[note: I’ve posted this here because I come to this site more often than the official forums, and the wotc forums haven’t displayed correctly on my screen for many months]
Dear Wizards of the coast,
In 2007 before the release of 4E, many people voiced concerns about what 4E would be like mechanically.
I was one of those people, and I wanted to say that 4E appears to have blown my socks off. I say ‘appears’ because I haven’t played it yet. I’ve read through it though, and have currently been going through open grave because it was just shipped to me. I want to talk about some specifics:
Whitespace in the books: I’m okay with it; in fact, it’s easier for me to read the 4E books because of it. A
The powers: everybody gets them, not just the wizard, the cleric, and the druid. I like this a lot, but I was a big fan of 3.5’s tome of battle to begin with. You even have racial powers. I’d like more of these, please. The ‘at will’, ‘per encounter’, and ‘daily’ slots are also a big plus. A+
Skills: consolidation as well as removing skill points is what I asked for, and you delivered. You even threw in skill challenges for free. However, craft and profession skills are now gone. Overall, it’s more of what I want than not. B
Races: We got some new ones, and the old ones have been polished. I usually play humans, so this one didn’t affect me a lot. A
Classes: The warlord is a great addition to the core books. The originals [fighter, wizard, cleric, rogue] really have a ‘classic’ feel to them, even with the new powers system. Well done. A++
Feats: You know, I’m not the kind of person who tries to optimize 100%, and so for a long time I didn’t know just how bad some feats were compared to others. Thankfully, the character optimization boards exist, as well as enworld. I guess what I’m trying to say is I’m glad the feats have been better balanced against each other. Good job on refining the system. A+
Equipment: I really thought that this would have been unchanged, but you surprised me! I think it’s a good change, though. The differences between weapons are a little bit more meaningful mechanically. A very nice touch. A+
Rituals: They make the game feel more like ‘old school fantasy’ to me. It also keeps a lot of magic within reach, but allows each class, like thieves unlocking doors or disarming traps, to shine. A+
Character advancement: I like that every class gets something every level. A+
DMG, P.42: If there is one thing about 4E that is the best of the best, it’s this page, and that chart in particular. That chart can enable many DMs to run games on the fly a LOT easier. Very well done! A++
Monster manual: I like that you’ve given me multiple variations of most monsters. It’s a lot like the weapons; more meaningful mechanical difference. I strongly prefer this over having to take a 3.5 monster and give it class levels. A+
Mooks: Mooks r teh r0xx0rz! No, really, this is a great idea, and I'm very glad you implemented it! A++
Errata: If it’s one thing you’ve really improved 100% on, it’s this. You’ve been keeping on top of errata like white on rice. A++
Adventures: full color, comes in a folder, separate books, and at least one battlemap; I really can't say anything bad at all about this, not even the price. Good job! A+
These are some things that I’m hopeful for:
Spelljammer + Planescape; please develop this more. I like what you’ve got, but I’d like more please.
Ravenloft + Shadowfell; please develop this more, preferably more undead and robots/golems/constructs. To me, the shadowfell is a place where the ‘not dead’, the soulless, and ‘that which mocks life’ dwell. It is a place for the ‘incomplete’, the ‘unfinished’, and I feel that ravenloft is like that, but more tragic. This is the place for the Temple of Elemental Evil (with some adventuring in the elemental chaos).
Feywild + Isle of dread; please develop this more, preferably more hollow world-like. To me, the feywild is the ‘virgin, anti-city, anti-technology world’ as well as the ‘forgotten’ world. It is a place for prehistoric life, woodsy elves, eccentric druids, and illiterate barbarians. I think that some hollow world stuff, dinosaurs and primitive people in particular, would be a great fit. Please make Isle of Dread a super mega adventure!
Dark sun; This would be a great setting to release with the psionic rules…
Greyhawk and Blackmoor; These are LEGACY, wizards. Perhaps if these were done ‘right’, some of the old guard would re-examine 4E?
