D&D 4E 4E: The day the game ate the roleplayer?

[Nytmare]

I find this an amusing contrast to this thread: http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=220605 which has some people positing, basically, that the game is going too far away from defining things and letting pure roleplaying take over to the detriment of the game.

My personal favorite was the 5 or 6 year interlude at one of our local gaming clubs where public opinion flopped on a yearly basis between how the crop of incoming freshmen were ruining D&D because they were either way too minis oriented or way too into roleplaying.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Actually, I think people are just spazzing over the fact that Mythral and Adamantine armor is gone and replaced with something more copyrightable.

Huh? Do you really believe this stuff is more copyrightable? Or that WotC would care about that?

 

[JRRNeiklot]

Ahh, man, my Dragon magazines are ALL the way on the other side of the room and I'm too lazy to go paw through them to find the right issue. Needless to say, a couple of years ago, Dragon published the results of their reader poll and compared it to a similar poll a few years previously. Their latest poll showed Dragon readers to be about 22 years old, and about 5 % female.

A quick Google search turned up this which certainly follows with the gender roles. And, mostly follows, at least from WOTC's market research, the age of gamers as well.

Take it all with a grain of salt of course. The point is, D&D gamers are not the greying greybeards that a lot of people seem to think. And MMORPG gamers are not all children either.

My experience differs, I very rarely meet a table top role player under the age of 34 or so.

 

[Doug McCrae]

From everything I've read (only here mind you) it just really seems like WoTC is trying to make a "copy" of WoW and Japanese Manga to attract those customers.

They've taken a few ideas from videogames, yeah, but it's the seasoning. The main course is still D&D. By far and away the major influence on 4e is 3e.

I don't see any manga influence *at all*, which is actually kind of weird considering their popularity and how D&D has always been a pop culture smorgasbord. A small minority of the power names are in the kung fu style ie Lightning Panther Strike. But otoh the monk, a core class from 1e to 3e, is gone. On the whole there seems to be less Eastern influence than before.

 

[Doug McCrae]

Look at D&D (1972) and D&D (2008). Which one is closer in concept and execution to a computer game? The evolution of game design? Most definitely. The homogenization of PnP and CRPG? Depends who you ask. Either way PnP loses out as its distinct qualities slowly blend with the qualities that have a larger mass appeal.

This looks like a thin end of the wedge argument. Just cause 2008 D&D takes a few ideas from videogames doesn't mean it will become one. Any more than 1970s D&D was in danger of turning into a TV show because they stole the monk from David Carradine's Kung Fu, and the roper from Space: 1999.

 

[Jack99]

My experience differs, I very rarely meet a table top role player under the age of 34 or so.

You should try attending a convention - there are plenty of youngsters there.

 

[ppaladin123]

From everything I've read (only here mind you) it just really seems like WoTC is trying to make a "copy" of WoW and Japanese Manga to attract those customers.


Godarmor???? Seriously??

I've been looking through my 3.5e books. Let's see, we have zombie-skin armor, armor made of leaves, "called" armor that magically teleports onto you, angel-skin, devil-skin, armor made of shadow itself...

I don't think "god armor" is any more "anime" or "WoW" than any of that.

Anyway, I am currently playing a low-magic 3.5e game that does not allow for exotic materials such as the ones I listed. Their appearance in various books does not detract from that game and when I play "over-the-top" fantasy campaigns I am glad I have them as options.

 

[Wolfspider]

I've been looking through my 3.5e books. Let's see, we have zombie-skin armor, armor made of leaves, "called" armor that magically teleports onto you, angel-skin, devil-skin, armor made of shadow itself...

I don't think "god armor" is any more "anime" or "WoW" than any of that.

What's third edition got to do with it?

The poster you quoted didn't comment at all about v3.5 or its armor types. He was commenting on the new 4e armor, I believe.

 

[Wolfspider]

Huh? Do you really believe this stuff is more copyrightable? Or that WotC would care about that?

Why wouldn't WotC care? Wouldn't coming up with new terms and descriptions strengthen D&D's brand identity?

 

[Will]

I'm a little amused/astonished at how many people say 'well, gamers seem to be a good 5-10 years older, on average, then they were 5-10 years ago...'

Um. Selection bias, just MAYBE?

I'm 37. I love TT games. I love RP. I enjoy MMOs.

There's a lot of flavor of games and gamer out there, and stop jumping around trying to pigeonhole people to come up with 'this bad thing is destroying the hobby' rather than simply say 'you know what? I don't like X.'