I've been buying all the D&D 5e books a few at a time over the last couple months. So far, six of the seven I've bought are fully up-to-date, including all the errata posted as late as October 2020. However, the seventh book, "Volo's Guide to Monsters", did not include all the errata (the ability score penalties for orc and kobold are still present).
I bought all the books on Amazon, so I used the "Order Replacement" option coupled with a description of the problem (that it's not NEW like the item's store page claims it is). A couple days later (today), I receive the replacement... and it's the exact same book. I've searched tirelessly for a way to just send the seller (Wizards RPG Team) a private message on Amazon to ask about why this is happening, to no avail. The official Wizards Help Center is conveniently down right now, as well.
Before I send for another replacement, I have to ask... IS this the latest printing? It seems odd to me that they'd reprint the PHB, DMG, MM, Mordenkainen's, and Xanathar's on the regular, but not Volo's. I've also found reason to believe that physical copies of SCAG aren't up-to-date, either.
Before I send for another replacement, I have to ask... IS this the latest printing? It seems odd to me that they'd reprint the PHB, DMG, MM, Mordenkainen's, and Xanathar's on the regular, but not Volo's. I've also found reason to believe that physical copies of SCAG aren't up-to-date, either.
WotC only releases errata after it's gone to print, so there should be printings of Volo's that include the errata.
I'm not buying it digitally, I'm buying physical copies from WotC's official Amazon page.
You mean Amazon's WotC Author page? Wizards has no role in managing that. You're ordering through Amazon and your order is being fulfilled through the Amazon fulfillment center process. There is no directly buying from Wizards. They don't have an Amazon store. This sounds like Amazon not really differentiating the different printings, so it's more a matter of contacting Amazon customer service and confirming they recognize the issue before they send you the correct copy. I don't know how successful that will be. If you're willing to spend the extra $20, you could probably get the right printing through a FLGS who might confirm it's the corrected version over the phone. Or browsing a Barnes and Noble if there's one near you.
While WOTC doesn’t release the errata until the newest prints are shipped to distributors, that doesn’t necessarily mean that retailers have sold through their existing stock of previous printings
So as MidnightPlat said, going to a store and looking before you purchase is your best bet of knowing before you buy.
WotC only releases errata after it's gone to print, so there should be printings of Volo's that include the errata.
huh, didn’t know!
OP, totally just me but I’d just call the second book a slight win, resell it and move on. There’ll be another round of errata for at least some of your books so your ‘new and fresh’ isn’t going to last- kinda like life- we all get outdated, just accept it :)
Before I send for another replacement, I have to ask... IS this the latest printing? It seems odd to me that they'd reprint the PHB, DMG, MM, Mordenkainen's, and Xanathar's on the regular, but not Volo's. I've also found reason to believe that physical copies of SCAG aren't up-to-date, either.
WotC only releases errata after it's gone to print, so there should be printings of Volo's that include the errata.
Is that really true? I'm not saying your assertion and conjecture on Volo's is incorrect, but publishers used to circulate errata for game rules in advance of corrected printing so that players wouldn't have to play incorrect rules until a new print run. I mean I don't believe WotC has its retailers pulp its uncorrected stock (as we're seeing in this post) nor do I think retailers rush out to order corrected copies at their expense.
Out of curiosity I checked my Volo's bought a few months ago at a game store. In the credits and publication info page it identifies "First printing: November 2016 (This printing includes corrections.)". In other words it is not the first printing. However, my copy does have negative Ability modifiers for kobolds and orcs, which was news to me as I've been using the DDB up to date character builder for these. I'll probably print out the errata and stick in the book as I used to do with manuals.
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Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
I believe what they meant by that was. No errata can exist UNTIL there is a first printing. Yeah WOTC does release errata along side the release of prints by about that’s usually only the few things they caught too far into books being printed that they would be wasting stock.
but the other stuff is true. Errata doesn’t pull the old books from stores so you always need to check the printing number to actually see if you have the most recent errata in the book.
I'll probably print out the errata and stick in the book as I used to do with manuals.
this is what I do...I print it out and stick it in the back of the book...and place tiny little square pieces of stickies throughout the book where applicable to remind me to look at the errata.
