| Author |
 Topic  |
|
Lord Karsus
Great Reader
USA
3768 Posts |
 Posted - 05 Apr 2012 : 01:44:45
|
-In the typical month, how many articles are there in general (DRAGON, DUNGEON, and whatever other generic things)? Of those, on average, how many are Forgotten Realms?
-Online stuff is the key to the future of the Forgotten Realms, if you ask me. Especially if they're going to keep the primarily one DM book/one PC book format, with tidbits and pieces here and there. |
(A Tri-Partite Arcanist Who Has Forgotten More Than Most Will Ever Know) |
 |
|
|
Ayrik
Great Reader
Canada
8067 Posts |
Posted - 05 Apr 2012 : 04:11:29
|
I agree that online stuff is the key to a vital Realms. But I'm not personally convinced that it's good for that key to only open locked content from one official source. An "Open Realms License" would be an ideal way to embrace and encourage a vital setting, while a corporate snowglobe approach will never produce anything more than a overpriced junky interesting novelty which ultimately looks pretty much exactly like every other setting in a snowglobe.
There are schisms in the fanon, and people will stubbornly insist on maintaining irrepairable rifts divided by canon while rejecting this-or-that definition of a "Shattered Realms", every one of those paths is an island isolated from all subsequent canon, a dead-end fallen off the corporate grid. Fans and customers who are lost forever. I suggest smashing the snowglobe to release a setting which will grow exponentially like a multi-headed hydra, unpredictable and difficult to control, yet also vibrant and robust. Be greedy and eat the whole pie then starve, or share and get a smaller piece of a much larger pie, the future of the Realms is indeed online, and people will be producing and consuming Realmslore, the question is only where Wizbro wants to position itself in that future. |
[/Ayrik] |
Edited by - Ayrik on 05 Apr 2012 04:24:34 |
|
|
|
Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36998 Posts |
Posted - 05 Apr 2012 : 04:45:41
|
quote:
Originally posted by Lord Karsus
-Online stuff is the key to the future of the Forgotten Realms, if you ask me. Especially if they're going to keep the primarily one DM book/one PC book format, with tidbits and pieces here and there.
I just hope they move away from the "buy everything or nothing!" format they currently have for online content. Since I don't want everything they're offering, I've been sticking with nothing. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen!  |
|
|
|
Jeremy Grenemyer
Great Reader
USA
2717 Posts |
Posted - 05 Apr 2012 : 13:56:56
|
I guess I don't understand why people insist on disliking (or, frankly, mischaracterizing) DDI as "all or nothing".
I mean, I get it in the sense that you have to buy in to the whole package, but how is this any different than purchasing a monthly subscription to Dragon or Dungeon when it was in paper format?
But unlike the old paper subscriptions, you're buying access to the entire library. For Ed's Eye on the Realms articles alone, you're getting a pretty damn good deal there.
In a sense, WotC is being too nice. If people want to spend more money buying articles one at a time, let them. |
Look for me and my content at EN World (user name: sanishiver). |
|
|
|
Brimstone
Great Reader
USA
3290 Posts |
Posted - 05 Apr 2012 : 14:02:21
|
quote:
Originally posted by Jeremy Grenemyer
I guess I don't understand why people insist on disliking (or, frankly, mischaracterizing) DDI as "all or nothing".
I mean, I get it in the sense that you have to buy in to the whole package, but how is this any different than purchasing a monthly subscription to Dragon or Dungeon when it was in paper format?
But unlike the old paper subscriptions, you're buying access to the entire library. For Ed's Eye on the Realms articles alone, you're getting a pretty damn good deal there.
In a sense, WotC is being too nice. If people want to spend more money buying articles one at a time, let them.
I agree. Make no sense... |
"These things also I have observed: that knowledge of our world is
to be nurtured like a precious flower, for it is the most precious
thing we have. Wherefore guard the word written and heed
words unwritten and set them down ere they fade . . . Learn
then, well, the arts of reading, writing, and listening true, and they
will lead you to the greatest art of all: understanding."
