How WotC drove me to WoW

[Vocenoctum]

I've got 90% of the 3e/3.5e stuff, each month WotC got money from me (via borders or buy.com) as I purchased nearly everything they made. I defended them at times on these boards, though it did little good.

So, 4e is announced (sure with less than the one year headstart and just after they said it wasn't planned, but no big deal) and the trickle of information begins.

Gnomes are gone. Well, I"m a gnome-lover, always have been. I'm reasonably sure they will have a gnome playable at or near launch, but it's not really the same.

Halflings are taller, because it's silly that someone that short can be a hero. I remember Monte Cook's similar statement with UA, that he made the one race for the people that liked short races, with what I read as a condescending attitude. It's Fantasy, a human fighting a dragon is okay, but a halfling fighting an ogre is somehow odd? That 1' of difference is some kind of aid in reconciling the image?

Green Dragons, again my favorite of dragons, now are hideous. I don't know why they thought having a dragon that was "too plain" or "too dragony" or whatever, but the new one is horrible. I had hoped for a miniature of a larger one, maybe even Cyan, but so much for that.

Eberron was my favorite setting, and apparently will be available at sooomed point, but oh well.

The general tone of the 4e stuff. It feels like Shadowrun 4e for me, an edition made by folks that seem to hate everything I liked in the previous edition.

It's not that I think 4e will suck, mechanically, or that the setting will be bad, really. It's just that at every turn 4e seems to be trying to drive me away. At every release, ("combats will now have more minions, rather than more single encounters!"), they seem to say "hey, this edition isn't meant for you".


Aside from that, the simple fact is I haven't bought a new D&D book for a long time. The two D&D games I was in, one ended until 4e comes out, and the other is trying exalted. I've got no attachment to D&D at all right now...


So, here comes WoW!
Buy.com had it on sale!
It's got GNOMES!
It doesn't mind that my little gnome is the heavily armored tank, taking the shots from the 90' tall demon so the others can attack it.
It's $15 a month, which used to seem unwieldy to me, until I decided that replaces the $40 or so I'd spend on D&D some months. (And prices are only going UP in D&D.)

Through all the 4e stuff, people have been comparing it to WoW, some saying that the elements are overstated, some saying it's only natural to add elements of the popular game to 4e. Some said "hey, if I wanted to play WoW, I'd just play WoW!"


So I did. And it's been fun. I play when I want, I group with friends when I want.

WoW wants me, D&D4e, apparently wants someone else.

 

[Doug McCrae]

Good to see some1 complaining 4e isn't videogamey enough.

I play when I want, I group with friends when I want.

Wouldn't the DDI provide the same benefits?

 

[Dacileva]

I know you've already changed games, but someone might read this and misunderstand things based on certain points.

So, 4e is announced (sure with less than the one year headstart and just after they said it wasn't planned,

This is not true. The specific statement was that there wasn't a 4th edition planned "that required the use of miniatures". Whether that happened is arguable (some claim it does require them; others, claim that it doesn't; no one argues that some counter to represent character is unuseful).

Gnomes are gone. Well, I"m a gnome-lover, always have been. I'm reasonably sure they will have a gnome playable at or near launch, but it's not really the same.

Except that, if they're playable at launch (and it's been announced that they absolutely are), then gnomes aren't gone.

Green Dragons, again my favorite of dragons, now are hideous. I don't know why they thought having a dragon that was "too plain" or "too dragony" or whatever, but the new one is horrible.

This is a taste issue. I did find the 3.x green dragons very generic-looking and somehow dull, especially when compared to the similarly "generic" red dragon's iconic look.

Eberron was my favorite setting, and apparently will be available at sooomed point, but oh well.

No setting material for Eberron is invalidated. Three Eberron races are available as player character races from day one in the new MM: doppleganger (changeling), shifter (two varieties), and warforged.

 

[Piratecat]

I'd recommend trying to play 4e with friends before you conclude you don't care for it. I can't fault you for feeling neglected, but I'm finding that the new edition is really fun to play. You may or may not agree, but I'd think it a shame to write off the face-to-face time with your friends until you find out.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Wouldn't the DDI provide the same benefits?

So would Harvey the Invisible Bunny. Both are equally available.

 

[Sledge]

Actually there were a few comments that 4e wasn't being worked on yet, when the later press releases indicated that it was. You'd have to look back in the archives for the announcement date though. This was one of my big peeves at the announcement. I was ready for them to announce but they kept saying it wasn't in the works yet, and then suddenly they say its been in the works for a long time.

 

[pawsplay]

I'd recommend trying to play 4e with friends before you conclude you don't care for it. I can't fault you for feeling neglected, but I'm finding that the new edition is really fun to play. You may or may not agree, but I'd think it a shame to write off the face-to-face time with your friends until you find out.

That's like a $90 taste test, though, Piratecat.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Except that, if they're playable at launch (and it's been announced that they absolutely are), then gnomes aren't gone.

Let's be honest: If dwarves or elves were moved to the MM the way that gnomes are, the howls of outrage would drive out all other conversation.

Finding the move to the MM to be a diss to gnomes and gnome-lovers is hardly an irrational response, especially now that halflings have been further reduced to a name that once had some value and some stats. That those stats weren't given to gnomes instead, and a bullet finally put in the whole pretense that one is playing a hobbit in D&D, is further galling.

Halflings are, flavor-wise, an entirely new race, and one of three WotC would rather have in the 4E PHB than gnomes. So, yeah, for those of us who have dug them since 1E and OD&D, it's kind of a kick in the crotch.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

That's like a $90 taste test, though, Piratecat.

And people with WoW accounts all have the ability to hand out 10-day passes for the game. In contrast, the GSL is going to prohibit sites like www.d20srd.org, where people can get a free test.

I'd say that Blizzard has definitely won this round. (Even the gnome-haters win, since playing Horde on a PvP server means you can kill them. Even the Alliance can kill gnomes in one dungeon.)

 

[Piratecat]

That's like a $90 taste test, though, Piratecat.

Nah. You could use free material (monsters and adventures) on EN world and Gleemax, and just get one PHB between your buddies. Or better yet, find a friend who already has the books and let him do all the heavy lifting for the first game. Or go to a local gaming con.

I fully believe and understand that 4e isn't to everyone's taste, but I couldn't make that call because the green dragon has a dumb-ass spike on the end of his nose. I've run two 4e games so far. One had a gnome as the BBEG, and one had a very dangerous green dragon as the foe. Both were silly amounts of fun.

Of course, so is WoW! It's just a different type of fun, and I wouldn't want to give up one for the other.