D&D 4E Merric's thoughts on 4e

[WhatGravitas]

Okay, other than hit points, the six ability scores, the aqueduct and Final Fantasy, WHAT HAS D&D EVER DONE FOR US?

Drawn Mike Mearls into the business!

Cheers, LT.

 

[Baby Samurai]

Okay, other than hit points, the six ability scores, the aqueduct and Final Fantasy, WHAT HAS D&D EVER DONE FOR US?

…Peace?

 

[Jedi_Solo]

Okay, other than hit points, the six ability scores, the aqueduct and Final Fantasy, WHAT HAS D&D EVER DONE FOR US?

Nobody expects The Hong Inquisition!!!

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

To rephrase, what I think I am seeing is:

-Developers: trying, and promising to fix the problems so many of us have noted. But, outside of one devil stat-card, its promises, not much more (but I guess they know what the problems are).

-Desingers: looking for Big Bold Flavor: I really see what they are trying to do. And I actually do not have the "backwards compatability" problems that some people do (some things actually seem to fit better). BUT, sometimes Big Bold Flavor just taste bad in a Big, Bold way.

-Other People: the ones doing the overall bussiness strategy stuff, IT stuff, marketing.... These people seem to be behind the curve. Maybe all the senior people involved in the last launch are gone, and they are learning this all over again? Of course, the launch of 3rd edition actually won a marketing award. I am not seeing that now.

So, overall, I also remain optimistic. But yeah, they probably need to get better at this, the sooner the better.

Really good post, Dave. I agree with you on pretty much every point, from hopes to concerns. Add to the third "Business" category the delay in getting 4e SRD information out to publishers.

Agreed on the addition thing. I'm fast at adding up dice, and remembering modifiers. My players are not. They love rolling a million dice, unfortunately, because its got that visceral "With this many dice, it HAS to be good!" effect. But then we all have to sit there while they count things up wrong.

I have some players who are bad at math, and in my experience it doesn't matter how big, how small, or how many dice or modifiers they are adding up. Their minds just don't have a fast gear for math. So it's pretty much always going to be easier to let one of the fast gear players add it up and keep the game moving. So with that in mind, I fall firmly on the side of giving them the visceral thrill of rolling fistfuls of dice!

 

[TerraDave]

thanks wulf! And you can never go wrong with fistfulls of dice!

 

[Odhanan]

Wulf and Dave: +1. You summed it up real nice.

 

[pogre]

Good post Merric! I mostly agree.

I've decided to sit out DDI a few months to see how it runs for other folks. I can do without the bells and whistles while they iron a few bugs out. I can crib together a few adventures in the meantime. If my group enjoys 4E I'll probably come around to subscribe eventually.

Apparently, they are satisfied with their magic on line model. So, they are capable of pulling most of this off. (I don't play mtg online - that's just my impression).

I am worried the game is actually becoming harder to introduce to new folks. I'm not seeing the easy class.

As far as making the game more accessible: Making a decent character generator for free would help. I would not even mind if it were limited to the first five levels or so, if it was functional. Creating a download is a partial solution, but a CD like the one in the 3.0 books would be better.

 

[Shortman McLeod]

Hit points are nonnegotiable. Everything else is up for grabs.

I also think that, you know, "magic" is an important part of the game. And it's probably a good idea that at some point there are dungeons, and occasionally there is a dragon.

 

[see]

Hit points are nonnegotiable. Everything else is up for grabs.

So, if they licensed GURPS 4e and called it "D&D 4e", you'd be okay with that?

I mean, I like GURPS. I've got dozens of GURPS books. But if somebody tried to sell me GURPS under the name D&D, I'd be less than happy about it, and I'd expect other D&D fans would be, too.

If I were just a guy who liked RPGs, and I was stuck just playing D&D not because I liked D&D but just because I couldn't find anyone willing to play anything else, then I'd be enthusiastic about D&D undergoing serious changes, because then I might get something more like I like.

As it is, I like D&D. So I'm skipping 4e, at least until somebody like Pazio or Necromancer or even Wizards in the future delivers something that tastes like genuine D&D under that rules set. If I want to play something else, I already have GURPS, Exalted, Ars Magica, In Nomine, 7th Sea, Shadowrun, Rune, Over the Edge . . . .

 

[Zamkaizer]

So, if they licensed GURPS 4e and called it "D&D 4e", you'd be okay with that?

I mean, I like GURPS. I've got dozens of GURPS books. But if somebody tried to sell me GURPS under the name D&D, I'd be less than happy about it, and I'd expect other D&D fans would be, too.

If I were just a guy who liked RPGs, and I was stuck just playing D&D not because I liked D&D but just because I couldn't find anyone willing to play anything else, then I'd be enthusiastic about D&D undergoing serious changes, because then I might get something more like I like.

As it is, I like D&D. So I'm skipping 4e, at least until somebody like Pazio or Necromancer or even Wizards in the future delivers something that tastes like genuine D&D under that rules set. If I want to play something else, I already have GURPS, Exalted, Ars Magica, In Nomine, 7th Sea, Shadowrun, Rune, Over the Edge . . . .

You lost me at the part where 4th Ed. being different from what's come before it somehow invalidates any merit it has as it's own game. It's apparent you're not a game agnostic to begin with.