D&D: Still Kicking Ass After Forty Years
Look, I’m going to make this post simple.
I’ve come to a conclusion.
With apologies to some of my local fellas and a hell of a lot of folks on teh Intarweb, I need to say this:
Fourth Edition is going to ROCK.
Why?
4E has Rockstar developers at the helm.
Mike Mearls and Jim Wyatt are two of the best damned Dungeons and Dragons writers still at WotC. These guys kick ass. They know what the hell they are doing when it comes to game design. I haven’t seen anything from either one of them that sucked yet. The same people bitching about how 4E is going to suck are the ones that eat up everything else Rob Heinsoo and Andy Collins write!
4E is the natural evolution of the game.
The complaints I hear about 4E are, by and large, things that tie Dungeons and Dragons to the past: “it’s too much like an MMORPG,” or “Dungeons and Dragons Insider is a waste of money,” or even “Monte Cook isn’t involved, how could it possibly be good?”
There’s not one damn thing that’s been released about 4E that sucks.
No, it’s not all great. A lot of it is new, revolutionary even. But I can’t look at one rule and say ”that completely sucks. It will break the game.”
If we don’t have a rules reset, the game will die.
There are too many fracking rules to this game. Die-hard old-school bullshit aside, the fact of the matter is that Dungeons and Dragons is just a game. Yeah, it’s the best game ever invented, and it’s more of a hobby to most of us than a mere game. But it’s too complex. Too involved. Too damn many options that get in the way of the story. It’s time. Hell, it’s past time.
———-
Some folks are skeptical, I get it. Some folks are convinced 4E will be the worst game ever. But, others think it will be the best game ever. I get that some folks think of WotC as the Evil Microsoft of the gaming world, with Paizo set to take over once 4E fails. Some people even worry that 4E is somehow less real than 3E. Some folks are just plain scared.
It’s time, though. It’s time to move past all the skepticism, all the hate, all the anger about having to buy 3 new core books. It’s time to take an honest look at 4E. I’m convinced we’re going to find that, if we give it a fair shake, we’re going to like it. If we go in determined to hate it, then we will.
Photo by paulmed
Like this post? Get updates via feed or via Email.
- What If? On 4E and the Future
- What I really know for sure about 4th Edition Dungeons and Dragons
- 3 Reasons Why I’m Not Running Pathfinder
- Balance and Rules Convergence in Dungeons and Dragons 4E
- Why Don’t I like Eberron?
Comments
8 Responses to “D&D: Still Kicking Ass After Forty Years”
Leave a Reply
-
Updates
With WotC looking like they are pulling out of Gencon it appears that they will not be around to distract me from the Paizo booth.
http://paizo.com/pathfinder/pathfinderRPG
Pretty fun so far after the first 2 modules (Really?!? Modules during Alpha? Inconcievible!)
At this point it will be another 3 months till the first real look at 4th ed. /shug if its decent, I’ll buy the books. If not, I’ll continue to play Pathfinder or 3.5 and save some of that money for gas to get to the games.
If everyone switches over and nobody wants to play either of those. EQ is still fun. I still have my lifetime membership to LoTRO if that wears thin.
Apis
Eh? Wizards pulling out of Gen Con? Hadn’t heard that, can’t find any info on it… what silliness is this?
The DMs last blog post..D&D: Still Kicking Ass After Forty Years
Net rumor… after spending time looking for facts, there are none. I’m sorry I posted it without looking into the matter closer.
Thats what I get for listening to folks and doing a cursory look for facts.
Apis
What I posted on the Wizards site in response to someone getting a positive response that LFR indeed will debut at Gencon:
04:45 PM
Lord_Apis
Member
Location: Norrath
Re: GenCon Registration Opens April 20th
———————————————-
Quote:
Originally Posted by The_Jester
I love that we’re trusting the word of a “support agent” as gospel.
Support agent = call center or lowest rung in the corporate totem pole (apparently though, just above game staff for a world-wide organization).
But hey, I’m sure WotC’s support agents are well informed with Hasbro’s legal proceedings.
——————————-
Are you serious? The only thing I’ve see so far that says that Wizards may not be at Gencon is a couple of letters that supposedly came from CS. Posted by some guy on some site. Both complete matches including typos.
Believe the I knew this guy, who had this friend, who knew this girl string if you wish. I’m chalking this one up to another net rumor out of control until there is something posted or announced by someone official. Until then reading all this speculation and rumor is a waste of time.
It’s all good, bra. No harm, no foul.
4E has everyone in a tizzy, I’d bet my left… you know… they’ll be there. I’m with you - rumor and speculation is a waste of time.
Thanks so much for following up on this one!
The DMs last blog post..D&D: Still Kicking Ass After Forty Years
I’m actually pretty excited about getting my hands on the 4E core books and playing. There’s some things I’m skeptical on, and I’ve even got ideas for some house rules concerning the classes already, but I think I’m finally sold.
Oh, and the “no WotC at GenCon” rumor is based upon Hasbro’s longstanding policy to not do business with entities filing for bankruptcy, which GenCon LLC is in the process of doing.
Kamreons last blog post..Open during remodel
I’m not a 4e hater, but Keep on the Shadowfell came out today and might have invalidated a lot of your post.
Actually, it seems to be so bad that I can’t hold it against the designers…I know it must have been excruciating for them to watch such a sub-par product go to press.
Propagandroids last blog post..Hello 4e World!
What has got my panties in a bunch
It seems that all the classes work EXACTLY the same way. I prefer the classes to have thier own schtick, and work in unique ways.
It seems like sitting the a 4e game table will be an endless loop of “yeah I did my 7 (or whatever)damage”
I do like what they did with the races, except ‘porting as a a lvl1 ability. So far the races all seem fine.
I liked all the concepts that were touted at the initial announcement, and was excited to see what they looked like in-game. However, so far from what has been released, I don’t think it will be a game I will like. It may be a great success, and I hope it is for WoTC’s sake. I may just not like it.
You know, you’ve actually convinced me to give 4e a try. I never liked 3.5 as I disagreed with many of the changes to 3.0 , however you make a very good point about the rules offering too many options. Our group never gets to level up the same character twice, because they keep making new characters, because they’ve read something new.