're not really a J.K. Rowling which will take parties who break agreements regarding release dates to court. Perhaps one thing people should realize is that while there may be a contract forbidding parties to release a book ahead of time, it's another thing to enforce it. Rowling will take you to court. Anyone short of her will probably resort to other methods, such as sanctions on the retailer, either because litigation is not worth the expenses, or the fact that they'll be alienating too much one of their potential sources of revenue (Amazon.com for example is starting to push its weight around and I'm sure the reaction to Buy.com will be very different if Amazon.com was the one who released books prematurely--how would publishers react?).

The distribution of the printer-ready PDFs on the other hand is the bigger issue of the two and has spawned numerous threads on various message boards. Most people tend to focus on the premature release of the book for free but I'd also like to draw attention to a more distressing concern. People keep mentioning the inevitability of such books going up on torrent sites, and there's a part of me that agrees with that assumption (although that does not make it any less legitimate), but a big issue here is that the PDFs uploaded to the Internet weren't scans of the book (which is the usual format of pirated RPG books). Instead, they were most likely the actual PDFs sent to the printers. So this becomes a trust issue because either someone in Wizards of the Coast or the printers were responsible for leaking the files. It's one thing for another party to be pirating the stuff you sell but for people you have a professional relationship (i.e. you're paying them) to do so is another matter. Why are you biting the hand that feeds you?

Another topic brought up is whether the incident is good or bad overall for Wizards of the Coast. I'm sure Cory Doctorow has a lot of insight into the matter but for me, the leaks both have beneficial and harmful effects (which is the nature of piracy) but that's besides the point. The point is that the choice wasn't in the hands of the publisher or its staff. Instead, it was made for them by someone else. Right now, there are authors who put up material under the Creative Commons License and those who don't. Most likely, those that practice the former are selective about it (i.e. not everything they write is under the Creative Commons License). While making material available for free has its own pros and cons, the point is that they were able to make that decision for themselves. Similarly, that's why some authors are touchy on the subject of fan fiction: some want absolute control over their "babies" while others are more obliging. It's about the ability to choose for themselves rather than others making the choice for them. One of the Philippines's former presidents best encapsulates this idea by one of his more famous statements: "I prefer a country run like hell by Filipinos to a country run like heaven by Americans. Because, however bad a Filipino government might be, we can always change it."

One of the theories out there is that Wizards of the Coast themselves leaked the file to the torrent sites and I find this ridiculous mainly because while such an action would make great propaganda, the company would probably get more mileage out of it if they "leaked" the file on their own website, drawing attention not only to their product but to the entire company as well. Suffice to say, there are better ways to execute legit viral marketing, and the execution of this leak isn't that.

Another crazy solution was to plant viruses/worms/malicious programs into the PDFs but isn't that doing more harm, if not more, to computer users everywhere, as tempting as that solution might be.

There are also those who undermine the release of the PDFs but saying that they don't use PDFs in games anyway and prefer the actual books but that goes back to the issue of control. I mean some people do make use of PDFs and a lot of game companies have released and made a profit on PDF sales. The PDF leak might not affect you and your gaming group, but it will have an effect (whether for good or for ill) on other gaming groups, and this is a vector completely taken out of the hands of the publisher.

Anyone Want These D&D Modules?

History here.

The short story is they're taking up space and I never really played OD&D (I'm a late bloomer).

Caveat is that I'm in the Philippines so shipping is expensive. If I can get rid of this in one simple shipment, that'd be great (people in the general vicinity can just agree to meet up some place).

And, uh, I'm giving these away for free? =)

Some of these are still in their shrink-wrap glory:

• Secret of the Slavers Stockade (A2) (2 copies)
  
• The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan (C1)
• Legacy of Blood (CM9)
• Red Arrow, Black Shield (X10) (2 copies)
  
• Slave Pits of the Undercity (A1) (2 copies)
  
• Isle of the Ape (WG6) (2 copies)
  
• Red Sonja Unconquered
• Descent into the Depths of the Earth (D1-2)
• The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth (S4)
• Vault of the Drow (D3)
• Assault on th Aerie of the Slave Lords (A3)
• Dwellers of the Forbidden City (I1)

Essay: RIP Mr. Gygax

Every Wednesday, I have an essay on any topic that catches my fancy!

I had just written this SF Signal-worthy essay last night that I thought would be perfect for today. But then, I woke up, started writing a story (strangely enough, about death), and then took a break only to hear the news: Gary Gygax, the creator of D&D (and RPGs), just passed away.

There are two things I want to get off my chest. The first is how important games are to people. Last year, many bloggers mourned the loss of their favorite authors. (Of course reading through the Year's Best Fantasy & Horror obituaries, one realizes that writers are as mortal as anyone else and several of them die year after year.) People talk at how much a certain book or author has impacted them and changed their lives. For me, the same goes for gaming. It could be my childhood playing Monopoly. Or my pre-adolescent years playing Super Mario Bros. or Street Fighter. Or my high school years spent with Magic: The Gathering. And then, finally, Dungeons & Dragons. I can definitely say I wouldn't be the person who I am today without those games, not just for the recreation they provided, but for the relationships that came along with them. Many forget that games are a social activity as well as an entertaining pastime. Strangely enough, while my list of favorite books is in constant flux, my list of favorite games (maybe because I've been playing less) has more or less been fixed. And Dungeons & Dragons is easily in my top five.

Second, I'm a late bloomer. I never played the original D&D. My experiences with AD&D was brief. And by the time I was fully into Dungeons & Dragons, well, I was a college gamer in the Philippines. So I never really met Gary Gygax nor did I really have the desire to meet him. But I can respect him and the game that he started. And to other gamers, I'm sure he's had a bigger impact in their lives. Moreover, my favorite game designers probably wouldn't be the same people if it hadn't been for Gygax's influence in their lives. He's the 3,000-pound elephant in the room. You're either building on his foundation or going against it (or taking a different path).

May you rest in peace, Mr. Gygax. I don't have any good advice so I'll steal from Chris Pramas: "There's no better way to honor him than playing some D&D--of any edition--this week."