Alaundo of Candlekeep |
|
|
|
gomez
Learned Scribe
Netherlands
254 Posts |
Posted - 05 Apr 2012 : 15:32:52
|
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
LOL - Gomez, what you just said there is basically "put everything BACK the way Ed had it". 
Maybe as he had intended it, but not how it always turned out...
And there are also some things I can do without. I like Mystra to be drastically subdued.
What I think can be improved in the 4e Realms is more subtlety and mystery.
Oh and I want Phaerimm back. And what happened to the dark elves?
Gomez |
|
|
|
Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36998 Posts |
Posted - 05 Apr 2012 : 17:02:40
|
If I don't want all the articles in a print magazine, I have the option of not buying it. I also have the option of borrowing a friend's copy, or going to the library, or even reading it in a bookstore, if I only want one article.
With the DDI, it doesn't matter if all I want is one article. It doesn't matter that I don't play 4E and thus have no use for the character creator or online rule resources. It doesn't matter if I have no use for 99% of what's on the site -- I still have to pay for access to the Rules Compendium, and the Character Builder, and all that.
I can't order one item off the menu, I have to get the entire menu. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen! |
Edited by - Wooly Rupert on 05 Apr 2012 17:05:17 |
|
|
|
Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 05 Apr 2012 : 17:41:33
|
quote:
Originally posted by Erik Scott de Bie
@LK: As for online coverage for the Realms these days . . . The setting gets more than it used to get, though not as much as it should get. I personally think there should be the equivalent of a Dragon Magazine devoted entirely to the Realms every month. Dragon and Dungeon should have a third sibling that runs entirely Realms stuff: articles, mechanics, Realmslore, fiction, etc.
For years (before the advent of 4e) I was pushing for a 'Realms only' version of Dragon magazine. I think one set 'in-world' (the way the old Mystara/Known World Gazeteers were done) would be freakin' awesome. Alas, I loved this idea for a physical magazine, but the 'online thing' really isn't my cup of tea (maybe I'm too 'old school', but I don't think something is official if it isn't in-print, and by in-print, I mean physically). Ergo, everything that appears on the DDi is apocryphal, as far as I'm concerned (and I know I am wrong, but that still won't change the way I feel about it).
Hmmmmmmm... maybe thats the answer! Since the running-joke is "I heard it online so it must be true" is part of today's culture, then the more intelligent of us know to take everything we read online with a grain-of-salt - something we didn't really do back when everything was in physical print. Bear with me - pretzle-logic ahead -
Perhaps by doing lots of online lore for 5e FR (and re-releasing/producing old sources in that same format), they might be able to finally achieve their goal of 'modular lore'. It just seems so much less-important to my games then the printed material, which means it achieves that perfectly - I am not constrained by it (and YES, I realize no-one should really feel this way, but its happens - we fans can't help it).
Do others feel that way? That the online stuff is less important to the setting then the old printed material? If they (WotC) have become aware of this phenomena as well, then maybe whatever they do for 5e could work (am I seeing a light at the end of the tunnel?)
Getting back to your comment Erik - I love the idea of it (I pictured a bi-monthly gazette myself - 6 times a year), but if it isn't a printed source, then I think it would just get lost amongst the other areas of the DDi (which all get lumped together, since they are a 'package deal').
And I am NOT bad-mouthing that "everything for one low price" model - I am just pointing out that it blurs the lines of product identity.
Maybe Candlekeep can swing a deal and make the (re-edited) Compendiums canon? How sweet would that be? Let CK continue (officially) to create them, give us a company 'team leader' (George would be PERFECT), and then they can have their cake and eat it to. It would accomplish what we want - a Realms-only publication - and could even go on a free section of their site (which generates buzz - something you simply CAN'T put a price on). This would be a very good business proposition for everyone concerned; Candlekeep gets an official 'okay' to continue, they get great 'freeebies' and generate buzz, and we get our names out there (get our foot in the door for future products).
