Mearls is the new manager of D&D

[scruffygrognard]

Congratulations and, hopefully, you are able to inspire those who dropped D&D with the release of 4th edition to return to the fold.

I, for one, would love to see D&D return to its roots and get "back to basics"... but with new, innovative and flexible rules that make the game fun for DMs and players.

 

[Windjammer]

"You don't talk about politics or religion in polite conversation" is a maxim of general etiquette. I'd add "Edition Opinions" to this list; this thread is polite conversation, and that's just dragging in unnecessary baggage for the sake of dragging it in.

I think you missed the gist of these posts - or at the very least, of some of those posts.

Sammael and Shemeska, to mention but two, explicitly said that they were convinced Mearls would do his best in his new role and wished him best of luck for it regardless of this happening in the context of 4E (a context they aren't super excited about).

Suppose Mearls was dem... ahem.. promoted to Pokemon brand manager - I think it perfectly polite to say, "congrats on the new job Mike, though I must say, I'm not too overly fond of Pokemon". You can congratulate a person without having to congratulate the product he's working on or even the company he's working for.

Heck, there was a time before Mearls worked on 4E, before he went to WotC, and he gathered a lot of respect from people in the 3.0 era. If these people feel it's great that he got the new position it's perfectly ok to clarify that they're paying their respects for reasons that transcend 4E.

 

[Fifth Element]

Does treating "one another like human beings who share a certain hobby?" somehow mean that your opinion counts and mine doesn't?

No, not at all. But if you believe that you should be free to state your opinion in this thread, shouldn't I be as well? I would prefer that such comments not be in the thread; that's my opinion about it. I don't expect said opinion to really change anything.

It is kind of a vicious circle though.

 

[darjr]

Wow, great speech. Congrats again, and as a 4e fan with a love for the older editions and play styles, I think the future is bright.

 

[Hadrian the Builder]

The King is dead. Long live the king.

 

[BryonD]

No, not at all. But if you believe that you should be free to state your opinion in this thread, shouldn't I be as well? I would prefer that such comments not be in the thread; that's my opinion about it. I don't expect said opinion to really change anything.

It is kind of a vicious circle though.

Sure. Have I challenged it?

Now, if you think my expression of opinion that WotC can do things to appeal to players it has lost has no more merit to the thread than your expression of opinion that you don't like me expressing my opinion, then we would disagree on that. And if that is a cause and effect, then *something* is certainly vicious.

 

[Umbran]

Folks,

I thought "getting into arguments about the dumping is also rude" was pretty clear. Apparently it was not.

So - if you have a problem with what someone says in this thread, report it, and leave it be. Please don't get into an argument about it. If this is in any way unclear, I expect you to e-mail or PM one of the moderators.

 

[M.L. Martin]

Congratulations, Mr. Mearls. I met you once at the Source for D&D Game Day in 2007, and while I didn't wind up liking everything 4E did, I do appreciate your enthusiasm and openness.

Then, something happened. TSR dropped Gary. Greyhawk was pushed aside. When 2e came out, I was torn. There were plenty of things to like about the game, but the attitude around it was off. It almost seemed like the people behind D&D didn't particularly care for the way I loved D&D. Maybe I was completely irrational, but the game felt changed in some insidious way.

As time went on, that feeling only increased. There were bright spots, most notably Dungeon magazine, but a lot of the stuff TSR put out didn't really speak to why I fell in love with D&D in the first place. I wanted to love D&D, but it wasn't really clear that the company behind D&D wanted to return that love.

Of course, there are those of us who came to the game in that era and grew up with that 'feel' of D&D, and who feel a bit left behind in these new days. The pendulum swings . . . (Although 'points of light' can be traced back to the 2E DMG. )

However, I also accept that those of us who do feel that way are outliers and don't represent the best target audience for D&D. Any chance you could find a way to resurrect the SAGA Rules System to cater to that niche market?

 

[Woas]

Hey, does Monte Cook need a job?

 

[ExploderWizard]

Way back in the misty days of the 1980s, when I first discovered D&D, I thought Gary Gygax, Tom Moldvay, Doug Niles, Tracy Hickman, and the entire TSR crew were demigods. I loved poring over Dragon magazine, reading through adventures like Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun again and again, and studying the DMG. I devoured the Dragonlance novels. I fought battles across our basement floor with legions of BattleSystem counters. I filled the few, precious pieces of graph paper I had with dungeons. I designed classes and monsters. I loved D&D.

Remember that feeling. Lets get it back.

Then, something happened. TSR dropped Gary. Greyhawk was pushed aside. When 2e came out, I was torn. There were plenty of things to like about the game, but the attitude around it was off. It almost seemed like the people behind D&D didn't particularly care for the way I loved D&D. Maybe I was completely irrational, but the game felt changed in some insidious way.

As time went on, that feeling only increased. There were bright spots, most notably Dungeon magazine, but a lot of the stuff TSR put out didn't really speak to why I fell in love with D&D in the first place. I wanted to love D&D, but it wasn't really clear that the company behind D&D wanted to return that love.

This seems very familliar. Oh yeah, it's exactly how I felt shortly after the release of 2E.
This happens to some D&D fans every single time the game undergoes a major change. It happened then, it's happening now and will most likely continue in the future.

In looking back, I think that my job is fairly simple. I want people to love D&D. I want people to feel like the game is in good hands, that the hand at the tiller is confident, smart, and genuinely interested in the good of the game.

It's easy for me to look at this as the chance for me to make D&D into the game I always wanted it to be, but that would be disingenuous. It'd be the height of vanity, a monument to arrogance. D&D can't be a game that caters to a single person. It's bigger than that. It lives and dies by the collected spirit of every person that's ever picked up a d20, put pencil to graph paper, or leaned close to the table as the last character standing, clutching his last hit point, rolled his attack against the BBEG.

Of course, actually doing that isn't simple, but it helps to have a goal. I can't force anyone to love D&D. I can't legislate the game into popularity, or commission a survey that will tell me exactly what to do.

At the end of the day though, the feel and direction of the game is up to you right now. Do what you think is actually best and don't let yourself get second guessed by a committee. Too many cooks can ruin a dish. If you do what you honestly feel is best for D&D then people will respect that even if that vision differs from their own.

Best of luck!