D&D 4E Is 4E winning you or losing you?

[Wormwood]

I was initially enthusiastic, and with one exception*, every news snippet I read has reinforced my enthusiasm.

I love D&D, but I am willing to acknowledge that it contains many systemic problems that result into poor play experiences at the table.

4e seems to be a direct response to the 'un fun' aspects of D&D, and I wish the team nothing but the best.

C'mon May!


*No swordmage in the PHB? Fooey!

 

[Doc_Klueless]

So, who started off hating the idea but has come to welcome our new 4verlords? Who started off as a 4E fan from the get-go but now are dreading the coming storm?

Not me. Not really. I hadn't even played D&D in about... oh... 6-8 months. Not even my online game, having become quite hooked on WoW for my gaming fix whenever I wanted with no strings attached.

However, I'm really, really intrigued by the stuff being put out as teasers about the new 4e. I mean, I *knew* change had to be comin' soon and I hoped I would like it. Luckily, it sounds pretty good.

Oh, sure. There are little things here and there that I'm not too keen on, but I'm also willing to admit that I don't have the big picture yet and that in the grand scheme of things, they may be even more minor than they presently appear.

Even though I'm primarily a Mac user, my daughter's laptop is a Dell 1705 that I can use (I have her permission... I'm not the kind of dad that just takes his kids stuff without askin'. Promotes her asking to borrow things too, instead of just takin'.) to do DDI. This may be the one tool I need to pull in some of my old, old friends into playing another game with me.

In summary, looking forward to it.

 

[Shade]

I started out ambivalent, then became enthusiastically excited by some of the player-oriented stuff that leaked early, then grew more and more displeased with the direction it is heading. Based on the changes to the core setting, the planes, and monsters, I'm currently leaning towards "adapt what I like from the 4e SRD and keep running 3e".

 

[Doug McCrae]

There's no downside. More choices for gamers can never be a bad thing.

If you try 4e and don't like it you can go back to 3.5e. There's been so many splats and adventures and campaign settings published for it you'll never run out of material.

Or play 3.0. Or 2e. Or 2e with skills and powers. Or 1e. Or 1e with Unearthed Arcana. Or white box OD&D. Or B/X D&D. Or RC D&D. Or Hackmaster. Or Castles & Crusades. Or True20. Or Tunnels & Trolls, RuneQuest, GURPS, Chivalry & Sorcery, Earthdawn, WHFRP, RoleMaster, Talislanta, Harn, Pendragon, Palladium, Ars Magica, Stormbringer and on and on and on.

4e is just one more choice out of literally hundreds of fantasy roleplaying games out there.

 

[Doug McCrae]

I was shocked ("all major announcements will be at D&D experience" ) and then angry, because I was not (and am not) ready for a new edition.

No one ever said that.

 

[Midknightsun]

Initially when I heard about the 4e release I was actually relieved. Yes, relieved. The things back in the beginning of 3e/3.5 that were just minor annoyances played on me over and over again like chinese water torture, until I got sick of it. AoOs, grappling, constant need to look up rules and spells, designing hgh level nps, combat length, the gypsy-pimp syndrome with magic items, the startlingly growing gulf between casters and noncasters as one went up in levels, "I win" spells, Feats that were designed to suck, Monster stat blocks that look like accounting sheets . . . . yeah, I had pretty much reached my breaking point anyway, so I was excited with the initial changes they have proposed, including streamlining combat and evening out the power levels between classes (I will be very impressed if they actually deliver on the promise of Fighters not sucking at higher levels). I don't mind monster stat blocks being different than PC races, cause frankly, I was never a big fan of the "I wanna play an Astral Stalker" line of thought. So I'm fine with "Monsters as Monsters". They can always come up with alternate stats later to make them PC friendly. At will and per encounter abilities are excellent ideas, IMHO, so I have no beef with that. Tiefling being core is a little odd, but I'll reserve judgement at this time. The faster advancement rate that was hinted to has me a bit worried, since I already think 3.5 advances too quickly, but I'm sure that's something I can easily resolve.

Overall, I'm very positive, with some minor reservations. Change is the way of things, and so far it seems to be going down a path that I do find appealing.

 

[Crazy Jerome]

My heart isn't tangled up in this at all. I didn't predict a particular time for 4E, but I wasn't terribly surprised by the announcement, either. I have not been impressed by the, well, "verve" of WotC products since 3.5 was launched. I think the staff has become steadily better at producing good mechanics, while the fluff and spice has been lacking. (Most likely, some of it is lacking because it isn't that good, and some of it is lacking from my perspective because I'm not interested in the same things they are. By definition, kind of hard for me to objectively say which cause applies in any particular case.) So I'm cold-blooded about the whole thing. 4E will be what it will be. The initial part of it will probably have some really good mechanics. I'll eventually get it, and supply my own verve. Thus, no rollercoaster of emotions for me, and individual teasers let out by the design staff don't change that.

My head is interested in the design enough to finally entice me into registering on ENWorld, after lurking here since Eric started this place. Whatever else the changes will be, the discussion about them will be interesting.

I will admit that some of the over-the-top "chicken-little" reaction has create a small pool of goodwill for 4E. The game could be greater than the sum of its parts, or it could go the other way. I prefer to wait to see how well all the changes fit together, before I get emotionally involved.

 

[sckeener]

I started out excited and then I moved to worried. My worry comes from all the planar changes. I wish I knew what the vision was that was driving the changes, but the leaks so far have been worrying. I know I'll convert to 4e or at least I still feel that I will at this moment.

I just figure I'll be dragging past history into 4e on my own like I have done for 2nd, and 3rd edition...

In the end, all I really care about is more players. Since I am usually am the DM, I just need players. I'll tweak whatever system I am running to be what I need. More players...more chances at finding players that fit my gaming style.

 

[Stormtower]

I was at GenCon for the announcement. I was unimpressed at the time and remain so now.

I realize this is a personal perspective and that many have plumbed the depths of 3.5, but my group is still having a great time and we're heavily invested (dollarwise) in the system as it stands. Nothing the designers have revealed has sparked our interest. The thought of setting aside 2-3 adventure paths, multiple untouched modules, tons of splatbook mechanics that we've had less than a year to test drive and integrate, and beloved homebrew worlds based on the conventions of the current game is more than we can stand.

WotC, it was 5 years too early. Planned obsolescence drove me away from computer gaming, but it won't drive me away from D&D... it will just keep me from buying into your new game because I know that 5 years down the road the cycle will repeat itself and I'll be required to buy your "upgrades" if I want to remain current or "state of the art," if you will, to continue playing in the RPGA. I refuse to partake in an endless treadmill of new purchasing, regardless of how compelling (or not) your new content is. 3.5/OGL is my game and I'm happily married to it.

The systematic destruction of AD&D/2e/3.0/3.5 lore hasn't earned WotC any points around here either.

I realize this is just the opinion of a few gamers and it won't change anything... but our group went from super enthusiastic to be involved in the RPGA and Living Greyhawk to badly disappointed in no time flat at GenCon this year.

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

Take Mearls, who is like unto a God of d20 design. I probably have most of the books he has worked on, and that's a LOT of freaking books. And I can think of dozens of lovely little mechanical innovations he developed during his freelance years. But I can't for the life of me think of a single cool NPC name or an encounter or bit of fluff that he wrote. Maybe I have selective memory, but maybe that's just not his bag.

I really liked Ruins of Intrigue, which had practically no crunch at all.