FLGS and DnD?

[TheAuldGrump]

@kitcik what [MENTION=90804]OnlineDM[/MENTION] said.

However, I'd also point out that Pathfinder does the card Deck thing too.

Not quite the same card Deck thing, though - the random element is in the use of the cards, not in the packaging thereof.

Also, the Pathfinder cards have pretty pictures on them, while the Fortune Cards that I saw were butt ugly.

But, other than the packaging, it doesn't bother me.

The packaging, on the other hand, looks and sounds like an attempt to squeeze a little more money out of 4e, making it more profitable.Maybe trigger the random card buying frenzy that works so well for Magic: the Gathering.

It was also, I think, an experiment, so, in view of that, how has the experiment gone? Are people buying them? The local FGS bought one box when the cards came out, and is still sitting on half of them; but that is local, and is in a store that still has games for 3e and D6 Star Wars. The bookstores didn't bother.... So, how did they do?

The Auld Grump, to me it kind of felt like the kind of thing that TSR tried in its death throes - but unlike Dragon Dice it was a fairly inexpensive experiment.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Sorry to come back to this so quickly.

One 'Random Card Deck' thing that I think might work for 4e is to combine random cards with dungeon tiles, for creating and populating random dungeons.

The balance of 4e might allow a No GM, but plenty o' Beer & Pretzels tabletop game.

Certainly I have looked at the boardgames more than the RPG this incarnation of the game.

The Auld Grump - two decks, Dungeon and Encounter, tied to the Dungeon Tiles made for Essentials.

 

[Razuur]

Yeah, I have a great game store. While in there recently (purchasing the Pathfinder line actually) I asked the clerk - alright... hands down, which is selling better - Pathfinder or 4e, and he said that hands down it is Pathfinder. He went on to say that when people bring in games to sell or trade, he gets approximately five TIMES the number of 4e books. That most of them say that they played it a few times, mentioned that they got bored, and then ended up trading in the books for Pathfinder. I asked if he had a preference, and he said he didn't want to mention, because he wanted people to buy what they wanted. That they weeren't paying him for his opinion. I thought that was classy.

Pretty interesting statement though. I think both games have claimed their audience now, and I know some folks that like 4e. But I know a lot MORE folks that like Pathfinder/3e/3.5

Wonder what the ratio is at other stores?

 

[underfoot007ct]

My friends and I still play DnD but when I go to my local game store they don't carry anything dungeons and dragons, except 4th edition which they sell at 1/4th price because they say, "no one ever buys it" and when I do buy it they try to talk me out of handing them my money "are you sure you want that?"

They all claim they love dungeons and dragons but they actually play, pathfinder, star wars, and even I am doing it, I started a game of osric with my friends.

What is it that makes everyone love the game enough to say they are playing it, yet no one is actually playing it?

No one? I am someone, all my friends are someone. The hundreds of gamers attending local gaming Cons are someones. Even more someones at DDXP & GenCon. Maybe you are looking through rose tinted glasses.

AD&D from 1983..............4E D&D at my FLGS every Thursday night!

 

[talok55]

Fortune cards only exist for WotC to make money off of LFR, Encounters, and Lair Assualt since you are expected to use them in those programs. I think they are lame and overly gamist. They are a metagame construct designed for the sole purpose of sqeezing more money out of 4E. One thing 4E does not need more of is overtly metagame elements. It has plenty of those build right into the game. I don't have a problem with the Pathfinder cards since they are purely optional and only serve to make it easier to keep track of magic items and conditions in the game. The critical hit and fumble decks are a bit more gamist, but, once again, they are completely optional and are only used on rare occasions to make crits and fumbles more memorable.

 

[talok55]

[
Does it have dragons? Does it have dungeons? Elves? Magic? The classic fantasy tropes? Dwarves? Humanoid monsters designed to 'be evil' so we don't feel bad killing them much like we de-humanize Nazis in first person shooters? Gods that actually grant powers rather than just deliver vaguely worded holy books and 2000 years of conflict in the Middle East? Do you roll dice of various shapes to play? Is the main die made with 20 sides for most tasks and the others used mostly for damage? Do you have as many settings for the game as there are real nations in the world?

Then it's freaking D&D!!! D&D is like the word Xerox now. It's the term used to describe any form of fantasy gaming both with people in and outside of the hobby. If you play 4e, you're playing D&D. Pathfinder? D&D. Castles and Crusades? D&D. Exalted? Wire-fu D&D. d20 Modern? D&D with guns. Savage Worlds with the Fantasy Companion? Savaged Frakking D&D! BESM d20? Anime freaking D&D!!

It's ALL DUNGEONS & DRAGONS!!!

I have to say I disagree. There are a lot of fantasy games that have those elements that are most definitely not D&D.

'Nuff said.[/QUOTE]