Doctor Bedlam's page

I liked 'em better when they actually had miniatures in them.

Does anyone know idf these are going to be new tiles or just reprints of the currently available ones?

I suspect the latter.

This would be nice, but don't count on it. I can't find a Player's Handbook 3.5 in any of the Half Price Books locations in central Texas.

And Texas ain't small. And I've looked.

Meh. There's enough Star Wars stuff out there now that I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see "Not-Star-Wars" RPGs arising. Hell, you can still find the old WEG minis if you hunt around.

Surprising to see Wizards dropping the line, though. Not profitable? Even with the Clone Wars cartoon and so forth? I'd figure as long as you could still find the toys at Wal-Mart, you could still sell the figures and games...

I once had a game disintegrate into helpless laughter to the point where some of us were literally crying and one person nearly passed out because she couldn't catch her breath, she was laughing so hard.

Why?

Someone pointed out the number of feat names that could serve as euphemisms for something sexual. Someone immediately said, "You mean like, Great Fortitude?"

Someone else said, "Or Quick Draw?"

"Spell Penetration?"
"Weapon Finesse?"
"Rapid Shot?"

My stomach hurt for hours afterwards...

It varies.

The Dragon's Lair locations in San Antonio and Austin are pretty gamer-friendly, they've got lots of stock, they've got gamer space, good people, yadda yadda. They also seem to be able to manage lean times pretty well. They're places I like to spend money...

...but Dibble's Hobbies in San Antonio is just ... I don't know. The inside of the place is like the TARDIS. There's stuff in there that hasn't seen the light of day in decades. Ghod knows how they get their stock; half the stuff in there hasn't been in print in ages. Only place I know of that will still sell you 2nd edition D&D stuff, mint in box SPI wargames, and Ral Partha blister pack figures. I'm convinced the place is run by time travelers with a strange sense of humor.

I apologize if the tone of my post was a bit harsh. I really like Paizo and its messageboards, but the edition wars have been quite an ugly stain. Anything that possibly reeks of battle immediately sets off the sensors.

Apology appreciated, but unnecessary; like I said, upon looking around a little, I realized exactly what you meant.

Flame wars bore me. Sorry for trippin' the sensors'n all. Don't blame you, and appreciate the careful tone, hence the reciprocation. No harm done. Actually, I should have noted the warnings below the ANSWER box about profanity, hatefulness, and general venom -- that's generally a dead warning that the mods and dwellers within have had to put up with a fair amount of heat in the past, and aren't interested in having to run around stomping out more fires.

Didn't mean to be careless with my matches...

I really am amazed at the amount of self restraint exercised in this thread. I'm gonna release some doves outside.

Well, if I'd MEANT to be a jerk about it, perhaps things would have gone differently... =)

I'm glad you are happy with Pathfinder. Please do go talk about Pathfinder. Please don't provide another excuse for a edition flame war.

You have my apologies, sir.

I didn't mean to bash, although looking back, it occurs to me that that could well be interpreted.

4th edition is not a bad game. It just ain't what I'm used to.

Nosing around the boards a little more, I see what you mean about flame wars and edition bashing. I will say no more.

The only thing that bugs me about it is the price: it's a tad slender for the cost. If it was a fiver, I would call it one of the great GM aids ever released for ANY fantasy RPG -- the fluff and art are absolutely first rate.

...but the PDF price tag is a bit stiff for me.

Still waiting for these things to be back in stock...

Who was it that spoke of the "banality of evil?"

WotC isn't evil, no. On the other hand, I can't help but feel this decision is frankly wrongheaded on their part. Paizo's license didn't cost them a red cent, actually PROVIDED revenue (assuming Paizo was paying them for the privelige of publishing the things), and helped keep us all in touch with the game. Oh, yeah, and don't forget the advertising.

Now we find that WotC is yanking the license, hoping to replace a fine and serviceable product that's been on the market for many years with something that will yield them more profit than they're making off Paizo with the license.

Is this evil? No. Legal as taxes. In all frankness, if they voiced an intention to keep publishing DRAGON magazine themselves, in a newsstand edition, I'd be far less upset. Sure, Paizo's done a fine job, but it IS WotC's trademark, after all.

