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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Windjammer" data-source="post: 5734554" data-attributes="member: 60075">Has 4E hit its stride?Depends how you judge that. If you go by reviews which declare the latest product the Bestest Evar WotC Has Yet Released, you may want to re-think your standards, because you'll find people on Enworld and elsewhere who say that about whatever is currently the latest. I've long since learnt to exercise caution over those commotions, because they've become part of a social ritual that follows all the usual signs of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hype_cycle" target="_blank">hype cycles</a>. It's like every new product has to go through this transition: inflated expectations, trough of disillusionment, and then, many months later, sober assessment around the mediocre (not good, not that bad either).<img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/94/Gartner_Hype_Cycle.svg/400px-Gartner_Hype_Cycle.svg.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />For instance, when Underdark came out, Ari Marmell rushed to tell us it was one of the finest D&D books ever ("any edition"), others rushed to his aid to tell us that it was the by far lowest on the Delve content. In actual fact, it had thrice as much Delve Content as some previous books, and the actual content in that book, beyond the opening 8 pages on Torog (which ARE great) it is completely and utterly pedestrian, lacking for instance cartography for all the locations, and copy-pasting some half inspired drivel from 3.5 supplements.Similarly for Slaying Stones. Wide and Far you'll find people who said: bestest adventure ever for 4E. Then Zak Smith came along, and <a href="http://dndwithpornstars.blogspot.com/2011/08/lets-read-something-depressing.html" target="_blank">illustrated</a> point for point how the hype doesn't live up to reality.I could go on, picking product by product. Like, how MerricB called P2 the finest D&D adventure ever (again), or Neverwinter the best city supplement ever - which leave me scratching my head which products he's compared these to to arrive at that conclusion - or how a recent reviewer on Enworld failed to mention that 25% of items in Mordenkainen's are reprints, that some of the items in AV 2 have larger write-ups, and so on. It may be a fairly decent book, but it's not a radical departure, a "new style" or whatever else reviewers tried to sell it as at the time.Which brings us to Gardmore Abbey. I have it, I like the deck of many things as a play aid, but it is, let me tell you, 100% pedestrian. It's a solid effort, it contains nice bits here and there, but it is not the revolution that some isolated reviewers try you to sell it as. It's not even the best mega-adventure for 4E WotC has released, not by a far shot.So, no, WotC has not hit its stride, but maybe we should celebrate that they haven't put out another howler? Your call.</blockquote>

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