I'm getting Edition War fatigue

[Theo R Cwithin]

The Edition Spat

I really think the problem is purely one of perception. In a typical edition war thread here on ENWorld, I'd bet 90% of the posts are made by the same half dozen or dozen people.

Yeah, the "war" periodically takes up a lot of time/space/energy, but I think it's really dwindled into more of an "Edition Spat" between a handful of argumentative folks.

Easy enough to ignore.

 

[Turtlejay]

I've started ignoring entire threads recently in an effort to avoid all of the thinly veiled insults and nastiness, which is something that I've never done here before. Still, I think that the situation is better now than it was a year ago, or even three plus years ago (when there were some hardcore 3e haters haunting the forums). It's just that my mental endurance has been worn down.

I haven't been a member since 2003 like you have, but I am starting to do the same thing. I used to make sure all the threads at least on the first page of General had been read, because I like to see what folks are thinking. And work is boring.

Now it is close to half. Work is still boring, but I find myself drawn into making comments I regret later. There are sooooo many threads that start out promising and just spiral into crap. This is turning out to be one of them.

Folks jumping in here to say "if you don't like it, go somewhere else", that is like, meta-edition warring. 4e rules forum is for 4e rules. If everyone discussed their respective games in their specific forums, General would be a ghost town.

This will probably be it for me posting in this thread, at least, since the baiting is already beginning....

Jay

 

[MacMathan]

I feel compelled to chime in a "me too" I am finding EN less and less interesting/useful.

As far as my gaming group goes I am the only one left who bothers to read with any regularity. Before the edition wars more than half the group loved the site.

I feel for the mods really who must be totally sick of it by now.

 

[Kzach]

I'm just wondering if it is so necessary to have so much negativity surrounding 4e. Especially after this long. I took a break from ENWorld for a while due to the amount of new threads created that were all essentially "I hate 4e, let me tell you why".

I have selective amnesia. I try to forget all the negative threads. I find that if I notice them that I just end up getting banned for a week.

Thanks for pointing them all out!

*twitch*twitch*

 

[ExploderWizard]

The problem is, at this point we know everyone's opinions. At this point I haven't seen much useful advice on running games that makes sense in a 4e environment on the general board.

Makes sense in a 4E environment?

I like run games that make sense with any set of rules. Why do the particular mechanics used have to have anything to do with games making sense or not.

When mechanics clash harshly with sense guess what gets tossed out?
This applies to any mechanics in any system.

 

[Wayside]

I think it was more likely that the adoption rate of 3e was higher than 4e.

Edition warring--far worse than what we see now--started the second 4e was announced, and all the evidence we have indicates 4e still outsold 3.5e easily. The argument doesn't have much to do with how many people are playing each edition. It has to do with the fact that ENWorld was a dedicated 3.5e site. Non-3.5e-dedicated sites, like rpg.net, do not have the problems ENWorld now has. I second Spatula's and Wormwood's recommendations: broaden your forum-going horizons, and use your ignore list. Ignore lists are great.

 

[Cadfan]

Foundation of all human conflict: "You're picking on me!"/"No, you're picking on me!"

Toddlers play the "you started it game" over and over.

And countries tend to play it whenever they go to war.

You're always the good guy, the other guy is always the bad guy.

Truth is usually that both sides have some jerks, which draws in average people against said jerks on each side.

Edition Wars aren't much different. Fanbois and haters both have problems accepting the validity of someone else's position.

Ironically, every conflict has people who say this, too.

 

[Victim]

You only need to reply to Internet discussion when it amuses you. I drop tons of posts partway through because it's not worth finishing them. If there's a bunch of arguments you don't want to be involved in, then don't get involved. Check out some other forums if this one has you down.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Ironically, every conflict has people who say this, too.

Hippies and soldiers, usually, yeah. The people who would like the conflict to end, but who maybe don't realize that sometimes, conflict is necessary.

I'm not sure the conflict in edition wars is very necessary, myself, so I'm either a soldier or a hippie in this analogy, I guess depending on if I've seen combat or I've avoided it.

 

[thecasualoblivion]

Opinions don't really fuel the edition war. They never did. Now, 4E has changed a few things from previous editions, and from an opinion standpoint some people approve of the changes and some do not, but this does not cause an edition war. Differing gaming preferences and whether some people prefer World of Darkness and others prefer GURPS don't produce this sort of fight. They crux of the edition war is possession of, definition of, and membership in Dungeons and Dragons. WotC owns Dungeons and Dragons, and has released 4E, which in a de facto sense states "this is D&D". 4E is being sold in stores as D&D, is currently being printed, is getting more high profile support, and has a more active official playing community(RPGA) than earlier editions. Buying into and supporting the new edition in a de facto sense rejects earlier editions, as you are setting them aside in favor of the new. If you are of the opinion that the older version was better, on top of your opinion you have lost a lot of players(who left for the new edition), a lot of people are playing and defining D&D as something to your dislike, your game isn't being printed as D&D anymore, isn't getting new official books. In addition to your opinion, you have loss.

Now, you can continue to play the older edition you prefer, but I don't think anybody can say in a hobby-wide sense that playing 3.5E now is what playing 3.5E was before 4E. On the other side, those who prefer the new edition would like to put the old to bed and get on with their gaming future.

The fight isn't over what you prefer or even which game is better. Its about who gets to call their game D&D, and I don't believe both can have their way.