It's like the 'new' World of Darkness was for me.

[C.W.Richeson]

Seems like those upset are just those who are too attached to be able to move on.

That's one explanation, and there's no doubt that it became harder to find a 2E game after 3E just as will likely happen to 3E after 4E. Feeling like you 'wasted' money on all those books when the mechanics are no longer in demand isn't any fun.

However, it could also be that a lot of folk invested in the lines also happen to be fans who pay a lot of attention to what's going on with their favorite game. I know I was heavily invested in 2E and Exalted before those two lines saw a new edition, yet I was very excited about the new editions.

Besides, I think we all know that eventually new editions come down the line. It may be a few years or a decade but eventually, if the property is valuable, a new edition will be released that very likely will invalidate what came before it. So, I tend to discount the notion that this is all about lost investment since the change in editions seems so foreseeable.

 

[Stogoe]

I came to WoD late, so I was quite put off by the decade of metaplot and backstory I was behind and could never catch up on, stuff that was required to understand the current rulebooks, and yet was out of print and had disappeared into the ether 5 years before I'd ever heard of roleplaying. Metaplot is a huge turn off for me in RPGs. Perhaps that's why I dislike every published D&D setting but Eberron.

So nWoD is a huge improvement for me.

And even if Werewolf clans went from '12 groups of Eco Warriors rawr!' to '5 phases of the moon by 6 outlooks on existence', the character possibilites are still vastly more open in nWoD.

 

[Lord Fyre]

I came to WoD late, so I was quite put off by the decade of metaplot and backstory I was behind and could never catch up on, stuff that was required to understand the current rulebooks, and yet was out of print and had disappeared into the ether 5 years before I'd ever heard of roleplaying. Metaplot is a huge turn off for me in RPGs. Perhaps that's why I dislike every published D&D setting but Eberron.

So nWoD is a huge improvement for me.

And even if Werewolf clans went from '12 groups of Eco Warriors rawr!' to '5 phases of the moon by 6 outlooks on existence', the character possibilites are still vastly more open in nWoD.

Before we drift too far out of the analogy of the transition 3rd edition to 4th edition, isn't there are separate area on these boards for discussion World Of Darkness issues?

(If there isn't perhaps we can persuade the Moderators to increase their workload by opening a new forum for non-d20 games?)

 

[The Little Raven]

To be honest, the only thing that I didn't like about the nWoD was that the tribes/clans came off as lame. And going from 12 to 5 was a large disappointment.

See, I was the opposite. When I opened the book and didn't find stupid racist stereotypes like "Middle Eastern assassin vampire" and "Gypsy criminal vampire," I realized that the game had finally grown up. Same with Werewolf and it's "Irish werewolves" (who get gifts to help them drink... how frakin' racist can you get?) and "Man-hating Amazon werewolves."

 

[The Little Raven]

They decided to revamp some things that perhaps didn't need to be changed.

They are different games. This whole "don't fix what ain't broke" line of reasoning only applies to sequels, not entirely new games based on the same basic concept (vampires, werewolves, etc.).

 

[Imaro]

Given that you just told us that there are huge swaths of unexplored Ebberon, they don't have to change anything, just explore the parts they didn't before.

The problem with this logic is, if you're starting a new edition with the hope of attracting new players...then it seems you would have to cover the basics of a setting first or risk loosing these people, making them confused or putting them off the setting. The basics of Eberron have been covered, it was the other stuff I was referring to.

 

[Wolfspider]

They are different games. This whole "don't fix what ain't broke" line of reasoning only applies to sequels, not entirely new games based on the same basic concept (vampires, werewolves, etc.).

Now how do you figure that? They don't seem like entirely new games to me. I can pick up a character sheet from a nWoD game and still recognize most things on it from oWod. I can't do this with, say, a character from FASA Star Trek and one from Decipher Star Trek.

 

[The Little Raven]

Now how do you figure that?

The same way I figure that Vampire in Brooklyn is not a sequel to Dracula, even though they both deal with the same subject matter (an ancient vampire entering the modern world). They have recognizable traits, but in the end the way those traits are assembled reveals a completely different picture.

I can pick up a character sheet from a nWoD game and still recognize most things on it from oWod.

Because they elected to use a new variation on their classic system. That doesn't make it a sequel, since it's not a continuation of the old WoD (the very definition of sequel being a continuation of previous property).

 

[delericho]

Because they elected to use a new variation on their classic system. That doesn't make it a sequel, since it's not a continuation of the old WoD (the very definition of sequel being a continuation of previous property).

Agreed. Amusingly, it looks like Vampire: the Requiem is going to be much more mechanically similar to Vampire: the Masquerade than D&D 4e will be to D&D 3.5e. It certainly is than D&D 3.0 is to AD&D 2nd Edition.

 

[delericho]

Would it be a wrong assumption to say that the majority of the people upset with the nWoD is those who have all the books from oWoD?

Meaning, well, those who are the most invested in something are the most put off when their investment is no longer applied?

That may be one reason people are upset; it may even be the main reason people are upset. However, it would be a mistake to assume that it is the only reason people are upset. There are several people on this board (myself included) who were really looking forward to the new edition, but who have been disillusioned by the information that has been revealed.

Although, perhaps the question doesn't apply to me at all - I wouldn't say I'm 'upset', any more than I was upset by the oWoD -> nWoD change. I simply decided that the new game wasn't for me, and stopped playing. The same is likely the case here (unless WotC prove me wrong here, of course).