News Tidbits

Gary Gygax, the creator of D&D, just passed away. Nick Mamatas has a haiku dedicated to him. Here's some tributes from various people:

• Jay Lake
• Richard Dansky
• Aaron Williams
• Erik Mona
• Keith Baker
• Chris Pramas
• Michael Erb
• Mike Mearls (1, 2)
• SF Signal
• Slice of Sci-Fi (podcast with Dave Arneson here)
• Ken Hite
• Matt Forebeck
• Ari Marmell
• Robert Schwalb
• Paul S. Kemp
• Monte Cook
• Rob Rogers
• The Game Master Show
• The Gamer Traveler/The Digital Front (Podcast)
• This is Shadowrun
• Way of the Geek
• Stephen Chenault via NPR (Podcast)
• Jeff Rients
• Merric Blackman
• Dragonlance Canticle
• Crazy Monkey
• Jennifer Clarke Wilkes
• Elaine Cunningham
• Rich Burlew (comic here)
• James Jacobs
• Elizabeth Bear
• Penny Arcade
• Dean Alfar
• R.K. Millholland
• The Tome
• Geekerati
• Grimm Studios (podcast)
• Have Games Will Travel (podcast)
• The Basics of the Game (podcast)
• Wapcaplets (podcast)
• Steve Jackson
• Adamant Entertainment
• Jeff Lasala
• Robin D. Laws
• Jim C. Hines
• Mortality.Net
• Folks from Wizards of the Coast
• Scott Rouse
• Scott Gray
• John August
• Paul Gadzikowski
• Wil Wheaton
• World of Warcraft
• John Kovalic
• John Klima
• World of Greyhawk
• Comedy Central
• Jason Bulmahn
• Keith Strohm
• Colbert Report
• 40 Years of Gen Con
• John C. Wright
• Sword's Edge Publishing (podcast here)
• Questionable Content
• The Cimmerian
• Alina Pete
• Dave Noonan
• XKCD
• Laurell K. Hamilton
• Gary Gygax Tribute Video from Wizards of the Coast
• Kiro Radio (audio segment with Dave Noonan)
• All Games Considered (podcast)
• Canon Puncture (podcast)
• The Rolemonkeys (podcast)
• Fantasy Flight Games
• White Wolf
• Woody Hearn
• Full Frontal Nerdity
• 20 Weeks of Hell (podcast)
• Owen Stephens
  

The top five books which are stolen from independent bookshops. (From Scott Dellman) Of course certain reading advocates don't regret stealing books so it's not that hard to imagine.

Game designer/author Richard Dansky has Writers Roundtable Notes from the GDC.

Essay: To Railroad or Not to Railroad?

Every Wednesday, I have an essay on any topic that catches my fancy!

In one of the gaming podcasts I listened to, the hosts (there were several of them) unanimously declared that railroading in RPGs is flat-out horrible. No exceptions! (Railroading, for those of you who are unaware of the term, means that you are shoehorned into a particular path.) Do I agree with that assessment? As someone who's been on both sides of the table (as a player and as a GM), my honest answer is that it depends on the situation. The important question for me isn't whether players have freedom or not but whether they're having fun or not. Allow me to elaborate. (I'd like to make a disclaimer that this applies to tabletop RPGs in the vein of Dungeons & Dragons rather than the more story-oriented RPGs where players might take turns acting as GMs.)

For me, there are three kinds of "railroads" so to speak. The firsts and most obvious one is the linear railroad: there is only one path, you cannot veer off that course (well, you can, except it's game over). One example of this is the haunted house session: you have players and the plot revolves around them entering the haunted house. As the GM, you will make sure players will enter the haunted house and this might take the form of the weather (typically a storm), geography (there's no other shelter in sight), or some supernatural element (in Ravenloft, this could be the Mists). Nothing the players do will prevent them from not entering the haunted house except perhaps death. The second railroad is what I'd like to call the illusion of freedom. Using the same haunted house premise, you still have a haunted house except it's located in a ghost town. The players have a choice where they want to stay for the night, whether it's the tavern, a ruined keep, or a simple house. The catch is that no matter what option the players pick, that will be where the haunting takes place. The third is absolute freedom. You might have a ghost town and there's a different scenario in each building. The tavern might lead to an underground cult of deranged cultists, the ruined keep a fortress housing an ancient demon, and the simple house simply being a modest haven.

Back to the question on whether to railroad or not to railroad, there are several factors to take into consideration. For me, when I play RPGs, it's not necessarily to tell a good story (I have my writing for that) but rather to simply play a game that I'll enjoy. I can very much imagine playing a linear railroad adventure or an illusion of freedom adventure and still enjoy the game. I mean when I'm playing a game module, a published adventure, or a tournament, I am making an assumption that most likely it's going to be a railroad of some sort. As a player, I've accepted that fact and I go with the flow of my GM. That's not to say the game can't take a life of its own--a GM running a published adventure might skip some inappropriate encounters or add new ones, but if I'm say, participating in a tournament, I think it's honestly too much to ask if I went north when the adventure is clearly hinting for us to go south. And don't misunderstand me, there will be situations when the GM has to improvise or simply go with what the party is intending but that's not always possible, especially if the GM intends to be faithful to the game module or published adventure. An important element I think is to set expectations so that players can go along with their GM's intent and vice versa.

Theoretically, the ideal situation for players is to have an absolute freedom scenario. Now if you're that kind of GM who's used to running such games, good for you. However, some GMs need lots of prep time and "preparing" for the absolute freedom scenario simply takes too much time. Worse, all that planning might be redundant. For example, if you prepared ten options for the players, it's very much possible that by choosing one option, the players lose out on the other nine options (i.e. in a modern campaign, it might be a question of which country to invade/scout/rescue first when the aliens are currently launching an invasion). The GM's preparation for the nine other possible outcomes is wasted unless he or she plans to run them for another gaming group.

Here's one factor that governs the world. Sometimes, it's not about what's true but rather how people perceive it. And when it comes to games, it boils down to execution. For example, as far as players are concerned, I don't see any real difference between the illusion of freedom and absolute freedom game. Players believe that they've made a choice and there are repercussions for their choices. They don't have to know that this is what you really planned for them (or didn't plan for them as the case may be). It only becomes a factor on how you narrate your choice. For example, in the ghost town scenario, you can run either the illusion of freedom (the haunted house scene) or the absolute freedom scene (different events depending on which building they enter). I am operating under the assumption here that either scene takes up the entire game session. Whether the players receive the haunted house scene or something else is entirely irrelevant because they're operating under the assumption that the building they entered determined the outcome of their adventure. It becomes noticeable that you were railroading them only if you had a definite floor plan to the adventure, such as tavern having a labyrinth the size of a mansion, or a mansion simply having just two rooms. This is I think where GM improvisation comes in. If the original site of the adventure was this huge keep and your players ended up staying the night in the tavern, you can't transform the tavern into a castle but the tavern might have an underground passage that leads to such an adventure locale. On the other hand, you might have this really elaborate flowchart accounting for each encounter yet if poorly executed, might give the appearance of a railroad even if it really was an absolute freedom campaign. For example, you planned that goblins were staying in the tavern, orcs in the simple houses, and troglodytes in the keep. If players simply wandered in each of those locations and don't investigate (or you don't leave substantial clues as to why those creatures are there), it might seem to the players that you're simply throwing random encounters--even if in fact you had planned for freedom of choice on their part. So at the end of the day, it boils down to perception, unless you're the type of GM that shows to his or her players your notes after each session.