On the other hand, that sounds a LOT like what was tried with the LFR guys, and they did their job so well (creating new lore), that they got 'fired' (I use that term loosely, since its hard to get fired from a job you never got paid for). I am still trying to wrap my mind around that one.  |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
|
Edited by - Markustay on 05 Apr 2012 17:46:13 |
|
|
|
Lord Karsus
Great Reader
USA
3768 Posts |
Posted - 05 Apr 2012 : 21:51:44
|
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
I just hope they move away from the "buy everything or nothing!" format they currently have for online content. Since I don't want everything they're offering, I've been sticking with nothing.
-If there was a preview option, or something, that would kind of negate this. If you know what you're going to get, you can decide whether or not you want to buy it or not, like thumbing through a magazine. |
(A Tri-Partite Arcanist Who Has Forgotten More Than Most Will Ever Know) |
|
|
|
Lord Karsus
Great Reader
USA
3768 Posts |
Posted - 05 Apr 2012 : 21:56:22
|
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
For years (before the advent of 4e) I was pushing for a 'Realms only' version of Dragon magazine. I think one set 'in-world' (the way the old Mystara/Known World Gazeteers were done) would be freakin' awesome.
-I've also been a proponent of this. Heh, I must have written about seven articles in this vein for Alediran's Realms Rechronozation Campaign. |
(A Tri-Partite Arcanist Who Has Forgotten More Than Most Will Ever Know) |
|
|
|
Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 05 Apr 2012 : 22:10:14
|
Yeah - something like The Waterdeep Gazette, or some-such. A single information-source for novel, Video-Game, comic, & RPG FR fans alike.
Now THATs the way to update a setting.  |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
|
|
|
|
Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36998 Posts |
Posted - 05 Apr 2012 : 22:12:10
|
quote:
Originally posted by Lord Karsus
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
I just hope they move away from the "buy everything or nothing!" format they currently have for online content. Since I don't want everything they're offering, I've been sticking with nothing.
-If there was a preview option, or something, that would kind of negate this. If you know what you're going to get, you can decide whether or not you want to buy it or not, like thumbing through a magazine.
Not really. Because even if you decide you do want the article, you are still paying for access to everything else. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen! |
|
|
|
Lord Karsus
Great Reader
USA
3768 Posts |
Posted - 05 Apr 2012 : 22:15:25
|
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
Yeah - something like The Waterdeep Gazette, or some-such. A single information-source for novel, Video-Game, comic, & RPG FR fans alike.
Now THATs the way to update a setting.
-Agreed. At the same time, though, we'd run into the same problems we've been discussing here: what version of Waterdeep? Old? 'New'? In-between? Although, a gazette-like magazine thing specifically detailing the 'old' Forgotten Realms being the medium to see how the world changed during the transitory years between the end of the 1-2-3e era and the start of the 4e era would be interesting.
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
Not really. Because even if you decide you do want the article, you are still paying for access to everything else.
-Just like print DRAGON/DUNGEON magazines, and every other physical D&D sourcebook that has sections/articles you like and sections/articles you don't like.
quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
Doesn't that already happen anyway? With the short blurb that's often posted on every DDI article... they're usually taken directly from the content of the article.
-That much, I don't know, but I'd personally want to see more than a short blurb. Just using the old print magazine as an example, if the issue as a whole wasn't specifically centered around something I liked, I'd skim the articles, and that skimming generally entailed more than just reading a paragraph or so per article.
-What exactly the online equivalent of flipping through the entire thing to decide if you like it or not, though, I'm not fully sure. |
(A Tri-Partite Arcanist Who Has Forgotten More Than Most Will Ever Know) |
Edited by - Lord Karsus on 05 Apr 2012 22:19:34 |
|
|
|
The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31799 Posts |
Posted - 05 Apr 2012 : 22:21:02
|
quote:
Originally posted by Lord Karsus
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
I just hope they move away from the "buy everything or nothing!" format they currently have for online content. Since I don't want everything they're offering, I've been sticking with nothing.
-If there was a preview option, or something, that would kind of negate this. If you know what you're going to get, you can decide whether or not you want to buy it or not, like thumbing through a magazine.
