D&D 4E Owen Stephens Thoughts on 4e

[Mistwell]

In case anyone missed it, from his blog (Post 1 of 2, see below for 2)

4e Musing

So, as Mousferatu has mentioned before me, a lot of us working on 4e projects now have special permission to talk about them a tad more. I promised I would when I could, so now I am.

I have gotten to see and play with playtest 4e rules, and I have received some 4e design work. I haven't been able to play with the rules as much as I would like, because I went and got an office job late last year. That said, I've kicked the tires, and none of them game off the game design.

Yes, it's very different in many ways. But it's also very similar in a lot of important ways. Ican;t go into a point by point comparison (and by the time I can, I bet someone more qualified will beat me to it). But I do have one important observation about 4e I want to get out there.

It's fun.

It's a fun game. I enjoyed playing it. I foresee playing it more. I plan to run a campaign using it. These decisions are outside any need I might have as a freelancer. Actually, the fact I went and got a job outside gaming lets me look at 4e with a fresh set of eyes. I don't -have- to like it. If I thought it was awful, I could shrug my shoulders, decline any work regarding it, and my mortgage would still get paid.

Instead, I enjoy playing it, I enjoyed writing for it, and I look forward, as a matter of fun, to getting to do both again in the future. I also look forward, as a pure consumer, to seeing what my friends at Wizards and fellow freelancers have in store for it. _I_ can think of lots of fun potential ways to expand it's core set-up, and I'm sure they have thought of ways I haven't. I want to see those.

In short, I'm looking forward to it.

 

[kennew142]

Thanks for your post. Even if you can't give us any specifics, it is nice to hear from folks who've played the game and liked it. For me, fun is the key. I have always played D&D to have fun. I've had fun in every edition. If the next edition provides an even more fun experience, so much the better.

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

It's fun.

Oh no! He used the F-word!

 

[~Johnny~]

Always great to hear more positive things about 4e! Even when they're super-vague.

Not that it's a big surprise. I think the number of people who end up thinking 3e is better than 4e will ultimately be similar to the number who think 2e is better than 3e. WotC is a smart company, and when they do new stuff, be it Star Wars Saga Edition or new Magic expansions, it's generally well-designed.

People fear change. I saw it when Eberron was announced, during the era of terrible outcry before Keith Baker took to the message boards and assuaged everyone's fears. When the setting actually came out, the only people angry were the ones who thought it would be more like the haters' fears. When 4e comes out, I suspect more complaints about not changing enough than complaints about changing too much.

Number of posters so far added to my ignore list due to the enormity of their spelling and grammar: 5

Did you mean spelling and grammar errors, maybe?

 

[AZRogue]

Instead, I enjoy playing it, I enjoyed writing for it, and I look forward, as a matter of fun, to getting to do both again in the future. I also look forward, as a pure consumer, to seeing what my friends at Wizards and fellow freelancers have in store for it. _I_ can think of lots of fun potential ways to expand it's core set-up, and I'm sure they have thought of ways I haven't. I want to see those.

In short, I'm looking forward to it.

The bolded section interested me the most. From several playtester comments, it seems that 4E has an easy mechanic in place that can be built upon easy to resolve even extreme situations (someone slid under a table to kick it out from under a pair of thugs, I read somewhere). If the mechanic is easy enough, and CONSISTENT, I, too, am curious on how they may expand it. Or how some 3rd party companies expand on things. Maybe it's like Windows without having to have Outlook Express and Internet Explorer bolted on from the get go.

 

[tomBitonti]

I don't mean to be critical, and all, but has there been any restriction on negative comments, or have testers with more negative opinions been given the same allowances to speak up as have the two people we have heard from so far?

Note that I don't look at your answer to this question as indicative one way or another as deciding that 4E is great or that it sucks, I'm just very very cautious in looking for bias in the information that I receive.

 

[AZRogue]

We've heard from 3 playtesters so far, 2 who posted here and Owen who Mistwell copied over to here. All 3 have been positive.

I'm not sure if the permission to speak has been given out to only a few people or if it was a wider thing BUT carried the restriction rumored to have been given out. If it's the latter, the silence doesn't bode well (I know that, if I was playtesting, I would keep my mouth shut just to make a point).

Or, it could be the former. If that's the case, than I imagine that more and more playtesters will come forward as the weeks unfold. Time may be the only way to get an answer to this question.

 

[bonethug0108]

Here is a post by andy collins on the issue:

http://www.enworld.org/showpost.php?p=4024327&postcount=82

In short, yes they have restricted negative comments and for good reason:
"If someone has negative feedback about the game, what's the better use for that--posting it to a message board so that folks can stew over an out-of-date and out-of-context problem that may well have already been solved, or actually sharing it with the folks who are working night and day to make the game the best it can be?

(And believe me, we've gotten plenty of helpful critiques from our freelancers that have improved the game.)"

 

[mach1.9pants]

TITLE: Owen Stephens Thoughts on 43

Well I hope he is thinking "best Squadron ever!"
No. 43(F) Squadron RAF
Gloria Finis! Go the Fighting Cocks!

Anyway, back on topic, good to see more positive words. I am having great feelings about the 'fun factor' for DMing this edition. I am especially looking forward to the reduction in stating up, please let it be true.

 

[elsandrin]

Well, I would love to know what do really you mean when you say it is fun....

Was not D&D 3e fun? Or AD&D? Or Basic D&D? Or other RPG games?

Is it even more fun? Why?

I could say "playing poker is fun"... and other could tell me "hey, but playing strip poker is more fun" and I would agree because i know their "real" differences.

But here, you must tell me what is in this edition that makes it really fun, or at least fun for you...