I think what's important to remember is that "freedom" isn't about having unlimited potential. At the end of the day, everyone simply has one decision to act upon. Of course there will be exceptions but for most people's games, they will only be going through an adventure once. One last example I have is the original I6: Ravenloft adventure module. What set it apart for its time was that it had a random method of generating the plot points: who was the real villain, what the villain's motivations were, and how to stop the villain. That random element however is honestly meaningless unless a) you've played the adventure more than once or b) you're someone who's read the adventure before. I6: Ravenloft's strengths I think is aside from the solid adventure that it is, is the fact that it has replayability. You could run or play the game three times and get entirely different results. But again, most gamers, or at least your own gaming group, isn't going to run into that scenario often. Most RPGs are designed to be played once after all and so players don't necessarily need all these choices. Now I'm not advocating that you use the railroad method to your games. What I'm saying is, sometimes, you must ask yourself: is this planning all worth the effort? Or better yet, are my players enjoying this?

Win A Lifetime Subscription to Kobold Quarterly

From Open Design:

I was really hoping to have 1,000 subscribers by Gen Con. It turns out we're going to get there, um, right about now. The magazine is very close to rolling the subscriber odometer over to 1,000 subscribers.

Hey, that's great, you say, everyone likes big round numbers but what about prizes? I'm glad you asked! The 1000th subscriber will win:

• A Lifetime Subscription to the Magazine! This is a print sub if you are a print subscriber, or a PDF sub if you are a PDF subscriber.
  
• A copy of the Six Arabian Nights Open Design project, written by Jeff Grubb, David "Zeb" Cook, Joshua Stevens, and Clay Fleischer, and yours truly. Six adventures set in Dark Arabia that can be used as a mini-campaign.
  
• A Kobold t-shirt featuring our mascot, Jiro.
  
• A copy of Kobold's Guide to Game Design, a compilation of essays on adventure design.

If you want to win, subscribe today! You could be the 1000th member of the Kobold Army. And 1000 kobolds is what, like a CR 30 encounter? Unstoppable!

Essay: Class Roles in D&D 4E

Every Wednesday, I have an essay on any topic that catches my fancy!

One complaint against 4E is the concept of class roles--that is, various classes will have labels to designate its role: defender, striker, controller, leader. One can even feel the jealousy and hatred of some tabletop gamers against online RPGs by claiming such a mechanic is too World of Warcraft. Here's my take on class roles: they already existed in D&D.

Here's the thing with most D&D games: most adventures presupposes that the party will have a Fighter-like character (if not the Fighter class outright), a Cleric-like character, a Rogue-like character, and a Wizard-like character. Heck, most adventures presupposes that you have a diverse party to begin with. Sure, I've played games when there was no healer in the group, no Rogue in the group, or no spellcaster in the group (strangely, I have yet to play a game where there was no Fighter-type character in the group). And while such games were not impossible to overcome, we did have to compensate that deviates from the recommended norm. For example, when the group didn't have a Cleric, the GM didn't really throw in 4 encounters a day and a significant portion of the party's funds went to healing potions and other consumable items. Without a spellcaster, our gaming group had problems defeating mobs of weak monsters (Cleave can only take you so far). As far as the Rogue goes, honestly, no one missed him because our GM wasn't fond of using traps (or at least nothing the Barbarian couldn't tank). And observe your own gaming group: whenever you're playing a D&D campaign, doesn't your group talk about party roles, like who's going to play the Cleric, etc.?

So what does this have to do with class roles? Well, I have problems with the terminology, so let me rephrase them for you: Defender = Fighter or bag of hit points, Striker = Rogue or guy who deals lots of damage (actually a "new" role for the upcoming edition), Controller = Wizard or crowd control, Leader = Cleric or healer. Honestly, it's nothing new for veteran gamers. But don't get me wrong, explicitly stating class roles is an revolutionary idea--for new gamers. Here's the thing, if it's your first game of D&D, I don't think the first thing that comes to mind when creating characters is to complete a party with at least one of each character role. Instead, we're probably thinking we wanna play a cool character. I don't think one of the first discussions of newbie gamers is who's going to play the Cleric. Assigning Cleric duties are usually a sign that you're an experienced gaming group. Explicitly stating class roles is a hint to new players that hey, if you want the optimal gaming set-up, it's recommended that you start filling these niches. By no means does a gaming group need to fill each role slot but you must admit, having a healer in party is usually better than none.

Oh, and as for the World of Warcraft references? I'd like to think that the game draws its inspirations from Dungeons & Dragons and then explained it in simpler terms. And if D&D 4E is stealing anything from World of Wacraft, it's this: the ability to convey to new gamers the unwritten rules of the game instead of paying for their ignorance with character death. (Of course with online RPGs educating non-tabletop gamers the dynamics of a party, maybe stating class roles is not as revolutionary as it would have been had it been included in say, the 3.0 Player's Handbook.)

But the good news for gamers who think class roles are a straight-jacket is that according to the reports so far, class roles are less specialized. For example, in previous editions of Dungeons & Dragons, healing was mostly the expertise of divine spellcasters (plus the Bard). In 4E, every class has an ability to heal its wounds, but the Leader role of course does it better. So running around with that all-defender party is probably going to be more viable in 4E than it was in previous editions.

On Gleemax: Problems and Possible Solutions

Gleemax being in its alpha stage has a lot of problems, mostly dealing with navigation and user interface (UI). I'll be tackling what they are, suggestions how they can be improved, and what are "band-aids" or temporary solutions to them as of the present.

For the most part, Gleemax actually has a robust and unique programming behind it. Unfortunately, those two factors are insignificant if users can't navigate the site or utilize it to its full potential. The current Gleemax has two main sections: the forums and the blogs. The former is doing well as far as forums go. No breakthroughs in forum design but it's also perfectly servicable (and in fact is my preferred forum interface as far as tools are concerned). The blogs however is where everything collapses.

