Gundark
Explorer
"D&D 4e does not feel like D&D to me" was a response I've read quite often on forums and heard others in game stores say. It's not an opinion that I personally share, however people felt this way and voted with feet/wallets. So this time around we have WotC shooting for the "feel" of D&D, that magical place, D&D Nirvana, Narnia in the back of the Wardrobe, Lolth's bedchamber. I mean, I think that this is a worthy goal, I enjoy the D&D game and the D&D experience and I am looking forward to the experience of play testing 5e.
However we gamers seem to be a hard audience to please, one small offhand comment from a designer sparks pages of debate and rage on the internet from people "What!!! Fighters will wear boxers and not briefs?!?! You have destroyed the soul of D&D, that's it I'm out!!!" I like to think I'm a reasonable person, and yet I too have my "dealbreakers".
The problem with legacy is that we have forced the designers into a box, and have told them “don't you stray too far from that box!!" Are we destroying innovation by forcing the designers stay in a closely defined "feel" of the game? Is there that great game mechanic that we are going to miss out on because the designers were too “scared” to explore certain options? I read the latest 5e blog on dice tricks and I’m looking at the “what do you think?” polls and I feel like saying “Yeah try them all! Let’s see what they do, and get our hands dirty” cause maybe we’ll find something really great. This public playtest has the opportunity to create a really great game; our job is to stay open minded and play test the out of whatever the designers throw at us. I would say to not be afraid of trying an idea because it (at first) doesn’t fit into what we feel D&D is, because maybe it’ll actually be really cool. We’ve all been there, the game that we thought we’d hate and it turned out to be awesome sauce. The “if it aint broke then don’t fix it” idea shouldn’t keep us from exploring other avenues.
The alternative is we keep the designers on a short leash, we rage at every little difference and and we end up with a D&D that is best summed up with a Dilbert comic strip I read once,
Dilbert comic strip for 10/31/1995 from the official Dilbert comic strips archive.
Then sadly we get a flat D&D, one that doesn’t inspire, like paying someone for a renovation on your house and they come in and re-arrange the furniture.
Either way we’ll get the D&D we desreve
However we gamers seem to be a hard audience to please, one small offhand comment from a designer sparks pages of debate and rage on the internet from people "What!!! Fighters will wear boxers and not briefs?!?! You have destroyed the soul of D&D, that's it I'm out!!!" I like to think I'm a reasonable person, and yet I too have my "dealbreakers".
The problem with legacy is that we have forced the designers into a box, and have told them “don't you stray too far from that box!!" Are we destroying innovation by forcing the designers stay in a closely defined "feel" of the game? Is there that great game mechanic that we are going to miss out on because the designers were too “scared” to explore certain options? I read the latest 5e blog on dice tricks and I’m looking at the “what do you think?” polls and I feel like saying “Yeah try them all! Let’s see what they do, and get our hands dirty” cause maybe we’ll find something really great. This public playtest has the opportunity to create a really great game; our job is to stay open minded and play test the out of whatever the designers throw at us. I would say to not be afraid of trying an idea because it (at first) doesn’t fit into what we feel D&D is, because maybe it’ll actually be really cool. We’ve all been there, the game that we thought we’d hate and it turned out to be awesome sauce. The “if it aint broke then don’t fix it” idea shouldn’t keep us from exploring other avenues.
The alternative is we keep the designers on a short leash, we rage at every little difference and and we end up with a D&D that is best summed up with a Dilbert comic strip I read once,
Dilbert comic strip for 10/31/1995 from the official Dilbert comic strips archive.
Then sadly we get a flat D&D, one that doesn’t inspire, like paying someone for a renovation on your house and they come in and re-arrange the furniture.
Either way we’ll get the D&D we desreve
Last edited: