Exalted vs D&D. The battlelines are drawn!

[mcrow]

Given that the #1 competitor to 4e is almost certainly going to be 3.5e, I suspect this move won't hurt WotC too much.

Personally, while I like Exalted, I wouldn't swap my 3.5e PHB for it. For a start, I'm probably going to continue using 3.5e in some fashion. Secondly, I don't hugely care for dice-pool systems, so am highly unlikely to make one such my primary system. And finally, while I like alternatives, that's because I, well, like alternatives. So, if I want Exalted, I'll pick up a copy of the rulebook... and will pay cover price for it.

Not to mention 2ed D&D is probably still the #2-#3 most played RPG right now.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Not to mention 2ed D&D is probably still the #2-#3 most played RPG right now.

Any evidence of this, beyond it seeming like it ought to be so? There's far more 1E discussion online than there is 2E discussion.

 

[Clavis]

Not to mention 2ed D&D is probably still the #2-#3 most played RPG right now.

2nd Edition AD&D is the game the White Wolf nearly destroyed with a hipper RPG (Vampire) that could actually help you get laid! I remember every Vampire group being at least 1/2 female, and often more. Mine was.

Grognards play either 1st Edition or Classic D&D. 2nd Edition just doesn't inspire nostalgic love the way those games do.

Would I trade my 3.X Edition D&D stuff for Exalted? In a heartbeat. My 1st edition stuff or Rules Cyclopedia? Unthinkable.

Personally, I think White Wolf is doing the right marketing, at the right time. Only time will tell if they can repeat their 90s success.

 

[SomebodyInteresting]

I'll just keep my PHB3.5 and snag Exalted when it shows up at Half Price Books...
I love that store so much... ^.^

Wonder if I need to preorder a copy of the 4ed prerelease set.


... I feel exactly like the kids I used to hate in high school: the ones with the money to get all the goodies on release day.
Except I actually have a job, so I suppose it vindicates me.

Anyway, playing demigods is cool, I'll give 'em that... but half the fun is being a lowbie and dying from one good BEAR ATTACK

 

[Arkhandus]

I give white-wolf around 4-5 years before wotc and hasbro manage to drive them out of business!

Nonsense.

White Wolf won't die. Only a small fraction of their customers might play D&D on occasion. The rest will go on playing Vampire, Werewolf, Exalted, and whatnot the same as they always have, and continue to feed White Wolf's printing presses with money.

WotC doesn't much care that WW has Exalted, I think, and that game will most likely never compare to D&D in prominence. It's not the same kind of game as D&D and they won't be drawing in flocks of ex-D&D customers just because White Wolf's style of over the top absurd anime-style fantasy RPG action is a different shade of strangeness than 4th Edition D&D's style of absurd gamist fantasy RPG action.

 

[hong]

2nd Edition AD&D is the game the White Wolf nearly destroyed with a hipper RPG (Vampire) that could actually help you get laid! I remember every Vampire group being at least 1/2 female, and often more. Mine was.

"Nearly destroyed" is a bit much. IIRC even when TSR was its lowest point in the mid-90s, D&D was still being played on a regular basis by around 2/3rds of all gamers, and certainly more than 50%. It was TSR's own crap business practices that drove them into a hole, not competition from WW.

 

[Fifth Element]

It was TSR's own crap business practices that drove them into a hole, not competition from WW.

The kitty speaks truth here. They had some serious management problems at the time and made some very bad decisions.

 

[Fallen Seraph]

It won't destroy WW, especially considering currently WW is in a really good spot. What with their deal with CCG and all.

I think too, this while besides being a publicity move/business move is also part-fun. They know a portion of their gaming community is very elitist towards D&D and they are just using that attitude jokingly for this.

Also actually some of WW Developers have even said they are just poking fun and wouldn't care if others did the same about Exalted or Vampire, since as the developer put it, it's a game nothing personal.

 

[Relique du Madde]

Aaagh, and you even spelled it "Exhalted!"

(dies of a critical hit)

I would claim its the medication I'm taking which has known side effects of causing general confusion, dizziness, loss of consciousness and other "psychotic" reactions as the source of my typo... but seeing a WW rep die from a critical hit was well worth the error. YEA FOR ME!

 

[Aus_Snow]

seeing a WW rep die from a critical hit was well worth the error.

Sure, but a goddamn botch would've been *so* much sweeter.