First off, this is really my two cents worth, and only my opinion, along with my wife’s opinion.
I’ve been playing D&D since it came out in the basic edition. I played many long years as a kid growing up with 1st edition and eventually 2nd edition. I continued through college and adult life into 3rd edition and eventually 3.5 edition. That should reflect I’m open to changes and enhancements with the rules.
I traveled, along with my wife, and other friends to Washington DC to the D&D Experience 2008. I was under the assumption I would bite the bullet and eventually transition my campaigns to 4e. We all had signed up for Living Forgotten Realms #1 and Living Forgotten Realms #2 to experience the new rules. Of course we also played in our regular Living Greyhawk and Xen’drik Expedition slots.
Needless to say, we were ALL DISAPPOINTED with the play tests. We even gave the Dungeon Delves a few tries under the 4e, but were still disappointed. To us, the 4e rules don’t “feel” like D&D anymore. It really reflected another d20 system altogether, such as a GURPS, but dummied down for kids.
Throughout the years with the changes in the editions, the core of D&D was always there until now. This isn’t D&D!
I really didn’t see why such a drastic revamp was needed to the core system. The old system allowed great flexibility, and could be complicated at times, but I’ve brought in many new people through the years and within weeks the rules were understood. The new rules really remind me of a talent tree system for the races and classes. If I wanted that, World of Warcraft is out there for me to play. The great thing about D&D was that players could take the core class and race, and then individualize their characters, knowing they had a specific role within the party. My players big goals were solving the conflict, but “what magic items did we find?” In 4e, it seems magic items are a side effect and you can make your character better using the talent trees. Which, everyone who has chosen that race and class can choose the same abilities. Where is the individuality of I’m the only elf wizard with this magic item?
The bloodied concept seems to slow down the play time. Our tables would grind to a halt trying to see if a monster was bloodied. I don’t think anyone took the time to see how to reflect that with miniatures. Having a player role attacks (since now there are all kinds) for area effects to each monster baffles me. I asked about this with the wizard folks, and they said the player could do it quicker because he knows the attack. But wait, so then the player needs to role each one, and then ask the DM “did this type of attack hit?” … “Oh, and does this monster have damage reduction for the attack type?” And then … Okay, how is this quicker?
Not everything was bad. I did like the focus on giving the races more spell-like abilities. That was missing in the older editions. The healing surges were an interesting concept. But why not modify and enhance the old core rules, instead of build the game from the ground up again? To me, I’m at a loss. This will be the first time in a long time our group hasn’t attended Gen Con. We’ll all be heading to Origins to finish out the 3.5 edition campaigns.
We did try and take an objective view to the changes and hold a little survey at the restaurant above the gaming floor between events during the weekend. A majority of the people we discussed 4e with were pushed in too distinct directions. Those that have played D&D using 2nd, 3rd, and 3.5, were not impressed with the changes. Of course, there were some who were, but not many. And those that were impressed because they were very new to 3.5 edition, or this was there first time playing.
So, with that said, I’ll be sticking with 3.5 edition for a long time. There is tons of material content available, and with Paizo, Lone Wolf, and many other 3rd party publishers staying with 3.5, those that stay with the older edition will be fine.
I’ve been playing D&D since it came out in the basic edition. I played many long years as a kid growing up with 1st edition and eventually 2nd edition. I continued through college and adult life into 3rd edition and eventually 3.5 edition. That should reflect I’m open to changes and enhancements with the rules.
I traveled, along with my wife, and other friends to Washington DC to the D&D Experience 2008. I was under the assumption I would bite the bullet and eventually transition my campaigns to 4e. We all had signed up for Living Forgotten Realms #1 and Living Forgotten Realms #2 to experience the new rules. Of course we also played in our regular Living Greyhawk and Xen’drik Expedition slots.
Needless to say, we were ALL DISAPPOINTED with the play tests. We even gave the Dungeon Delves a few tries under the 4e, but were still disappointed. To us, the 4e rules don’t “feel” like D&D anymore. It really reflected another d20 system altogether, such as a GURPS, but dummied down for kids.
Throughout the years with the changes in the editions, the core of D&D was always there until now. This isn’t D&D!
I really didn’t see why such a drastic revamp was needed to the core system. The old system allowed great flexibility, and could be complicated at times, but I’ve brought in many new people through the years and within weeks the rules were understood. The new rules really remind me of a talent tree system for the races and classes. If I wanted that, World of Warcraft is out there for me to play. The great thing about D&D was that players could take the core class and race, and then individualize their characters, knowing they had a specific role within the party. My players big goals were solving the conflict, but “what magic items did we find?” In 4e, it seems magic items are a side effect and you can make your character better using the talent trees. Which, everyone who has chosen that race and class can choose the same abilities. Where is the individuality of I’m the only elf wizard with this magic item?
The bloodied concept seems to slow down the play time. Our tables would grind to a halt trying to see if a monster was bloodied. I don’t think anyone took the time to see how to reflect that with miniatures. Having a player role attacks (since now there are all kinds) for area effects to each monster baffles me. I asked about this with the wizard folks, and they said the player could do it quicker because he knows the attack. But wait, so then the player needs to role each one, and then ask the DM “did this type of attack hit?” … “Oh, and does this monster have damage reduction for the attack type?” And then … Okay, how is this quicker?
Not everything was bad. I did like the focus on giving the races more spell-like abilities. That was missing in the older editions. The healing surges were an interesting concept. But why not modify and enhance the old core rules, instead of build the game from the ground up again? To me, I’m at a loss. This will be the first time in a long time our group hasn’t attended Gen Con. We’ll all be heading to Origins to finish out the 3.5 edition campaigns.
We did try and take an objective view to the changes and hold a little survey at the restaurant above the gaming floor between events during the weekend. A majority of the people we discussed 4e with were pushed in too distinct directions. Those that have played D&D using 2nd, 3rd, and 3.5, were not impressed with the changes. Of course, there were some who were, but not many. And those that were impressed because they were very new to 3.5 edition, or this was there first time playing.
So, with that said, I’ll be sticking with 3.5 edition for a long time. There is tons of material content available, and with Paizo, Lone Wolf, and many other 3rd party publishers staying with 3.5, those that stay with the older edition will be fine.
