D&D 4E 4E = BadWrongFun

[DaveMage]

But... everyone must play D&D exactly the way I want them to. Didn't you get the memo?

That's right.

AND they must bring me presents!

 

[Mouseferatu]

That's right.

AND they must bring me presents!

Are you saying they must have the presents of mind to play the game properly?

 

[Geron Raveneye]

Are you saying they must have the presents of mind to play the game properly?

I think what he wants to say is
"A present mind is a gift of the gods...a present of mine is a gift from my players."

 

[Fifth Element]

I don't want to single you out, but your post is one of those exemplary posts that make me always wonder if it takes a conscious efford to ignore the fact that a LOT of players and DMs who might want to continue playing 3.X will simply find themselves out of a group or a gaming community supporting their game of choice, or if it is such a hard idea to wrap one's brain around?

No, it isn't. I tend to think that gaming groups should make decisions like this together. Sure, it would suck if your regular DM decides he wants to try 4E and you don't. It would also suck if your regular DM wanted to go back to 1E (or another old school system), and you didn't. And yes, the former situation is likely more common than the latter, but I find that's a fairly weak argument against releasing a new edition.

Most gaming groups have fairly similar tastes. For many, the joy of playing comes with the social interaction with friends, rather than the game itself. Yes, there will be some number of people who wish to continue playing 3E while the rest of their group moves on to 4E. And if they can't (or don't want to) find another group, that is bad for them. But in all honesty, WotC cannot consider those people. They know that the majority of players of the current edition will most likely at least try the new edition. Compare the number of people who play 3E to the number who still play 2E or 1E or earlier games. Yes, the proportion of immediate converts is likely to be lower this time, but that doesn't mean the majority will not try 4E.

WotC cannot please everyone, since so many different tastes and preferences exist. They can only go with what they think will please the highest number of consumers, given their limited resources.

 

[Redclaw]

The other issue for 3.5 lovers is that there will no longer be new adventures or sourcebooks written for that version of the game. That certainly doesn't end the viability of 3.5, but it does take away some of the options. The fact is, whether you are excited about 4E or not, it is going to change the face of gaming in about 10 months.

 

[Reynard]

The other issue for 3.5 lovers is that there will no longer be new adventures or sourcebooks written for that version of the game. That certainly doesn't end the viability of 3.5, but it does take away some of the options. The fact is, whether you are excited about 4E or not, it is going to change the face of gaming in about 10 months.

Although, this edition shift is the first one that will allow the former edition the option of continued support. If there is a market for it, there will be third party publishers willing to make product.

Personally, I think it would be pretty cool if Hackmaster 5th Edition was culled from the 3.5 SRD.

 

[delericho]

Personally, I think it would be pretty cool if Hackmaster 5th Edition was culled from the 3.5 SRD.

That wouldn't suck.

Note also that AD&D 1st Edition is now essentially supported through OSRIC, so it's no longer the case that OOP = unsupported.

Actually, these are interesting times for Wizards. Push the OGL publishers too hard, and they'll find themselves competing with OGL materials for the 3.5 version of the game. All it would take is for someone to polish up the SRD, reverse-engineer the missing sections, and publish their own "OGL Fantasy" core rulebooks, and things could get really interesting.

Besides, even if 3.5 were totally unsupported, we now have about 50 issues of Dungeon; the Shackled City, Age of Worms, Savage Tide and War of the Crimson Sky Adventure Paths, and will have at least one more from Pathfinder; several "Expedition to..." books; and dozens of other adventure modules. Don't we already have enough for years, if not decades of continued play?

 

[Doug McCrae]

So no, a strong 4th edition will certainly diminish the fun of those who still want to regularly play 3.X in many places.

But would the problem really be 4e here? Surely the real problem would be that your tastes have become divergent from the mainstream.

 

[Geron Raveneye]

No, it isn't. I tend to think that gaming groups should make decisions like this together. Sure, it would suck if your regular DM decides he wants to try 4E and you don't. It would also suck if your regular DM wanted to go back to 1E (or another old school system), and you didn't. And yes, the former situation is likely more common than the latter, but I find that's a fairly weak argument against releasing a new edition.

Most gaming groups have fairly similar tastes. For many, the joy of playing comes with the social interaction with friends, rather than the game itself. Yes, there will be some number of people who wish to continue playing 3E while the rest of their group moves on to 4E. And if they can't (or don't want to) find another group, that is bad for them. But in all honesty, WotC cannot consider those people. They know that the majority of players of the current edition will most likely at least try the new edition. Compare the number of people who play 3E to the number who still play 2E or 1E or earlier games. Yes, the proportion of immediate converts is likely to be lower this time, but that doesn't mean the majority will not try 4E.

WotC cannot please everyone, since so many different tastes and preferences exist. They can only go with what they think will please the highest number of consumers, given their limited resources.

But would the problem really be 4e here? Surely the real problem would be that your tastes have become divergent from the mainstream.

All true...but the main question in this thread is why there are so many posters railing against 4E and WotC. And that simply is one of the reasons. WotC general business policy wasn't in the picture here.

 

[Shadeydm]

There have been plenty of examples of very rude and or very personal attacks made against anyone who voices a contrary opinion about the tidbits of 4E that have been released or the overall direction that WotC has taken the game. Yet this is largely ignored by Mods and fanboys alike. People have this wonderful vision of how things should work, that it should be ok to gush over a 4E snippet but ignorant or rude to voice ones displeasure over the very same snippet. Personally I think it would be a very boring world if we all blindly follow the crowd like good little sheep, I appriciate those who disagree and aren't afraid to say so, to me variety is the spice of life.