Doesn't that already happen anyway? With the short blurbs that are often posted on every DDI article... they're usually taken directly from the content of the article. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
|
|
|
The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31799 Posts |
Posted - 05 Apr 2012 : 22:25:05
|
quote:
Originally posted by Lord Karsus
quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
Doesn't that already happen anyway? With the short blurb that's often posted on every DDI article... they're usually taken directly from the content of the article.
-That much, I don't know, but I'd personally want to see more than a short blurb. Just using the old print magazine as an example, if the issue as a whole wasn't specifically centered around something I liked, I'd skim the articles, and that skimming generally entailed more than just reading a paragraph or so per article.
-What exactly the online equivalent of flipping through the entire thing to decide if you like it or not, though, I'm not fully sure.
Hmmm. Maybe something like what drivethrurpg offers with their PDF purchases -- a small window embedded in the product page that features a limited-page number preview of the product you're thinking about purchasing? |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
|
|
|
Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 05 Apr 2012 : 22:44:12
|
Something more along the lines of the back-cover of old-edition sources.
Although those (Bloodstone, Chult) weren't always accurate, either.
There should be a way of telling us whats in there, without showing us whats in there. However, this still wouldn't work for someone like Wooly (or myself), since the requirement (last I heard) was that all articles had to contain 50% crunch - I don't want to pay for 4e stat blocks. With old edition crunch, you could still figure out what they were talking about, but 4e is like a whole 'nother language to me.
Also, with the current price-plan, you are forced to buy the crunchy bits along with the fluffy ones... which is useless to more then 50% of the fanbase - not only for 4e-naysayers, but MANY novel-fans don't even game, and the (hopefully) new comic-fans will have a similar dilemma. If you are fan of the Realms, you are currently forced to buy product from their 4e rules line, whether you want to or not. If you do not use their rules (for whatever reason), then the choice to subscribe becomes less palatable.
If they were smart, they give the crunch away on a free portion of the site, and just charge for the fluff. That should fix the problem (because the crunch is useless unless you've already purchased the rules - when I read 4e rules it looks like Chinese to me). I doubt they'd loose any subscribers that way, and folks who don't want 4e won't feel like they are paying for it. They don't need to change their prices - just the way folks look at things.
Besides, it would allow them to create multiple layers of crunch - if you play OGL, you just click on the associated tab for that specific crunch (and although I doubt they'll go back and support OGL, the idea is they can support multiple tiers of play with multiple crunch, which IS part of their plan).
So you may get the rules for some new Feat or other (for free, using my method), but without the lore to go with it, it just becomes a piece of math. For instance (I have to use a 3e example, because I don't know enough about 4e), much of the info on a new PrC is fluff, and then we get the crunchy parts. How seemingly useless would that stuff appear (the stats), without the explanation behind it? If anything, the free crunch will leave people wanting to know more (and paying for it).
quote:
Originally posted by Lord Karsus
-Agreed. At the same time, though, we'd run into the same problems we've been discussing here: what version of Waterdeep? Old? 'New'? In-between?
CURRENT, of course.
Since the rule is "the last thing published about something takes precedence", then Waterdeep should be set in the 1e/2e/3e era, thanks to the Lords of Waterdeep boardgame". |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
|
Edited by - Markustay on 05 Apr 2012 22:55:25 |
|
|
|
Icelander
Master of Realmslore
1871 Posts |
Posted - 05 Apr 2012 : 22:54:19
|
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
However, this still wouldn't work for someone like Wooly (or myself), since the requirement (last I heard) was that all articles had to contain 50% crunch - I don't want to pay for 4e stat blocks. With old edition crunch, you could still figure out what they were talking about, but 4e is like a whole 'nother language to me.
Also, with the current price-plan, you are forced to buy the crunchy bits along with the fluffy ones... which is useless to more then 50% of the fanbase - not only for 4e-naysayers, but MANY novel-fans don't even game, and the (hopefull) new comic-fans will have a similar dilemma. If you are fan of the Realms, you are currently forced to buy product from their 4e rules line, whether you want to or not. If you do not use their rules (for whatever reason), then the choice to subscribe becomes less palatable.