Navigation

The biggest problem of Gleemax is navigation. They can be described by the following:

1. Lack of aggregated posts aside from the front page. Honestly, aside from the main page where the general announcements are posted, how do I navigate the site or discover all the other blogs? It's not that Gleemax doesn't have good blogs but it has a problem of aggregating it.
2. The Monday - Friday Syndrome. This is a term I'm inventing. Right now, while there is some method of filtering posts (i.e. sorting them by board game, card game, reviews, etc.), what it lacks is a way to look at older posts: there is no "Older Posts" or "Previous" button. So theoretically, if I post an entry on Monday, somebody who checks the board only every Friday will never see my post because Gleemax only shows the 6 most recent posts in any one category (the only exception to this are the personal pages) and chances are, there are enough posts during Tuesday through Thursday so that by the time the Friday visitor checks, all traces of Monday posts are gone unless they're one of the chosen posts on the front page.
3. Lack of "Favorites List" support. Thankfully, Gleemax has a "Favorites List" to navigate and theoretically compile the blog entries that interests you. My main problem is that finding the "add to my favorites" button isn't readily apparent (and I can't seem to find it now) and finding my own favorites list is also quite a hassle (I just discovered I have to go to my own personal page to see it). (Edit: Found the Add Favorite button. Needs to be more visually apparent.)
4. Too many clicks. In most other blogs, it takes me anywhere from two to three clicks to get where I want to. In Livejournal, I just click on my Friends Page and I get to read all the blogs that I want. In other services like Wordpress or Blogger, I usually have a link on my blog and I click that link (click 1). I'm where I want to be. In some cases, if it's linking to an aggregation site like SF Signal, that's the second click arises. In Gleemax, from the main site, I have to click to my Personal Page (click 1). From there, click on somebody from my Favorites List (click 2). From the profile of anyone on my Favorites Lists, I have to choose a post and go to "Read More" (click 3). If I want to view his other blog entries, I'll have to go back and more clicking ensues. Honestly, some people are turned off with this as it takes too much effort than it needs to be.
5. Too many buttons in the wrong places. As I'm currently navigating through Gleemax, I'm finding that some of the solutions I want already exists in Gleemax. The problem is that the buttons that lead to those solutions are difficult to find and are scattered across different pages. A unified menu or navigation bar would be helpful, instead of finding a solution in page A, and then finding another solution in page B. Too many buttons also confuses users.

Current Solutions:

1. Because of the current problem with navigation, one of the more popular blogs are those that aggregate information. Users like Crazy_Monkey1956, Solice, and KJW are trying to compile a list of interesting blogs through entires like Monkey Monday News, Friday Favorites, and Great Reads respectively. Also, Wizards of the Coast has its own aggregated list of designer blogs and RSS feeds of the latest forum post but it's not on the Gleemax site: Community. This solves issues #1 - #4 but who's going to put up such blogs to expand those not covered by the already existing bloggers?
2. Stickied Table of Contents. It was Crazy_Monkey1956's idea to use this and it's a great idea. Make on sticky post on your blog and it links to all your other entries. This also solves the lack of readily apparent "Older Posts" on Gleemax. The bad news is that not every user will do this and worse, needs to be maintained (whenever you have a new post, you have to edit your sticky post). The truth of the matter is while this is a solution, this is more of damage control since dedicated blogging sites like Wordpress or Blogger does this automatically (they're called Archives, Tagging, etc.).

Patches to Hope for in the Future:

1. Place a link to the Community page at the front of the Gleemax site for God's sake. I mean you already have a working solution, you just need to integrate and promote it.
2. Add a "See Previous" button so that if I'm someone who checks the site only Fridays, I can actually find posts last Monday.
3. Better aggregation methods such as a Favorites List that mimics RSS Feeds or Friend's List (from Livejournal). (Edit: I found a similar feature in the Control Panel but this button needs to be more visible, not hidden!)
4. Ditch the "Read More" button in each member's profile page. Just show the posts in their entirety. Don't give us the trimmed-down version that forces us to hit the Read More button and takes us to a new page. Remember, the fewer clicks it takes to read something, the better.
5. Add a more visible "Add to My Favorites" button. Make it a mainstay in the menu, please! Make it big or an icon! There's already too much text on the personal profile pages that the Add Favorite link is camouflaged.
6. An RSS feed for the blogs. If people don't go to you, let your content go to them. Don't force them to go to your site and they'll naturally go to yours.

What They're Doing Right:

1. Recent Posts is actually a good section and enables users to discover and find new blogs. However, it is hampered by the fact that it only shows the most recent entries (giving birth to the Monday-Friday syndrome) and could use a better filtering system.
2. Sticky Posts are great since it gives at a glance the important entries a user wants to showcase.
3. Blog coding is done correctly. I can easily copy/paste my Blogger blog entry into my Gleemax blog entry.

What I'm Hoping for in the Future:

1. Better integration between the Forums and the Blogs (since they're still part of the Gleemax umbrella rather than a different section of the parent company). Having a Send Private Message button in one's Gleemax profile would be helpful for example instead of going to the forum and then clicking Private Messages. Also, finding the profile of a poster in the forums and finding the Add Favorite button to include them in my Favorites List for the blogs (remember, less clicks, better interface!).
2. A way to copy/paste my blog posts into forum posts and vice versa while retaining the formatting (links, font style, etc.). Granted, this is a tall order (since many have attempted this and none yet to perfect success) but it's something to aim for considering Gleemax is both a blogging and forums site.
3. Other blogging services such as the ability to upload photos, videos, sound clips, etc. without relying on external sites.

Blogging Content

In one of the message board threads, I mentioned one of the four possible blogs entries that will arise in Gleemax (if you have more to add, feel free to comment). I'll elaborate on them further here:

News/Aggregation Blogs:

These are blogs which typically links to other blogs/sites and reports on news. Examples of this are Monkey Monday News and my own Fiction/Writing and Tabletop RPG Podcasts. On one hand, "success" here is mentioned by how useful your news is, and how many people actually get to read it (mostly the former exists to draw in the latter). Feedback (i.e. comments) here isn't as readily important. I mean I really appreciate the "thank you for posting this" feedback but at the end of the day, that's probably the end of the discussion. People really won't debate why I am posting this or that or vehemently agree/disagree with my post. The most feedback one will probably get in such a site is why this news tidbit wasn't included or something. All News/Aggregation Blogs include some editorializing of some sort (in my case, the first paragraph of every post) but it is conceivable that some such blogs are hybrid blogs--that is they cover much editorial content. An example of this is a highly detailed tournament coverage blog. A strictly News/Aggregation Blog will just give you the score (i.e. Player X goes 2-1 against Player Y) but those that feature in-depth coverage usually throw in writing of their own and might generate feedback (i.e. "I don't think Player X should have done that..", etc.).