Since Amazon has multiple warehouses, you are never going to be sure which printing of is going to shipped. The only way you can get the copy you want is visit an actual store and look in the book before you buy.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
No Gaming is Better than Bad Gaming.
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I've been buying all the D&D 5e books a few at a time over the last couple months. So far, six of the seven I've bought are fully up-to-date, including all the errata posted as late as October 2020. However, the seventh book, "Volo's Guide to Monsters", did not include all the errata (the ability score penalties for orc and kobold are still present).
I bought all the books on Amazon, so I used the "Order Replacement" option coupled with a description of the problem (that it's not NEW like the item's store page claims it is). A couple days later (today), I receive the replacement... and it's the exact same book. I've searched tirelessly for a way to just send the seller (Wizards RPG Team) a private message on Amazon to ask about why this is happening, to no avail. The official Wizards Help Center is conveniently down right now, as well.
Before I send for another replacement, I have to ask... IS this the latest printing? It seems odd to me that they'd reprint the PHB, DMG, MM, Mordenkainen's, and Xanathar's on the regular, but not Volo's. I've also found reason to believe that physical copies of SCAG aren't up-to-date, either.
WotC only releases errata after it's gone to print, so there should be printings of Volo's that include the errata.
The Forum Infestation (TM)
Anything you purchase from DDB automatically gets all of the latest errata applied.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
I'm not buying it digitally, I'm buying physical copies from WotC's official Amazon page.
You mean Amazon's WotC Author page? Wizards has no role in managing that. You're ordering through Amazon and your order is being fulfilled through the Amazon fulfillment center process. There is no directly buying from Wizards. They don't have an Amazon store. This sounds like Amazon not really differentiating the different printings, so it's more a matter of contacting Amazon customer service and confirming they recognize the issue before they send you the correct copy. I don't know how successful that will be. If you're willing to spend the extra $20, you could probably get the right printing through a FLGS who might confirm it's the corrected version over the phone. Or browsing a Barnes and Noble if there's one near you.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
While WOTC doesn’t release the errata until the newest prints are shipped to distributors, that doesn’t necessarily mean that retailers have sold through their existing stock of previous printings
So as MidnightPlat said, going to a store and looking before you purchase is your best bet of knowing before you buy.
huh, didn’t know!
OP, totally just me but I’d just call the second book a slight win, resell it and move on. There’ll be another round of errata for at least some of your books so your ‘new and fresh’ isn’t going to last- kinda like life- we all get outdated, just accept it :)
Guide to the Five Factions (PWYW)
Deck of Decks
Is that really true? I'm not saying your assertion and conjecture on Volo's is incorrect, but publishers used to circulate errata for game rules in advance of corrected printing so that players wouldn't have to play incorrect rules until a new print run. I mean I don't believe WotC has its retailers pulp its uncorrected stock (as we're seeing in this post) nor do I think retailers rush out to order corrected copies at their expense.
Out of curiosity I checked my Volo's bought a few months ago at a game store. In the credits and publication info page it identifies "First printing: November 2016 (This printing includes corrections.)". In other words it is not the first printing. However, my copy does have negative Ability modifiers for kobolds and orcs, which was news to me as I've been using the DDB up to date character builder for these. I'll probably print out the errata and stick in the book as I used to do with manuals.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
I believe what they meant by that was. No errata can exist UNTIL there is a first printing. Yeah WOTC does release errata along side the release of prints by about that’s usually only the few things they caught too far into books being printed that they would be wasting stock.
but the other stuff is true. Errata doesn’t pull the old books from stores so you always need to check the printing number to actually see if you have the most recent errata in the book.
this is what I do...I print it out and stick it in the back of the book...and place tiny little square pieces of stickies throughout the book where applicable to remind me to look at the errata.
Guide to the Five Factions (PWYW)
Deck of Decks
Here is errata if that just what you need. THe link. VGtM-Errata.pdf (wizards.com)
Since Amazon has multiple warehouses, you are never going to be sure which printing of is going to shipped. The only way you can get the copy you want is visit an actual store and look in the book before you buy.
No Gaming is Better than Bad Gaming.