(Leaving aside my personal feelings as a grognard on 4e...)
If the game is intended to draw in a new, presumably younger, gaming crowd -- a new generation, as it were -- why is there no "Basic Set" for the game? I am sure I am not alone in saying that the old Basic Set (mine was the one with the hot cleric chick and Bargle) got me hooked forever by the time I finished the solo adventure. My brothers and I ate it up as my dad moved us through it (individually, but all sitting at the table) and then, a few days later, ran us through the first level of the dungeon in the DMG (I'm still mad about being the only one to get killed by the carrion crawler).
2 games in and we all knew how to play D&D, enough so that my older brother -- 12 at the time -- was able to immediately pick up the reigns and carry on running that first dungeon (a map but no key for level 2, just a few hints for level 3). think about this: it not only made us fall in love with the game, it actually taught us the game in a very short period of time.
We ended up playing Basic D&D for years before moving on to 1E and 2E, but only because they kept making awesome stuff for BD&D. WotC wouldn't have to do that. They could get all the benefits of BD&D and still shunt people toward the 3 book model in a relatively short period of time.
Maybe the intro/fast play module will be similar, but I doubt it. Those things are usually poor imitations of the game they are supposed to represent. Plus, the whole players book, dm's book, and dice thing (and 4e could of course through in minis and battlemats) makes it feel complete and special.
Otherwise, it'll be the same thing all over again -- the same people playing the game, the same people complaining about it on the internet, and the same people lamenting that the player base is dwindling. You can stock 4E in Best Buy next to the XBOX 360 section all you want, but when the kid looks and sees they could buy 2 XBOX games for the buy in of D&D, they aren't going to bite.
If the game is intended to draw in a new, presumably younger, gaming crowd -- a new generation, as it were -- why is there no "Basic Set" for the game? I am sure I am not alone in saying that the old Basic Set (mine was the one with the hot cleric chick and Bargle) got me hooked forever by the time I finished the solo adventure. My brothers and I ate it up as my dad moved us through it (individually, but all sitting at the table) and then, a few days later, ran us through the first level of the dungeon in the DMG (I'm still mad about being the only one to get killed by the carrion crawler).
2 games in and we all knew how to play D&D, enough so that my older brother -- 12 at the time -- was able to immediately pick up the reigns and carry on running that first dungeon (a map but no key for level 2, just a few hints for level 3). think about this: it not only made us fall in love with the game, it actually taught us the game in a very short period of time.
We ended up playing Basic D&D for years before moving on to 1E and 2E, but only because they kept making awesome stuff for BD&D. WotC wouldn't have to do that. They could get all the benefits of BD&D and still shunt people toward the 3 book model in a relatively short period of time.
Maybe the intro/fast play module will be similar, but I doubt it. Those things are usually poor imitations of the game they are supposed to represent. Plus, the whole players book, dm's book, and dice thing (and 4e could of course through in minis and battlemats) makes it feel complete and special.
Otherwise, it'll be the same thing all over again -- the same people playing the game, the same people complaining about it on the internet, and the same people lamenting that the player base is dwindling. You can stock 4E in Best Buy next to the XBOX 360 section all you want, but when the kid looks and sees they could buy 2 XBOX games for the buy in of D&D, they aren't going to bite.
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