Monster cards: What I’d like are basically 4E versions of the D&D minis cards. Yes, I know you have some of them on your site, but I’d like to buy a ‘monster manual I’ pack of monster cards with the artwork straight from the monster manual on one side, and the stat block and tactics on the other.
Magic item cards: similar to the monster cards, I'd like an illustration on the front, and stats on the back.
Counter sheets: I'd like sheets of cardboard counters that I can put down on battlemaps to indicate various things like doors, treasure chests, secret passages, and monsters. Kinda like what was in the 4E starter set, but purchased separate, and a lot more sheets. I'd also like a 'player's pack' that would have counters for the various conditions, hit points, initiative order, some '+1, +2, +3' counters to indicate bonuses, and counters to represent spell effects as well as cardboard cone and blast templates.
Super adventures: It looks like revenge of the giants will be the first of these; looking good so far. I’ll know more once it’s released and shipped (I already preordered it). I hope that it will be 'more complete' than expedition to undermountain and I’m very hopeful that it’s the son of the ‘g/d/q/’ series. I'm hoping there will be more...
Unearthed Arcana: I’m of the opinion that more options generally = better game, so there should be a UA4E. You could, oh….I don’t know, put craft and profession skills, ‘grim and gritty, characters aren’t as powerful’, ‘options on not using a battlemat or figures for combat’, ‘random tables for everything’, and ‘an optional 4E skill points system’ rules in it. It could have all sorts of rules for emulating prior editions using 4E…
D20 modern: I’d really like this to be based off of Star Wars Saga Edition, but different enough to justify buying it instead of just using my SWSE and d20 modern books together;[the guy in green is what I want; the other guy is what I can make with D20 modern + SWSE]
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ra70O9nps6E"][the guy in green is what I want; the other guy is what I can make with D20 modern + SWSE].[/ame]
DDI: I’m not a subscriber, but your recent release of the 1-30 level character builder has almost drawn me over. I’m very pleased about the current price compared to the original price of the DDI subscription. I’m going to wait a bit longer on this. It’s not the price that’s causing me to wait, but what I’m getting. I REALLY like physical books, pdf’s are okay.
Accessories: wizards, I’m going to tell you up front I’m not going to buy any of your new miniatures packs. Just so we’re on the level here, I want you to know I didn’t buy that many minis for 3.x. I think I bought maybe five booster packs and two starters, as well as some 'black dragon' basic boxes that were half off. They’re too expensive for me, and would eat into my book, video game, and ‘eating out’ budget. I will continue to buy your dungeon tiles, and I will probably buy your power cards though.
What I DID buy was the ‘descent: journeys into the dark’ board game, and got 61 one inch gridded dungeon tile pieces, 60 [unpainted] monster and 20 character minis, and 369 little cardboard tokens for all sorts of things, not to mention 180 cards.
I really wish you guys made a ‘super mega ultra deluxe platinum’ D&D starter set that came with multiple sets of dice, mucho minis, dungeon tiles, cardboard counters, and cards for everything instead of selling these accessories piece by piece.
I realize it would be expensive, but what was the MSRP of the three core books? How were the sales on them? If you’re going to say, and I quote from the back of open grave, “for use with these dungeons and dragons core products...D&D Miniatures…D&D dungeon tiles", and you bundle the core books together [and they sell well like that], then perhaps bundling the other core products like minis, tiles, dice, cardboard counters, and cards could also sell to the exact same target audience the three book core slipcase was marketed to? Maybe the three core slipcase sold well because of it's great value?
Finally, I want you to know that I haven’t sold off any of my 3.x books; in fact, I’ve been growing my 3.x collection rapidly. Since 4E released, prices for a lot of 3.x and OGL books have been inexpensive enough for me to pick up (anywhere in the neighborhood of 50-90% off), and I intend to keep playing 3.x. So, I guess you could say I’m not a ‘complete’ convert, but I do prefer the mechanics, presentation, and visual style of 4E.
Keep up the good work, wizards!
p.s. wizards; PLEASE get that man who's working on the GSL some assistants/interns. He sounds overworked!
