In a bit of surprising news Monte Cook announced he was leaving Wizards of the Coast and would no longer be participating the DnDNext effort. Monte has been in the RPG business for a long time and was actually employed by TSR in the halcyon days of ADnD and DnD3.0. He has been involved in other RPG projects in the years since then including the roll-out of Pathfinder. He was brought back in to the DnD fold to help build that bridge between the previous versions and it's current form, a stated goal of the DnDNext project.
So where does that leave DnDNext? As a follow-up to the Monte Cook announcement Wizards announced that the general playtest for DnDNext would begin on May 24. Wizards has done several large playtests already, and even though any in-depth conversation concerning the playtest was not allowed by an NDA, the general response provided to the playtest has been very positive. I am excited and curious to see what Wizards has in mind for us. Have you signed up for the playtest (here)?
And yes, speaking of curious, yes, it is curious that both of the announcements were timed such as they were. I suppose it is none of my business, and I do assume the whole story will come out someday, but there are just sometimes I wish I could be a fly on the wall when these discussions take place.
And then as soon as I originally posted the above, I came across this and this. Not only are the DnD3.5 PHB and DMG apparently being re-released, they are errata'd versions as well, not just reprints. At least I am assuming ... the release date is September of this year, and the respective titles include the phrase "with errata." I couldn't find these items on Amazon for what it's worth. I guess if Wizards was going to re-release the original DnD 1st Edition books then why not release these as well.
Update: As Clyde mentioned in the comments besides the two DnD 3.5 updates a re-release of the 1975 version of the Dungeons and Dragons board game has also been advertised for release this fall (Amazon link here). But never mind, it's apparently an elaborate and clever hoax (enworld link here). I couldn't find anything on the Wizards site - either an announcement of future products nor a refutation of the announced items. These announcements sparked a great deal of interest in the DnD community though, but if Wizards really doesn't already have these in the hopper I don't think they are going to drop everything they are doing just to throw these out there. But it should give them something to think about.
And then as soon as I originally posted the above, I came across this and this. Not only are the DnD3.5 PHB and DMG apparently being re-released, they are errata'd versions as well, not just reprints. At least I am assuming ... the release date is September of this year, and the respective titles include the phrase "with errata." I couldn't find these items on Amazon for what it's worth. I guess if Wizards was going to re-release the original DnD 1st Edition books then why not release these as well.
Update: As Clyde mentioned in the comments besides the two DnD 3.5 updates a re-release of the 1975 version of the Dungeons and Dragons board game has also been advertised for release this fall (Amazon link here). But never mind, it's apparently an elaborate and clever hoax (enworld link here). I couldn't find anything on the Wizards site - either an announcement of future products nor a refutation of the announced items. These announcements sparked a great deal of interest in the DnD community though, but if Wizards really doesn't already have these in the hopper I don't think they are going to drop everything they are doing just to throw these out there. But it should give them something to think about.
Barnes and Noble also has a re-issue of the DUNGEON boardgame (first released mid-70s) listed for October of this year, my Spidy-sense is saying this may be just a money grab until D&D Next is ready.
ReplyDeleteI havent made up my mind as to rather Monte leaving is a good, bad, or indifferent thing. When I was at D&D XP earlier this year, I had played in one of the first playtests of Next and afterwards had the chance to sit-in on a discussion that Monte, Mike Mearls, and one other gentleman was having, all 3 where pumped and very enthusiastic about Next. Makes me wonder WTH happened that he felt he needed to walk away.