Is 4 / e built for convention play?

[Tatterdemalion]

What is the Delve format for?

Actually, I'm wondering why 4/e has taken the form it has -- and where they got the "customer feedback" WotC talks about. If it exists, it seems very possible that much (or most) of it has come from conventions -- though that population is arguably not representative of gamers in general.

So while the Delve format predates 4/e, I wonder if it shows where WotC is moving. I think the format is tweaked for convention play, typified by ill-prepared DMs and limited one-track encounters. It's occurred to me that some other 4/e design features are also very convention-friendly.

Am I way off base?

[Samuel Weiss]

That was 3E.
It was made for RPGA play.

4E is being made for computer play.

[CEBrown]

Tatterdemalion wrote:

What is the Delve format for?

Inflating page counts?

Tatterdemalion wrote:

So while the Delve format predates 4/e, I wonder if it shows where WotC is moving. I think the format is tweaked for convention play, typified by ill-prepared DMs and limited one-track encounters. It's occurred to me that some other 4/e design features are also very convention-friendly.

It's supposed to be "DM-Friendly" regardless of environment, minimizing the amount of books the DM needs to weed through to run an encounter.

Such a format is MORE USEFUL in a tournament setting, where the DM's frequently see the module only hours before having to run it (heck, one year at GenCon, I was supposed to run 2 modules for the RPGA, a Star Wars d6 one (Milk Run) once and a Living City one (The Ugly Stick) twice. They SENT me the full Star Wars module, the maps for the Living City one and the text to a DIFFERENT LC module, Your Tax Dollars At Work; at the convention I found out their mistake, and got a copy of the mod I was SUPPOSED to run - only to get drafted at the last minute to run a Ravenloft module - Hour of the Knife - instead!).