3.5 - Is your game better?

[KnowTheToe]

When I first heard about 3.5, it did not bother me at all. I was even excited to learn about the changes. Now I have the books and have read through most of the material. I have created characters, played a few games and worked on creating an adventure. 3.5 does not make the game any better. It did fix some things, but for the most part I house ruled things I thought were ill represented or broken.

I think 3.5 is a crock and the more I read the rules and realized that most of my other books would need to be tweeked in order to be completely compatable, the more frustrated I have become of 3.5. If 3.5 meant keeping Wizards profitable and therefore in business, then I will change my mind, for the sake of the hobby. Personally, I don't think they were ni that dire of financial straights.

I just wanted to vent and let people know I have switched sides. I dislike the concept of 3.5. They should have waited a few more years and made 4E.

 

[dshai527]

My groups tweaks everything so much anyway it didn't really matter which version we were using and since we don't normally use modules and play in a complete homebrew it is really rather seamless to intigrate anything we want. I don't think 3.5 made the game any better,but for my group it didn't hurt either. Then again we still haven't gotten above 10th level in any campaign yet.

 

[Henry]

I can state with confidence that 3E has made my games better in every way.

 

[Desdichado]

Haven't seen a noticable difference, no. I think the Ranger class is way better, at least, and the MM is an improvement. But not worth the price of admission, IMO.

 

[KnowTheToe]

I can state with confidence that 3E has made my games better in every way.

I agree completely. I hated 2E and never player 1E, well a few times in fourth grade but that doesn't count. 3E has been worth almost every cent I spent on it. My wife will enthusiatically disagree, but hey that's life.



JD

I agree that there are many improvements, but as you put it is not worth the price of admission.

 

[Pants]

I personally think my game is better as we can actually understand most of the combat rules without reading them 3 to 4 times and getting into arguments over them. I'm also super happy that many of the spells were toned down/toned up/changed. I'm not 100% happy, but neither was I 100% happy with 3E. IMO, it's an improvement.

 

[dagger]

We have played 3.0 since August 2000, and we switched to 3.5 about a month after it came out.

Honestly I have not really seen the benefit yet, on paper it looks like our game has improved, but I can't tell. We really only have about 5 sessions in with the new rules, so maybe as time goes on it will become more apparent what effect it has had on our games.

 

[Archade]

I bought the 3.5 books when they came out, and to be honest, I prefer the updated rules.

Do I find the changeover issues a headache? Sure! I'm running COTSQ right now, and I'm converting monsters, traps, and tactics on the go. In fact, I have probably spent as much time converting as playing.

But I do find the rules more balanced, clearer, and easier for my players. I did get 200+ new pages of stuff that I appreciate. Some of the new stuff is quirky, but no more quirky than Haste or the old monster advancement rules. They'll be grudgingly tolerated, phased out or house-ruled over as we go.

My players, after an initial grumble over bull's strength, haste, and stacking critical modifiers, have adjusted smoothly to the new rules. And a month or two later, they're admitting they don't even miss the old spells that were powered down, and are having just as much fun, if not more.

Besides, what's $100 every few years on your hobby? How much does a gaming session cost? Zilch. That's pretty good bang for your buck. Sure WOTC is trying to be very profitable - good for them. But as for my personal gaming experience, I think 3.5 was worth it. I've got lots of game systems sitting on my shelf (AD&D ad nauseum, HERO, Paranoia, Stormbringer, Call of Cthulu, Dr Who, FASAs Star Trek, West End Games Star Wars, Harnmaster, Twilight 2000, Traveller, Gear Krieg) that have gotten a little or a lot of game time, and I think my money has been well spent on the latest incarnation of D&D.

Don't start on 4E. I don't even want to hear that for 5 years ...

 

[Terwox]

You know, I think 3.5 did improve my fun with the game.
It made my druid more fun to play, to be simple and blunt.
I liked their power jump.
The group I was playing in had a druid, a halfling monk, and a bard. These characters get more options, and become more viable and helpful characters.
I like it.
And yeah, not much in the DMG changed... but I still like it, I like the item price changes, I like how +skills costs more... basically, I like all the changes except for that part where druids that turn into bats fly into walls because they're blind. I think that's the only non-setting specific (homebrew w/ strange conjuring/teleportation magic) house rule yet -- wild shape gives animal senses.
I like the new damage reduction quite a bit -- yeah, there's golf bag syndrome, but I think "the pixie who can only be hurt by cold iron," is a lot neater than "the iron golem who can only be hurt if your weapon is gimmicked up enough." I guess there's still /epic, but, I dunno, that just sounds better than /+12 to me... I'm just saying it's better for the whole flavor-dealie.
Oh! And the new sundering rules -- breaking magical swords -- changed a last fight in a different campaign in a large way, and I think everyone involved found the battle more entertaining because of it.
It's just those little gameplay changes -- produce flame becoming effective, sunder becoming effective, tower shields becoming interesting, animal companions getting a boost, small monks getting a boost, spells getting tightened up generally... I like it, and it's made me enjoy the game more.
Yeah -- the price of admission is high -- but I'm the only gamer I know who bought the books. I'm not even dm'ing right now -- my friends who DM are using the SRD, and Olgar's compiled change list. So, it's even free for them. Yep!

 

[Hackenslash]

I think 3.5 is ok...but

I don't have a problem with WoTC bringing out 3.5, I just have a problem with them bringing out and edition with so many editorial mistakes and shoddy presentation. However the game has run a little smother since 3.5 came out and our campaign has less arguements over rules, so they did do a good job of clarification and alos did a good job of correcting and balancing the spells. Overall, 3.5 was ok but I wish it would have been cheaper as it was certainly not a whole new game and thus should not have been priced at full price. OR.
They could have released a hardback bumper page update book for all three core rule books. Now I wouldn't have minded as much paying for that. I have still bought all three 3.5 books and still enjoy it so I suppose that's what counts. Cheers All