D&D 4E I really don't like the new 4E PHB cover

[Zinegata]

Took me about five seconds to get used to it.

But then again, I've been playing 'monsters' in RPGs for years.

We're talking about the non-roleplayers buying stuff for their 12 year old nephew here

 

[DarenCommons]

This

I like VERY little of his stuff. I'm disappointed in the cover, although it is ultimately not important so long as the stuff inside is cool. But really, couldn't they have found a picture that didn't cause so much disapproval?

If this had been the cover (assuming no one had ever seen it), do you think there would be as much complaining?

That is the same pic I thought of. THIS is archtypal D&D. Not to be confused with any other.
The old Elmore covers were the greatest.

 

[Wormwood]

We're talking about the non-roleplayers buying stuff for their 12 year old nephew here

PSP. I covered that already.

 

[Klaus]

Not really, actually. This is something I touched upon in a thread over at Wizards, so I'll repeat what I said here.

World of Warcraft actually made a conscious effort to make two, opposing factions within the game - one composed of "heroic" races (The Alliance), and the other composed of "monstrous" races (The Horde). It's worth noting that in the early days of WoW, there were more Alliance players than Horde players. And this is despite the fact that the "monstruous" races had been retconned into becoming "Noble Savages" in Warcraft 3 and its expansion (back in Warcraft 1 and 2, they were just bloodthirsty savages).

Moreover, WoW waited until they released an expansion pack (Burning Crusade) before giving the Horde a traditional heroic race (Elves) while the Alliance got a monstrous one. By this point, the fluff had been established strongly enough so that people wouldn't be confused.

That's why the adventurers vs the dragon picture works, actually. It's the traditional image of "heroes vs monsters" which is easy to get. The new PHB cover of "Adventure WITH a monster" however, takes getting used to.

Y'know, I'd love it if WotC got WAR to add a dragonborn to the line-up of the party that is fighting the green dragon. That'd round out the image mighty fine.

 

[Ultimatecalibur]

I like VERY little of his stuff. I'm disappointed in the cover, although it is ultimately not important so long as the stuff inside is cool. But really, couldn't they have found a picture that didn't cause so much disapproval?

If this had been the cover (assuming no one had ever seen it), do you think there would be as much complaining?

I'll let it be known that I'm on the other end of the spectrum. I'd expect just as much if not more complaining if pieces of Elmore art was on the covers of the Core Books. I would avoid picking up a modern rpg supplement if it it had this type of art on the cover. It feels old (not classic) and looks like a piece of B-grade fantasy art.

But I also think that Elmore's artwork (both old and new) has a lot of problems.

 

[MaelStorm]

Just like zillion other games? Really? Hmmm. Could you list, let's see, five examples of fantasy RPG core rulebook covers that depict a party of adventurers fighting an iconic monster? D&D books excluded, naturally.

Here are some

Adventurer/Party+Monster/Dragon

Adventurer/Party+Monster+Treasure

Maybe there are some that you can disqualify but I could go to all the editions of the games that exist and all the video games, etc. There are zillion of games with iconic monsters with party and adventurer.

 

[Doug McCrae]

nvm

 

[ruleslawyer]

Here are some
Adventurer/Party+Monster/Dragon
Maybe there are some that you can disqualify but I could go to all the editions of the games that exist and all the video games, etc. There are zillion of games with iconic monsters with party and adventurer.

90% of those aren't anything like an adventuring party facing off against an iconic D&D monster; certainly not in a dungeon.

 

[brehobit]

Here are some

Adventurer/Party+Monster/Dragon


Maybe there are some that you can disqualify but I could go to all the editions of the games that exist and all the video games, etc. There are zillion of games with iconic monsters with party and adventurer.

Sorry, you can't use dungeontwister: that's character vs. character. So clearly your whole point fails

Mark

 

[Henry]

In World of Warcraft it's generally accepted that younger players pick Alliance - traditional races such as humans and elves - whereas older players prefer the Horde - orcs, trolls, undead.

Not if you listen to the chatter behind the scenes. The Horde channels sound like a bunch of ten-year olds when I was there on my server.

It's odd, because that's the exact opposite of what I picked when I played -- I started with Alliance races, and THEN went to Horde later, still preferring the Alliance overall. Amazing what you find out after the fact.