Rechan said:
Why?
Why do you care what WotC does?
WotC is not D&D. D&D is rolling a d20 to kill an orc, is casting a fireball, is taking a Holy Avenger against a Beholder at your game table with your friends.
Clearly you're playing D&D.
So why do you give a damn what WotC does? How does a guy in Seattle making decisions about WotC change what you're doing at your game table? If you're playing 3.5, and you don't intend to change, then the guy in Seattle is nothing to you.
People act like WotC is a family member who's betrayed you. As if all those people who enjoyed Disney movies as a kid were stabbed in the gut with current decisions by Disney's board of directors and their recent movies.
Me? I don't really give much of a damn about what WotC is doing. I'm on this board, and in this forum especially, because I like to discuss D&D as a whole, which includes the direction it will be going in the future, and my opinions on that. If nothing else, it gives me a deeper understanding of some of the concepts of the games I'm playing, and makes me a better player/DM.
But what astounds me is that there are people who don't seem to get that there are players out there who have a bit more of an emotional investment with the firm that produced their main hobby for the last years, and hence not just look at their own game, but at how the decisions of that firm will impact their hobby of choice as a whole, and if they like it. That's all I'm trying to point out. Which ties into the next quote here...
Vigilance said:
I'm sure they care.
Caring, and being in a position to do something about it, are two different things.
Wizards decided to do 4e, in a firm and very real sense, years ago. They have decided now is the time to release it. They have decided on a general direction that they feel is best for the game overall.
These are not the sorts of decisions they're going to change now.
Several years in, its a little late.
They've made key decisions, they think they're good ones, and now its time for them to release the game and see how we respond.
What you're doing is the equivalent of going up the customer service desk and complaining about the announcement that a store will discontinue carrying brand A, and will instead carry brand B.
And if they don't bring back brand A, you're taking your business elsewhere.
Chances are, its too late to DO that.
Wizards can't put the genie back in the bottle, nor can they take 4e in a radically new direction.
I'm not sure what you want.
An apology?
Or do you really expect them to junk 3 years of work and start over, because some people on message boards are claiming they are going to stop supporting their company over a game they haven't played yet?
I don't want anything in particular...I've got my games of choice, and mostly enjoy them when I get to play them. I know what I want, and I'm pretty okay with letting D&D go in whatever direction it is being taken without going along if it doesn't suit me.
But you know why people got into an uproar over the fact that 4E was announced when the basic framework was already finished? Because indeed it WAS too late for those who are NOT okay with where it is going, and who maybe had hoped to be able to influence the way their game will look in its new incarnation. For them, WotC had not just ignored their desires, but blatantly showed them that they didn't care. In your example, it's as if the Customer Service guy tells you "Sorry, we cannot bring back the product you liked and used and spent a lot of money on, because the decision has been made. Had you told us your mind 2 years ago, we might have reconsidered some of the decisions." and you go "But you only announced that new product direction yesterday!" and get told "It's not our problem to keep our customers up-to-date on our developments, in fact it would only hurt sales if we had leaked it too soon."
So basically, a lot of people posting here DON'T feel like WotC cares even a single bit about them, and haven't given them the slightest chance to tell them how they would like the new edition to look, and they are angry about that. If that is a minority or not is not the point. This is a message board, and people come here to post their opinions on the ongoing re-imagining of D&D, and telling those who feel disappointed by where it goes and how WotC has handled the edition change to "shut up, why are you posting here anyway if you don't like how WotC is doing their business, you can't change anything by now anyway" is at the same time rude and ignorant. Trying to udnerstand and tolerate the opinions and emotions of a fellow gamer is a lot more constructive and leads to calmer discussions and more udnerstanding.