In the scale of popularity, News/Aggregation Blogs probably has the widest demographic as most people will have a use for it, even if they'll seldom comment on it. As far as interaction with the readers go, it's the least since it's not the type that generates debate (also the specific news/links it contains might generate debate). In Magic: The Gathering terms, News/Aggregation Blogs are like the Tutor cards or cards that retrieve cards from the Graveyard. In D&D terms, it's like the Limited Wish spell. They're not valuable in itself, but are valuable because of the subject matter they cover (rather than create). Without quality content from other sites, there is no point in having a News/Aggregation Blog because there is no such news to aggregate/cover.

Reviews Blog:

People usually tend to love reviews since it gives them a guideline as to whether to buy and support a product or not. What has changed with the Internet is that reviews aren't solely being written by people in the publishing industry but by anyone. Contrary to popular belief, I don't subscribe to the idea that there are inherently bad reviews and inherently good reviews (although I do believe in a well-written review and a not well-written review). There are simply reviews which are more similar or dissimilar to the tastes of the reader. So in many ways, the diversity of reviews works well. The problem will be finding a reviewer who has the closest approximation to your preferences and covers the particular product you're looking for (i.e. books, board games, card games, etc.). As far as demographic goes, in a perfect world, you'd have several reviewers each catering to a different niche in the market. For example, at ENWorld, we have John Cooper who gives "crunchy" bits in his RPG reviews, citing all the errors and unofficial errata he'd give to monster/NPC stats. Obviously, rules-intensive gamers will find such a review useful, while more streamlined or storytelling-orient ed gamers might prefer a different reviewer.

I'd think that each gamer will probably subscribe to one or two review blogs, but no one will really like read all the reviews that's published out there (although that is a possible idea for a News/Aggregation Blog). As far as interaction with readers go, it's flexible. I mean readers might ask questions to clarify certain opinions of the reviewer or flat-out praise him/her. On the other hand, if the reader has a different paradigm with the reviewer, he might complain about the review and antagonize the reviewer. (My advice there is that as a reader, find a reviewer that's more attuned to your tastes so that such debates don't occur! Or better yet, write your own review if you disagree so much.)

Game Report Blogs:

This is usually relegated to one's own personal experience, either a tournament they participated in or last Saturday's campaign session with your gaming group for the past 20 years. This is a precarious sort of blog because I think it's hard to get readers, at least as far as RPG sessions go. Have you ever heard of the statement that your campaign is interesting to you and your gaming group but not to other gaming groups? Well, that's true to a certain extent but that's not an absolute. Compelling writing or ideas might draw in other readers even if they're not part of your existing campaign (and might entice them to join yours). For example, I usually read Jeff's Gameblog and I think the guy carries the blog entries with his personality and unique preferences. Another time that Game Report Blogs might be popular is if you're covering a big event (i.e. D&D 4E Playtest, Pro Magic Tour, Gen Con, etc.) or if you're a celebrity (either a real celebrity, a game designer, or something interesting unique quality that keeps people hooked [The Wandering Men comes to mind]).

A segment of the gaming population that might be interested in such reading material are game designers who are interested in getting feedback with regards to playtesting about their games. Another hybrid might be Original Content that keeps the game report enticing. Examples of Original Content/Game Report hybrids are potential strategies one could have employed in D&D Miniatures. You're not only reporting about the tournament but giving feedback of your own on what should have been done or what could have been done. Aside from those factors, it's usually compelling writing, character, or some strange quality that will sustain your reading demographic. Otherwise, it's more of a private record for you and your gaming group.

Original Content Blogs:

This I think is why most people go to blogs--and generate much discussion (either positive or negative about them). Original Content I'll use very loosely. It can be anything from your own opinions on the industry (i.e. Ryan Dancey), musings on game design (or creating new "crunch" so to speak), or anything else in between (this very blog entry is an example). Honestly, the reason why I read blogs is for Original Content. And in many ways, most blogs incorporate Original Content in some way or the other--it's just that they're qualified by something. Reviews Blogs and Game Report Blogs are really narrow, focused Original Content Blogs with a particular theme or subject. I'd like to think however that the reason why people go to Gleemax is to find Original Content Blogs (and in fact many of the designer posts entries fall under this classification). This is also the most pivotal opportunity for blogger to interact with their readers. They can usually ask a question and receive feedback. Sometimes, they don't end with a question but readers will give them feedback either way, either agreeing/disagreein g with their point of view or point them to a related topic.

Gleemax has the potential to house gaming-related Original Content Blogs but the current problem that aside from the game designer blog entries, there's really no way of efficiently digging through the archives and finding the good original content blogs. It's not that I don't that they're not out there, but if one was ever written, it's damn difficult to sort them out from all the other posts.

Paizo Looking for the Next Game Designer

From Paizo

The competition starts October 31, 2007 on paizo.com

Paizo Publishing is proud to announce its new RPG design contest: RPG Superstar™. Starting at the end of October, paizo.com will host the first adventure game industry design contest voted on by the fans, aimed at finding the next hot new talent.

"With the end of the print editions of Dragon and Dungeon magazines, Paizo has lost a conduit to find new talent," said Lisa Stevens, CEO of Paizo Publishing, "so we decided to launch an RPG design contest similar to American Idol, giving unknown talent a chance to get noticed!"

Starting October 31, 2007, any eligible person will be able to submit an entry into the contest. For the open call, that entry will be a wondrous item using the 3.5 SRD. Each entry needs to be 200 words or less, and must include all of the proper mechanics and flavor. Judges will announce the top 32 entries on November 28; those contestants will advance to the first round of public voting, where they will be assigned a new design task, and their entries will be posted on paizo.com for the public to read, critique, and vote on. The designers garnering the most votes will continue to subsequent rounds, and the ultimate winner will earn a paid commission to write one of Paizo's upcoming GameMastery Modules!

Paizo has gathered together three judges to oversee the competition. Paizo's publisher, Erik Mona, will share the spotlight with fan–favorite author and Kobold Quarterly publisher Wolfgang Baur, and Necromancer Games' head honcho, Clark Peterson. Each round, the three judges will critique the entries before the public vote.

You heard that right—the fans themselves will decide which talented designers go on to the next round by casting a vote on paizo.com for their favorite contestant. Each round includes a 6–day window for fans to discuss the entries and cast their votes.

