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| Illuminating the Elements of Wizardry | |
| Welcome friends, family, and guests of similar aptitudes and interests to my personal plane of existence on the world wide woe. I’m a man of diverse talents and interests so the primary endeavor of this, my virtual space, is to express and explore my personal technogeekery in all its magnificent multiform. To that end, this site is an ever-shifting experiment, a tower of spinning gadgets and apparatus, a magic puzzle box for my memories, and a laboratory for my transmutative programmery. So, take your time. Read if you like, begone if you must. I’ll be here somewhere weaving my spells. | |
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Nov17 Written by:AWizardInDallas
11/17/2007 9:14 AM  Can anyone out there give me a compelling reason why I, or any other gamer of my generation for that matter, would want to buy the next version of D&D? I have no real desire to purchase a game I already own well meeting my needs, that being to tell a great long-running story to a group of friends and family on a Saturday night. It seems like a waste of money to me. I'm not a collector so why buy? I buy the books for entertainment purposes, in other words to use in crafting and improving our games. I own so much core and supplemental material now, I haven't even begun to use everything in my existing arsenal. This includes material dating back from the current version to when I first started playing over twenty years ago. I've barely scratched the surface and will be playing long into retirement on what I already own. The good news is that the 3.5 material I haven't purchased yet is about to get a whole lot cheaper.
D&D isn't as cool as it used to be when it wasn't popular. Wizards of the Coast is simply catering to a new generation of gamers raised on video games and MMORPGs, neither or which are at all particularly effective at limitless interactive story-telling. So the proposed virtual table top fails to interest me too. I like real dice, real metallic miniatures, vinyl mats, dungeon tiles, and my trees and rocks. Still, if I were to consider using one, I'd use Fantasy Grounds which looks a whole lot better (it looks far more friendly an accessible to those with visual imparements). What gamers really need are more tools for running games and generating game objects such as monsters and non-player characters. Wizards of the Coast seems to have given up on the idea of producing such tools. I would even consider subscribing to an online database of spells, monsters and magic items. I recognize that there are areas where some innovation is needed but recreating the game every so often doesn't really achieve that. What it does achieve is improve profit margins, which after all is the real goal of D&D 4E. P.S. I agree entirely with this post from Tech Republic http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/geekend/?p=957
Tags: 5 comments so far...
Re: 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons: No Thanks
Well, you are right. There is never and will never be a good reason to buy into a new version of any non-digital game, because there wont be any graphics or sound improvements. That is, if you are perfectly happy with the current state of the games mechanics. If that is the case for you, why bother? You have all the material you will ever need. And I will get a new game, which hopefully corrects a lot of the issues I have with the current rules set.
By Obergnom on
11/17/2007 8:57 AM
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Re: 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons: No Thanks
If 4th Ed doesn't appeal to you then just don't worry about it. Like you said you still have plenty of material from 3.5 and what not to keep your game going for years. I feel the you are doing the game a dissservice by dismissing 4th ed out of hand based on the motivations you perceive on WotC's part. It is true that they must want to make money. They are a company, and this is what companies do. If they are unable to make money then there will be no more books for the game lines that we as gamers love so much. This need for money does not take away that the game is about due for a major edition. By the time 4th ed comes out we will have had 3rd ed for eight years. It is time for fresh ideas and concepts to be brought in and bring life to the game. It should not matter where these inspirations come from, since D&D has been influenced by and in turn influenced other forms of media for years. What D&D is about is the ability to get together with a bunch of friends, sling dice, maybe tell a good story, and most most importantly to have fun. 4th ed will not take any of this away. It is merely presenting it in a different format. There is no one at WotC trying to force people to use their online tools and abandon the kitchen table, but they are setting up such a service for the people who may be interested. The most ccompelling reason to buy 4th edition is simply to wait, flip through the book when it comes out in summer, and see if there is anything lurking which you enjoy.
By RandomCitizenX on
11/17/2007 8:59 AM
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Re: 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons: No Thanks
I don't object to profit and I'm all for fresh ideas, just not a periodic reinvention of the wheel every 8-10 years. I do plan to look at the 4.0 SRD and may house rule any changes I like but that's the extent of my intrest.
By AWizardInDallas on
11/17/2007 9:09 AM
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Re: 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons: No Thanks
Why buy a new version of anything? D&D isn't the only game that ever came out with a new edition. In fact, almost all successful RPG's that are at least 5 years old have multiple editions. Heaven forbid that Wizards of the Coast try to turn a profit, which in turn gives them the money to keep creating new D&D material. Next thing you know, they'll try to *gasp* attract new customers and make money off of them too.When 3e was announced, there were dozens of sites just like this one dedicated to what a great game AD&D or AD&D 2e were, and how there was no point in releasing a new edition. But it turned out they were wrong. Players (like you) actually appreciated the changes introduced in 3e and bought their books. 4e isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea. I've been running 3e for years, and am not 100% sold on upgrading. However, I like some of the ideas coming out of Wizards. I like the emphasis that they're putting on social mechanics (roleplaying? egads!) and character variation. I like that they're trying to streamline overly-complex rules. I won't know for sure until we see more details. If I don't like 4e, I'll stick with 3e.As you point out, 4e is a boon to 3e and 3.5e fans because all of those expensive sourcebooks are about to become a lot cheaper. I've seen official, new WotC books available online for $5 plus shipping. And honestly, there's more 3e and 3.5e material out there than anyone could ever play. So maybe instead of griping about the new edition, you should take advantage of it.
By Phil on
11/17/2007 9:43 AM
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Re: 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons: No Thanks
Again, I have no objection to profit. The primary motivation for creating a new edition is profit not streamlining or improvement. The game has had thirty years to approach perfection. It's a never ending cycle and as long as we continue to repurchase they'll continue to do it. Why not create a model that lends itself to continual updates rather than a total rewrite? What other reason would Wizards have to eliminate business partners like Paizo if not to increase profit. It's a business strategy. Greed is king in this scenario. There are no altruistic motives here any more than there are for Microsoft or Sun Microsystems. Also, there's no real need for sarcasm and I'm not griping (even if I were it's my website and I can gripe if I want to). Thanks for your comments.
By AWizardInDallas on
11/17/2007 10:03 AM
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