I'm getting Edition War fatigue

[I'm A Banana]

4e increased my DM prep time...

Pfft. That's hardly an edition war. Read the thread, man, I'm asking for advice to help me run my 4e games. And there's some solid stuff in there that I plan on implementing even tonight.

I think you're jumping at shadows.

In fact, I'd say the following are not inherently edition war threads:

• What does Videogamey mean to you?: General description of a criticism that has been leveled against at least two editions.
• Where is my Freaking Mule?!: Someone who wants some additional material, mostly with a comic bent, mostly being told there probably wouldn't be much of a market for what they want.
• 4e Buyers remorse: One DM's experiences, that probably have more to do with a min/maxing player than with 4e itself.

The Truth about Fourth Edition doesn't have to be much of an EW thread, but the OP is pretty strident about it (though I think they're probably mostly right), which might provoke equally strident responses. The What's At Stake thread was sort of meta-edition-wars for 95% of it.

Maybe I'm being overly charitable, but I really don't think most of these threads qualify as Edition War fodder. The ranting and railing, the trolls and fanbois, seem to be mostly absent. They're mostly constructive threads about actual people or about game design in general. Which is part of what a D&D message board is about.

 

[BryonD]

... threads created that were all essentially "I hate 4e, let me tell you why".

On just the first page of this board I currently see:

4e Buyers remorse
4e increased my DM prep time...
What does Videogamey mean to you?
What's really at stake in the Edition Wars
The Truth About 4th Edition.
Where is my Freaking Mule?!

I believe you are projecting "hate" onto things that are more accurately described as
"Here is my opinion on this..." is some cases and
"Help me solve this problem..." in others.

Of the threads you listed, all but one were started from a pro-4E side. Which is not *remotely* meant to present a "they started it" point.
What it is meant to point out is that pro-4E posters are certainly not starting "why I hate 4E threads", and yet you are pointing to their own selected thread titles as evidence.
Don't take it quite so seriously or so personally. It is not either.

 

[bagger245]

I actually thought the edition war was over since it's been almost 2 years since 4e came out.

 

[DaveMage]

I actually thought the edition war was over since it's been almost 2 years since 4e came out.

Ha!

Have you met diaglo?

 

[pawsplay]

Ha!

Have you met diaglo?

He is a legend in these parts.

 

[Majoru Oakheart]

I believe you are projecting "hate" onto things that are more accurately described as
"Here is my opinion on this..." is some cases and
"Help me solve this problem..." in others.

The problem is, at this point we know everyone's opinions. At this point I haven't seen much useful advice on running games that makes sense in a 4e environment on the general board.

Of the threads you listed, all but one were started from a pro-4E side. Which is not *remotely* meant to present a "they started it" point.
What it is meant to point out is that pro-4E posters are certainly not starting "why I hate 4E threads", and yet you are pointing to their own selected thread titles as evidence.
Don't take it quite so seriously or so personally. It is not either.

I guess it depends what you mean by "pro-4E side". I don't see it as there being "sides". There are people won't don't play 4e, people who won't play 4e, people who have played and quit, people who are currently playing and have small issues, people who play but have houseruled the game so much it doesn't resemble 4e. All of whom have differing opinions on stuff.

That's fine, it's what makes us human. It's just that it's gotten to the point that if I start a thread about how much I like the RPGA, I get a huge number of replies about how the RPGA sucks and they are ruining gaming for everyone. Someone starts a thread about how they are looking forward to a new book coming out and there is suddenly a "I'm not going to be buying that book, but I don't buy anything 4e" post. Someone posts about how they had a lot of fun with an adventure and there are replies saying that All WOTC adventures suck and no one could have had fun with it because 4e encourages hack and slash with no roleplaying at all. Then there are the random "4e is not D&D" posts.

Look...I admit that I'm taking it too hard. I'm just used to discussing D&D with my friends being a fun activity where everyone laughs and smiles. We get together, we play a game, we roll some dice, and we have some fun. I guess it's just hard to see every single detail of a game that's just fun for me analyzed and over analyzed to death. Sometimes when the point of discussing something wasn't to analyze it at all.

I've seen threads about "What should I do about this player who has an item I shouldn't have allowed into the game?" turn into a discussion about player entitlement and how 4e encourages this behavior. And all because someone shows up and subtly insinuates that 4e rules are the cause of their problems.

 

[jdrakeh]

I've started ignoring entire threads recently in an effort to avoid all of the thinly veiled insults and nastiness, which is something that I've never done here before. Still, I think that the situation is better now than it was a year ago, or even three plus years ago (when there were some hardcore 3e haters haunting the forums). It's just that my mental endurance has been worn down.

 

[darjr]

Yea, I'm trying to avoid stuff as well.

I'm not always succeeding. I will say that there is a lot to like here.

I hope I'm not a weird bird here, but I like several editions of D&D and so I like that there is a breadth of those talked about here. I just wish the clashes were fewer and further.

 

[Majoru Oakheart]

I may be misremembering, but wasn't there a time during 3e where we could show up and talk about how best to deal with an issue without comparing everything in the discussion with 2e or 1e? At least until hong showed up and won the thread.

 

[Nifft]

I hope I'm not a weird bird here, but I like several editions of D&D

HOW. DARE. YOU.

- - -

Seriously, though, there is some value in comparing editions, because none are perfect. Unfortunately, most edition "comparison" threads have a low signal/noise ratio.

Cheers, -- N