Quick Updates from GenCon

Before we actually start some more serious writeups of our GenCon experiences, there’s a few tidbits that have crossed by me that I wanted to point out:

• Scott Rouse is very confident that the new version of the GSL will make third parties a lot happier, and they’re specifically using Clark Peterson (Necromancer Games/Orcus) as their bellweather of how friendly it is.
• According to Randy Buehler, the game table part of D&DI won’t be out until 2009, but most of the other applications will be out in some form by the end of the year. Bartoneus and I were pretty blown away by the functionality of D&D Insider, especially the character generator. Even the Compendium, which looks pretty sad on its own, gains a few levels in conjunction with the rest of the software.
• Day 1 of GenCon: WotC sold out of Forgotten Realms Campaign Settings, Player’s Handbooks, and DM Screens. They replenished the first two on Day 2, but sold out of the Campaign Settings again within an hour of opening. We’ll have to check in on Day 3, the busiest day and the day people are most likely to buy, to see how their sales are going. I’d say that’s a pretty good indicator that GenCon folks, at least, are very into 4e.
• WotC takes very, very good care of the press, whether you happen to be a blogger, podcaster, or print journalist. Our treatment has been top notch.

As you can tell, we’ve been spending a lot of time on WotC/D&D stuff, which obviously this is their big show, and hanging out with RPG Bloggers only compounds our desire to play D&D. But we do plan on hitting a few other things tomorrow.