Eric Noah's Info

[DungeonmasterCal]

I want to make this clear:


The rust monster's rust attack should be permenant and not just a pansy 10 minutes!!!!

Thank you.

Preach on, brother. Preach on.

I was super-mondo excited when 3e was announced, and am a diehard 3.5 player now. I really don't know what it would take for me to just forget about the sagging bookshelf full of supplements I have to embrace 4e.

 

[Geron Raveneye]

I think one thing can be said for sure...the times that one could walk up to a handful of fellow roleplayers (or your friends) and say "Hey, how about a little game of D&D?" without getting a "Yeah, but which one?" in return are over...they probably ended 17 years ago with AD&D 2E, but by now you'll launch a whole group of people into a devastating discussion with that innocent question, and I guess it will simply become worse with any new revision and edition that will be created.

 

[yipwyg]

Do you really think that a game could be successful where the character I could play or the enemies our DM could throw at us were determined by what I found in my booster? I know this works in other games, but I fail to see how this could work out in an RPG. Would I only be allowed to play a Fighter if I had the necessary "Fighter" card or mini? Would I have to open booster after booster just to find that "Cure Light Wounds" spell for my cleric? To me such a game wouldn't be an RPG, it would be a glorified miniatures game at best.

I think you answered your own question. This is exactly how you make a rpg more minature based. Imagine Heroquest or other fantasy type boardgame, but with a collectable element.


-A plan to possibly sell off RPGs entirely? Check. (Apparently only miniatures and Magic are making any money for WotC)

The above sentance leads me to believe that 4th edition probably won't be an RPG at all, but be something like a collectable heroquest.

 

[Nellisir]

Erik Mona - Dragon Magazine Editor in Chief / Paizo Publishing Publisher (big cheese I presume)

Big cheese. There can't be a whole lot of room left between his job and Lisa Steven's.

 

[BryonD]

I make no claims other then my speculation being indeed wild speculation!

Understood.

But, as opposed to it being about replacing D&D, perhaps it's about how to integrate the two into one product.

Hasbro sees the success of the minis and card games, so how do you use the concepts that make those games sell, to sell the main RPG. Morph them into one.

Card and CMG's sell because in order to make sure your warband is a good one, you need to collect the newest and best cards and figures. D&D has that cap, where new stuff comes out, but you don't need to buy it to stay "competitive."

Far be it from me to claim that WotC would not make a dumb move.

Setting that aside:
There are roleplayers who mini-game.
There are roleplayers who do not mini-game.
There are mini-gamers who do roleplay.

With different but related games, you get something from all three groups and maybe even a few people from the second two groups getting drawn into the third.
If you force it down to a merger, then you screen out the later two groups altogether.
Seems a bad marketing plan.

 

[morbiczer]

I think you answered your own question. This is exactly how you make a rpg more minature based. Imagine Heroquest or other fantasy type boardgame, but with a collectable element.

Would this mean that you think that there wouldn't be any rules to create a Fighter in some rulebook? Because if this should be the case, than IMO this couldn't qualify as an RPG.

This concept works in CCGs or CMGs, because that's how these games were created from the beggining, and people grew up with it. But I simply can't see how this concept would work in the RPG field. For 20 years you could play any character you wanted, and now your PC can only wield a sword if you have the appropriate mini/card?

I wouldn't touch such a game with the proverbial 10 ft pole.


PS. I can see such a game being fun and being played by people, I can't see it fulfilling the wishes of the large majority of those who play D&D right now. The differences would be HUGE. As others have said, such a game wouldn't be D&D 4E, it would be Advanced DDM or something like that.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Heh.

How about the idea originally used for D&D Basic, Expert, etc.? Smaller price point, more easily digested bits. The abilty to link each box or small book with a random-box miniatures release....

And not a scratch card in sight. (Sorry Festivus, it really would not fly.)

The Auld Grump

 

[Ralts Bloodthorne]

I just can't help but wonder what the REAL reasons are for releasing 4E. It seems more profit driven, as RPG's don't make that big of a profit compared to effort and investment as the other, more lucrative parts, of WotC.

But, all I have to say in regards to 4E, is if it turns out as bad as everyone is afraid, non-OGC, high minature focus, multiple books, trading cards needed, etc, then Hasbro/WotC would have shot themselves in the genitals.

And I won't use my wallet to bandage the wound.

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

I could see something CCG-ish layered on top of it. The first thing that popped into my head when I started reading this thread was those 'treasure cards' that Paizo is doing. Those are randomized, but more fluff than essential to the game.

But, add a 'Treasure Deck' to more or less 3.x D&D. You defeat the dragon, and as part of its hoard, you get to draw three cards each from the deck.

Or, special actions. Sell randomized MtG-ish action cards broken out by class. Instead of APs in Eberron, you get to draw cards from your 'deck'.

(Excuse me, I have to go take a shower for even thinking this.)

 

[blargney the second]

I recently read the wikipedia entry on cognitive dissonance, and there was one part in particular that this thread brings to mind.

Postdecisional Dissonance Studies
Jack Brehm's famous experiment looked at how housewives, after making a decision, favoured the alternatives which they had selected more strongly (Brehm, 1956). This can be explained in dissonance terms - to go on wishing for rejected alternatives would arouse dissonance between the cognitions "I chose something else" and "I preferred that option".

--

Oldbies like us stand a reasonable chance of sticking to the sizable investments (financial and mental) we've made in 3E. For their own sakes, I really hope Wizards does whatever works out best for their business. From experience running my own companies, I suspect that a strong drive to bring in new customers will put them on a good footing.

-blarg