Just so.
Near as I can gather, people using 1e, 2e and 3e D&D to play in the Realms are at least many enough to worth considering next to the 4e D&D fans. Then there are those using entirely other game systems than D&D to play in the Realms, primarily Pathfinder but also others. They appear to outnumber those using 4e to do the same.
What it amounts to is that most of the crunch in Realms articles is worthless to the majority of potential customers. WotC has to realise that the wealth of available game systems means that settings and material for them have to be useful to people who aren't using the current version of D&D. |
Za uspiekh nashevo beznadiozhnovo diela!
Forgotten Realms fans, please sign a petition to re-release the FR Interactive Atlas
|
|
|
|
Jeremy Grenemyer
Great Reader
USA
2717 Posts |
Posted - 05 Apr 2012 : 23:04:01
|
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
There should be a way of telling us whats in there, without showing us whats in there. However, this still wouldn't work for someone like Wooly (or myself), since the requirement (last I heard) was that all articles had to contain 50% crunch -
I've never heard of a 50% requirement myself.
Ed's Eye on the Realms articles, as well as other non-Realms stuff I've read, don't come anywhere near this percentage.For those it's closer to 0%.
So you'll see stuff talking about the history of the D&D game, articles on thieves cant, varieties of dice games you can have your players actually play while their characters are at an inn, that sort of stuff.
Regarding previews: WotC offers a single download page with the starting paragraph (sometimes two) of the article and a piece of art from the article. The page also includes a bio on the author of the article.
|
Look for me and my content at EN World (user name: sanishiver). |
Edited by - Jeremy Grenemyer on 05 Apr 2012 23:11:55 |
|
|
|
Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 06 Apr 2012 : 00:02:10
|
Which is why I included - (last I heard) - there in parenthesis. This was the rule for DDi articles when 4e was first released, if I remember correctly (at least two freelancers told me this, who were writing articles at that time).
I have not been given any new information on this front, BUT, I am aware of many of the newer articles, including Ed's, and realize a shift in policy has indeed occurred. I have no idea what the 'percentage requirements' might be at this time, if any.
Unfortunately, I was given my (now dated) information at a time when many folk were trying to decide whether to subscribe or not, and those percentages are what turned a lot of us off. You only get one chance to make a first impression, and the DDi did not make a good one, for many of us non-4e users. Right now, the DDi may be 'worth its weight in gold' (and I have heard some very good things), but I need to see if I like the changes that have been made (and the 'free trial period' is long over).
So you see the problem; many of us are still bad-mouthing the DDi, based on what we saw at the beginning. Add to that that many of the first articles were about the sweeping changes to FR, and you can really see where we are coming from. We are biased now, and thats very hard to get past.
If I may suggest another free trial period starting at least two months before 5e's release (you want to create buzz), and going at least two months after the release. Also, reward existing customers with double that in free-time (which will make many people consider signing on just before the free trial). The only thing left to do after that is WOW us. 
4e rode in on a wave of negativity, thanks to what happened in the Realms - let 5e ride in on a wave of good relations, and thats half your battle right there. Oh, and try to get coverage of Gencon on at least the Scify channel - it doesn't help that the only folks who hear about our hobby already know about our hobby. You show people that life-size dungeon thingy, and you may even get a reality show out of it.
We are dinosaurs - don't let the meteor strike. |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
|
|
|
|
sfdragon
Great Reader
2285 Posts |
Posted - 06 Apr 2012 : 01:26:25
|
speaking of scyfy... is it time for them to replay the dnd movies again........ or atleast the second one....
( yeah yeah they both stunk but they were better than the 3 blood rayne movies.....)
I still see no need for ddi.
10 dollars or so and I wonr use but maybe 5% of it.....
