JohnRTroy said:
I really wasn't trying to tar and feather open gaming fans. The concept is ideal, I just don't think it's the majority opinion, and I do think at times some people start worrying more about the ideal than, for instance, whether or not 4e will actually be the game they want to play.
See, I already know that 4e is not the game that I want to play. I was looking forward to a 4e since before Mearls joined WOTC. I have read WOTC design and development articles , designer blogs, listened to podcasts, and read both the so called 3e test products (e.g., Star Wars: SE, TOB: Bo9S, MM V) and actual 4e material that WOTC has offered to date. I like many of the stated goals. I even like a couple of specific items. However, the majority of the actiual implementations revealed, I am not fond of. In fact, many of the things being changed are done so in a way that I consider to be worse than the current edition, third party fixes, or mechanics presented in existing WOTC rpg supplements (not limited to just DND) .
To be honest, I would be pleasantly surprised if fans decided to stick with 3e, but if that happened
Granted, I will too. I do believe the majority of 3e gamers will go to 4e. However, of the 3e gamers that I personally know and have spoken with, none are switching to 4e and neither are their groups. They don't like what they have read of 4e on WOTC or heard from others about some of the new mechanics. People in their groups are not interested nor are the people that they have talked to in thier extended gaming communities (e.g., LARP groups).
(a) I doubt it will solely be based on the ideal of open gaming and (b) I'm more critical of the fans of open gaming engaging in severe hyperbole by doing what Chris Pramas called being stating their opinions are "facts so obvious that a drunk blind man on an acid trip could see them". There needs to be a little perspective in this, that's all.
True. Even in my case, it not the ideal of open gaming that will keep me playing 3e-It is a combination of factors. However, the third party support has played a large factor in keeping me with 3e to this point. If not for third party offerings, I would have left 3e a long time ago. Third parties have given me alternate magic systems that I like, a take on mind powers that prefer to psionics, new classes presented in a supplement format that I like, etc. In contrast, while I like much of DND, I don't particularly care for the support material that comes out from WOTC. I tend not to like direction taken, the crunch, fluff and mechanics, etc. In most WOTC DND supplements, I am luck to find 5-10 pages to my liking. Of the WOTC non-core books/non-setting DND books, I consider only about a dozen to be worth owning. Of these dozen or so books, only 1 or 2 are a race/class book (actually, none are race books). Yet, if not for the third party supplements keeping me playing, I would never have been around to have bought any of the 3e WOTC supplements that I do like.
The same holds true for d20M. I like d20M, In fact, unlike core 3.x DND, I have only one major complaint about the d20M core rules - the fx rules (the WOTC support material is another story). However, if not for Blood and Fists, I never would have checked out d20M. And, if not for third parties, I would dropped d20M on the fx rules alone. However, the Psychic's Handbook (Green Ronin), Elements Magic: Mythic Earth ( EN Publishing) offered me replacements for fx rules and kept me. RPGObects, The Game Mechanics (for d20M Player's Companion), and Adamant have only improved the game with their support which is far better, imo, to the WOTC supplements.
I have also kept other people in the d20 fold simply by recommending d20 third party products and OGL games.
Just last week, somebody I discovered to be a gamer was about to leave 3e. This person is one of those people I mentioned above having completely no interest in 4e. Until speaking with me, he had no knowledge that third party material existed. He wasn't happy with WOTC supplements and had a few issues with the core rules. Interestingly, they were some of my issues. So, I directed him toward Unearthed Arcana (ok, this is WOTC, but he liked my description of the Death and Dying Rules and some other things in the book), EN Publishing (for the various Elements of Magic books), Green Ronin (for the Psychic's Handbook and a few other products), and Malhavoc (primarily for BOIM, but to check other things as well). I don't know whether or not these products will keep him with 3e. However, he is interest in learning more about them and checking out this site to learn more about d20 and OGL offerings in general. So, that is a start. If not, I also interested him in checking out both True20 (which 4e has renewed my interest in) and M&M ( he is coming to my M&M game next week).
