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I think the Tomb was old-school in its semi-random, cutthroat, not-all-encounters-need-be-balanced, and "Play stupid and you'll die" approach. It was short on backstory and long on crawl, also hallmarks of the day. But it was also a step beyond, a real meatgrinder in a decade of meatgrinder...

Nope. It's easy enough to ignore a few messages if desired, and I think Kickstarter in particular can be a great thing for RPGs. There are a lot of really good projects that just need some capital to get going, and IMHO it's worth sifting through the chaff.

(double post)

A big factor in some companies getting on the 4e train was indeed timing. Wizards left the 3rd party publishers spinning their wheels for months. If memory serves, the publishers were originally supposed to receive the rules in October, then December, then January, and so on into Spring. For...

A valid enough point, but I still can't support that it's impossible. In addition to the fact that companies in every field under the Sun put out and support numerous products, I'd say... a. Wizards created and supported Essentials and Gamma World and dealer programs and whatever else while...

This was exactly right. So very hard to hit, but if you got a good hit in... I remember Lareth in the Hommlet moathouse having a pretty ridiculous AC too. It speaks volumes about the change in the game that Lolth, defined as a god at one point, has pretty much half the hit points of a goblin...

Therein lies the rub. And that also lies at the heart of my firm suspicion that a decent subset of 4e fans criticizing DDN don't want a new edition at all, merely a 4.5e. Anything more than a cleaned-up 4e means that DDI 4e support will, sooner or later, vanish. Yeah, I've also been getting...

True. But most players have a good knowledge of the game system/edition and expectations as to how that edition typically runs. The "fiddle work" may amount to 6 minutes (though with 4e that might lead to issues for players using the character builder later), but you're also well advised to...

I haven't tried the second packet yet, but everything I'm reading here make it sound like the PCs are way overpowered. First-level characters shouldn't be striding around wacking down wights without fear.

Absolutely. It's gotten to the point where I'm sorely tempted in the current 4e campaign I'm running to simply declare combats finished when the outcome is obvious, rather than waste another (precious to my meet-once-a-month group) half hour. My pet theory is that inflated monster HPs are in no...

For my part—the OP may differ—I never envisioned WotC supporting all editions. I see them supporting a cleaned up 2e and a "4.5e" and then later, after suitable development, releasing a brand new edition (which could be 2+ years from now). So for my part, I'm taking about them supporting two...

Boom, I hear thunder. ;)

And people don't want all kinds of RPGs? I grow weary of this analogy stomping. There is no perfect analogy, admittedly. But the fact remains: companies support multiple products in every field under the sun. (If Apple behaved like that, they'd never have developed the iPad because they'd be...

If the percentage of folks playing the PS2 versus PS3 were the same as the percentage of folks playing Pathfinder versus 4E, they would. And the examples you quote are technology, quite a different issue. Some here have tried to argue that rules-heavy systems represent an "advance" in...

I wasn't saying that that the academic model was the same thing, just an analogy. I've had similar experience outside academics. My overall point: There are thousands of companies, including game companies, that sell and support multiple products. If Wizards can support a fiction branch and the...

I agree with the OP, to a point anyway. Wizards is never going to get everyone under one umbrella. That ship has sailed. Many 3.5e fans have embraced Pathfinder and Paizo, never to return. Some grognards cling to their old books. Many 4e fans won't accept any new edition unless it is basically...

What you call "recreating the happenstance" I'd call recapturing the magic. (IMHO of course) Your post seems to imply that anyone that played, or, perish the thought, enjoyed, earlier editions was a poor, country bumpkin, wallowing in their own ignorance. But maybe it's the way I'm reading it...

Oh yeah. Frontal assault might—might—possibly fly for G2, but in G1 and particularly G3 it's pure suicide. If anything, the slow, tense burn of "how many giants can we covertly slay before the alert goes off?" can be a lot of fun in itself.

I must strongly but respectfully disagree. There's a reason they are widely heralded as classics, not only by players but by RPG authors. For such a small number of pages there's so much goodness there. Gygax gave each giant type a very specific feel, and G3 in particular had a number of very...

I could talk about TSR modules forever, as some were excellent. Among my all-time favorites: C-1 Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan G-1-2-3 Against the Giants S-1 Tomb of Horrors* T-1 Village of Hommlet *Not to pimp my blog here, but if you want to read an actual S1 foray report—with survivors and a...