A presentation of the D&D Essentials DM Kit on YouTube. Have a look:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHlIAPtdirY

Cool.  Thanks.

I'm still on the fence on this.

Whether it will be a worthwhile purchase for me, will be dependent on what is in the DM book which comes with this box set.  It will have to be more than just mapping out Fallcrest.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuv6HKeJs0w

their store is outstanding! wish we had one like that.

Con: him saying (@4:00) "WOTC wants us to charge some kind of fee to come down here to play D&D Encounters"  really?!  hadn't heard of that, but great move WOTC. :\

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuv6HKeJs0w  

swoon...i want a store like this in my town.

Quote from: ggroy;402200Cool.  Thanks.

I'm still on the fence on this.

Whether it will be a worthwhile purchase for me, will be dependent on what is in the DM book which comes with this box set.  It will have to be more than just mapping out Fallcrest.

The DM's Kit is basically the DMG.
The Monster Vault is the MM.
The Heroes of... books are the PHBs.

All this minus the actual core of the game system, i.e. the combat chapter, for instance, maybe skill challenges too, i.e. how all the game elements come together and the game mechanics actually work, which is all contained in the Rules Compendium.

There are still some grey areas as to what exactly will go where, but the products' concepts seem to be well-defined to me. I don't know what all the confusion I see on the big purple and ENW is all about?

Quote from: kregmosier;402206http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuv6HKeJs0w  

swoon...i want a store like this in my town.

Dude. That's a cool store. And the guys seem really nice, too.

PS: JESUS! The number of game tables! How many customers do these guys HAVE?!

If the DM kit book ends up being largely a reprint of the 4E DMG1 and not much new stuff, then I'll probably skip it this time around.

Quote from: Benoist;402218PS: JESUS! The number of game tables! How many customers do these guys HAVE?!

Good question.  It looks like the store is in a nondescript suburb of Nashville, Tennessee.

Wonder if they're getting a good deal on the rent for such a location.

Quote from: Benoist;402218PS: JESUS! The number of game tables! How many customers do these guys HAVE?!

It is an impressive set-up; the most tables I've seen prior to this was at the shop I went to in San Diego. Their website says they moved there in March, so only time will tell if the gamble of moving into such a large space pans out. I hope it does.

The Rules Compendium's TOC:

Table of Contents (in brief)

Introduction (pg 5)
Chapter 1 The Basics (pg19)
Chapter 2 Adventurers and Monsters (pg59) (on page 74 they start the character creation rules)
Chapter 3 Understanding Powers (pg 89)
Chapter 4 Skills (pg123) (this includes skill checks and skill challenges)
Chapter 5 Exploration and the Environment (pg165)
Chapter 6 Combat (pg187)
Chapter 7 Equipment (pg263)
Appendix 1 Building a Combat Encounter (pg285)
Appendix 2 Rewards (pg289)
Appendix 3 Terrain Features (pg303)
Glossary (pg308)
Index (pg318)

From there.

That GM screen looks really flimsy to me.

Quote from: Insufficient Metal;402264That GM screen looks really flimsy to me.

It's highly portable though, as is the DM book. That seems to be a major selling point to me as regards extant players. I did notice, though, that one corner of the screen seemed slightly damaged, even though the guy had just lifted it from the box.

As for the product itself... it's the most expensive of the three boxes (esp. here in Germany), and not enough to warrant the purchase as far as I'm concerned.

That said, that second battlemap as shown in the OP's video got to be the *prettiest* WotC has done so far.

Quote from: BenoistThere are still some grey areas as to what exactly will go where, but the products' concepts seem to be well-defined to me. I don't know what all the confusion I see on the big purple and ENW is all about?

Confusion in this case comes from the company sending contradictory signals. They keep saying that it's not a rules revision, which in turn spreads fear, uncertainty, and doubt. If the DM Kit is essentially the DMG, but it's not a revision of the DMG, what exactly is it?

It's a pretty good question, but just looking at the product it seems pretty clear. The DM Kit is a Revised 4th edition DMG. But for some reason they don't want to be on record admitting that. And when you insist that ducks are not ducks, the plebeians get restless and fearful.

-Frank

Quote from: FrankTrollman;402390Confusion in this case comes from the company sending contradictory signals. They keep saying that it's not a rules revision, which in turn spreads fear, uncertainty, and doubt. If the DM Kit is essentially the DMG, but it's not a revision of the DMG, what exactly is it?

It's a pretty good question, but just looking at the product it seems pretty clear. The DM Kit is a Revised 4th edition DMG. But for some reason they don't want to be on record admitting that. And when you insist that ducks are not ducks, the plebeians get restless and fearful.

-Frank

Spreading fear, uncertainty, and doubt (and outright misinformation and negativity) has been Frank Trollman'smodus operandi from the beginning. "It's 4.5!" is an example of a FUD argument. "The End of 4e D&D" is a FUD argument. "It's a boardgame" is a FUD argument. "It's a videogame" is a FUD argument. "Now you'll be forced to buy a new edition" is a FUD argument. "Wizards is screwing you over again!" is a FUD argument. The entire point of spreading fear, uncertainty, and doubt is to get people not to play.

By contrast, creating a beginners supplement line to 4e and outright saying that's exactly what it is? That's not a FUD argument. And now everyone can see the video, and preview copies are already sort of making their way around, the red box is already for sale, and in a few weeks everyone will have figured this out. By that time everyone is going to be pretending we didn't have these delightful conversations.

The test will come when those who played with the core books sit down at the same table with those who only have Essentials and they feel they playing the same game. If they start going "no it this way in my rulebook" for stuff outside of a person's class then it is a edition change although one on the order of 3.0 to 3.5. If that not the case then it just a lot of hot air blowing around the internet.

My concern is that how much errata is already floating around for 4e whether that errata in of itself can be considered a 4.5. I am reading over on http://rpg.stackexchange.com of people wanting to revise the monsters in MMI to the standards of the MMIII because of some problem with the numbers making MMI (and MMII) monsters underpowered. Along with other errata like the various revisions to Skill challenges.

I seen in games like Star Fleet Battles, Battletech, Traveller (various editions), too much errata carries all the problems of minor editions changes. In effect those playing with errata are playing a different game then those without.