Has 3E become too much like 2E yet?

[awayfarer]

IME, no set of rules can prevent arguments over rules, whether they fit some (dare I say arbitrary) sense of solidity or not. The participants have to choose not to argue over rules.

Certain systems can make rules problems happen more often. I play with a group that uses the most recent version of Rolemaster and frankly, I've given up trying to dispute anything. The massive number of rules makes it difficult to figure out what you're looking for or where and having a different set of options for every situation complicates things.

I guess you could technically say I've chosen not to argue over rules but it's been due to frustration over A: not being able to find or make sense of the relevant info and B: Not seeing it ever make a difference. :\

 

[Nightfall]

Hussar,

I don't trust survivor threads any more than I believe American Idol is GOOD TV.

 

[Hussar]

Nightfall - well, fair enough. But, saying that WOTC is churning out flavourless crap right now isn't exactly accurate. While a person may or may not like the flavour, that's fine, but, to say that the books of late have been bland is just not true. There's been some big stinky cheese level flavour in a lot of the books of late.

Then again, it's just like people who go on and on about dungeonpunk style art when that hasn't really featured in a WOTC book in years.

 

[Treebore]

I like Red Hand of Doom, Exp. to Ravenloft, and Slaughterguarde quit a bit. The Twilight Tomb seemed very "flat" to me, but still very useable.

Besides, I never look for a module to be great, I just expect it to be solid enough to be great when I run it. Which 90%+ of all the modules I have bought have been that way. So I have been happy/satisfied where I have seen many others say they hated it.

Even in 2E days I hated the whole "Avatar" story arc, but I still bought the modules because there was still plenty of info in there for me to turn into good adventures. Even after throwing out the Avatar trash.

I like Red Hand of Doom, but not because of the story it has written into it. Its not something I can use without heavy modification, but I like it because it also gave me tons of inspiration for other adventures. That is what makes a great module for me.

That is why I prefer Necromancer modules over many of the Goodman and WOTC modules.

Every Necromancer module (Yes, I have bought every Necro module) not only has a good/useable "core" story to their modules, but they always give me tons of ideas for different directions to go in as a separate adventure, or to continue with when the module adventure is over.

Many DCC's and WOTC adventures have not been that inspiring to my imagination. They do have a fair number that do though. In fact, after DCC 10 or 11 Goodmans DCC's have been much more to my liking.

Most of WOTC's new line of modules have been to my liking as well. Lots of extra adventure ideas, with Red Hand of Doom and Exp. to Ravenloft being my favorites so far.

So I agree that with regards to modules, WOTC is not only not "flavorless", but it isn't "crap" either. They have been very on par with Necromancer and Goodman, which is great for me because I like buying/collecting adventures. Even the Eberon adventures, even though I don't like Eberron itself.

 

[molonel]

The stuff WotC is putting out right now is neither bland, nor flavorless. It's just not the flavor I prefer. But that's okay, because with d20 Modern, Iron Heroes and Conan from Mongoose, and Midnight and Grim Tales, I have a wider variety of flavors and game mechanics to choose from in this system than ever before.

It's a great time to be a gamer, frankly.

 

[Katowice]

If your group is having a good time and your DM is keeping it interesting, then who cares about the rules. They're just the beginning of the game, not the end.

 

[Nightfall]

Maybe but it's easier to deal with mechanics that don't make my brain cells die...

Or challenge my idea of "why can't a cleric use a sword!?!"