D&D 4E David Noonan on 4E "Cloudwatching" (Added Dave's newest comment from his blog)

[Lonely Tylenol]

And if the world ended tomorrow 4E wouldn't be coming out.

As stated here, they have been listening. The changes are based on what they have been hearing. The chances of "everyone" saying no to 4E is much smaller than the world ending tomorrow.

Um...what? I'd put my money on everyone saying no. Unless you've been chewing on the roots of yggdrasil, and you have something you want to tell us...

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

Dave Noonan sounds just a little pissed off.

What does he have to be pissed off about? The unstoppable juggernaut he has wrought rolls over all naysayers in May, and no power on Heaven or Earth can stop it.

 

[Glyfair]

Um...what? I'd put my money on everyone saying no. Unless you've been chewing on the roots of yggdrasil, and you have something you want to tell us...

Both are pretty small (wait let me check the clock) and that was my point.

As for the other thing, my personal habits are none of your business

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

My three year old daughter knows pretty much nothing about science.
But she still knows that the sun will come up tomorrow.

Don't bet on it. Glyfair's up to something.

 

[Aeolius]

LOL!

I get the impression that Dave and I are NOT playing the same game?

 

[Carpe DM]

To rephrase the entire blogcept in a sentence:

"4th Edition is like rain. You can't stop it, so you might as well enjoy it."

 

[DaveMage]

I get the impression that Dave and I are NOT playing the same game?

You're just helping me realize that I'm playing D&D wrong....

 

[William Ronald]

Yep, that pretty much sums it up. WotC policy reminds me of a boss I used to have - "My door's always open, but my mind's always closed".

The real kicker for me, aside from the fact that I feel it's "too soon" for 4E, and I believe that 3(.5) still had a few good years before a rewrite was needed, is the WotC have repeatedly said 4E was NOT designed with any concession to upgrading from 3E.

So for you folks with characters and campaigns that span years and hundreds (thousands?) of hours of loving labour, get that shredder ready, here come's the upgrade!

My understanding is that conversion is not so much about doing it by the numbers, but by doing it according to theme. So, as has been covered elsewhere, the key question is not to ask how many xp translate into xp in this edition, but rather what does your character do?

Aeolius, I was looking forward to supplements based on the element of Air -- including the adventure, Against the Gas Giants -- leading to an epic confrontation with the Demon King of Rice and Beans.

Mind you, I would like to see an announcement on playtesting soon. However, I doubt that 4E is going to be blocked at this point. So, my advice is to try to shape the change. Also, I hope that the rules will support a variety of different play styles while making it relatively easy for new players to create characters and have some fun.

 

[Brewhammer]

Originally Posted by David Noonan

...

In other words, play your D&D game with a critical eye--what's working and what isn't? We've seen a lot more of this already in message board traffic since the 4e announcement; an impending new edition makes everyone think a little more deeply about the game they're already playing.

As to what is and what isn't working in 3rd Ed... err, 3.5th Ed... most folks have already addressed this in their own games and found ways to move past the parts that don't work, or at least that don't work in their campaigns. It's what good DM's do.

On a side note - I chuckle to myself at times when I wonder how announcing 4th Ed. two or three years from now would've garnered far, far less rancor from the consumer base.

I've listened to the D&D Podcasts since they've been making them. That's come to a screeching halt now after the 4th Ed. announcement episode, where Dave and Mike kept hammering into us how 3.0 and 3.5 are 'old and busted' and how 4.0 is 'the new hotness.' Yet in every podcast prior they've been selling listeners on 3.5 products which we have now come to find were apparently 'old and busted.' And how folks are supposed to keep buying 3.5 leading up to the 4th Ed. release. And be sure to subscribe to D&DI for a nominal fee.

FFS, how many times are folks supposed to buy Ravenloft?

 

[WotC_Dave]

Mike and I have recorded another podcast, but it hasn't "aired" yet. It's still being engineered.

Yes, I wish we could crank them out faster.

--Dave.