A letter in support of 4e

[alleynbard]

Sorry- WOTC puts out alot of consistently "meh" adventures- since late 2E through 3e, and into 4E.

No need to apologize. You have an opinion of their adventure material and I think we all respect that. I can even seen where you are coming from even if I enjoy what has been produced so far.

 

[JeffB]

Kevin wrote Haven of Bitter Glass, from a recent Dungeon..

Thanks Klaus- Not a subscriber and since it doesn't look like the virtual tabletop is going to ever be done now-I won't see any of his 4E work. Maybe someday PC can get a physical product published through WOTC or Goodman or FDP, or whomever

 

[Badwe]

I may not write wotc a letter, but when I like a product I send them a few notes… usually 30-40 notes, though not all of those make it to them.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Duh, it's hong!

Hey- how much do you want to bet that's the name of the new gamer-based sitcom in development at the soon-to-be-renamed Sci-Fi Channel?

 

[Silverblade The Ench]

I love 4th ed, my thanks and respects to the designers of my fave ever game
But I hope a million curry-eating, psychotic kobolds with bad toilet habits and a love of diabolically inventive pranks infest the offices of the WOTC "suits"!

D&D and it's designers != the corporate suits who've alienated so many gamers. Just need to remember that difference, folks

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Hey- how much do you want to bet that's the name of the new gamer-based sitcom in development at the soon-to-be-renamed Sci-Fi Channel?

Err... not much?

 

[amethal]

I love 4th ed, my thanks and respects to the designers of my fave ever game
But I hope a million curry-eating, psychotic kobolds with bad toilet habits and a love of diabolically inventive pranks infest the offices of the WOTC "suits"!

D&D and it's designers != the corporate suits who've alienated so many gamers. Just need to remember that difference, folks

Contrary to popular opinion, WotC does not consist of good natured cute hobbits who are being oppressed by Saruman's nameless thugs.

 

[Beginning of the End]

I love 4th edition, it's my favorite edition since 3.5.

"You're my favorite brother."
"I'm you're only brother."
"Yes. That is also true."

D&D 4th Edition is my favorite 4th Edition of D&D.

 

[Badwe]

"You're my favorite brother."
"I'm you're only brother."
"Yes. That is also true."

D&D 4th Edition is my favorite 4th Edition of D&D.

Yes, thank you. that was the joke.

 

[El Mahdi]

I just wanted to say thank you El Mahdi. Thank you for being respectful in expressing your opinion on the subject. I appreciate it.

Good letter. If you haven't, maybe you should think about sending it. I think Wizards of the Coast needs to have all view points laid out for them, and letter writing is a very direct way of doing it.

I directed my letter to Greg Leeds because he is likely getting the bulk of the mail right now. And while I think everyone has the right to express their opinions of D&D and the Wizards' corporate policy, I thought he and his staff would appreciate the praise. I am not trying to marginalize the honest and respectful complaints in anyway. I just wanted to let the staff know how I felt.

I hope the praise does get passed on. But, I will also state here that I especially appreciate The Rouse, who has done a bang up job keeping communication lines open. I also enjoy reading the thoughts and motivations of all the designers, most notably Mike Mearls. His blog, Keep on the Gaming Lands, is a good read. I enjoy his insights and I respect that he, along with many others at Wizards, are "old school" players like me.

And just because I didn't name someone here doesn't mean I purposefully omitted them. Every designer at Wizards is working on a game they believe in. I appreciate that level of dedication as well. Thank you guys for all that you are doing.

And I'd like to say Thanks to you also. That was a very good letter. I don't want you to think I had any issues with what you said and the sentiments you were expressing. It was a very well done letter, respectful with a lot of well reasoned and deserved praise. Good on you for writing it and sending it.

To alleviate any confusion over my post, no I did not send what I posted in a letter. I was just commenting on what I would say if I did send WotC a letter. Besides, snail mail is just so obsolete.

If there's anyone here that frequents the WotC boards, maybe they could start a thread there and post both letters (or at least alleynbard's). I know there are WotC employees who frequent these boards, but if it was on the WotC boards I know it would be passed along. You could even add all of the undersigned names to alleynbard's letter.

Even though I don't prefer 4E myself, that doesn't mean I won't play it. I'll only DM in my favorite system, but there's no way I'd turn down being involved in a game with friends just because they were playing 4E. And, even though 4E isn't my preferred system, that doesn't mean I think the designers at WotC have made a bad game. Frankly, I think 4E has some unique and innovative concepts that are sheer genius. I can look at RPGNow or Paizo and eliminate the majority of the games from personal consideration because they just aren't my cup of tea. 4E falls into that category for me also. But I don't consider any of them "bad games". For every game system out there, there's someone who thinks any one of those games is the absolute best ever. And you know what? They're absolutely right!

I'm extremely impressed at the years of work and design that went into 4E. I'm extremely impressed at the level of gamer feedback that was used in the design of 4E. The end product wasn't a perfect fit for me, but then again 2E and 3E really weren't either. That probably explains why I houserule the hell out of just about any game I play. As to those houserules, there are quite a few parts of 4E that have become houserules for my 3.5E games.

However, it all boils down to this: I do not disagree with the direction WotC is taking the game, I disagree with the direction they are taking the company and how they have chosen to treat their fans/customers and third party publishers. But, from Rouse on down, I'd like to truly express my regret to them that those decisions pertaining to the company, have pushed me and others away from supporting their game. Perhaps, if WotC's stance changes, then those pushed away may come back. But in the meantime: Good Job Guys and Game On.