D&D Game Day this weekend!

[MerricB]

Well, the latest D&D Game Day is this weekend.

Is anyone as uninterested in this event as I am?

First level characters? Make your character on the day? Leads into Encounters? Essentials only? Plays in 3 hours (including, I guess, an hour for character creation)?

Somehow I think Wizards are missing the point of a Game Day. All of this screams to me "New Players Only!", and - furthermore - with the requirement you have a copy of one of the Essentials "Heroes" books, it manages to discriminate against brand new players and established players with the old PHB equally!

Cheers!

 

[Dice4Hire]

Well, the latest D&D Game Day is this weekend.

Is anyone as uninterested in this event as I am?

No you are a unique snowflake who is the most uninterested person in eternity.

First level characters? Make your character on the day? Leads into Encounters? Essentials only? Plays in 3 hours (including, I guess, an hour for character creation)?

Somehow I think Wizards are missing the point of a Game Day. All of this screams to me "New Players Only!", and - furthermore - with the requirement you have a copy of one of the Essentials "Heroes" books, it manages to discriminate against brand new players and established players with the old PHB equally!

Cheers!

Yes, it is a sheer marketing thing aimed directly at people who have not played, or only play ed essentials. I am starting to think WOTC has three tiiers in mind for 4E

Encounters: All low-level play, REALLY low level Lotta support
Essentials: Not bad play, but gets really limited at higher levels. Some support.
Traditional: Play at whatever level you like, but do it on your own. You are too good to need support.

 

[delericho]

Somehow I think Wizards are missing the point of a Game Day. All of this screams to me "New Players Only!"

Yep. And while I applaud WotC's efforts to draw in new players (or, indeed, any effort to draw in new players), they need to recognise that a major selling point for the game is always going to be evangelism from existing players. Turn them off en masse, or build a strategy that doesn't include them, and you're almost guaranteeing failure.

(That said... maybe they've found that other Game Days have been populated exclusively with existing players, and so aren't serving their purpose either. Some sort of middle ground would seem necessary.)

Yes, it is a sheer marketing thing aimed directly at people who have not played, or only play ed essentials. I am starting to think WOTC has three tiiers in mind for 4E

Encounters: All low-level play, REALLY low level Lotta support
Essentials: Not bad play, but gets really limited at higher levels. Some support.
Traditional: Play at whatever level you like, but do it on your own. You are too good to need support.

You may be right. It's funny though - people are crying out for some good higher-level support!

 

[Pour]

My shop is running an all-nighter, which is pretty sweet, with a rotating selection of DMs I may or may not be a part of yet. They're providing players with the books they need, and all the bonus Neverwinter material, and the games running in conjunction with their normal Yugi-OH tournament held Saturdays, so there is double the incentive to begin at level 1 for ease of play and accessibility.

I yearn for high level material, too, but Game Day isn't the place for WotC to release that. That won't stop me, and others, from playing higher level games during it, but given the Heroic nature of their latest product and setting tie-in, and the reasons above, it just makes more sense.

Besides, my feeling is Lair Assault will be much more geared toward experienced players, and the sign ups will be at Game Day. And who is the new Shrine of Tamoachan really for if not DMs familiar with the classic AND have the gumption to potentially bring in new blood via Encounters?

I will say that Dungeon should better give us high level material come next month. By that point it will have been (at least) 4 solid months of definitive, joined clamoring for high level material across just about every D&D board- and I'm afraid to count how many Epic offerings we've seen in the last year. I was really disappointed with this month's Dungeon adventure listings.

 

[Vael]

I'll admit, I only really wanted to DM it for the poster map with the ship on it. Well, that and to get a good preview of the Neverwinter Campaign book. But the place I go for Encounters didn't get registered in time, so whatever. I will be DMing next Encounters season, looking forward to it after taking a season off to play a Vampire.

But I disagree, I like that the Game Day is designed to run a complete experience, from character generation through an adventure. And tying it to the next Encounters season seems like a smart idea, so the PCs you create (and the XP gained) can carry over. Sure, Essentials only bugs me, but I don't keep to those restrictions anyway.

 

[Saagael]

I'm pretty darn excited for the Game Day, since I'll be DMing. I love running games for new players. The mix of awe and lack of rules mastery tends to make for more interesting games than when running only with veteran players.

That, and I also remove the Essentials-only requirement; I don't have any of the books, and at level 1, PHB classes are both simple and relatively well balanced.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

This is the first game day I am not playing...my FLGS didn't even reg for it... we normaly do a game day take instead of our normal game for saterday...but this time we ar just playing our own game...

 

[occam]

I think Wizards is doing this right. Game Day is a great opportunity to bring in new players, which they (and the hobby in general) need. So is Encounters, IME, and tying this in helps that program. Getting people to create their own characters gets them more invested in the game and in what makes RPGs different from other forms of entertainment; I've seen a lot of folks in Encounters who show up, play the pregens, and have no other contact with D&D, so the more they engage people in the game, the better.

As for being 1st level, besides greatly simplifying character creation, they got a lot of flack for the 11th-level PH2 Game Day, due primarily to the difficulty in playing paragon PCs by new players.

 

[Saracenus]

Merric,

You might have to give up the optimist tag...

We have 4 full tables ready to go (I am trying to get room for a fifth to handle my wait list).

I will say as someone who has run many of these gamedays, low level is better. 5th level is really the cut off I think for quick drop in play. When we tried to do one that was high level (MM2) it was a disaster.

I will agree with you that character creation at the table is fumble. I have already notified the players and DMs on the expectation that PCs be Essentials only (but we are allowing some tables to expand beyond that, DMs choice).

I have done several things, we are making 6 pre-gens for the folks that don't want to build a PC. We are going to have a dedicated table with DMs to help players make PCs prior to the run.

I also blocked out 4 hours per slot.

All in all, its going to be fun. Sorry it doesn't appeal to you.

I hear lair assualt is going to be 5th level with every legal option available for character creation. Sure, the DM is going try and wipe out the party but hey if a challenge is what you want there is the game for you...

Thanks,

 

[MerricB]

Merric,

You might have to give up the optimist tag...

We have 4 full tables ready to go (I am trying to get room for a fifth to handle my wait list).

I am getting grumpier, it's true!

I will say as someone who has run many of these gamedays, low level is better. 5th level is really the cut off I think for quick drop in play. When we tried to do one that was high level (MM2) it was a disaster.

Oh, I agree.

A large part of my dissatisfaction with the event comes from the character generation portion. It's really a pain to create characters at the table - especially if I'm trying to introduce a table of new players to the game. Then too, it cuts into the playing time markedly.

(What makes things worse is that my store hasn't received the material for the Game Day yet. I'm really flying blind on this one. )

I hear lair assualt is going to be 5th level with every legal option available for character creation. Sure, the DM is going try and wipe out the party but hey if a challenge is what you want there is the game for you...

Yep - that will be fun once it arrives.

Cheers!