4E - 18 Months Later: Love it or hate it?

[Mercurius]

It has been a year and a half since the arrival of 4th edition via the DMG, PHB, and MM. How do you feel about it now?

 

[Mercurius]

I voted for "like it" even though I "like it a lot" somewhere between like and love. But I reserve "love" for a game that seems truly perfect to one's sensibilities, or close to it.

 

[rjdafoe]

It has been a year and a half since the arrival of 4th edition via the DMG, PHB, and MM. How do you feel about it now?

My guess is this will be like all the other polls. Most people that vote I hate it, probably have not played it since trying it 18 months or so ago, or have never played it at all. These people will not have tried it again, so their opinion has not changed. Most people that say I like it, or above, have been playing it since it came out.

So it will be somewhere about 50/50.

I voted I like it, althout I am with the person above, I like it alot - somewhere between love and like.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

I love it.

 

[Chainsaw]

As with earlier editions, there's some stuff I like, some I don't like (voted mixed bag). Reluctant to go into details.. I know some folks around here can be pretty touchy.

 

[Maggan]

I like it. Ease of prep and stat blocks are a boon to me as the DM. Conditions and auras are banes! At least to me as the DM.

My players love it, which is a strange feeling for me. I excel at running Call of Cthulhu and WFRP, and am a middling DM for D&D. But my players are having a blast!

Testament to the fact that D&D4 did something right that appeals my players at least.

/M

 

[jdrakeh]

I voted "Meh, who cares?" as I still haven't played it. I bought the PHB but sold it after I realized that there was a lot of errata (15 pages at that time). I'm still waiting on all of that to be incorporated into the books before I actually spend money on them (and, thus, play the game). If it has been, please let me know!

 

[avin]

I like it. "Love" is just for GURPS

 

[pauljathome]

My guess is this will be like all the other polls. Most people that vote I hate it, probably have not played it since trying it 18 months or so ago, or have never played it at all. These people will not have tried it again, so their opinion has not changed. Most people that say I like it, or above, have been playing it since it came out.

So it will be somewhere about 50/50.

I voted I like it, althout I am with the person above, I like it alot - somewhere between love and like.

Or maybe, just maybe, some of us who don't like it have actually played it
a lot and have what we consider quite good reasons for disliking it.

It would start an edition war if I were to enumerate the reasons that I dislike the game (dislike, not hate, btw). But there are many reasons and they come from actual experience.

 

[kigmatzomat]

It's the best tabletop wargame I've played, far better than WH40k or even Heavy Gear.

As an RPG.....

It's like butterscotch pie. The flavoring bursts with butterscotchiness. It is exactly what the designers wanted. But I don't like butterscotch. Yeah, its the ideal butterscotch pie. For people who like butterscotch pie it's fantabulous. For me it's a pass.

It breaks down to the core design principles. 4e set uniformity, simplicity, and overt rules as their goals. It achieved those goals. However uniformity removes variability, simplicity counters granularity, and overtness counters subtlety.

That lack of variability, granularity, and subtlety are what kill it for me as an RPG. However the simplicity, uniformity, and overt rules mean we can build characters and go through a fight in an afternoon. That's great for a wargame.