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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Sunseeker" data-source="post: 5349835">I'll be honest, I'm not sure if you have a gripe with 4e, WOTC, or Essentials not being 5e.  Because while one topic was interesting, the fact that you've now made two topics on the subjects makes me raise eyebrows. I don't think D&D is as daunting to get into as people make it out to be.  All the books which come in multiples clearly state which number they are, either one, two, three, and sometimes four.  Even if you're an idiot, you can generally resume that even though all three say "Player's Handbook", you can surmise that 1 comes before 2 and 2 before 3.  Therefore, you should start with #1.   Likewise, I doubt many people wake up one morning and say to themselves: "I wish there were some sort of game, written in some kind book that could be played on a table and had optional action figures I could use."  And even of those who do, I doubt very many of them wake up inclined to RUN this game.  So I think you're making a fairly large straw-man regarding how many people this "daunting" number of books is going to intimidate.   For those small few who want to jump right in and try their best to drown, I doubt they are unintelligent enough to figure out that 1 comes before 2, and that books that say they are an accessory to other books mean you need those "core" books first.  Most people who play, have played, or want to pay are not idiots.  The few that are, yes, they are likely going to be turned off real quick to playing.  But D&D isn't for idiots.  It's not WoW and it shouldn't be.  Attempts to make it WoW should be met with more nerd RAAAGGEEE than the death of Superman.(all 12 times). I've seen people who have never played been asked to play, and they come in two prime varities.  Either A: they get it.  Their mind goes: "here's the numbers, here's the abilities, lets play." or B: they don't get it, and their mind goes: "What's a d6?"  In the sub-varities, people with a head for numbers enjoy combat, and people without a head for numbers end up being great role-players.  I was at Encounters(which is a good starting place), before Essentials came out and we asked a girl nearby if she wanted to play. She consented and joined, and had a handle on the game within 10 minutes and a little friendly instruction.  She had a great head for numbers and "got it", not a real RPer, but I think that was partly the DMs fault for not making the story(which was a bit dry) very engaging at all. short story: I don't think D&D is hard to get into.  And I don't think most people who play or want to play woke up one day thinking about playing D&D.  I think it's more likely that everyone who plays or wants to play was introduced by a friend, the internet, or a friendly gaming-shop owner.  Tabletop games are like diseases, they spread from person to person, nobody just "wakes up" with it. On a personal note, I don't think Essentials really made it easier to get into the game.  I think it made some logical fixes to the game that 4e was lacking without creating a whole new edition.  I think it did a good job of summing up what's necessary for a quick, small campaign, without going into the often unneeded detail of the larger books.  That said, it still requires all the same basic skills from anyone who wants to get into it, which include, but are not limited to: Good reading comprehension, a head for numbers or role-playing, ability to understand acronyms, and moderate social skills.</blockquote>

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