Has the horse left the barn?

[Thunderfoot]

We live in a glorious time of many good games. It really makes me happy that there are a lot of fun alternatives (Pathfinder, the retro-clones, etc.) for people who don't care for 4e. Our hobby is going to thrive in the long run so long as people keep playing any RPGs, instead of getting out of the hobby.

I like 4e, but I must say that I wish the lessons they applied to the PHB2 and 3 (more fluff, clearer rules, etc.) had made their way into the first PHB. First impressions count for a lot!

Kev, and you don't work for a PR dept in a gaming company, why?

 

[Plane Sailing]

The horse has left my barn, sadly.

I had been looking forward to 4e, but after running a game and playing in a different game for a year, I decided it wasn't for me. I dislike some of the very fundamental design decisions, and I found that in play it was both 'not simulationist enough' for me and also too restrictive at the same time.

If I play D&D again it is likely to be baseline 3e or perhaps an earlier edition entirely. I'm much more likely to be running RQ2, Starguild OGL or something else though.

Am I disappointed in this turn of events? Yes. But I don't think there is anything that could be done with 4e that would make it appealing to me.

Thanks for asking though!

Cheers

 

[Xyxox]

Ship, sail, horse, barn, and all that.

Pathfinder, M&M, and now Savage Worlds have become my RPGs of choice. I still like 2E, though.

 

[Garnfellow]

The ship has sailed.

For me, 4e is a very well designed, fun little fantasy game that doesn't feel at all like D&D. I'd be glad to use the engine to play Gamma World or Earthdawn -- both of which feel like very good fits for the system.

But for me, D&D is a very broad ruleset that can be run in wide variety of modes and styles; it's a particularly quirky mish-mash of different influences including fantasy, folklore, science-fantasy, pulp fiction, comic books, horror movies, and historical wargaming. It doesn't emulate anything other than itself.

4e might be nice, but it just doesn't scratch my D&D itch. And if I wanted to run a generic fantasy system that wasn't D&D, I've got lots of other interesting choices that I'd turn to first.

So in the end, for me 4e falls into the uncanny valley: it's simultaneously much too similar and much too different from past iterations of D&D for me to really embrace it.

 

[Grymar]

With the 2010 releases of PHB3 and its "hybrid" multi-classed characters and the new "basic" beginners rules. Would you be willing to try it again? Have you already made your mind up about 4e?

Clearly this is a question for those that were turned off or disappointed by 4e.

No, not interested. First off, I'm so disconnected from 4e that I didn't know that there was already a third (!) phb out, nor do I know what the basic rules or the hybrid multiclasses are.

4e just isn't interesting to me. Certainly not to run. My gaming dollars are going to Pathfinder and supporting products. I don't see going back to WotC any time soon.

 

[BryonD]

The horse is very unlikely to return at this point.

I still consider 4E to be fair to middlin game. A one shot could certainly be fun and I think the majority of my personal issues with 4e would be minimized in a one time game.

But for an on-going campaign there are still quite a few games I find preferable. I don't even expect to play all the games that are farther up the list.

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

I'm still very much open to it. It's just that every group I gamed with stuck with 3.5 or moved to Pathfinder. I don't learn new systems well by just reading them, and the 4e books' presentation was off-putting. So I really just need a 4e group willing to take on an old-timer and teach me.

The Essentials line just may be what I've been needing. Funny thing, prior to 4e becoming real I exhorted James Wyatt in a private message that I felt WotC needed to have something like the 80s Red Box Basic set parallel to 4e's release. James told me WotC wanted to focus on winning over the hardcore old timers first before trying their hands at a basic set again. I'm glad they are getting around to it! Seems like something I can learn along side my 9-year-old together.

 

[Stormonu]

I've tried 4E now about four times*, and each time it left a sour taste in my mouth. The game has just completely gone in a different direction I look for in an RPG. Which is kind of sad, because there were many things about 4E that were things I'd thought I wanted to see more of (mini use, more dramatic combats, skill challenges), but that in practice I despise how they've done.

And the GSL hasn't helped. I had just gotten out my first OGL/d20 product about a month prior to when the whole 4E announcement came out. The good news is, it made me decide to work up my own RPG instead and move everything I wanted to create to that game system.


* I was considering getting Dark Sun and trying again, but the preview characters were a real turn-off.

 

[Rolflyn]

With the 2010 releases of PHB3 and its "hybrid" multi-classed characters and the new "basic" beginners rules. Would you be willing to try it again? Have you already made your mind up about 4e?

Clearly this is a question for those that were turned off or disappointed by 4e.

Dark Sun and Gamma World might pull me back, but new rules systems like hybrid multiclassing or beginners' rules won't. I'm unlikely to play in a 4e game again, and certainly wouldn't run one. Barring a new setting that sets my imagination on fire, 4e is effectively dead to me.

 

[pawsplay]

To quote the Bowler, "There's not enough beer in the world, Spleen, I'm sorry."