D&D 4E Is my friend's unwillingness to try 4e irrational?

[Haffrung Helleyes]

You haven't given him any reasons _to_ switch that are more valid than his reasons not to.

I don't think it's any more irrational to decide not to play 4E without seeing it, than to decide to leave 3.5 for 4E without seeing it.

Both you and he have made up your minds without seeing the rules. Why not wait to decide?

Ken

 

[Dragonblade]

Either way, I wouldn't badger him about it, just let him know that if he changes his mind, he's certainly welcome to play.

Yeah we aren't badgering him about it. We have had roughly two conversations at our game about it and we are letting it drop. He is welcome to hang out or play with us anytime and he knows that.

Its just kind of sad because he is a good guy and we'll miss having him in the game.

 

[Hunter In Darkness]

id say leave the man alone. some of us will not switch i guess it dont matter why. it seems to me he is trying to be nice and not let it become a big issue between friends i have heared on a few boards that some groups have fallen apart in the last few months over pro/anit-4e issues.if he does comearound cool if he doesnt not much u can do unless u want to play 3.5 with him that is

 

[humble minion]

I'd almost say that hatred of and enthusiasm for 4e are both equally irrational until we've seen the full 4e ruleset. Not that this will stop anyone (including me...)

 

[Kunimatyu]

Leave it alone for now. When you guys actually have 4e in your hands and everybody wants to try it out, I suspect "Bob" will have a change of heart.

 

[Dragonblade]

You haven't given him any reasons _to_ switch that are more valid than his reasons not to.

I don't think it's any more irrational to decide not to play 4E without seeing it, than to decide to leave 3.5 for 4E without seeing it.

Both you and he have made up your minds without seeing the rules. Why not wait to decide?

Ken

Except that we aren't asking him to give up 3.5 for good. He can still play 3.5 with his other group. He already sets two days a month aside to come play with us in our 3.5 game. What's the difference if the game we play changes 4e? Especially if we supply the books?

Now if its because he doesn't like the 4e mechanics, then I can certainly understand that. But he hasn't said anything like that. Which is why the rest of group is frustrated.

 

[MaelStorm]

Ouch!

I think you have to respect his choice, no matter what. And let him decide alone. If he breaks up, he might say I was pushed around. And then it would be less fun if your friend would totally loose confidence in you and your friends.

If he part ways, you are still friends anyway, because true friendship is way more important than playing a game. If you are suggesting that taste matters more than anything else, I think that you are not true friends.

I am pro-4E, but anti-4E is unavoidable, as there are also the not decided yet people, the no feeling about it people, life is full of personal choices, it is up to the people to choose what they like and nobody else is better suited to decide what they like or not.

Again this is my personal opinion.

 

[Lanefan]

The answer, of course, is to sit down with Bob and whoever else might be interested, and design your own game system. At least that way, everyone buys in to the concept (though you could argue for months about what to use as a jumping-off point for the redesign - 3e, 4e, 1e, C+C, whatever).

Of course, on behalf of diaglo, one could always just say that OD+D (1974) is the only real game and leave it at that.

Lanefan

 

[Dragonblade]

...because true friendship is way more important than playing a game.

This is true. Well, we aren't losing his friendship or anything over this. Just his gaming. And he is a fantastic role-player so we'll miss his characters. I guess we'll keep his seat warm and hope he changes his mind at some point.

 

[ZombieRoboNinja]

Leave it alone for now. When you guys actually have 4e in your hands and everybody wants to try it out, I suspect "Bob" will have a change of heart.

Yeah, I'm guessing when the game's actually out you'll be able to at least convince him to play one session with your 4e group, "so he knows what he's dissing" if nothing else. He might love it or he might hate it, but either way he'll know what he's dealing with.

BTW, I think the inverse question of your title is equally valid. "When does 4e love become utterly irrational?" Some might say it's when you start bullying your friends into switching rulesets before you've even seen a rulebook.