Do you know why so many people play WoW?
Because it's fun.
Does that particular business model offend you so greatly that you cannot overlook the cartoonish overtures of WoW to see that, at its root, it is essentially the same as D&D?
Defenders, Strikers, Controllers and Leaders have always been present within D&D, they've just never been explicitly bared like this. What you have is a group of designers who are now cogently aware that the typical gamer can deal with bare naked mechanics and won't go crying about something shattering their fourth wall if you're blunt about what role a class is expected to fill and why.
Most older players, frankly, seem to stick with whatever edition they came in on/are so comfortable with they can't give it up and just buy supplements as fluff or, worse yet, not at all.
So sorry if you're not the target audience of a corporation, know what I mean?
Anyone can sit down and throw some mechanics together and create a game. I know this for a fact. But you choose to purchase and employ someone else's work instead of doing it all yourself. You choose to complain about it because it's not exactly what you'd like. Here's the rub: nobody forced you to buy that product. Nobody is forcing you to use it. Nobody wants to hear about how you're being alienated by the company "you helped build." Except you.
I speak with Rodney Thompson often enough to know that he's a level-headed guy. If he's any indication of what a "typical" WotC staffer is like, the only reason you should worry about him being in control of a game is if it's Halo and you're a noob. Wizards is not dumb; they are trying to grow their audience by appealing to a younger generation. Nobody is denying that or trying to conceal it. Anyone who knows the first thing about marketing knows that the fattest purchasing demographic in America is...16-24 year olds. I don't fit into that demographic any more. I do fit into another strong demographic (18-46 year old males) but that's NOT THE TARGET AUDIENCE. Want to know why? You're already here.
If you look to a corporation to keep your best interests in mind, you should hope that you're in their primary target demographic. If you're not, you will almost certainly be disappointed.
Because it's fun.
Does that particular business model offend you so greatly that you cannot overlook the cartoonish overtures of WoW to see that, at its root, it is essentially the same as D&D?
Defenders, Strikers, Controllers and Leaders have always been present within D&D, they've just never been explicitly bared like this. What you have is a group of designers who are now cogently aware that the typical gamer can deal with bare naked mechanics and won't go crying about something shattering their fourth wall if you're blunt about what role a class is expected to fill and why.
Most older players, frankly, seem to stick with whatever edition they came in on/are so comfortable with they can't give it up and just buy supplements as fluff or, worse yet, not at all.
So sorry if you're not the target audience of a corporation, know what I mean?
Anyone can sit down and throw some mechanics together and create a game. I know this for a fact. But you choose to purchase and employ someone else's work instead of doing it all yourself. You choose to complain about it because it's not exactly what you'd like. Here's the rub: nobody forced you to buy that product. Nobody is forcing you to use it. Nobody wants to hear about how you're being alienated by the company "you helped build." Except you.
I speak with Rodney Thompson often enough to know that he's a level-headed guy. If he's any indication of what a "typical" WotC staffer is like, the only reason you should worry about him being in control of a game is if it's Halo and you're a noob. Wizards is not dumb; they are trying to grow their audience by appealing to a younger generation. Nobody is denying that or trying to conceal it. Anyone who knows the first thing about marketing knows that the fattest purchasing demographic in America is...16-24 year olds. I don't fit into that demographic any more. I do fit into another strong demographic (18-46 year old males) but that's NOT THE TARGET AUDIENCE. Want to know why? You're already here.
If you look to a corporation to keep your best interests in mind, you should hope that you're in their primary target demographic. If you're not, you will almost certainly be disappointed.