Dear Wizards of the coast,
In 2007 before the release of 4E, many people voiced concerns about what 4E would be like mechanically.
I was one of those people, and I wanted to say that 4E appears to have blown my socks off. I say ‘appears’ because I haven’t played it yet. I’ve read through it though, and have currently been going through open grave because it was just shipped to me. I want to talk about some specifics:
Whitespace in the books: I’m okay with it; in fact, it’s easier for me to read the 4E books because of it. A
The powers: everybody gets them, not just the wizard, the cleric, and the druid. I like this a lot, but I was a big fan of 3.5’s tome of battle to begin with. You even have racial powers. I’d like more of these, please. The ‘at will’, ‘per encounter’, and ‘daily’ slots are also a big plus. A+
Skills: consolidation as well as removing skill points is what I asked for, and you delivered. You even threw in skill challenges for free. However, craft and profession skills are now gone. Overall, it’s more of what I want than not. B
Races: We got some new ones, and the old ones have been polished. I usually play humans, so this one didn’t affect me a lot. A
Classes: The warlord is a great addition to the core books. The originals [fighter, wizard, cleric, rogue] really have a ‘classic’ feel to them, even with the new powers system. Well done. A++
Feats: You know, I’m not the kind of person who tries to optimize 100%, and so for a long time I didn’t know just how bad some feats were compared to others. Thankfully, the character optimization boards exist, as well as enworld. I guess what I’m trying to say is I’m glad the feats have been better balanced against each other. Good job on refining the system. A+
Equipment: I really thought that this would have been unchanged, but you surprised me! I think it’s a good change, though. The differences between weapons are a little bit more meaningful mechanically. A very nice touch. A+
Rituals: They make the game feel more like ‘old school fantasy’ to me. It also keeps a lot of magic within reach, but allows each class, like thieves unlocking doors or disarming traps, to shine. A+
Character advancement: I like that every class gets something every level. A+
DMG, P.42: If there is one thing about 4E that is the best of the best, it’s this page, and that chart in particular. That chart can enable many DMs to run games on the fly a LOT easier. Very well done! A++
Monster manual: I like that you’ve given me multiple variations of most monsters. It’s a lot like the weapons; more meaningful mechanical difference. I strongly prefer this over having to take a 3.5 monster and give it class levels. A+
Mooks: Mooks r teh r0xx0rz! No, really, this is a great idea, and I'm very glad you implemented it! A++
Errata: If it’s one thing you’ve really improved 100% on, it’s this. You’ve been keeping on top of errata like white on rice. A++
Adventures: full color, comes in a folder, separate books, and at least one battlemap; I really can't say anything bad at all about this, not even the price. Good job! A+
These are some things that I’m hopeful for:
Spelljammer + Planescape; please develop this more. I like what you’ve got, but I’d like more please.
Ravenloft + Shadowfell; please develop this more, preferably more undead and robots/golems/constructs. To me, the shadowfell is a place where the ‘not dead’, the soulless, and ‘that which mocks life’ dwell. It is a place for the ‘incomplete’, the ‘unfinished’, and I feel that ravenloft is like that, but more tragic. This is the place for the Temple of Elemental Evil (with some adventuring in the elemental chaos).
Feywild + Isle of dread; please develop this more, preferably more hollow world-like. To me, the feywild is the ‘virgin, anti-city, anti-technology world’ as well as the ‘forgotten’ world. It is a place for prehistoric life, woodsy elves, eccentric druids, and illiterate barbarians. I think that some hollow world stuff, dinosaurs and primitive people in particular, would be a great fit. Please make Isle of Dread a super mega adventure!
Dark sun; This would be a great setting to release with the psionic rules…
Greyhawk and Blackmoor; These are LEGACY, wizards. Perhaps if these were done ‘right’, some of the old guard would re-examine 4E?
