| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| The Red Walker |
Posted - 20 Aug 2012 : 19:51:37
I didnt know where to place this, it could fit Novels, RPG products...anything Realms related.
I for one would love to see Maps, Appendix and any extras published in printed Novels made available on the Web as a way to keep the page count dedicated to the story, but to still get all of the goodies. I love maps and anything I can get realted to the story, but I want as much story I as can have.
Not to mention the stuff that hits the cutting room floor. Novels, RPG products or anything else...we know we cant have it all, but we also know there is some damn fine writing that does miss out of being published due to various reasons. Materials that even the editor would like to include, but you just can't squeeze everything in.
And who wouldnt love to see Ed's scribbles and doodling? As well as any other authors who do this 
I have talked to many fans who would love some form of this. We just need to make sure it is known that we would like it. |
| 5 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| PaulBestwick |
Posted - 22 Aug 2012 : 12:03:26
I don't think the visual bible for FR needs to be online as they may have stuff in there that relates to up and coming products etc. Therefore they would have to maintain two versions and from there things can get tricky. However for regional sourcebooks, adventures etc An excerpt either in print or digital form as a web extra could give examples of what various folks look like and these would be accurate (unlike some examples we have seen in the past. |
| Markustay |
Posted - 22 Aug 2012 : 00:32:59
Those 'freebies' would make excellent ads for the coming addition. You want people to come to your site and generate buzz, you have to give some stuff away - its business 101.
For instance, don't give us the visual bible in some paid-for poorly masked advertisement (like Wizards Presents: Worlds & Monsters and that other one), post it on the web to make folks drool over it. Those 'Wizards Presents' books just added a LOT of fuel to the fire. They actually looked like something designed to be given out at Gencon, and someone decided to make a buck instead. If its 'cool' but not directly useful in-game, then it should be on their site (and take note - they should STILL put those two up on their site as free downloads).
I do want the 'regular amount' (whatever that is) of art inside the books, but I would like players-handouts (remember those?) to be on the site as well. We stopped getting those when they stopped the boxes, and I wouldn't want those to take-up page count either (plus its a pain to photocopy pages without pulling them out of the book). Things like that would also help generate interest in the products they represent. Our 'freebies' can therefor serve double duty.
I'd also like to see them go back to putting the art from the books online - having visuals to reference helps during discussions.
EDIT: All maps from novels should be put online. Like everything else, they would help create buzz for the novels themselves. You want to suck people into your world, you have to show it to them. Like I told Mike Shley at Gencon - what he does is just as important as what designers do, and maybe more-so. Great Maps and Great covers make people pick up the products in the first place; a good blurb on the back does nothing if you haven't drawn folks in to begin with. A great Map does the same thing as paying a hot model to stand outside your both at a con (and probably costs less). |
| Eilserus |
Posted - 21 Aug 2012 : 03:36:23
I think taking backdrop articles, increasing the page count to 30 or 40 pages or more and then putting it up online for five to ten bucks would be cool. It'd be a great way to explore and detail cities cities in the Realms. Customers could end up buying stuff they are specifically interested in reading about and with a digital format, costs are kept low on WotC's side. You could take the same approach for secret societies, small organizations, merchant concerns, lots of stuff you could delve into with a lot of detail. A 40 page book about Ed's weird 4 armed naga of the Lis would be a good example and something I'd buy. How about a 40 page back drop about Mithril Hall or Darkhold complete with some Mike Schley maps? |
| Faraer |
Posted - 21 Aug 2012 : 02:45:02
Markustay mentioned 'You may see a surprising new option available soon to us; lore for lore sake, written by people who care, and available in s sort-of pay-as-you-go format (the details of which are still far from being sorted out, as is just about everything else at this point).' Since we have
-- a range of degrees of detail desired by people
-- a range of time periods to cover
-- a backlog of designed but unpublished material like the Cormyr lineage
-- certain designers prone to overwrite
it would seem to be a very good thing if an efficient production path and a robust purchase mechanism could be set up for this material and other D&D offerings.
Dreaming on, other things like behind-the-scenes setting bibles, limited-release scenarios, and Ed's tournament/convention modules might even be made available this way. |
| The Sage |
Posted - 21 Aug 2012 : 01:55:08
In certain ways, we've already been exposed to some notes and "cutting room floor" tidbits via the replies various authors and designers make to their individual "Questions" scrolls here at Candlekeep.
Ed, for example, on numerous occasions, has illustrated the odd reply with content that might have otherwise ended up in a particular supplement or novel. Steven Schend, as well, has provided us with unique posts focusing on material that wasn't included in a printed source.
But I do agree, that this little nuggets of extra content would be neat. They're just the kind of stuff I hunt for online, when visiting other sites -- the Realmslore that comes up in conversation and such. I try to nab it all.
Oh, and considering Ed's scribbling... well, we've already had a taste of that with the images he included in The Annotated Elminster. I'd love to see more 'Annotated' volumes which feature such visual elements from the hand of the authors involved. |
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