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

[JediSoth]

I voted for "A Mixed Bag." Some parts of 4E I really like (ease of prep for the DM, the electronic tools, minions, the way crits are determined, less reliance on having a cleric for healing), some parts I don't (every class having fancy-named powers, the ramp up in power level, the amount of crunch vs. fluff in the core books, loss of Vancian magic, the feel of the game, etc.).

It's not a bad game, per se, but it's not the game for me. It's missing something that makes it feel like "D&D " to me. Maybe I miss the illogic of some of the old rules, or some of the sacred cows that were thrown out, I don't know. It's hard to put my finger on it.

I put it off for nearly a year. I bought it, DMed it, played it at Gen Con, and determined it wasn't for me. I plan to switch over to Pathfinder when I start gaming again.

 

[ExploderWizard]

Mixed bag. I am having fun with my current campaign but the system needed pounding with a hammer to get what I wanted.

The structure is too rigid as written for my taste. Adventure events don't just flow naturally because "the encounter" is such a factor to worry about. Presentation of adventures really brought this to my attention. The events are so structured and constrained. This is a combat, this is a skill challenge, etc. I prefer a looser flowing style of play in which combat is not so distinctly separated from other activity.

The encounter structure, rest mechanics, and milestones are constant intrusions of mechanics into the adventures.

 

[Korgoth]

I tried it for several sessions. I liked the way my character came out, but then in actual play...

"Hate it!"

 

[TerraDave]

There was love, but I just did not get to play 4E that much.

So I would hang out at places like ENWorld, and read all these nasty things about 4E, and even believe some of them....

But whenever we manage to get back together, the love returns.

 

[Alaxk Knight of Galt]

I voted Mixed Bag

There are lots of things to like

• Healing Surges
• Minions
• Tiered Structure
• etc

But there are flaws

• Rituals
• No out of combat abilities
• Classes locked heavily into a role
• Multi-Classing

All in all, its a good game for highly cinematic combat.

It is interesting to see the amount of flexibility in the 3.5 core PHB versus the 4E PHB. For my buck, 3.5 core PHB is a masterpiece in giving the player options.

 

[Herschel]

That's not, imho, the definition of "progress".

But would not "progress" be no longer having to rely on a huge list of rules and skills for out-of-combat gaming? Bringing back the ROLEplaying aspect rather than "I roll a 17 on skill X, I make a wonderwidget"?

 

[Voadam]

I like it. I've finally played one game of 4e this year, I've read the DMG and just got the holiday special of the PH and PHII and I'm 22 pages into reading the PH.

I like a lot of 4e stuff, healing surges, decent at will attacks for everyone, the general balance of classes, encounter powers, encounter duration powers, save ends, monster design philosophy, simplified skills, pretty and easy to read books, etc. DDI looks great for those who play a lot and get it.

Daily powers are still as anoying to me in 4e as they were in 3e and there are not really options to configure character mechanics to avoid them the way there was in 3e. Multiclassing is decent, but not as flexible as 3e.

I don't like the lack of a rules srd the way there is for 3e. It took a long time for quickstart rules to be released for free. I didn't like the original pdf prices being so high (past what I was willing to pay) then their availability being removed entirely for apparently bogus reasons. The 3e ph was cheap plus the free srd was there to hook players into the game, it took the 2 for 1 deal more than a year later for the price point to be attractive enough for me to get the 4e PH at all. I dislike the fact that 4e is only open under the GSL instead of the OGL and so there are a ton fewer resources for it than there would have been.

Game mechanics and game play I like a bunch of 4e. This makes my disappointment in WotC even more keen.

 

[Plane Sailing]

I'm afraid I voted 'hate it'. I was really looking forward to 4e, and I'm a classic early adopter, but having both run it and played it for 18 months, it is (for me) the least appealing game system I've ever tried using for an extended period.

I think I'd been hoping for 4e to be like the revised Star Wars (which was excellent in its role and gave a nice pattern for potential fantasy use too) but what I got went too far for my liking. There are design paradigms at the root of the system that I don't like, and sadly for me D&D is now off the menu as it were.

Still, it gives me a good excuse to polish up the old Runequest 2

Cheers

 

[DaveMage]

I'm afraid I voted 'hate it'. I was really looking forward to 4e, and I'm a classic early adopter, but having both run it and played it for 18 months, it is (for me) the least appealing game system I've ever tried using for an extended period.

Wow.

I voted "dislike" since hate seemed to strong as of today. However, if you had asked me 18 months ago, "hate it" seemed too weak. Now, it's more sadness than anger....

 

[Plane Sailing]

Wow.

I voted "dislike" since hate seemed to strong as of today. However, if you had asked me 18 months ago, "hate it" seemed too weak. Now, it's more sadness than anger....

Well, I don't exactly make voodoo dolls of it or swear blood vengeance on it or anything

I just went for the option which was more than merely 'dislike'!