Monster cards: What I’d like are basically 4E versions of the D&D minis cards. Yes, I know you have some of them on your site, but I’d like to buy a ‘monster manual I’ pack of monster cards with the artwork straight from the monster manual on one side, and the stat block and tactics on the other.
Magic item cards: similar to the monster cards, I'd like an illustration on the front, and stats on the back.
Counter sheets: I'd like sheets of cardboard counters that I can put down on battlemaps to indicate various things like doors, treasure chests, secret passages, and monsters. Kinda like what was in the 4E starter set, but purchased separate, and a lot more sheets. I'd also like a 'player's pack' that would have counters for the various conditions, hit points, initiative order, some '+1, +2, +3' counters to indicate bonuses, and counters to represent spell effects as well as cardboard cone and blast templates.
Super adventures: It looks like revenge of the giants will be the first of these; looking good so far. I’ll know more once it’s released and shipped (I already preordered it). I hope that it will be 'more complete' than expedition to undermountain and I’m very hopeful that it’s the son of the ‘g/d/q/’ series. I'm hoping there will be more...
Unearthed Arcana: I’m of the opinion that more options generally = better game, so there should be a UA4E. You could, oh….I don’t know, put craft and profession skills, ‘grim and gritty, characters aren’t as powerful’, ‘options on not using a battlemat or figures for combat’, ‘random tables for everything’, and ‘an optional 4E skill points system’ rules in it. It could have all sorts of rules for emulating prior editions using 4E…
D20 modern: I’d really like this to be based off of Star Wars Saga Edition, but different enough to justify buying it instead of just using my SWSE and d20 modern books together;[the guy in green is what I want; the other guy is what I can make with D20 modern + SWSE]
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ra70O9nps6E"][the guy in green is what I want; the other guy is what I can make with D20 modern + SWSE].[/ame]
DDI: I’m not a subscriber, but your recent release of the 1-30 level character builder has almost drawn me over. I’m very pleased about the current price compared to the original price of the DDI subscription. I’m going to wait a bit longer on this. It’s not the price that’s causing me to wait, but what I’m getting. I REALLY like physical books, pdf’s are okay.
Accessories: wizards, I’m going to tell you up front I’m not going to buy any of your new miniatures packs. Just so we’re on the level here, I want you to know I didn’t buy that many minis for 3.x. I think I bought maybe five booster packs and two starters, as well as some 'black dragon' basic boxes that were half off. They’re too expensive for me, and would eat into my book, video game, and ‘eating out’ budget. I will continue to buy your dungeon tiles, and I will probably buy your power cards though.
What I DID buy was the ‘descent: journeys into the dark’ board game, and got 61 one inch gridded dungeon tile pieces, 60 [unpainted] monster and 20 character minis, and 369 little cardboard tokens for all sorts of things, not to mention 180 cards.
I really wish you guys made a ‘super mega ultra deluxe platinum’ D&D starter set that came with multiple sets of dice, mucho minis, dungeon tiles, cardboard counters, and cards for everything instead of selling these accessories piece by piece.
I realize it would be expensive, but what was the MSRP of the three core books? How were the sales on them? If you’re going to say, and I quote from the back of open grave, “for use with these dungeons and dragons core products...D&D Miniatures…D&D dungeon tiles", and you bundle the core books together [and they sell well like that], then perhaps bundling the other core products like minis, tiles, dice, cardboard counters, and cards could also sell to the exact same target audience the three book core slipcase was marketed to? Maybe the three core slipcase sold well because of it's great value?
Finally, I want you to know that I haven’t sold off any of my 3.x books; in fact, I’ve been growing my 3.x collection rapidly. Since 4E released, prices for a lot of 3.x and OGL books have been inexpensive enough for me to pick up (anywhere in the neighborhood of 50-90% off), and I intend to keep playing 3.x. So, I guess you could say I’m not a ‘complete’ convert, but I do prefer the mechanics, presentation, and visual style of 4E.
Keep up the good work, wizards!
p.s. wizards; PLEASE get that man who's working on the GSL some assistants/interns. He sounds overworked!
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