This week, we've all returned from break -- an extended holiday break, thanks to a few rounds of snowstorms. So let's call this Digital Insider 19.5, in a way; this week, we'd simply like to point you to the relevant D&D Insider information appearing in Monday's Ampersand column, in case you missed it:
|
We start off the new year with D&D Insider up and running. Dragon Magazine, Dungeon Magazine, and the D&D Compendium have provided the core of the experience thus far, and we have great things in the works to make these components even more compelling in the year ahead. But it doesn’t stop there. In very short order, the D&D Character Builder goes live, featuring 30-levels of material for every character class in the game. And just like the D&D Compendium, the D&D Character Builder gets updated in real time. As new products or magazine articles add to the rules set, these programs will keep up with the new content.
After that… well, we’re working on that. We had grand plans and we were overly ambitious in what could actually be accomplished in the time we had. We don’t want to overextend or overpromise anymore. We’re going to finish the D&D Character Builder, then take stock of where we are and what we can and should concentrate on next. Things are in the works, and I look forward to the day when the whole grand plan comes together. But we’ll be more realistic in our goals and timelines moving forward. I’ll talk more about this in the weeks and months ahead, both here and in Digital Insider.
That said, I do promise that as a D&D Insider you’ll get exclusive content for your D&D game. You’ll get to play with new material before anyone else, in most cases months or even a year or more before the content is published. You’ll hear about new products, new concepts, new campaign worlds before anyone else, because that’s part of the benefit of being a D&D Insider. Stick around. It’s going to be a great year.
|
In Case You Don’t Know Him
Bill Slavicsek’s gaming life was forever changed when he discovered Dungeons & Dragons in 1976. He became a gaming professional in 1986 when he was hired by West End Games as an editor. He quickly added developer, designer, and creative manager to his resume, and his work helped shape the Paranoia, Ghostbusters, Star Wars, and Torg roleplaying games. He even found some time during that period to do freelance work for D&D 1st Edition. In 1993, Bill joined the staff of TSR, Inc. as a designer/editor. He worked on a bunch of 2nd Edition material, including products for Core D&D, Dark Sun, Ravenloft, and Planescape. In 1997, he was part of the TSR crowd that moved to Seattle to join Wizards of the Coast, and in that year he was promoted to R&D Director for D&D. In that position, Bill oversaw the creation of both the 3rd Edition and 4th Edition of the D&D Roleplaying Game. He was one of the driving forces behind the D&D Insider project, and he continues to oversee and lead the creative strategy and effort for Dungeons & Dragons.
Bill’s enormous list of credits includes Alternity, d20 Modern, d20 Star Wars, Pokemon Jr., Eberron Campaign Setting, the D&D For Dummies books, and his monthly Ampersand (&) column for Dragon Magazine.