Hi Mike, I started a post about this exact topic on the weekend, but it got drowned off the front page. Odhanan referred to the same thing. Here's what I think is going right and wrong with the message:
[sblock=Let them be separate]I'm optimistic about 4e, because the design considerations the designers are talking about are the ones I think need to be addressed the most. The power of the OGL to allow others to improve on that design and challenge Wizards to stay fresh excites me even more. For the first time in maybe 20 years, we're seeing an edition made from a company in a position of strength. They're not trying to save the game, because it doesn't need saving: they want to make it better, and they have the tools, the long design cycle, the feedback about the previous edition, and the talented designers to do it. So I have great optimism when it comes to their design approach: They clearly want to make the game easier to learn and more fun to play. I want that too.
But I think there's an essential problem with the marketing strategy right out of the gate, and it's causing a lot of speculation and negativity around here as people hear their first tidbits about the new edition. WotC's vision for D&D is to connect the tabletop experience with the internet (be it via online subscriptions, community website hosting, or connecting gamers with gamers). That's fine. The problem is that this drive towards this connection is being sold as a part of the new edition.
When the designers talk about the game, you're hearing about pens and paper. But the official line still swings back into talk of digital offerings, the online community, and how 4e is intertwined with the online experience. The second half of the message dilutes the first, and I think they know that because of the caveats we hear throughout the discussion of the digital offerings.
This is what I'm hearing:
"4e is coming, and it's better designed. You'll play faster and have more fun. There's 4 parts. Well, there's 3 parts: PHB, DMG, MM like always. But those are just one part of the bigger 4-parts that we're designing as 4e. Try not to freak out, though, because the other 3 parts involve computers. Still, you're going to love it. Unless you prefer playing with your friends, in which case you'll love it anyway, because of the good design. Now three-quarters of the game involve computers. But don't worry, the computer isn't necessary. But the online stuff is going to be the key to the experience. Oh, you don't NEED the online stuff. It's just better. Not that the game is wrong without it. But you'll like it so much that you will want to pay for it. And games will be better with the online content. Now let's talk about how much better the design is."
That's a mixed message.
If I were at WotC right now, I'd be saying this:
"Let 4e be 4e, and while the digital offerings are part of our company's strategy, let's not try to say they're the same thing as this edition. We're making a great game here, and we're making great online tools for people who play that game. But they're not the same thing, and there's no point in trying to act like they're interlocking parts of a single product if every few sentences we have to reassure people that they're separate."[/sblock]
Did I see that pippin (r.i.p.) illustration in a book somewhere?
