4e in the works

[CamDawg]

http://ww2.wizards.com/Company/Press/?doc=20070816b

 

Just in case you were bored with the 2e v. 3e bickering, now we can add something new to argue about.

[Kulyok]

The horror, the horror!

[berelinde]

Hm. Well, at least it ain't dead.

[Gabrielle]

Another way for them to rip you off. There was nothing wrong with AD&D to begin with, yet they made 3.0. O NOES! 3.0 isn't good enough lets make 3.5. So sorry again we are going to make 4.0 and collect more of your money even if you did buy all of the rule books and accessories of the previous rule set.

[CamDawg]

Agreed, basic D&D is the best ruleset. Advanced was just a ruse for money.

[Guest grogerson]

D&D to Basic D&D and AD&D, to 2nd Edition, to D&D 3.0, to D&D3.5, to D&D4.0...

 

AD&D is where I started, 2nd Edition built on that, but I found D&D 3.0 and 3.5 to much like micro-managing the game, so less creativity from player and DM. Never went beyond 2nd Edition, and nothing I see so far changes my mind (what I have of one, anyway ).

[berelinde]

Heh. Never mattered much what books we bought. We always made up convenient house rules anyway.

[theacefes]

That's the way to go!

 

 

(Makes up house rules for everything.)

 

I had no problem with 2e. Now I'm sad.

[cmorgan]

Two little words.

 

Grehawk

 

Blackmoor

 

two little pamphlets, a lifetime of fun.

 

If y'aint got imagination, y'aint got nothin'.

[Lord Ernie]

Eh. I don't understand the commotion, really. Selling D&D books is one of the ways WotC makes money, and releasing a new edition practically ensures lots of sales. I say it's simple: for those that don't want to update, don't. Nobody's forcing you, and there are still loads of people having fun playing 2nd (or even 1st?) Edition, hell, there are people that have fun stubbornly debating why it would be superior or inferior.

 

I, for one, am curious to see how they will 'streamline parts of the D&D game that are too complex' and how the new system will turn out, gameplay-wise. Also, the digital D&D Insider thing sounds very interesting.

[Echon]

I never went beyond AD&D 2E, even though many of the rules are illogical, inconsistent or just not easy to use. I am thinking primarily of THAC0 and dual-class vs. multi-class. I guess it was just easier to stick with it and add our own house rules.

 

-Echon

[Kulyok]

I'm not worried about house rules(playing with live people? they'll ruin all the fun!), or buying books(because, you know, ways and means and all that), but because of games. I like my characters simple. NWN1 and IWD2 have these feats, multiclass-as-you-go, and it rather - well, I don't like this. And I'd rather not see it in new CRPGs.

 

EDIT: More of it, that is. Complicating matters<>realism.

[Lord Ernie]

*shrugs* Not much you can do about that, I fear. CRPG's will likely always implement the latest available system, unless it turns out to be a total, universally rejected sham.

 

I, for instance, like the multi-class options in 3rd edition and the customizability provided by feats; I think only because of those, 3rd beats 2nd.

 

And, well... from what I've seen, WotC tends to stick to their word, more or less. 3rd was supposed to be a much more open-ended and streamlined version of 2nd, and I think they mostly succeeded there (yeah, there is muchkiness, but you can put that in any system). We can only hope they'll improve upon the improvement.

[Caedwyr]

The biggest change I dislike between 2nd and later editions is the trend towards less fluff details, stories, regional background information, general world-building info. The newer books alwasy strike me as being mostly just stat and mechanics books that focus more on rollplay rather than roleplay. A great example is looking at the second edition monster manuals versus the later monster manuals. The second edition versions gave me a much better understanding of what to expect from a particular creature, where to encounter it, its habitat, life-cycle, etc. The newer one is mostly just a brief stat sheet.

[Bri]

I don't understand the commotion, really. Selling D&D books is one of the ways WotC makes money, and releasing a new edition practically ensures lots of sales. I say it's simple: for those that don't want to update, don't.

 

It depends on the product, I guess. In many cases, an 'upgrade' for an rpg really isn't that much different, and if people do spend money on it, then they feel like they were cheated for essentially buying something they already had.

 

Of course, as you say yourself, the easiest way to deal with this is not to buy the product if you don't like it. And if enough people don't buy the product, then that would send the message "We like this, and keep it coming." And for whatever reason, people who do play RPGs (as a group) tend to be very forgiving of what may be utter crap, hoping beyond hope things will get better, rather than voting with their dollars. And yes, this could be said of any hardcore fan of something...

 

hell, there are people that have fun stubbornly debating why it would be superior or inferior.

There is definitely that factor at work as well

 

Also, the digital D&D Insider thing sounds very interesting.

This I was more disappointed by, although I knew about it before this announcement (Paizo had carried on the publishing of Dragon Magazine). Of course, this comes from nostalgia at having an actual product in hand (printing it out myself just doesn't seem the same)...although, I won't deny there is no logical reason to really make it go digital.

 

NWN1 and IWD2 have these feats, multiclass-as-you-go, and it rather - well, I don't like this. And I'd rather not see it in new CRPGs.

 

Multi-classing actually was one of the bits I did like the changes they had (Of course, later editions showed the evolution of such things...). And I do like the feats, since it feels like I'm individualizing my character more. The worst thing about this system, especially when applied to CRPGs, is there is defintely a min/max approach to things.

 

And yeah, Caedwyr, I do feel they could do a better job expanding on locations, or what have you. Even now, I make a lot of use of old 2nd Edition material for that very reason...