What is 4E about?

[diaglo]

You missed "Supplement 1 was where it all went wrong!"

Cheers!

that goes pretty much without saying.
but thanks for adding it for those new to the boards.

 

[Mallus]

What do you think?

4e is about balance between the character classes.

More personally: 4e is about the setting and characters my friends and I created (which we're proud of, even the ones we should be embarrassed by).

More controversially: 4e is a return to pulp swords and sorcery.

 

[ExploderWizard]

I'd say 4e is about the tyranny of mechanical balancing tools. But that's me.

I would agree that 4E went way overboard on balance but a rulebook is an inanimate object without will or desire. It cannot be tyrannical.

DM's though..................

 

[crazy_monkey1956]

I think a better measure is what they will be remembered for.

1E is generally remembered for classic adventures (Tomb of Horrors, Temple of Elemental Evil, etc).

2E is generally remembered for classic settings (Dark Sun, Planescape, etc).

3E is still finding its footprint on gaming history but it may well be the OGL that it is most remembered for.

4E is, of course, still in play as the current edition. What do we think it will be remembered for? My bet is on "game balance."

 

[Nebulous]

I think a better measure is what they will be remembered for.

1E is generally remembered for classic adventures (Tomb of Horrors, Temple of Elemental Evil, etc).

2E is generally remembered for classic settings (Dark Sun, Planescape, etc).

3E is still finding its footprint on gaming history but it may well be the OGL that it is most remembered for.

4E is, of course, still in play as the current edition. What do we think it will be remembered for? My bet is on "game balance."

I think i agree with crazymonkey: 3e will be immortalized by the open door to game creation it offered, while 4e will be remembered as the most mechanically balanced version of D&D ever, for better or worse.

 

[Jhaelen]

3e was about empowering the players
4e gives some of that back to the DM, and gives him a plethora of new tools.

4e is about being able to do nifty stuff - as a player, as a character, and as a DM.

They are all about killing things and taking their stuff.
The 4e rules are perhaps a bit more focused on making that viable.

That's the way I see it, as well.

It's also true that 3e was all about the rules. In 4e the rules are less important than everyone having fun.

 

[Thanee]

3E - streamlining
4E - super streamlining

Bye
Thanee

 

[Nahat Anoj]

1e - Wargames
2e - LARPs
3e - CCGs
4e - MMOs

 

[Umbran]

I think a better measure is what they will be remembered for.

1E is generally remembered for classic adventures (Tomb of Horrors, Temple of Elemental Evil, etc).

If this is to be the measure of what the game is "about", then 1E will be remembered for something far more important than the adventures - popularizing the game, and RPGs in general. While many folks started with the boxed sets, it seems to me that 1E was the "face of gaming". This was the edition that saw the real explosion of the player base in the 1980s. This is the edition that made the game a household word.

So, for the nonce, I'll suggest:

1E was about making the game into a hobby.
2E was about broadening the scope of the game (settings, classes, kits, skills, and so on)
3E was about applying real design principles to a game.
4E.... we shall see.

 

[Nikosandros]

1E was about the adventures
2E was about the settings
3E was about the rules
4E is about (enabling) the DM.

That's my take. What do you think?

A reasonable assessment, but I'd say that 4e is about playability. I don't actually consider it especially enabling to the DM, compared to AD&D.