D&D 4E Review of 4E from a Playtester

[Zamkaizer]

You know, Wolf, this is getting old. You don't like 4E, you're not going to like 4E. We get it. And of course, nobody's saying you can't offer your opinion on the game.

But is it really necessary to constantly make fun of everyone who has something positive to say about the game? Is it that hard for you to accept that some people might actually like it?

Hey, just be thankful he neglected to bring up Dragonborn breasts. His obsession with them has seemingly lost all vestiges of irony by this point.

Great, now I'm obsessing over Wolfspider's obsession.

 

[Meloncov]

Nope. He's talking about Epic effects.

Apparently, the designers are not only recognizing that death is trivial to Epic characters---they are counting on it as a springboard for cool 4wesome effects.

I suspect it would be more proper to say "once per day when you would otherwise die."

 

[PeterWeller]

I don't doubt he loves 4E, just like I don't doubt our vampire rodent. But as long as the reviews are all covered by the speak no evil clause I can only make so much use from a review without knowing that the other reviews are all so positive as well. Just for example take movie reviews, most films receive a mix of positive and negative reviews and on ENWorld polls for any given films have people voting at both ends of the scale. I read multiple reviews and then weigh the pros and cons. If I know that all the reviews for a given movie are positive because there are no filters and everyone loves it I have a different level of trust than if I know that all the reviews are positive because no one with a negative review is allowed to express it.

He did mention negatives in his review. He mentioned he had some problems with what was and was not in the core books, but since those things were coming down the line, it didn't change his overall opinion of the new edition.

 

[Ulthwithian]

I hate to bring up something that seems 'settled', but is there a known 'speak no evil' clause in the NDAs under discussion? Having playtested quite a few different games, every NDA I've seen says, 'You can't talk about this. Period.' Once the NDA is up, you can say anything you like (about the game; generally, you still can't talk about the playtesting itself).

Allowing only positive comments on the game in a legal document seems ethically unhealthy, at the very least.

 

[Henry]

*takes a note*

Pick up... own... severed head...

New Epic Feat:
"IT'S ONLY A FLESH WOUND!"

 

[The Little Raven]

Allowing only positive comments on the game in a legal document seems ethically unhealthy, at the very least.

A couple of playtesters (Mouseferatu in particular) asked if they could share the positive experiences they had during playtesting, since the forumites are stumbling around in the dark playing a mix of Blind Man's Bluff and Jump to Conclusions. Andy Collins, the guy handling that stuff, basically said "Yeah, sure, but as long as it's positive stuff, because you should be talking to us about the negatives so we can see about fixing them." No point in revealing negatives that may already be fixed in a work-in-progress, since that would just result in misinformation being spread around.

 

[Wolfspider]

You know, Wolf, this is getting old. You don't like 4E, you're not going to like 4E. We get it. And of course, nobody's saying you can't offer your opinion on the game.

But is it really necessary to constantly make fun of everyone who has something positive to say about the game? Is it that hard for you to accept that some people might actually like it?

Whoah, whoah, whaoh now!

There is no reason to go adding me to any ignore lists or anything!

I really hope that I haven't seemed to be rabidly anti-4e of late. It wasn't my intention.

In fact, I am starting to lean toward pro-4e since I have started seeing some concrete information. Sure, it will take some work to adapt to material to the World of Greyhawk setting, but I think it very well might be worth it.

I was just somewhat amused that the word "intuitive" was used in this preview. It was thrown around quite a bit in the early previews, and here it is again.

I really wasn't meaning to threadcrap or anything like that. I apologize if my post came off like that.

 

[Wolfspider]

Hey, just be thankful he neglected to bring up Dragonborn breasts. His obsession with them has seemingly lost all vestiges of irony by this point.

Great, now I'm obsessing over Wolfspider's obsession.

Hmmm. I guess my attempts at humor have been anything but.

All I can do is say I'm sorry. I had no idea I was annoying anyone.

Lately I've been trying to take a humorous approach to the entire 4e issue, which had been a thing of stress in my life, but not anymore.

I apologize to the board as a whole if I have been annoying or have seemed rabidly opposed to 4e recently.

As I said, it wasn't my intention. I have no ire at all toward 4e at this point.

 

[The Little Raven]

Hmmm. I guess my attempts at humor have been anything but.

To me, it appeared you were seeking out something of substance in the blog post to complain about, and upon failing to find anything of substance, you seized upon something completely inane (his use of "intuitive")... it just seemed... childish.

I now understand you had a different intent (as I take you at your word), but try and remember the story of The Boy Who Cried Wolf when making a joke like this, which seems very much along the same lines as your recent 4e complaints (but a little more over the edge, since you were trying to be humorous).

 

[Wolfspider]

To me, it appeared you were seeking out something of substance in the blog post to complain about, and upon failing to find anything of substance, you seized upon something completely inane (his use of "intuitive")... it just seemed... childish.

I now understand you had a different intent (as I take you at your word), but try and remember the story of The Boy Who Cried Wolf when making a joke like this, which seems very much along the same lines as your recent 4e complaints (but a little more over the edge, since you were trying to be humorous).

I actually think the blog is pretty interesting. I usually don't pay much attention to anything on Aint-it-Cool-News, but this writer seems to be pretty descriptive of the strengths of the new game.