I don't even know where to go with this. One of McCain's campaign managers totally bagged on D&D players this week. 

"It may be typical of the pro-Obama Dungeons & Dragons crowd to disparage a fellow countryman's memory of war from the comfort of mom's basement," said McCain aide Michael Goldfarb, in a posting to the campaign website. "But most Americans have the humility and gratitude to respect and learn from the memories of men who suffered on behalf of others." 

Welcome to the Lords of Tyr D&D Podcast!

We are a Dungeons and Dragons gaming group that has been meeting twice a month since 2002. We now stream our game nights live on the Internet using uStream. Check out our site at http://lordsoftyr.com for more information

Topic 1: Gleemax is Gone

Topic 2: Stealth Gets an Overhaul... er Nerf

Wizards of the Coast announces a forthcoming revision to the Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition Game System License (GSL) and System Reference Document (SRD).

“We recognize the important role third party publishing support plays in the success of the 4th Edition of Dungeons & Dragons. We have listened to the community and our valued colleagues and have taken their concerns and recommendations to heart. Our commitment to the health of the industry and hobby gaming lifestyle is reflected in the revisions to the Game System License.”
--Linae Foster D&D Licensing Manager

While the delivery date is not yet firmly established, the revised documents will be available in the very near future.

The new fan site policy, to be made public at a later date, will be posted upon completion.

The pricing was announced today for Wizards Dungeons and Dragons Insider at Welcome to Digital Insider!. So the real question for me is whether the parts of D&DI that won't suck (like the Dragon and Dungeon content) are worth $5 per month. By the way that price is for a 12 month subscription.

Here is the price breakdown.

Web-Content Only Subscription Package:
12 Months = $59.40 ($4.95 per month)
3 Months = $19.95 ($6.65 per month)
1 Month = $7.95 ($7.95 per month)

If by some miracle the other computer tools don't suck (and actually work on Linux) those would be like icing on the cake really. I think their current pricing reflects the fact that their tools will suck (and they know it) and that people won't pay for them, but that people will pay for the magazine content. I would pay $5 per month for the magazine content so they will probably have me for a subscriber. 

Ask Wizards: 08/01/2008 - I’ve noticed a difference in the Stealth rules in the PH (p188) versus what’s listed in the D&D Compendium. Which is correct? [Wizards of the Coast D&D]

Big stealth changes are now in the compendium! 

We are a Dungeons and Dragons gaming group that has been meeting twice a month since 2002. We now stream our game nights live on the Internet using uStream. Check out our site at http://lordsoftyr.com for more information

Topic 1: What do you miss from 3rd Edition?

Topic 2: Amazon Shipping Delay Update

Topic 3: Where are the powercard sets from Wizards?

Microsoft VBScript runtime error '800a0007'

Out of memory: 'CreateObject'

/global/utils.asp, line 298

<rant>That is great stuff to get when I'm trying to prepare for our podcast. Man I love D&D, but sometimes I am just baffled by Wizards. 

This is two outages in very short amount of time. If Wizards was going for 99.999% uptime (which small children can do with a few Linux servers these days) then they have blown it already. 99.999% uptime means 5 minutes of downtime per year. Its not much wiggle room, but with the right redundant infrastructure and the correct testing and change methodology it is quite easy to achieve. Especially for a web site.

From ENWorld:

Wizards of the Coast today announced the decision to discontinue its Gleemax social networking site in order to focus on digital initiatives for core brands Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons.

According to the official website and Randy Buehler's blog, Gleemax is due to be shut down sometime in September. Gleemax is WotC's attempt at a one-stop gaming social networking and blogging site.

So what the heck is Gleemax? The best way I can describe it is web technology from the 90's in 2008. I guess it was meant to provide a "community". But there are already tons of communities surrounding D&D. How on earth could Wizards steal people away from those communities with technology that is just as old and rickity? Where was the incentive?