Quote from: Lynn;753158There was a major downside though to downloadable updates - it made it less expensive to ship less stable, buggy products to begin with.

I've spent time working in the software industry, and I completely agree. It's even worse when the same happens with a physical product (again, see 4e Skill Challenges).

Quote from: RPGPundit;753000SYes, there will be a Basic D&D.
But its more than just that. It will be on a PDF.  It will be FREE.  And most importantly, it will be the true Core D&D.   ...omitted detail...

This is hugely significant. This is the victory of Old-school thinking over all else, and I don't mind if I take more than a little credit for the lobbying I have done to create and hold this vision as a Consultant.

You're all welcome.

It is also an incredibly bold move for Wizards to make.

Good call. ...and Thank You. It is the first good strategic move I've seen WOTC make since Hasbro bought them out. Not so bold, ...very much common sense though... getting the rules into the hands of your GMs.

I'm a dead tree guy. I'll take the free PDF, of course, however would not mind a printed hardback edition of the new D&D Basic rules as well, ...and quite willing to pay cash for that.

Maybe this is why they didn't print the Rules Cyclopedia.

A tip of the cap to the Pundit. I hope tonight's final smoke is particularly satisfying.

Quote from: Bobloblah;753061Same here, but I think that mindset changed with the proliferation of regularly updated software. People view errata very differently now.

And regularly updating software has done tremendous damage to video games (although admittedly for slightly different reasons).

It goes to the other point raised about software: the ability to update has somehow made it okay to release buggy or even non-functional software.

Quote from: Brad;753117I'm just waiting for this thread to devolve into "print vs. PDF" and being told I'm a narrow-minded bigot for preferring a wretched, environmentally unfriendly option.

If you like, I can call you names. But I really don't care how you use your own money and other resources because I'm not a weedy little patchouli-tainted Hitler.

Back on topic, I took a leap of faith and decided just to believe the Pundit when he said it was good. And now I am rewarded and will do so again in the future.

Quote from: Bobloblah;753230It goes to the other point raised about software: the ability to update has somehow made it okay to release buggy or even non-functional software.

No dude.  That's not bugs. It's in beta. Don't worry. They'll be releasing the Deluxe Gold version later in the year for only 20% more than what you paid for the beta version.

Quote from: Bobloblah;753230It goes to the other point raised about software: the ability to update has somehow made it okay to release buggy or even non-functional software.

Yep, anyone who has ever excused something shitty in a game because "it'll be patched" ought to be horsewhipped.

Quote from: Piestrio;753245Yep, anyone who has ever excused something shitty in a game because "it'll be patched" ought to be horsewhipped.

This.

Quote from: Werekoala;753247This.

What really gets me is how absolutly normal everyone thinks this is. Reviewers regularly give glowing reviews to games with pretty serious flaws because "everyone knows" patches will fix everything.

And dare critique a game honestly based on the product paid for and you'll feel the full weight of online nerdrage.

Quote from: Piestrio;753248What really gets me is how absolutly normal everyone thinks this is. Reviewers regularly give glowing reviews to games with pretty serious flaws because "everyone knows" patches will fix everything.

And dare critique a game honestly based on the product paid for and you'll feel the full weight of online nerdrage.

Poor quality is not normal here. So the reviews are no good then? I don't buy too many electronic games because of this, unless of course, I get the chance to put the game through it's paces first.

ALL HAIL THE NEW PANTHEON OF D&D...
...Gygax, Arneson and Pundit!!!

Okay kids, let's all make sure what we are bowing down to.

The gonna-save-the-hobby 5e PDF offers the bare bones of 5e...BUT that pittance is somehow BETTER compared to massive 3e D20 SRD or the more massive Pathfinder SRD which encompasses a stack of books, or the RQ SRD, or the Traveller SRD or the PDFs for a dozen OSR games which contain their complete game???

Don't get me wrong. Free shit is good marketing. All those actions did create some customers, but nothing earth shaking. However, we are now we supposed to believe the 5e sampler pack PDF is really going to ignite a revolution when whole entire games in PDF did not.

If putting up free PDFs on the web = creates tons of new players, I'd have a lot easier time recruiting for a Mazes & Minotaurs campaign.

Quote from: JamesV;753216A tip of the cap to the Pundit. I hope tonight's final smoke is particularly satisfying.

Tastes like... victory.

Quote from: Spinachcat;753285The gonna-save-the-hobby 5e PDF offers the bare bones of 5e...BUT that pittance is somehow BETTER compared to massive 3e D20 SRD or the more massive Pathfinder SRD which encompasses a stack of books, or the RQ SRD, or the Traveller SRD or the PDFs for a dozen OSR games which contain their complete game???

The biggest difference I see is that an SRD isn't really a game. It's a reference compilation for rules.

If the D&D basic rules are formatted like an actual game then it'll be heads and tales better than an SRD.