Hey, thanks to everyone who has responded. I appreciate the comments, both straight and snarky.
1. Minis. Yes, minis have been implicit in the game design since the beginning. I am one of the people who have used them from the start. I only commented about non-minis users being silly to show how much in the minis camp I am. So, if that pissed you off, sorry.
Minis are far more essential to the game now than ever before. Why? Because so many powers push, pull, slide, or scoot the target a square or two. Spells and weapons have always had specific listed ranges. Sure. But before you could guess and fudge a little without too much worry. So much of the new stuff is short-ranged (1-3 squares) that you have to keep precise track or you lose out on the RAW.
2. Warforged. Yes, the MM intro text states it's more for NPCs, but as already mentioned, WotC staffers have claimed we could play them from the start. To have an article that supersedes that part of the core rulebooks on day one is ridiculous. To some that says, "we're serious about DDI and it's usefulness." To me that says, "we're not going to put out the best books, we're going to save some stuff that should go in the books for people who pay more." I like the warforged article. I like the changes and additions. I just think if they were going to have that info ready this early in the release it should have been in the books.
3. Burn out / inspiration. I'm not burnt out. I've been hounding my regular group and other gamer friends to play for the last two months trying to set up times to play, etc. I have games scheduled and I'm still going to play because I want to be wrong. I want this game to rock as much as I hoped it would. I hope I'm wrong. I love RPGs and have played for years. All different kinds of games over the years. Lots of books and lots of money. I'm even a freelancer for one of the d20 publishers (won't disclose, don't ask). I'm a gamer. This is my hobby of choice. I buy books all the time, far more than I have time to play and read all of them just because I like to read them and learn about new settings, systems, npcs, and story ideas. Not burnt out. Just disappointed in this particular game. The substance has yet to live up to the hype.
So many things seem so cool as a kid. Watch an old movie you used to love as a child and you'll likely grimace. I have. But that doesn't change my love of the game. I don't expect WotC to sell me back my childhood. That's just silly. As pointed out, that'll never happen. I don't expect them to. What I do expect is something more than just rules. Something. A bit of imaginative text about the races, classes, skills, something. No, an italicized single-line quote doesn't count.
4. Layout / design / art. These are all about the look of the game. Design here is part of layout and design; graphic design, not the game mechanics. I'm also a book designer. The graphic elements to this edition are far better than all previous editions. Very well done. I absolutely compliment the crew who worked on the graphic design. It's fabulous. My complaints are all about the game mechanics. It's that tricky design word. It's screwing things up.
5. Powers. You get just enough through the levels to keep up with the two pre-fab builds. I don't think that's enough. I like that they included quick start builds. That's great. I just don't like that powers tailored to those two builds are basically all that was included. To me, that's lame. Just that you have 10 pages of powers per class (not including paragon paths, epic destinies, or rituals) times 8 classes, for 80+ pages of powers. In a 320 page book. A full quarter of the book. In AD&D the PH was 132 pages, 60 or so were spells, nearly half the book. Yet, the managed to get druids, wizards, clerics, and illusionists spells in there. All different enough and mostly useful. In this edition the powers are stock.
More later I'm sure...
1. Minis. Yes, minis have been implicit in the game design since the beginning. I am one of the people who have used them from the start. I only commented about non-minis users being silly to show how much in the minis camp I am. So, if that pissed you off, sorry.
Minis are far more essential to the game now than ever before. Why? Because so many powers push, pull, slide, or scoot the target a square or two. Spells and weapons have always had specific listed ranges. Sure. But before you could guess and fudge a little without too much worry. So much of the new stuff is short-ranged (1-3 squares) that you have to keep precise track or you lose out on the RAW.
2. Warforged. Yes, the MM intro text states it's more for NPCs, but as already mentioned, WotC staffers have claimed we could play them from the start. To have an article that supersedes that part of the core rulebooks on day one is ridiculous. To some that says, "we're serious about DDI and it's usefulness." To me that says, "we're not going to put out the best books, we're going to save some stuff that should go in the books for people who pay more." I like the warforged article. I like the changes and additions. I just think if they were going to have that info ready this early in the release it should have been in the books.
3. Burn out / inspiration. I'm not burnt out. I've been hounding my regular group and other gamer friends to play for the last two months trying to set up times to play, etc. I have games scheduled and I'm still going to play because I want to be wrong. I want this game to rock as much as I hoped it would. I hope I'm wrong. I love RPGs and have played for years. All different kinds of games over the years. Lots of books and lots of money. I'm even a freelancer for one of the d20 publishers (won't disclose, don't ask). I'm a gamer. This is my hobby of choice. I buy books all the time, far more than I have time to play and read all of them just because I like to read them and learn about new settings, systems, npcs, and story ideas. Not burnt out. Just disappointed in this particular game. The substance has yet to live up to the hype.
So many things seem so cool as a kid. Watch an old movie you used to love as a child and you'll likely grimace. I have. But that doesn't change my love of the game. I don't expect WotC to sell me back my childhood. That's just silly. As pointed out, that'll never happen. I don't expect them to. What I do expect is something more than just rules. Something. A bit of imaginative text about the races, classes, skills, something. No, an italicized single-line quote doesn't count.
4. Layout / design / art. These are all about the look of the game. Design here is part of layout and design; graphic design, not the game mechanics. I'm also a book designer. The graphic elements to this edition are far better than all previous editions. Very well done. I absolutely compliment the crew who worked on the graphic design. It's fabulous. My complaints are all about the game mechanics. It's that tricky design word. It's screwing things up.
5. Powers. You get just enough through the levels to keep up with the two pre-fab builds. I don't think that's enough. I like that they included quick start builds. That's great. I just don't like that powers tailored to those two builds are basically all that was included. To me, that's lame. Just that you have 10 pages of powers per class (not including paragon paths, epic destinies, or rituals) times 8 classes, for 80+ pages of powers. In a 320 page book. A full quarter of the book. In AD&D the PH was 132 pages, 60 or so were spells, nearly half the book. Yet, the managed to get druids, wizards, clerics, and illusionists spells in there. All different enough and mostly useful. In this edition the powers are stock.
More later I'm sure...
