4e/WotC: Pro- or Anti- why do you care?

[Azgulor]

I'm a bit perplexed. With the announcement of 4e, launch of 4e, & long-delayed GSL the Edition Wars were in full swing.

Fast forward to Q3 2010 and it's tough to say both camps can't be satisfied. WotC/4e fans have 4e. Those who don't like 4e have PF (& other RPGs like FantasyCraft). There's plenty of new RPG material for RPGers in both camps.

Yet over the last few weeks/months threads keep popping up along the lines of "What could WotC do to win you back?", "What did 4e get right?", etc.

I'm curious -- why do people care? Trying to convince players to give it another go at your game table I can understand. I'll read the occasional thread on 4e along with other games to keep abreast of things in the industry. If someone starts a "Why pick PF?" thread, I'll make a case for PF. If someone asks "Would you try (try again) 4e?", no - that ship has sailed and I'm at peace with it.

However, let's face it, the Edition Wars are over. At best there are skirmishes but even those seem to go in circles pretty quickly. So if most ENWorld regulars have picked a RPG by this point, why the desire/need to try and recruit those who didn't pick 4e back into the fold? (Which I also find ironic since at the launch of 4e, those who weren't on board were "acceptable losses".)

In any case, happy gaming with your RPG of choice.

 

[Odhanan]

I have a question for you: why do you care to the point you create a whole new thread asking people feedback about it? It seems kind of counter-productive, because it gives people yet another occasion to rant a little more, to take a little more offense, and to throw snarky comments at each other in the process, until the thread finally falls apart under the weight of its own ineffectuality.

I'm curious as to the reason why you created this thread in the first place?

 

[Nagol]

I think of the "What did 4e get right?" thread to be a discussion of what innovations 4e made that a general population appreciates.

Every game system approaches gameplay differently. Some work really well for the genre being emulated. It's useful to identify those things that work well do they can be used/abused in further refinements, house rules, and future rule sets.

As for the rest, well people get maudlin about "the way things were".

 

[Crothian]

The Edition Wars are never over. People are still fighting for OD&D and 1e so what makes you think that people won't be passionate about 4e and 3e? I care becasue I like the game enough to spend way too much money on them, travel hundreds of miles to meet people and play at cenventions and game days, and post to a message board about them. THe day I stop catring is the day I'm not playing anymore.

 

[Verdande]

I think it's interesting as well, and honestly reminds me of an unusual psychological phenomenon. It is, essentially, that people who are in the danger of losing the most try and proselytize more people, so that their position is more "right" than the others. It's long been a feature of most doomsday cults after the fact.

As their moment approaches, they don't need any confirmation. They're absolutely right by their evidence. They're firm believers in what is "right". As their foretold moment of doom passes, their belief quavers- so they do their best to get as many new recruits as possible, despite the fact that their main tenet was absolutely, 100% wrong.

Having more people on your side means that your view is "more right" than it was before, since obviously the more people on your side, the more true your opinion is.

I'm not pointing any fingers, of course...

 

[FireLance]

Because the cycle of hatred and revenge will continue until people everywhere find the courage to love.

Or until we kill everyone who still harbours thoughts of hatred and revenge, but that doesn't sound as nice.

 

[Sunseeker]

I don't really care. I'll play any game if it's fun and not obsessively complicated to understand.

 

[Reynard]

I would wager that for many gamers and most gamers here at En World, D&D *matters* -- it was probably their first and possibly their favorite game. How D&D does in the marketplace, how it is perceived, but mostly how it fits with what we, individually, feel it should be matters to us, and so we "care".

I was a 4E "hater", and then I gave it a shot, and in so doing became a 4E "meh-er". I don't like it for the most part (though there are a couple of cool ideas in there) and it is significantly enough "not D&D" for me to hope it doesn't do that well in the long term in hopes that will inspire WotC to make a version that is closer to what I feel is D&D. It's part and parcel with being a gamer.

In the meantime, I have Pathfinder and retro-clones. As I have stated before, it is pretty sad that in order to get my "D&D fix" I have to give money to companies *not* the one that produces D&D, but there you go.

Is it silly? Probably. But geeks like us care about what Lucas does with Star Wars and how badly JJ Abrams messes up the Trek Universe, so why would D&D be any different?

 

[Alzrius]

I care because...this time it's personal.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9u30o1OULzA]YouTube - Jaws the Revenge 1987 TV trailer[/ame]

 

[Diamond Cross]

People value conformity. They just can't agree on what to conform to.