Dragon Con: A Sight of the Schism in action

[Thanlis]

Surely, Atlanta has a large enough population to turn out RPGA gamers for such events.

That is really weird. Origins had a good mix of D&D from many editions and I never heard anything like this happening. Are you sure it is not being exaggerated?

There were a ton of 4e events at Dragoncon; they were just listed under Living Forgotten Realms instead of under 4e. See my above post.

 

[Mark]

There were a ton of 4e events at Dragoncon; they were just listed under Living Forgotten Realms instead of under 4e.

Did you note the same sort of derision being cast at 4E as reported by others or was this an isolated event?

 

[Thanlis]

Did you note the same sort of derision being cast at 4E as reported by others or was this an isolated event?

In general? I see some of it; there's a guy who shows up every session of my LFR game (shoutout to Renaissance Games) and he's never shy about saying he dislikes 4e. I sort of wonder why he doesn't just go play Pathfinder, since he likes it more. He apparently feels some obligation to play RPGA events. (Yeah, I know, it's odd.)

 

[Umbran]

It's weird because it isn't that bad of a game and has a good following but I've not seen a mainstream RPG, and certainly not a current D&D edition, take as much flak online and off as this.

Well, there's a few things to consider:

1) D&D is still the biggest game out there. It will generate the most flak, and the most praise, period.

2) The last edition change was most of a decade ago. For previous editions, the internet communication network for the propagation, production and amplification of flak did not exist in anything like its current form.

We may be looking as much or more at a social communication phenomenon as we are a game that doesn't meet the desires of the customers.

 

[billd91]

I don't quite understand why you would walk up to an event and bash someone elses fun.

Because lots of people, especially gamers it seems, are socially maladjusted. Seriously, this sort of thing has been going on since someone first brought a different game to a Tactics convention.

But I do remember a time when RPGA supported more than just the most recent edition of D&D and not just with living campaigns. Has its focus really narrowed to just 4e D&D now?

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

If I look at some of the reactions on Warhammer 3E I have "witnessed" just here, I am not sure that it's not a general occurence and not game specific. Of course, D&D is a lot more visible and common.

How does it look with the World of Darkness games and Shadowrun? Both had major edition changes, too, right? Is it really that much better, or it just less visible because they are less players and less online activity (not to mention EN World activity?)...

I don't get why people need to behave like asshats due to an edition change?

 

[Saracenus]

When looking for 4e events at a Con, first check if there is an RPGA presence, because we suck all the 4e oxygen out of the General/Free Play areas of the Con with the Judge demand and schedule put forth.

When 3e and Living Greyhawk was the King Kong of Cons, it was the same. It wasn't until late in the campaign when people were burning out that you saw large offerings outside the RPGA.

At PAX this year, 4e was dominated by the Ultimate Dungeon Delve (4e), The Delve (4e) and Living Forgotten Realms (4e).

The regular Delve alone was running 9 tables of 6 players an hour in a 4 hour slot and all tables were full. We had a total of 6 slots over 3 days. That's:

• 1296 players (though people played multiple times)
• 216 tables

We had so many people that wanted to play the Ultimate Dungeon Delve that we could not accommodate all of them. But we ran 6 or 7 tables each slot.

I don't have the LFR statistics because I wasn't in charge of the gaming, I was just a judge.

While organized play is not everyone's cup of tea it does provide a huge part of many cons. Pathfinder Society is gonna have the same effect. Where there is organized Pathfinder RPG presence at the Con you will see more play. The trick is going to be competing for limited DM resources when both the RPGA and Pathfinder Society are at the same Con.

My two coppers,

 

[Phaezen]

If I look at some of the reactions on Warhammer 3E I have "witnessed" just here, I am not sure that it's not a general occurence and not game specific. Of course, D&D is a lot more visible and common.

How does it look with the World of Darkness games and Shadowrun? Both had major edition changes, too, right? Is it really that much better, or it just less visible because they are less players and less online activity (not to mention EN World activity?)...

I don't get why people need to behave like asshats due to an edition change?

I know the WoD edition change has caused a fairly large rift in that particular community, partly due to the hard reset of the wole setting. Shadowrun, not so much.

 

[green slime]

...someone calls them out as a morron.

Really? I'd have thought being called a moron would have elicited the desired response.

 

[Xer0]

In general? I see some of it; there's a guy who shows up every session of my LFR game (shoutout to Renaissance Games) and he's never shy about saying he dislikes 4e. I sort of wonder why he doesn't just go play Pathfinder, since he likes it more. He apparently feels some obligation to play RPGA events. (Yeah, I know, it's odd.)

Thanlis,

I assume you mean the one in Fallston, MD? I'm in the other group, near the back. And I know exactly who you're talking about. It's nice to meet another Ren Games guy.

As for the schism, it's gonna happen. Hell it happened to me on vacation to England. At least the guy I was talking to was receptive to my opinions and it didn't turn nasty.