I end up waiting months before I purchase a 1 month deal and gather up[ back articles |
why is being a wizard like being a drow? both are likely to find a dagger in the back from a rival or one looking to further his own goals, fame and power
My FR fan fiction
Magister's GAmbit
http://steelfiredragon.deviantart.com/gallery/33539234 |
|
|
|
Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 06 Apr 2012 : 03:47:25
|
When (and if) I ever get my damn contents check (insurance companies seem to have a hard time comprehending that a grown man owned 147K worth of TOYS), I plan to subscribe to both the DDi and Paizo line, and then base my decision on which setting is better suited to my needs at this time. I can't see leaving FR behind, but I also don't want to (continue to) be a 'whiny complainer' the rest of my life, either.
Thats why - despite appearances - I want 5e FR to succeed very badly - I think it may be the last chance for more then just me.
Anythow - scify, or whatever - we need some mainstream 'hoopla' surrounding the next release. Maybe they can even strike a deal with Disney or Nickelodeon for a little coverage (they do little 'news bytes' for kids on their channels). Or at the very least, a kewl commercial on Cartoon network. Something... ANYTHING. Kids aren't walking into hobby-shops anymore - we need to hit them where they live.,.. hmmmm... can you put ads in a video game? |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
|
Edited by - Markustay on 06 Apr 2012 04:41:24 |
|
|
|
Ayrik
Great Reader
Canada
8067 Posts |
Posted - 06 Apr 2012 : 04:10:44
|
quote:
Markustay
hmmmm... can you put adds in a video game?
Yes, they do it all the time, some ads are real and some are jokes. Google it up, and notice that google itself is advertised in some games. Some video games were even designed to help convince kids they should become Army recruits. |
[/Ayrik] |
|
|
|
Lord Karsus
Great Reader
USA
3768 Posts |
Posted - 06 Apr 2012 : 17:32:56
|
quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
Hmmm. Maybe something like what drivethrurpg offers with their PDF purchases -- a small window embedded in the product page that features a limited-page number preview of the product you're thinking about purchasing?
-That would be the closest thing, I guess.
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
hmmmm... can you put ads in a video game?
-Nuka Cola, my friend. Nuka Cola.
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
Which is why I included - (last I heard) - there in parenthesis. This was the rule for DDi articles when 4e was first released, if I remember correctly (at least two freelancers told me this, who were writing articles at that time).
-They didn't accept submissions from non-WotC sources, either. For the sake of the Forgotten Realms, specifically, I hope that policy changed. |
(A Tri-Partite Arcanist Who Has Forgotten More Than Most Will Ever Know) |
Edited by - Lord Karsus on 06 Apr 2012 17:34:30 |
|
|
|
Lord Karsus
Great Reader
USA
3768 Posts |
Posted - 06 Apr 2012 : 17:37:29
|
| -And, speaking of digital stuff, to get this more Forgotten Realms-centric again, you know what'd be pretty damn awesome: A 'click-able' map, like the Forgotten Realms Interactive Atlas had. Making it even more utilitarian, with layering and stuff, a singular map could have layers for different eras, showing the changes in topography and geopolitcal boundaries. |
(A Tri-Partite Arcanist Who Has Forgotten More Than Most Will Ever Know) |
Edited by - Lord Karsus on 06 Apr 2012 17:38:00 |
|
|
|
Ayrik
Great Reader
Canada
8067 Posts |
Posted - 06 Apr 2012 : 23:00:47
|
Clickable zoomable Realms maps with distance calculators and satellite photos? And a history slider? With annotations and bookmarks? Wouldn't that be grand, eh?
WotC might have a cartographer or some "map artists" available, but I'm pretty sure they don't have any code writing 3D artists on staff, not any who could construct and maintain this project. A project of this sort would have to (re)explore horizontal expansion into a "new" market, and would require WotC rests a heavy burden of brand faith on a single person who is probably a new hire. They might luck out and land the ultimate D&D nerd genius maphacker ... but it's a gamble. It's also a shame, since this sort of product is very obvious (and fairly easy to implement) and should have been done long ago, when done well then it can serve as a platform for building future maps and products, if done poorly it can always be fixed and improved. Although WotC might stall it off year after year it is also inevitable: if they don't do it then somebody like Paizo will eventually beat them to it. When it comes to software products, WotC is still swimming at the shallow end. |
[/Ayrik] |
Edited by - Ayrik on 06 Apr 2012 23:06:13 |
|
|
|
Rils
Learned Scribe
USA
108 Posts |
Posted - 07 Apr 2012 : 03:24:37
|
quote:
Originally posted by Lord Karsus
-They didn't accept submissions from non-WotC sources, either. For the sake of the Forgotten Realms, specifically, I hope that policy changed.