Complete rules are available at paizo.com/rpgsuperstar/rules. Answers to frequently asked questions about the competition, entering the contest and voting are at paizo.com/rpgsuperstar/faq.

Keith Strohm and 3E

Keith Strohm shares his thoughts on upcoming 4E D&D and reminisces working with 3E:

I believe the biggest challenge to the launch of 4E was the launch of D&D 3.5. In our original strategy, an update to 3rd Edition wasn't scheduled until 2005. In my opinion, based on what I know of the business and the customer base, I believe that 3.5 was launched too early, divided the network of D&D players, and may make a substantial portion of that network hesitant to upgrade their books again. A truly compelling 4th Edition will help minimize the negative effect of 3.5, however.

Podcasts for 2007/08/30

Because of the fickle whims of fate (I just thought of this up last Thursday), every Thursday I'll be giving podcast updates on the world of fiction/writing and tabletop RPGs. (And no, there's too much of those that I haven't had the time to listen to all of them!)

Fiction/Writing:

• The Agony Column has several news reports up: a short interview with bookseller Mark V. Ziesing and his wife on the business of bookselling (are books gathering dust?), another short interview with SF author Peter H. Hamilton and why he set up a commonwealth when he already had a perfectly good confederation, a conversation with Seana Graham, a contributor to Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet (a publication from Small Beer Press), and another quickie with Xialou Guo.
• Amazon.com's Wire Blog has an interview with William Gibson on Spook Country. (From SF Signal )
  
• More Agony Column interviews as Rick Kleffel talks with Kaui Hart Hemmings and Dr. Adrianne Ahern.
• The Survival Guide to Writing Fantasy has a repeat broadcast of DragonCon 2006 in preparation for DragonCon 2007 as well as their latest podcast entitled "Tough Love" which talks about receiving criticism.
• I Should Be Writing not only has her latest podcast up (which talks about writing advice) but also has an interview with Mercedes Lackey and Steve Libbey.
• The Penguin Podcast has an interview with Alexandra Koslow (Slacker Girl) and Ron Bliwas (The C Student's Guide to Success).
• Michael Stackpole has uploaded chapters fifteen and sixteen of Fortress Draconis.
  

Gaming:

• Gleemax has a post-Gen Con discussion as they interview Lisa Stevens and Erik Mona of Paizo Publishing and the Ultimate Gamer Test winners.
• Pulp Gamer has a live Gen Con podcast and they talk about the reception of podcasting during the con among other things. They also have an interview with Peter Adkison, and a recording of one of the Game Trade Show 2007 seminars as they give tips on how retailers can survive and thrive in the business.
• Various post-Gen Con news at Accidental Survivors but a good amount of time is spent on discussing mapmaking.
  
• More post-gen Con podcasting and a quick interview with Randy Beuhler and Gleemax himself (so that's what he sounds like!) over at Groovecast.
• Green Ronin interviews Russ Morrissey of Enworld and hosts a round-table discussion with various Mutants and Masterminds writers (bonus points if you get all the comic references!).
• The Tome interviews Wolfgang Baur.
• Canonpuncture has the first part of their post-Gen Con podcast.
• Gamer's Haven has a recording of Goodman Games's seminar (during Gen Con) How to Make Adventures that Don't Suck.
• The Gamer Traveler reminisces on the recently concluded Gen Con.
• Did I mention that that Have Games Will Travel won the golden Ennie for best podcasting? You know where this link leads to.
• Midnight's Lair has comments on various games.
• Son of Kryos interviews Paul Tevis, an Ennie winner.
• Theory from the Closet also has an interview with Paul Tevis and another one with Ryan Macklin of Master Plan (psst, you should stop interviewing your rivals! Unless it's an excuse to assassinate them!).
• All Games Considered covers MichCon.
• The Digital Front is a newly-established podcast and in their first episode, they give an introduction as well as an interview with Steve Wieck, co-owner of OneBookShelf.
• Fear the Boot rants and raves about a lot of things, including Gen Con.
• HeadGames Podcast has Origins interview with Mark Anticole and Aaron Kreader.
• Edit: Here's one tidbit I missed. The Voice of the Revolution tackles a post-Gen Con 2007 gaming world.
  

Check out last week's podcasts.

Rolling Dice is Half the Fun

My bibliophile blog entries done (it's hard when you don't have Internet), I'll be indulgent now and talk about tabletop RPGs. Now Dungeons & Dragons draws its roots from war gaming. Thus it's no surprise that a lot of D&D elements revolve around combat. That's not to say all games should follow that method. Last week we had an L5R session and there was absolutely no combat at all and I've played D&D games where we spend five hours role-playing and one-hour finishing a six-round combat encounter.

Of course one element many MMORPGs lack is that it's usually more focused on combat and less on roleplaying. Does that mean MMMORPGs trumps out tabletop RPGs when it comes to combat?

My personal take on it is that it's not. Tabletop combat is different from video game combat, and it's not just the myriad of options you have in the former (i.e. jumping off a ledge, grabbing the chandelier, and landing behind the enemy to stab him with Sneak Attack +4d6). I'm a video game enthusiast by heart. But it's a different experience when you're pressing controller buttons or clicking on the mouse. It's almost expected what the character's response is. Rolling dice, on the other hand, isn't just about luck but it gives players the illusion that they determine their fate. It's why some D&D gamers are so paranoid when it comes to their dice: they label them (i.e. "my lucky dice"), store them in "magic" bags, and don't allow other people to use their die. It's also why given the chance, players would rather roll the dice themselves to determine their fate rather than let the GM make the roll (of course given the choice between no dice roll or letting the GM roll, they'd choose the latter).

Let me tell you now: part of the fun in D&D combat is rolling dice. There's more activity in players than a simple mouse click. Personally, the best experience would probably be swinging the sword yourself (because I'm a sword guy... you can insert your weapon of choice whether it's a hammer, a bow, or a gun). Falling short of that, swinging a substitute (LARP and the Nintendo Wii controller comes to mind). When that's not possible, we go to another substitute which simulates the fickleness of combat, and that's usually dice (but there are other substitutes such as a spinwheel, a game of rock-paper-scissors, etc.). Only when that's not available do people settle for something virtual such as MMORPGs.

