Was Frank consulted for this product?

deimos3428 wrote:Was Frank consulted for this product?

Seems doubtful but Frank can answer for himself. It's really a streamlining of the 4e down to the core, removing a lot of the less classic races and classes and packaging it to be recognizable to the 40-ish crowd that played back in High School and maybe not again since.  It's certainly seems a little less intimidating to someone looking to play as opposed to the current 3-volume nearly 1000-page set of "starter" books.

I applaud the effort (and will reserve judgment on the actual execution until my copy comes in).

-Dave

ashmire13 wrote:I agree and would rather buy this than the current Core books.

Would Frank need to be consulted if its 4e content, but using his boxset?

No, just for it to be at all interesting.

I think and hope that WotC at last decided that a good introductory game, with the distribution and resources that only a big company could have, is sorely needed to revitalize Dungeons & Dragons. Using the red box may be a choice to attempt to interest lapsed gamers that could think 'hey, when I was young I liked this game, perhaps my son/nephew could like it too...' and to reconnect with a golden age (from sales and distribution standpoint) of RPGs. Ditching Classic D&D to keep just AD&D was in my eyes the most absolutely idiotic and boneheaded decision that TSR ever made: it was a great introductory game and - if you didn't want to buy all those pricey and very complex looking rulebooks - it has its own product line that was easier to understand and easier for the wallet. I hope that the Essential line will be work somewhat in a similar way and with some success...   Dungeons & Dragons need sorely some revitalizing!

SimperingToad wrote:Simple solution there. Rerelease it.    

With no game to be sold in toy stores, hobby stores and some significant promotional push, there is no way to revitalize it as a viable commercial property outside what The Economist defined sneerily as the 'Dungeons & Dragons brigade'   It will keep getting smaller and smaller and with older and older fans - the road to oblivion   Believe me, I see in the store all the time: when kids are exposed to it, they are very often really enthusiastic - the game still has A LOT of potential in the videogame/computer age. But when they see the three massive sized rulebooks...      

I'm in for a copy! It would be nice if they redid B2 and threw that in as well  

From cgould42 on the 4E thread ......

The new red box release date is Sep-07.


http://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons- ... ame/dp/078 6956291/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1277402816&sr=8-6

Kingofpain89 wrote:
Hasbro has no interest in reviving D&D as we know it.  There is no money in it.  Kids can't afford $40 dollar hardback books.  And besides, why would any kid nowadays want to play a game that requires them to read?  They can easily jump on their computer or video game console and connect to some sort of MMO game instead.  That is the direction that D&D will move to at some point.  Hasbro can either acquire some heavy hitting software company to
develop D&D for online play or they will sell it to someone else.

No doubt about the cost thing.  Hell, I don't want to spend $40 on one rulebook out of a 3-book set.  But a red box set could be affordable if they knew how to market it.

Do you think there's money in it for any gaming company if it's not linked to a video game?  
How are companies like Troll Lord games doing?

Zenfinite wrote:
Yeah, ummm.....you mean www.ddo.com? There's been a D&D MMO now for...three years? Maybe this is the third year. Anyway, it's based in Ebberon and it's free to play. I personally don't play it but I have a couple friends who do and they like it. If your computer can handle it, check it out! It's free, after all!

Zen

Have you played it?  It's absolute shit compared to pretty much every other MMO out there (that is why its free...no one in their right mind will actually pay to play it).  That is why I said that if Hasbro wants to make an online experience that will be able to stand on its own for the long term and actually make money they are going to have to put some serious capital into designing something that will surpass World of Warcraft.