4E Poorly Rated on Amazon...

[Waldorf]

Heh. I playtested 4e.

If I could give it less than one star, I would.

 

[CleverNickName]

I voted honestly and accurately:

Two stars.

 

[jdrakeh]

Amazon ratings are generally unreliable where hotly contested products are concerned, for reasons that this thread demonstrates well.

 

[Nyarlathotep]

Hmmm...

On Amazon.ca, there's only 1 review and its a 5 star... but with actual comments.

 

[Merlin the Tuna]

What it proves is that 4e is amazingly freaking polarizing and that people, it seems, either REALLY adore it, or REALLY despise it.

I don't think it proves that 4e is polarizing so much as it reinforces that nerds have absolutely no idea that there exists a scale between THIS IS THE GREATEST THING EVER and EACH TIME THIS IS PURCHASED AN ANGEL EXPLODES.

 

[marv]

some people who have been onboard with D&D for a long time aren't too happy.
--Steve

Count me as one of those old timers. I have been buying DnD books since 1979. The 4th Ed. DMG was only the second DnD book I have ever returned. The other was a DragonLance compilation of adventures (Yuck! Never even considered buying anything DragonLance after that.). There are few if any rules in the 4th Ed. DMG - they have all been moved to the 4th Ed. PH. It is filled with DMing advice that would only be useful if you were completely new to the game. Also, they completely neutered the planes, areas of infinit adventure.

Low word count and conversational prose, awful index, no glossary, and perhaps the worst sin: visually unappealing layout. Reading the 4th Ed. DnD DMG feels to much like reading one of those fantasy computer game strategy guides. No subtly. No nuance. Awful artwork. But here's the most burning criticism and why I would give it only one star: Nothing about the 4th Ed. DMG is inspiring. It did not fuel my creativity.

I would post a review of it on enworld, but interestingly (hum...) the review section doesn't seem to be working at such an important moment.

The only conclusion I can make is that I was not the target audience of the 4th Ed. DMG. I must say that looking at the 4th ed. PH doesn't give me much hope (and I certainly wont buy yet it after getting burned on the DMG). However, I am willing to play at least one session of 4th Ed (As a player not a DM) before I completely write it off. And there still is a small chance I will enjoy it once I play it.

Short of that, I wish Hasbro well with 4th Ed. and hope it sells well because we need more players in this most wonderful hobby. Perhaps 4th Ed. will function as a good spring board to a more traditional style of DnD play for many people.

People, including me, have strong feelings about DnD because it is such an important creative and social outlet. I’m counting on being able to play it for the rest of my life.

I would love to hear why ANYONE who has ever seriously read the DMGs in the previous editions could possibly rate the 4th Ed. version higher than one star. AND yes, it would be 'legitimate' for me to review the 4th Ed. DMG without playing it first because there are almost no rules in it. It pails even in comparison to the 2nd Ed. DMG (*shudder*).

 

[Korgoth]

*SNIP*
no glosery
*SNIP*

I feel you brother but I thought this was pretty funny.

 

[marv]

I feel you brother but I thought this was pretty funny.

*snicker* Thanks for spotting that.
Hummmm... I can’t wait to tell those new to DnD how ‘back in the day’, we had a ‘glosery’. [Note: I fixed my post to say ‘glossary’ for those of you who are confused by what Korgoth and I posting about.].

 

[hong]

*snicker* Thanks for spotting that.
Hummmm... I can’t wait to tell those new to DnD how ‘back in the day’, we had a ‘glosery’. [Note: I fixed my post to say ‘glossary’ for those of you who are confused by what Korgoth and I posting about.].

Your new post pails in comparison to the original.

 

[marv]

Your new post pails in comparison to the original.

So you'd give my original post 5 stars and my new version a 1 star.