But now, something that's been a constant in my life for 27 years is about to fall silent, and be replaced with some ghostly, ill-defined, ill-considered thing over the internet.

Yeah, I'm not happy. And why, now, am I going to give WotC money when I'm not happy with them?

I don't think this is a good idea. I'm durned if I'll buy the thing.

One of the reasons I began subscribing to DRAGON, way back in the day, was their brag that each issue contained a self-contained game or a D&D adventure. Every issue!

Used to really like that. In recent years, DRAGON and DUNGEON have enclosed miniatures maps, posters, even CD-ROMs. And now, I'm supposed to pay for the privelige of printing this stuff out on my lousy old inkjet printer?

Perhaps I am too old. Perhaps I'm just not the demographic they're shooting for any more. But I have more disposable income now than I ever had before... and I'm durned if I'll buy anything I can't read in bed or while parked on the can.

I don't mean to boycott Barnes and Noble, and I'd be nuts to boycott my Friendly Local Game Store.

But as I've already mentioned in another thread, I am old, and set in my ways. WOTC has screwed around with something I hold very dear; they have altered a tradition, and I don't like that.

I am disinclined to want to give them money if they're going to behave in this fashion.

I began with #48, the one with the Phil Foglio "Demonic IRS Agent" cover. Still have it.

Subscribed, back when I was a teener. Got every issue, straight from Lake Geneva to my dusty little Texas cow town, every month. When one grows up in a dusty little Texas cow town, this is something to look forward to. At least until one gets a car.

The articles did a lot for my game. The ads did a lot for my hobbies. I found ads for stuff I never dreamed existed in there, and eventually wound up buying in pretty big. As I write this, I sit in my office at home, a room lined with literally thousands of miniatures. Even in the times where I didn't play much of anything, I always loved the minis. Kept collecting.

When the DRAGON CD-ROM collection came out, I about busted a gut getting out to buy it. A lot of those issues were old friends, you see, and not all of 'em held up too well through my college years, or the many moves, or the growth of my children.

As I ponder this decision on WOTC's part, I find myself wondering what they're thinking.

You know, the Coca-Cola company thought they were pretty smart, too. They decided to "improve" their formula. What they didn't realize was that they weren't just altering a product... they were screwing around with what had become, in many minds, an American institution -- a TRADITION.

When one monkeys with sacred cows, one had best be ready to be burned at the stake as a heretic.

I will not, personally, camp outside the WOTC offices with a sniper rifle, or anything, nor am I recommending that anyone else do so. I do feel a bit like waving a torch around and screaming, though.

I feel robbed.

If someone had said, "These magazines aren't profitable, so we're ceasing publication," that'd be one thing. It would suck, true, but it's not like I can pay 'em to keep publishing.

But now I am told, "Well, Paizo would have been happy to keep publishing, but WOTC has decreed that something that has been a tradition in your life since 1979 is going to die now, for no apparent reason, as WOTC hasn't really gotten around to explaining why this is going to happen."

Even when I didn't play, I could always pick up a copy of DRAGON and read about it. There have been occasions when travelling that this was a durned handy thing to be able to do in a strange town.

What WOTC has done is a remarkably boneheaded PR move, if nothing else. It's highhanded, hamhanded, and worthy of the Lorraine Williams era, when TSR seemed to think it could gleefully (expletive) all over its fan base and still make money.

Dungeons and Dragons has a history, you see, and it has traditions. It has old bores like me who remember the Brown Boxes, the Basic Sets, and a whole lot more. And it has youngbloods like you, there, reading this, despite my windy old maunderings, who might even be interested in all that. And today, I find that a part of that tradition is going to die.

DC editor Mike Carlin made an unpleasant discovery when they killed off Superman. To paraphrase him, "We hadn't just sold a story. We hadn't just changed a product. We don't really own Superman. We are merely custodians of a legend."

Is Dragon Magazine a product? Sure. Do they own it? Yes. Can't argue with that. But if it's not a liability... why kill it?

WOTC, you have rattled a great many cages with your decision. I really hope you know what you're doing.