Some Further Thoughts on the GenCon Keynote Address

I've had some time to think about last night's GenCon Keynote address, and it was in all honesty, a whole lot said for very little of worth.

If you tuned in for D&D Next News, there was very little.

If you were looking for some self-back slapping, there was a moderate amount.

If you wanted to see a marketing department written presentation from the WotC Fiction Publishing Division, you probably got way more then you expected or ever wanted. It was slick, but the video took away from the otherwise personable but scripted interactions taking place on the presentation stage.

If you wanted to see Elminster, Ed Greenwood came in costume. Wait, no, Ed came as himself, which means he looks just like Elminster. He has a great voice for voice-overs, but it was overdone in the presentation. Hell, the whole fiction aspect was overdone and overblown. It is obvious that WotC needs to push it's fiction line as it's RPG revenue is tanking between editions, but if you didn't know any better, you would think D&D was a fiction line and not a game line. Hell, maybe that's the future we saw last night.

If you wanted to see a unique and exciting game world discussed, you were instead presented with yet another revision of the Forgotten Realms. Again, as fiction is apparently what they are putting their hopes in, I understand why the Forgotten Realms are important, but personally, I'm tired of the bland and repetitive Realms.

As for the promise of releasing previous edition products in electronic format in 2013, there is only one reason to do so - dollars. As it is WotC and their associated history of dealing with electronic releases of their earlier products (klusterfuck comes to mind) I would be very weary of their implementation. Unless it is released in a manner that will not be revocable, I'll stay clear.