D&D 4E Is liking 4E biased by how many books you own?

[Simia Saturnalia]

Less than a dozen 3.x books, mostly mineable resources at that (Slayer's Guides, Classic Play, etc.). Internally excited about 4e to a level that would make Wormwood look pretty blasé about it.

Edit: It may be worth noting that 3.x was being published primarily during years of lean resources for me, while 4e promises to come while I'm sitting on a sufficiently comfortable pile of coin to pick up whatever books interest me. The prospect of getting in on the ground floor and following an edition excites me.

 

[Exen Trik]

I think it has less to do with how many books are owned, as how much money you spent on them and how much money you have left to spend now.

Myself, I've only owned the 2e players handbook (which has since met an unknown fate), the 2e priests splatbook (buried in storage someplace), and the 3.0 players handbook (that I recently gave to a friend to get her familiar with the basic game). Everything else was usually borrowed from my gaming group until I had it memorized. Recently I've been relying almost exclusively on the SRD and other online material.

As you might guess, I'm not exactly a wealthy bloke, but I'll be getting the 4e core books when they come out, one way or another.

 

[Aus_Snow]

I could easily afford 4e, roman numerals and all. I don't want to, though.

I have (at least) 100 books, just within the 3e/d20/OGL field. Haven't counted, but yeah, perhaps more than that.

 

[Sammael]

I have about 50 3.x/d20 books, all Dragon magazines since 3.5 came out, and a number of 3.0 Dragons.

I am cautious about 4E. I like what I've seen of the mechanics, but the designers' constant (1) spin-doctoring; (2) hyping; (3) flavor-changing; and (4) dismissal of anything pre-4E as garbage is making me more and more hostile towards it.

I am going to buy the three initial core books (I have the PH and MM on pre-order from Amazon). Depending on how much time it takes to remove most of the new flavor which I highly dislike and convert everything to previous-edition flavor, I may or may not buy any additional books.

I am sure as hell not buying the 4E FRCS, though. Instead, I am going to start investing in 1e/2e FR books I missed.

 

[Maggan]

What are your spending habits and how do they intersect with a new edition? Do you feel that your spending and like/dislike are related?

I have every book for D&D3rd edition. I also have five feet shelf space of 3rd party material for the d20 system.

I'm looking forward to D&D4e, and will get the core books to start with. After that, we'll see, I'll probably be more picky when it comes to picking up books and start buying tiles and minis and stuff that supports the game table. Mostly because I don't have room for a multitude of new books.

/M

 

[RPG_Tweaker]

I own the core 3.0 PHB, DMG, MM.

I also bought the first 3 splatbooks... but in my disgust of their quality, never bought another. And while I've flipped through most of the follow up books, I've never puchased any.

So I've spent upwards of ~$80 on 3E.

I am closely following the 4E teasers, but I am at wait-and-see level of purchasability.

 

[FourthBear]

I own a pretty huge collection of 3e and 3.5e material (pretty much everything that WotC has published and a bunch of the third party stuff). I've also got a pretty hefty collection of D&D from older editions as well. I'm pretty optimistic about 4e. I should note that I'm an older gamer with a larger disposable income than I had when I first started gaming (hey, it's cheaper than sailing or golf!). I could certainly see that if you were strapped for cash and had devoted a sizable chuck of money in an earlier edition, a newer one might just irritate you.

I should note that I also buy a bunch of other RPGs, even if I don't plan on using them in a play environment. I simply enjoy reading gaming books and seeing innovations in both the game structure and setting information. So, for me, buying 4e doesn't represent a huge commitment. It's like buying the Burning Wheel RPG in some way. If I don't like it, I always have plenty of other RPGs to try out.

I should note that one motivation that might cause some people to dislike 4e is the potential loss of "system mastery". A lot of players and GMs can become very skilled at using the various gaming details and sub-systems to create very effective characters and opponents. In my group, I believe one of the players who dislikes the idea of 4e (and disliked the introduction of 3e and 3.5e) does so since they've become a system master with the current game. That would be lost if we changed to 4e predominantly.

 

[Gold Roger]

I own lots of 3.5 books, but haven't counted (and won't). I'd guess I'm close to 50, including setting books (mostly eberron).

I'm stoked about 4th edition, though I'll try not to buy to many rule suplements for it as I did for 3.X.

 

[Goken100]

While a big-time D&D player and DM, I haven't bought any new D&D products since I got my 2nd Edition PH, DMG, and Character Sheets.
I did get 2 used 3rd Edition PH's for my wife and myself. You can download converstion materials for 3.5, it's not that different.

4E sounds so good that I'm going to purchase the first new products in two decads: 2 4E PHs. The jury's out on the DMG.

 

[DaveMage]

Dear god, how can you use that many books?

It takes a while - which is why I'm not ready for 4E.