SteveC
Doing the best imitation of myself
There are a whole host of reasons why I'm looking forward to 4E.
For one, I've seen and run Star Wars Saga, and I think it's the best implementation of the D20 rules yet. I really like it.
When word of the Saga edition first came out, we had a lot of responses very similar to what we're seeing now for 4E and one of the designers (Rodney?) posted about it and basically told everyone to chill: he loved the game, he loved Star Wars, and he was going to make the best Star Wars game he could. That's pretty much the same thing that the current designers have said, so I'm going to trust them as well.
Next, the things they are talking about changing make sense are are a good idea to me. In many ways, it seems like D&D is taking some of the good game elements from other systems, and incorporating them at last. Let's face it, most RPGs, especially fantasy RPGs were created in response to D&D. Many of them have some excellent ideas behind them, and it is well past time that those ideas came home to D&D.
Encounter based resources? I LIKE that. That's the way the Hero system has done things for over 20 years, and the combats I've had in Hero have been just as interesting as any I've ever had with D&D.
Changing the cosmology and getting rid of the Great Wheel? Great. I have never liked the Great Wheel, and never actually used it in any of my campaigns. Won't miss it at all.
Talent Trees for characters? Great idea. Loved it in D20 Modern, look forward to it here.
Less reliance on magic items? Also a great idea. I don't like the notion that high level characters are seen as useless without a huge compilation of magic items, hopefully this will be addressed.
...and it goes on. I have really liked just about everything that has been released about the new edition, other than the DI, and I plan on skipping out on that entirely.
Finally, I think it was time to reset some of the complexities of the game. With the latest batch of splat books, it has become very difficult to properly judge the power levels of characters created for the system. A core rules character is at a significant disadvantage over one built with all the bells and whistles available at present, which is hardly surprising. What annoys me is that the combinations of all of those sources make for some unintended consequences that throw balance waaaay out of whack. Designing the new edition to be better able to accommodate growth and the splats seems like a good idea to me.
So that's the gist of it as far as I'm concerned.
--Steve
For one, I've seen and run Star Wars Saga, and I think it's the best implementation of the D20 rules yet. I really like it.
When word of the Saga edition first came out, we had a lot of responses very similar to what we're seeing now for 4E and one of the designers (Rodney?) posted about it and basically told everyone to chill: he loved the game, he loved Star Wars, and he was going to make the best Star Wars game he could. That's pretty much the same thing that the current designers have said, so I'm going to trust them as well.
Next, the things they are talking about changing make sense are are a good idea to me. In many ways, it seems like D&D is taking some of the good game elements from other systems, and incorporating them at last. Let's face it, most RPGs, especially fantasy RPGs were created in response to D&D. Many of them have some excellent ideas behind them, and it is well past time that those ideas came home to D&D.
Encounter based resources? I LIKE that. That's the way the Hero system has done things for over 20 years, and the combats I've had in Hero have been just as interesting as any I've ever had with D&D.
Changing the cosmology and getting rid of the Great Wheel? Great. I have never liked the Great Wheel, and never actually used it in any of my campaigns. Won't miss it at all.
Talent Trees for characters? Great idea. Loved it in D20 Modern, look forward to it here.
Less reliance on magic items? Also a great idea. I don't like the notion that high level characters are seen as useless without a huge compilation of magic items, hopefully this will be addressed.
...and it goes on. I have really liked just about everything that has been released about the new edition, other than the DI, and I plan on skipping out on that entirely.
Finally, I think it was time to reset some of the complexities of the game. With the latest batch of splat books, it has become very difficult to properly judge the power levels of characters created for the system. A core rules character is at a significant disadvantage over one built with all the bells and whistles available at present, which is hardly surprising. What annoys me is that the combinations of all of those sources make for some unintended consequences that throw balance waaaay out of whack. Designing the new edition to be better able to accommodate growth and the splats seems like a good idea to me.
So that's the gist of it as far as I'm concerned.
--Steve