Knights & Knaves Alehouse

I don't know that I entirely agree, Axe. I don't like the design of the covers, or the lack of "Advanced" on them (the game was called AD&D when the books were first released, ergo they should be branded the same now), but I don't think it's any huge conspiracy to undermine the OSR. As interesting (and viable) as some of the stuff coming out of the OSR has been, it's still a drop in the bucket even compared with sales of 4E. They're not feeling threatened by "us"; they see that we've "got it goin' on" in a way they don't quite get, so they're jumping on the bandwagon... A little. Generating some good will and augmenting the lackluster revenue stream this year are bonuses, no doubt.

BTW, if the 1e reprints are even remotely successful, I expect to see a hardcover of all of the good AD&D modules soon after. Think about it, the book would only be a couple hundred pages (monochrome mods plus maybe C2, S3, S4, & Q1).

Well, perhaps I'm being a bit over-reactive. Call it neurological damage from over exposure to 3E. Still, if the end game is for us to swallow C&C or 3E light as "core 5E" or whatever they call it, forget it.

The thing is, even if WotC does have some sinister secret motive for reprinting these books, it doesn't matter. I'm sure WotC IS hoping that I will buy 5E when it's released and subscribe to DDI and give them lots of money and say nice things about them in public. But they're not going to "trick" me into doing any of those things - the only way I'll buy 5E is if it comes out looking like a game I'd want to play (which, from everything we've heard so far, looks extremely unlikely), the only way I'll give them my money and say nice things about them is if they release products I like and want to buy -- they've done so here (and I'm saying nice things and intend to give them my money) but whether that carries over to anything else is really up to them more than to me. And as for DDI, honestly I doubt there's anything they could do to get me to subscribe to that, but I'd still like to see them try

There's no reason to "distrust" this move or to worry about what it "means" or what the motivation is behind it. The only thing that matters is that, at least temporarily, 1E AD&D will be back on game-store shelves, just like we've all always claimed we wanted.

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I can see DDI having an impact on OSRIC/OSR if it has explicit support for AD&D 1st and other older editions. Particularly the Virtual Tabletop.

Why are you guys using the 1E reprint thread to talk about 5E, when we just locked two 5E threads and declared it officially off-topic?

Wow, I'm fine with those covers. I must admit I thought the covers would likely be a mockery and I was holding back reserving my copies for that reason. I really like the PHB and DMG covers. I don't like the MM cover too much, but that's because I never did like that dragon (looks more like a Thanksgiving Day parade float) and that's not WOTC's fault. Those covers are way above my expectations. I'll be reserving some with Games Plus shortly.

Like I mentioned to rogatny at Winter War this past weekend, I think it's great AD&D is back in print. My only regrets are the limited print run and the Gygax Memorial* marketing. I would much rather have WOTC: 1) realize the maximum volume sales from a full AD&D print run and 2) admit openly AD&D 1e has excellent sales potential, in current RPG terms.

*For the record, I'm obviously for the Gygax Memorial, but would prefer it wasn't mixed into the narrative of why WOTC is reprinting AD&D.

T. Foster wrote:The thing is, even if WotC does have some sinister secret motive for reprinting these books, it doesn't matter.

This.

WotC is reprinting the 1e books. The inside is identical to the originals. The covers are decent, and use actual artwork from the originals. This is exactly the kind of thing we've always said we wished WotC would do (even if we'd like it to be full-blown re-release, rather than a limited run). Who cares what else WotC may or may not be releasing? These reprints are a good thing, in and of themselves.

T. Foster wrote:Why are you guys using the 1E reprint thread to talk about 5E, when we just locked two 5E threads and declared it officially off-topic?

Called Sci Fi City located in Orlando and now I am on waiting list for the new books. The guy answering the telephone stated he had never had so many calls for anything in a long time. He stated 4e sales had not been too good.


Thought was interesting that interest appears to be high for the 1e books.


New covers are OK but could have been better.

I think it is good they are doing this, I think too that it is an attempt to "re-direct" people back to WOTC. Any attempts to re-direct will fail if 1e is given no future support.
It will be interesting to see if these prints sell out in total. If so, I wonder if there would be a second printing and what would WOTC do if those sold out as well?

WOTC really should just simply support the older editions. It would reduce the competition created by the OSR publications and bring many into the WOTC fold again.

T. Foster wrote:The thing is, even if WotC does have some sinister secret motive for reprinting these books, it doesn't matter. I'm sure WotC IS hoping that I will buy 5E when it's released and subscribe to DDI and give them lots of money and say nice things about them in public. But they're not going to "trick" me into doing any of those things - the only way I'll buy 5E is if it comes out looking like a game I'd want to play (which, from everything we've heard so far, looks extremely unlikely), the only way I'll give them my money and say nice things about them is if they release products I like and want to buy -- they've done so here (and I'm saying nice things and intend to give them my money) but whether that carries over to anything else is really up to them more than to me. And as for DDI, honestly I doubt there's anything they could do to get me to subscribe to that, but I'd still like to see them try

There's no reason to "distrust" this move or to worry about what it "means" or what the motivation is behind it. The only thing that matters is that, at least temporarily, 1E AD&D will be back on game-store shelves, just like we've all always claimed we wanted.

All true.

Terrex: "1) realize the maximum volume sales from a full AD&D print run and 2) admit openly AD&D 1e has excellent sales potential, in current RPG terms."

It would be interesting if WOTC went all out, they might surprise themselves. PS, another great avitar.

Locked down my copies today. Same story. The lady at adventures underground said that she was amazed by the number of calls coming in, and was worried about getting enough copies. I prepaid to make sure that I would get my copies (only 1 other person had elected to do that).

This is being quoted around the net today, from the 2012 product preview at DDXP:

Q: Any plans to rerelease the other products for 1E and 2E and other editions, either in print or electronically.

A: We are lookig at making a lot of that older material available to you, but we want to make sure we do it right for you guys and for wizards. We'll have more news on that.

An e-library of old-edition books accessible via a DDI subscription seems most likely. I can't imagine that actual physical reprints of anything else (except for maybe a hardbound compilation or two of classic modules - the Gs, Ds, Ss, Q1, T1-4, maybe B2 (even though it's technically for a different version), and probably, alas, I6) would sell well enough to make it worth their while.

T. Foster wrote:An e-library of old-edition books accessible via a DDI subscription seems most likely. I can't imagine that actual physical reprints of anything else (except for maybe a hardbound compilation or two of classic modules - the Gs, Ds, Ss, Q1, T1-4, maybe B2 (even though it's technically for a different version), and probably, alas, I6) would sell well enough to make it worth their while.

That's my take.