Yes I understand what you mean
kiznit said:
When I first heard about 4E, I was skeptical and somewhat disappointed that it was coming out so soon after 3.75, right when I really felt like the D20 market was stabilizing somewhat.
Then I thought about it and heard about some of the stuff they were doing and trying to fix and I really got kind of excited about it, and wondering whether it would be a good jot of energy that the RPG industry might be needing.
But these days, I'm just not feeling it so much. I sort of miss those halcyon days of bitter vitriol or those eager days of anticipation (when I spent that desperate week, trying to become a playtester... Ah, that seemed like years ago now, but it was like dancing in fields of clover, listening to podcasts). I get that sense from other people, and from reading the boards, that maybe I'm not alone.
Do you think that we can bring back those glory days of 4E when people felt, you know, really passionate about it? Or are they lost forever?
I know what you mean, I've listened to that podcast about monsters at least a half dozen times and am still left wondering whether they can actually understand what they're saying.
Back when I was first introduced to d&d around when 1st edition was too expensive to buy but you could borrow from the local library (after ordering it) and the expert set had only been released I got my own copy of the basic set for xmas as a present from my great aunt and it took me 1 hour to read through the players guide and then 6 months to work my way through the dungeon masters guide mostly because I had noone to play with at that time.
I pretty much used the fantasy gamebook series from Ian Livingstone & Steve Jackson as a guideline to creating adventures and eventually mnaged to photocopy my own copy of the 1st edition phb before I coudl afford to buy my own copies.
Well even 2e didn't phase my interest and 3.0 was the same, not even the first d&d movie ruined it even though I blamed Wayans more rather than the rest of the cast (except the bit about Beholders though!).
I was resistant to 3.5 at first and even Eberrron but I bought both and many other books as I loved the Final Fantasy side of it even though it has always been descibed as being more pulp than anime derived.
4e cut me short, they had cancelled both Dragon and Dungeon magazines I had stopped collecting ages ago as I really couldn't see myself using the info they provided and then they chose to release 4e and yet had already stripped themselves of the one thing that helped them launch 3.0 and 3.5... to me this was wrong.
Even now they're saying they're rereleasing it on the internet but whilst I signed up it was for more info on this games table something that interests me a great deal but they just don't seem to understand the people they're trying to keep interested.
Points of Light might make a good premise but not if you leave them standing looking around at an empty bookstore.
I look at the news of the changes in FR and think that could have been handled better, the changes they revealed in their latest FR periodical or grand history isn't something I would have touched but thats the point, its the fact its so unattractive thats whats caught your attention.
They should be making it accessible, it might be too early but why release that mess now when it whould have been released after the Shadowfell adventure?
I bought the first quest, intro to d&d and even the Mystara boxed sets and found them interesting even if first quest and the intro to d&d were pretty much the same thing with different cover to the box, they have released nothing other than that teaser video to interest me in 4e...
And I can't see them doing any better!
Take care and all the best!