I think the best example to show this is the difference in critical hits. In a tabletop game, critical hits (unless made on creatures immune to critical hits but even then, the joy of rolling a 20!) is cause for much celebration and excitement. There's shouting involved and even after say, ten years of gaming, it's still there. In World of Warcraft, the game still has critical hits. Perhaps you'll silently say a prayer of thanks when it happens. Eventually though, it becomes mundane. You're half expecting it whenever you make an attack. The opposite is also true. When you "miss" in World of Warcraft, you're thinking it's the miss chance or evasion. In D&D, gamers have a different experience when they roll a 1 compared to rolling a 5 on the d20, even if both would result in failure. The latter is tolerable while the former is just ghastly (so much so that many GMs have rules for critical failure).

Now in reality, the chances of critical hits or failures might be the same but it's all about the illusion of control. When you're playing tabletop games, players have a distinct feeling that they determine their fate. That's still the case when it comes to video games (and it is a matter of skill) but it's filtered through your keyboard/mouse/control pad. It's like the difference between experiencing an event yourself and hearing about it--both might relate the same story but it's definitely a different experience. Then again, it just might be the frequency. MMMORPGs are essentially gaming-on-demand while tabletop RPGs require more planning and scheduling and doesn't necessarily last as long.

Podcasts Weekly 2007/08/23

In the strange way my mind works, Wade Rockett made a comment to my plug and it got me thinking: is there a site that compiles the various Podcasts? I'm not talking about iTunes in which you're subscribed to Podcasts but more like SF Signal or even Enworld in which they have a regular list of links and a brief description of them pertaining to their particular field... except it's podcasts.

For example, if I were to summarize this week's podcasts, it'd go something like this (of course in no way am I an expert in Podcasting):

Writing/Fiction:

• Rick Kleffel of The Agony Column interviews William Gibson and talks about his new book, Spook Country.
• The Penguin Podcast likewise has an interview with William Gibson (from SF Signal).
• EDIT: More Gibson at Boing Boing (from SF Signal)..
  
• Ben Vincent from Storytellers Unplugged talks about critique groups and how it's helped him (and not helped him) write.
• Mur Lafferty of I Should Be Writing gives us his regular dose.
• The Survival Guide to Writing Fantasy breaks from its norm with Flash Gordon.
• Writers Talking discuss setting up schedules and rituals.
• Writing for Pay has part 2 with Wolfgang Baur who talks about a different kind of self-publishing.

RPG Gaming

• Gamer Radio Zero at Gleemax gives us the inside scoop about 4th Ed as he talks with some of the game's designers.
• The Tome gives us the initial announcement of 4th Ed during GenCon.
• Dave Noonan and Mike Mearls at the D&D Podcast talk about 4th Ed without discussing the mechanics of the game.
• Writing for Pay has part 2 with Wolfgang Baur who talks more about Open Design, Kobold Quarterly, and breaking into the gaming industry.
  
• As expected, more 4th Ed coverage from Pulp Gamer as they interview Scott Rouse and Bill Slavicsek.
  

Post Gen Con 4th Ed Musings

I wish I was at Gen Con last weeks but alas, I'm truly a third-world citizen. Anyway, the biggest news is that 4th Edition will be out next year and as can be expected, there have been mixed reactions. When I told my gaming group the news last weekend, I got everything from "you're kidding me?" to "I'm keeping 3.5!". One even told me that was quick but I rebutted that 3.0 was released in 2000 so it's much more of "we're old and time flies quickly" rather than something akin to a patch update of a MMORPG. But what does the future have in store for D&D?

Perhaps I qualify my musings with post-Gen Con because the actual product is not yet out and while there are promises of what features will be included and what won't be included, only time will tell if these promises meet expectations, and I expect there'll be some take-backs and modifications as we get closer to the release date.

For the most part, I see the new edition as a positive change. I'm not adverse to changing editions as long as there's a significant improvement. I don't think you can build the perfect game but I do think you can always improve on what's been done before.

I think the online interface is great. I think most people assume that D&D will now require online access but that's not really the case. As revolutionary as integrating D&D with online gaming (in general, rather than MMORPGs) is, it's happened before, everything from play-by-emails to to play-by-posts to a simple chat program. What it does right however is that it makes it easier to do so, providing all the tools in one place and even a virtual battle mat. Don't think of it as the game requiring computers but rather if you have a computer, you can play the game. Board games have had this model for quite some time, with some games like Settlers of Catan and Ticket to Ride or hell, Monopoly, having online incarnations. By no means does it spell the doom of the tabletop board game and even when playing online, it essentially remains the same game as if you'd play it on the tabletop. More importantly, I think the best part of all of this is that it brings in new blood (more so than retaining the old one which is a part many traditional RPG gamers are more concerned about) as well as giving an opportunity for old ones to reunite with old gaming groups (no more settling for play-by-emails!). I think Ryan Dancey said it best in his recent essays of redefining the genre:

(As always, I note that there will be a community of people who will play their favorite game exactly as they played it when they learned it, regardless of what happens to the rest of the world. As time progresses, those people tend to disconnect from the larger player network, becoming isolated islands. The ability of such groups to survive revolves around their ability to recruit new members as attrition causes older members to leave; so do, some do not. Those people and those groups won’t be much affected by anything that I’ve described in this series of posts, or anything that happens elsewhere in the hobby either. Please don’t take offense if you’re one of these people or play in one of these groups -- I think there’s nothing wrong with doing what you’re doing so long as you enjoy it.)

Personally, I think the Digital Initiative is great on the business side of things. It adds an financial element that wasn't pre-dominant in the old RPG model of business: consistent cashflow. Many games follow the formula of deriving income from products sold. MMORPGs have the advantage of aside from selling the actual product, they also receive income from subscriptions which in turn fuel future development and maintaining the servers. We also see that business paradigm in many modern commodities such as food (you're not going to buy food just once in your life after all), toiletries, and even printer inks. For quite some time, RPGs lacked that product vehicle which miniatures and Dungeon Tiles addressed (well, that and dice).

Of course many gamers tout that the biggest advantage of tabletop RPGs is that all you need to play the game are the books and your imagination. In many ways, that's still true. But the Digital Initiative, I think, gives you additional value in the event that you do want to spend more money on the game. And I think anything past 3rd Edition behaves quite differently from the previous editions simply because there was continuous support of the game beyond the conventions (which has its own money-generating mechanisms in play) or the magazines (which costs money too) such as the Wizards of the Coast website and forums (which honestly doesn't cost you anything and isn't asking you for contributions). So in many ways, I do think 4th Edition is a business solution as much as it is a gamer solution.

