History repeats itself

[Jürgen Hubert]

I remember when D&D 3E was first announced - and what happened on RPG-related online forums.

And I am incredibly amused how history repeats itself. Today we are seeing the same hysteria, the same rumors, the same denouncement of any changes (regardless of whether these changes have actually been confirmed), the same endless debates which are only based on hearsay instead of factual confirmation.

OK, some of the details have changed. But the way gamers are reacting to the edition change is exactly the same as it was eight years ago.

Who else finds this amusing?


EDIT: To clarify, this is not supposed to be a comment of the relative merits of the various editions of D&D. Rather, it is a comment to how many people react to the announcement and the hints at the rules changes even before the whole rule set is known.

For the record, my personal stance is: "I will reserve final judgement until the rules are actually published, and I am willing to give the designers the benefit of the doubt until then."

 

[Lizard]

I remember when D&D 3E was first announced - and what happened on RPG-related online forums.

And I am incredibly amused how history repeats itself. Today we are seeing the same hysteria, the same rumors, the same denouncement of any changes (regardless of whether these changes have actually been confirmed), the same endless debates which are only based on hearsay instead of factual confirmation.

OK, some of the details have changed. But the way gamers are reacting to the edition change is exactly the same as it was eight years ago.

Who else finds this amusing?

Yes, but THEN, people who opposed 3e were stick-in-the-mud grognards making irrational claims and unable to appreciate the art of game design, as well as reacting emotionally and exaggerating the impact of games like Diablo on D&D design.

Today, critics of 4e are making well-reasoned arguments based on solid facts, sound knowledge of game design theory and practice, and have strong evidence of the influence of MMORPGs like WOW on many 4e design decisions.

 

[FreeXenon]

I wouldn't say amusing, but rather status quo.

The vitriol that it creates is rather annoying, but not unexpected, for most of us are rather passionate about our game and any changes are always resisted as it is human nature.

When 3E poped around I was more concerned because of the change in management not having a clue about the game and being more interested in money.

Once I saw what 3e was like through Dragon previews, my fears were pretty much allayed.

 

[Wormwood]

Today, critics of 4e are making well-reasoned arguments based on solid facts, sound knowledge of game design theory and practice, and have strong evidence of the influence of MMORPGs like WOW on many 4e design decisions.

Well, that certainly is one way of looking at it.

 

[Mallus]

Today, critics of 4e are making well-reasoned arguments based on solid facts...

I'd describe those facts more as 'isolated'. We're still like the proverbial blind men feeling up that poor elephant...

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Yes, but THEN, people who opposed 3e were stick-in-the-mud grognards making irrational claims and unable to appreciate the art of game design, as well as reacting emotionally and exaggerating the impact of games like Diablo on D&D design.

Today, critics of 4e are making well-reasoned arguments based on solid facts, sound knowledge of game design theory and practice, and have strong evidence of the influence of MMORPGs like WOW on many 4e design decisions.

Absolutely.

Fandom - no: Humanity, has changed!

Oh, and in 300 years, humanity will not only have build a galaxy-wide US/EU type alliance among countless of worlds, they will also have removed the neccessity of "video games" and tabletops thanks to a brand new virtual reality...

 

[vagabundo]

Yes, but THEN, people who opposed 3e were stick-in-the-mud grognards making irrational claims and unable to appreciate the art of game design, as well as reacting emotionally and exaggerating the impact of games like Diablo on D&D design.

Today, critics of 4e are making well-reasoned arguments based on solid facts, sound knowledge of game design theory and practice, and have strong evidence of the influence of MMORPGs like WOW on many 4e design decisions.

Haha, very good!

Erm at least I hope that is subtle sarcasm?!?

 

[Rallek]

When 3e was announced I thought that 2e was an system with its fair share of flaws, and even though my group had been at it long enough for us to have houseruled it into "our" game, it could probably use some retooling.


When 3e was released I thought that it went, more or less, in the wrong direction as far as what my group wanted/needed in an RPG. We tinkered with it, dropped things out, rebuilt parts of the system, modified classes, and eventually we got something much closer to the kind of play experience that we wanted. When we discovered E6 and put that together with our house rules, we found 3e much more workable in terms of playing our kind of game... We remain extremely disappointed with 3e as written.


When 4e was announced, I recall thinking that 3e definitely had its fair share of flaws, and even though my group had found E6, and had written enough house rules to force the game into a shape that we liked better than RAW, it could definately use some retooling.


As more information on 4e is released I am finding that, in terms of my group's playstyle and needs, 4e seems to be moving in the wrong direction, and getting even further away from the kind of experience we are looking for at the table....



History won't repeat itself for us this time. If 4e is as big of a disappointment's to us as 3e was, we won't be house ruling and looking for variants... we'll be dropping D&D as our RPG of choice. We've had a lot of fun with D&D over the years we've been playing, but it looks like our run with the game may be history.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

Yes, but THEN, people who opposed 3e were stick-in-the-mud grognards making irrational claims and unable to appreciate the art of game design, as well as reacting emotionally and exaggerating the impact of games like Diablo on D&D design.

Today, critics of 4e are making well-reasoned arguments based on solid facts, sound knowledge of game design theory and practice, and have strong evidence of the influence of MMORPGs like WOW on many 4e design decisions.

How did that quote again?

Patrician: "Oh, it appears that I have read my notes in the wrong order."
- Jingo by Terry Pratchett

 

[Dragonbait]

If people didn't react strongly to 4E's announcement, I'd be worried. That would mean no one cares. It can be amusing, it can be annoying, but at least it's something. Eventually it will return to the status-quo, and those that play previous editions will be just like the people on here now that play OD&D/1E/2E/3E as compared to the majority that play 3.5E.

And when 5E comes out, things will start all over again.