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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mercurius" data-source="post: 5357036" data-attributes="member: 59082">Last night I had my first game night with the two digest Essentials books and I got a few interesting responses and experiences. Why are these anecdotes at all meaningful? Well, I'd say my group is largely comprised of the type of people that WotC is targeting with Essentials: I'm the only serious gamer who has largely been in "active status" since I started playing in the early 80s, while everyone else is basically in one of the main demographics that Essentials is seemingly targeting: all 30-40s males who, for the most part, haven't played since the boom days of the 80s and only started playing again recently (two years ago) with 4E.Rules Compendium: This was our first experience with this at the table and it proved to be a very useful book. It is the best table reference book I've ever owned; the index is actually quite comprehensive and it scored perfectly with the four or five quick rules checks we needed it for (much quicker and easier than the PHB or the DDI Compendium). Kudos to WotC for putting this out.Heroes of the Fallen Lands: I explained and showed it to the rogue and fighter players, thinking that the fighter in particular might be interested in that he often seems confused by the wealth of powers his character has. The rogue player is very tactical, somehow finding a way to get combat advantage in every combat; neither seemed all that interested, the rogue in particular saying that he liked the power options. Actually, he made an interesting comment that he missed the writing of the old (AD&D) books because they were written much more interestingly, with more stories and flavor. That's a huge generalization and may largely be nostalgia, but worth noting.Red Box: One of the players, the defacto note-keeper and map-maker, bought this to play with his two kids (I think five and ten year olds). He said he and they are enjoying it. When he pulled the box out it inspired oohs and ahs from one of the other players (the rogue) who said "I loved the old red box, it had everything! The expert set was even better."Again, I mention these anecdotes not because I think they are particularly representative of a larger picture but because they are real life examples of the response Essentials is getting from people that it is geared for. The nostalgia effect of the Red Box is significant and is a good way to get people to bring their kids into the game (I gave it to my 10-year old nephew, although he also received Castle Ravenloft and was much more interested in that); the Rules Compendium was a big hit as a table reference; Heroes of the Fallen Lands got a more indifferent response.Any other anecdotes about Essentials?</blockquote>

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