If 4th Edition didn't use the "D&D" moniker...

[Alnag]

Yes. There are some RPGs that I am willing to buy without hesitation and if all the other things would be equal (WotC producing the game, same team of designers etc.) I would belive them enough to buy it blindly and immediately. As I did in other occassions with other games where the quality of publisher and designer was obvious (McWoD being one example).

 

[CleverNickName]

No, I probably wouldn't. I would probably pick it up, flip through the pages, decide that it is a miniature wargame and not the FRPG that I am looking for, and put it back on the shelf. This may or may not be the case, but without the D&D label on it, I wouldn't have any reason to look past all of the maneuvering rules. That is what I did with Chainmail, anyway. And even though the Miniatures Handbook had the D&D name on it, I still didn't buy it.

I'm not saying that miniature wargames are bad, or that they aren't worth purchasing. They just aren't my bag, baby.

Good poll, by the way.

 

[Vegepygmy]

No, I wouldn't buy it, for the same reason that I won't buy it with the official "D&D" name: I don't like the system they've created.

 

[Geron Raveneye]

No, I probably wouldn't. I would probably pick it up, flip through the pages, decide that it is a miniature wargame and not the FRPG that I am looking for, and put it back on the shelf. This may or may not be the case, but without the D&D label on it, I wouldn't have any reason to look past all of the maneuvering rules. That is what I did with Chainmail, anyway. And even though the Miniatures Handbook had the D&D name on it, I still didn't buy it.

I'm not saying that miniature wargames are bad, or that they aren't worth purchasing. They just aren't my bag, baby.

Good poll, by the way.

What he said.

 

[Grossout]

I haven't played RPGs for many years, and when I did, it was D&D, so I will admit to being caught in the 4E hype machine. That said, I'm also a sucker for high quality, full-color game books, which a lot of less popular, though possibly superior RPGs don't have. Therefore I am a shallow lemming, and I'll be going with D&D. So to answer the question... I don't know. It would be a foreign game, that visually looked really good. I might get the PHB.

*I did buy a couple Castles & Crusades books a while back. It does seem like a neat system (one you could easily use without minis, I might add), but its tough for me to pass up on D&D's shiny new books with big color art.

 

[NMcCoy]

I'd be posting on messageboards, saying "I'm looking for a fantasy tactical dungeon-crawl game a bit like the mid-levels of D&D 3e, but without the fiddlyness of the skill system, spell management, or other extraneous bookkeeping. Cleaner math is vitally important. Also, if other classes had as many fun options as the spellcasters in D&D do that would be a huge bonus." Someone would recommend 4e-not-D&D and I'd have found the game I've been seeking for years.

 

[WhatGravitas]

A quick look on the bookshelf: I see AE, Iron Heroes, D&D, Savage Worlds, Call of Cthulhu (d20 and non-d20)... should I continue?

Yeah, it's an RPG, and I like what I see until now. I'd pick it up - I don't care for the label, as long as it looks enjoyable.

Cheers, LT.

 

[Zaruthustran]

I voted no. At this point in my life (31 yrs old) I'm not that interested in playing new RPG systems*. I just want to play (the most current version of) D&D, because I've played D&D since 1st grade and all my friends play it.

For me it's all about the brand, not the ruleset. If "AD&D" had been called "AdventureQuest" or whatever, I'd probably still be playing Basic/Expert/Companion. Actually, I probably wouldn't be. One of the good things about new editions is that it re-injects new interest in the game. The same exact game, bloated by supplements, over more than the typical ~ 8-10 yr revision cycle would get old. I probably would have quit D&D, and even RPGs altogether as my circle of RPG friends fragmented off into a bunch of new systems.

This sort of happened with 2nd Ed; after a while my buddies and I all kind of gave it up. We tried other systems. Thank goodness for Vampire; most everyone played that, and it kept up our interest in RPGs long enough for 3E to arrive.

-z

* Oh, I enjoy picking up and flipping through a new book, or playing the occassional alt system for a quick campaign or one-shot (especially Call of Cthulhu 'round halloween). But as far as playing, I'll stick with the game played most often by most people. That's D&D.

 

[Mishihari Lord]

No, and the same is true of any of the previous versions. They were all dissimilar enough from the preceding versions that plenty of people thought that they "Weren't D&D," especially 3E.

There are other games that better suit my tastes. The main reason to get D&D is that I can find plenty of other players (and I suspect that to many of those other people the same is true) Network externalities all the way. D&D certainly didn't maintain its popularity by being the best game system.

Don't get me wrong - 3E is a fun game, and I'm looking forward to 4E, but I still think the "D&D" name is the main reason for the success of every edition after original D&D

 

[Jack99]

If it isn't DnD, I ain't playing it. Every other game I have tried so far has failed to entice me, so I have decided to stop trying.

Cheers