None here in CT yet, but Hasbro tends to have their products in our stores LAST.

I know this being a Transformers fan.  First store bought toys show up everywhere else a good MONTH or two before we see them.

Quote from: Seanchai;408480Tonight or tomorrow, I plan on visiting Target. I'll see if it's in a store there as well...

Target was a bust. I looked in the card section, which sold Magic, and their toy section, which had another Magic section, but no Red Box.

Perhaps the store I visited isn't in enough of an upscale neighborhood.

Seanchai

On the news front, this month's Ampersand column on DDi has a preview of the Essentials Ranger, which I am reading now.

The Ranger is both martial AND primal, marking this as the return of the magic wielding Ranger of old.

Quote from: Shazbot79;408566On the news front, this month's Ampersand column on DDi has a preview of the Essentials Ranger, which I am reading now.

The Ranger is both martial AND primal, marking this as the return of the magic wielding Ranger of old.

It's a different type of magic though. It blends well with the ranger archetype, IMO. Which makes me think... all Hunters are archers. It's interesting. No Drizzt dual-wielding rangers in Essentials?

Quote from: Benoist;408568It's a different type of magic though. It blends well with the ranger archetype, IMO. Which makes me think... all Hunters are archers. It's interesting. No Drizzt dual-wielding rangers in Essentials?

The Essentials Ranger is getting two sub-classes much like the Knight and Slayer in Heroes of Fallen Kingdoms.

The Hunter is a controller, which is archery based.

The Scout is a melee based striker, Ala' Drizzt.

Introductory level crap is still crap.

Quote from: Shazbot79;408570The Essentials Ranger is getting two sub-classes much like the Knight and Slayer in Heroes of Fallen Kingdoms.

Fallen Lands, you mean.

Forgotten Kingdoms is the other one.

Quote from: Shazbot79;408570The Hunter is a controller, which is archery based.

The Scout is a melee based striker, Ala' Drizzt.

Sounds cool. I like the non-sucky names of the "classes", by the way.

Quote from: Benoist;408574Fallen Lands, you mean.

Forgotten Kingdoms is the other one.

Who can tell anymore???

I wonder what classes will be in "Heroes of the Fragrant Aftershave"?

Quote from: Benoist;408574Sounds cool. I like the non-sucky names of the "classes", by the way.

You mean names like "Knight" and "Slayer" instead of "Shieldwarden" and "Bloodsword"?

Or "Scout" and "Hunter" instead of "Treeblade" and "Arrowshoot"?

I agree. I think that class names should be iconic to the archetype, and contain no more than 3 syllables. ; )

So far, people mostly agree here that it's a good entry-level product, even if many of us don't like 4th Ed. all that much. If something is going to be effective as an entry-level product, then it has to be available to people who are not gamers. And lo and behold:

Quote from: Seanchai;408330Guess what was sitting on the shelf - actual physical copies! - at the Wal-Mart last night? The Red Box!

Seanchai

Quote from: RPGPundit;408441Available at Target is the most significant thing there.

RPGPundit

That more or less seals it. These are stores that have up to a thousand or more customers on a daily basis, stores where people try to go to as a one-stop shop for everything. I bought my first ed. AD&D PHB at a chain book store in the local shopping mall, and my first ed. AD&D World Of Grayhawk  boxed set at a Toys R'Us. If new people are going to find their way into the hobby, then maybe this is a good development. Sure, it's 4th ed., but if only 10% of the people who get into D&D from buying it at Wal Mart end up playing something else, supporting their FLGS, going to local cons, and posting to forums like this one, then the Red Box will have done its service to the community.

Just because it's on the shelves doesn't mean people are buying it. Same goes for any book in a store. Most of them fail, 5-10% of books subsidise the rest.

We can't conclude from its presence on the shelves that it's being bought, we'd have to hear from a bookstore owner.

Quote from: RPGPundit;408441Of these, only the last is of any real significance. And yes, Available at Target is the most significant thing there. If it really is, then THAT is a huge development.

I wonder why no one wonders why that "TV ad" is made up from footage from a 4 year old, fan made video homage to old school D&D, one which was also discussed here on theRPGsite.

World of Adventure

Somehow I can't believe that this is an official WotC TV ad. Apparently this ad was made by this site. So we don't know if the "Also available at Target" bit is just a homage to older TV and print ads...

Quote from: Shazbot79;408576Who can tell anymore???

I wonder what classes will be in "Heroes of the Fragrant Aftershave"?

LOL I agree. The "Heroes of ..." titles suck. They are not indicative of what they actually do in the Essentials line, and they add to the overall confusion of what Essentials is and isn't. Sure, "Player's Handbook" isn't the flashiest title one could come up with, but it does what it says it does. There could have been a variant title like "DM's Kit" is to "DMG" or "Monster Vault" to "MM".

Quote from: Shazbot79;408576You mean names like "Knight" and "Slayer" instead of "Shieldwarden" and "Bloodsword"?

Or "Scout" and "Hunter" instead of "Treeblade" and "Arrowshoot"?

I agree. I think that class names should be iconic to the archetype, and contain no more than 3 syllables. ; )

That's -exactly- what I mean, yes.

Quote from: Dirk Remmecke;408612I wonder why no one wonders why that "TV ad" is made up from footage from a 4 year old, fan made video homage to old school D&D, one which was also discussed here on theRPGsite.

World of Adventure

Somehow I can't believe that this is an official WotC TV ad. Apparently this ad was made by this site. So we don't know if the "Also available at Target" bit is just a homage to older TV and print ads...

Hmm, good catch. I have to admit that I got fooled.

RPGpundit