Ahh, yer behind the times then, a couple times a year they have open proposal periods, where anyone and everyone can submit article proposals, and if they like it then they pay you to write it. Come to think of it, I believe April is one of those open periods as we speak... Info is on the D&D site. |
Dugmaren Brightmantle is my homey. |
|
|
|
Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 07 Apr 2012 : 04:16:23
|
Too bad the only folks who get to know about them are people who visit their site.
Wonder what my chances would be? {smirk} |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
|
|
|
|
Eilserus
Master of Realmslore
USA
1446 Posts |
Posted - 07 Apr 2012 : 05:30:08
|
Id love to see a more Realms info posted up on DDI. 15 bucks a month is pretty cheap entertainment when you consider the cost of going to eat out, or hang out with friends, bar/pub runs, etc etc. With an online format I think they can get over the whole "magazine" approach to content. Every issue doesn't need to be "X" amounted of pages of content. I think they could really ramp it up. Wouldn't it be sweet to get a new Realms article every week? The real issue being, do they have the resources to make such a change? Sure it costs money, but would they see a huge increase in subscribers to justify it? Hopefully they work on DDI because it could be so much more.
Edit here:
Was thinking about DDI a bit more. So if an article is 5,000 words and WotC pays 6 cents a word that's about 300 bucks an article. Even if we're served 20 articles a month, $6,000 dollars for cost of lore creation has to be way cheaper than printing an actual magazine.
And what if Realms lore for DDI was expanded to include different eras? I'd love to start seeing lore detailing the Crown Wars, or the Height of Shanatar or a slew of other times in history.
Supporting all eras of play and dishing out lore online for these eras at a cost of 15.00 a month would be epic. |
Edited by - Eilserus on 07 Apr 2012 05:44:52 |
|
|
|
The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31799 Posts |
Posted - 07 Apr 2012 : 09:08:02
|
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
Yeah - something like The Waterdeep Gazette, or some-such. A single information-source for novel, Video-Game, comic, & RPG FR fans alike.
Waterdeep News would probably be a more appropriate title. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
|
|
|
Ayrik
Great Reader
Canada
8067 Posts |
Posted - 07 Apr 2012 : 09:40:22
|
quote:
Wikipedia
Gazette is a loanword from the French language; in turn, the French word is a 16th-century permutation of the Italian gazeta, which is the name of a particular Venetian coin. Gazeta became an epithet for newspaper during the early and middle 16th century, when the first Venetian newspapers cost one gazeta.
Since Waterdeep doesn't deal much in 16th-century Venetian coinage, I would suggest they name their newssheets after Waterdhavian coinage. Gazettes might instead be called niblings, griffonettes, clawsheets, or eyeprints after Waterdeep's most common copper and silver coins. Pretentious newsprint or officious city bulletins might be named dragonettes after Waterdeep's gold coins, while trashy tabloids and other puerile print might be named Luskaffiti.
I also doubt that typefaces would be named after things like the Helvetic Republic. They'd probably be designed primarily by Gondsmen and thus likely named after Gondish Inventor-Saints and the like. I also think Thorassic would be a bad typeface or font name.
An ongoing series of "in setting" Waterdhavian newssheets, done in a style similar to Aurora's Whole Realms Catalogue, would be a fine way to appraise Realms fans of current events (plots, characters, adventures) within the city - along with useful, useless, and flavourful city proclamations and advertisements for the latest and greatest items of adventurous fashion. Even if it's just one or two pages stuffed into each issue of Dragon. |
[/Ayrik] |
Edited by - Ayrik on 07 Apr 2012 09:56:45 |
|
|
|
Topic |
|
|
|
One Canon, One Story, One Realms (5e)
Topic Locked