That's not to say everything in 4th Ed is perfect on the side of gamers. I think the character generator is a great idea, especially the ability to create your own personal avatars. However, I don't think it'll be as popular as say, the avatars generated from The Simpsons Movie website, mainly because they're quite generic and lack that distinctive art of someone like say, Kyle Hunter (now I'm not saying Wizards of the Coast should hire Kyle Hunter--as much as I love the guy's art, I don't think every gamer much less every person will want D&D to be synonymous with his artwork and there's just that lack of cultural acceptance that pervades something as huge as The Simpsons). I like the fact that you can input a specific code into the site so that when you buy the book, you have access to an online version of the book and more importantly, add the book's data into your set of online options. Unfortunately, it also means that if you're going to use the online tools of the Digital Initiative, you need to own the book. The "one guy in the gaming group owns the book" mentality is gone, at least if you're using the online tools. But then again, there's similarly no real remedy for that mainly because I think to maximize the Digital Initiative, that means playing with various gaming groups online and obviously, not everyone will have access to the books one gaming group has. So the best solution really is that if you want to use this option, you have to own the book (of course it similarly brings up problems that if the player owns the book but the GM doesn't but can easily be remedied by the GM not allowing that particular gaming option). There's also the price point of the DND Insider--$9.99 is actually great value for what it's providing but obviously, not everyone will be utilizing its services. Sure, players might love the online Dragon magazine but will they similarly be interested in Dungeon (or should they be reading it in the first place)? Are the other features such as online play be enough to part with $9.99 a month?

What I like about 4th Ed however is that it is definitely learning from its mistakes and building a better machine. The Player's Handbook for example looks interesting, not just because it's a new edition but it actually has the magic items in it. I mean I've seen many players purchase The Dungeon Master's Guide in addition to The Player's Handbook simply because all the loot they want to equip their characters with is in the former book. At least as far as 4th Ed is concerned, if you're the player, it looks like the only investment you'll really need is The Player's Handbook.

I also like how they're rebuilding spellcasting in general. The need to "rest and recharge" I think is a holdover from the previous editions and while more traditional gamers will eschew the new system that might be implemented, I think the newer system is superior in terms of sustaining the spirit of adventure and exploration. The same goes for giving non-spellcasters a different power source, giving Fighters more than just the option to attack. And that's just the tip of the iceberg: there's ditching the XP magic-item creation system, racial levels that coincide with regular levels, lack of dead levels, etc.

One definite concern I do have is how far along the development is the game. I mean if it's going to be released in May 2008, everything should be hammered down by the end of the year (you have to take into account the printing schedule). If everything isn't completed yet, I'd want a Blizzard more than any other game company. I mean I think a weakness of 3.0 Player's Handbook was that it was released before it was fully playtested or incorporated the two other books (Dungeon Master's Guide and Monster's Manual). Perhaps given a few more months, all three books might have been tighter (and some might theorize we wouldn't even have 3.5 but I think 3.5 would have arisen anyway, either as 4th Edition or its current mid-transition release). So hopefully when the 4th Ed books do get released, I hope it's cleaner than what was done in the previous edition.

At the very least, 4th Ed is an interesting phenomenon to me not only as a gamer, but as a bibliophile. The merging of print and online technology for example has yet to be fully realized and Wizards of the Coast is definitely taking one of the pioneering steps.

D&D 4th Ed. Videos

• Part 1
• Part 2
• D&D Insider
• Humorous History of D&D
• Bonus: InQuest Gamer feature
  

D&D 4th Ed.

The video game Pokemon surprised everyone because it was a sleeper hit. Instead of selling huge quantities in the initial month it was released, it became a success by consistency, moving a good number of units every single month. It was only months later that people realize, hey, we have a best-selling game on our hands!

Now what does this have to do with D&D 4th Ed.? The core books of D&D pretty much follows that model. These days, both D&D and Pokemon sell quite well upon the initial release, but a lot of stock is nonetheless moved over the period of months and even years. It's no secret (but unfortunately many retailers and bookstores aren't aware of) that the best-selling D&D books are the core books. Unfortunately, one can't come out with core books on a regular basis. In order to release the core books, you need to have a new edition. D&D 3.0 got away with releasing D&D 3.5 but I think that's the exception rather than the norm (or even what should be the standard for a release). So over the span of roughly three decades, we've had three editions of D&D. And the 4th one has just been announced (to the point that Wizards of the Coast and Enworld are down probably due to the consumption of so much bandwidth) and it's easily the biggest news in gaming history (dwarfing the events that have transpired in the past few months, such as the cancellation of Dragon and Dungeon magazine). Meanwhile, you can check out the Podcast at Gleemax.

I'm sure gamers have mixed feelings about this event. Bookstores, comic shops, and game retailers will be rejoicing however. Here's a set of RPG books (and not just one) that will sell! And most likely, the initial supplements/accessories (adventures, character sheets, etc.) will sell well too. By no means will it be matching the likes of Harry Potter, but guaranteed sales is guaranteed sales nonetheless. So here's the hint to game stores and bookstores: place your orders on the D&D 4th Ed. Core Books.

The Philippine setting, however, will be hard to predict. I buy D&D books but I've also seen majority of gamers depend on pirated PDFs for their gaming material. So whether they'll go out and buy the new core books remains to be seen. I'm not saying no one will buy 'em. Some dedicated gamers will (and at the very least, you can count me as one of the folk who'll be buying the core books). It's just that some gamers won't vote with their wallet but with their bandwidth, downloading those illegally scanned PDFs. Now I'm not condemning those who scan the books--I make use of them too as I fight it easier to browse material on the computer rather than the book on my lap. I'm just disappointed several gamers will not support the gaming companies by not paying for the actual product.

Spot the D&D Geek!

Owen Stephens has an interesting anecdote on the countdown to GenCon:

I have often observed that gamers seem to come in about 12 models, with individuals no more than variations on those Zodiacal themes. I had not realized how easily we can identify one another on our annual Hajira. In Chicago, I was outed by no less than six people at a single Gate, and found myself able to pick others out of the crowd as well.

Books are a good clue. T-shirts are more common, but books are more sure. If you’re waiting for a connecting flight to Indianapolis on (sm)Ash Wednesday, and you spot a man reading Jordan, Martin or Zelazny, you have found a gamer. Others are common as well, such as Stirling, Brooks, and Stackpole. And of course an Eberron or Mechwarrior book is a dead giveaway.

Clive Cussler is not a secret sign of our order. Don’t be fooled.

What can I say, you can identify people by the books they read! In the meantime, I paid a visit to the Wizards of the Coast website today but failed to realize the implications. I guess I'm a 4th Ed. skeptic (it's not that I don't think 4th Ed will arrive, but rather like death: you don't expect he's gunning for you today).