After the video, Bill and Chris (who plays the wig-wearing Dungeon Master in that first video) go on to tell you how great and exciting the new D&D is going to be (helped in part by the best charts PowerPoint can offer). The complete presentation follows thanks to YouTube. The largest points seem to be that currently, Wizards feels that the game is too hard and players only enjoy the game at certain levels. So, the goal with 4E seems to be to simplify the game, make it easier to play at all levels, and give the players tools in the form of online support.

While the first two goals seem to be noble endeavors, which I honestly hope they can pull off while retaining the depth and flexibility of the game, the online support, which they're calling D&D Insider, sets off my corporate B.S. alarm. D&D Insider is a subscription based service that gives you access to online articles, extras from books you've already purchased, the D&D Game Table, and a few other behind the scenes features. The articles take the form of online versions of Dragon and Dungeon magazines—but truncated versions compared to the print issues we're all familiar with, wherein you get three articles a week and an electronic compilation of weekly articles at the end of the month. The D&D Game Table, seen in the second half of the presentation below, seems to have been created with the best technology 1995 has to offer, along with Everquest 1 style graphics. The announcer says playing online "is just like playing D&D at your table at home." Maybe... if you always use miniatures and don't like diagonal halls. While playing D&D online whenever you want has always been a strong idea, I'm much more in favor of the Neverwinter Nights—even the D&D Online—direction than this, which seems like a way to make you pay over and over again for something you already own.

Another interesting/disturbing point brought up at the end of the presentation is "How can you become a fourth edition play tester?" While they say they'll be reaching out to RPGA members and the gaming community at large, that seems a bit tricky. Why? Well, the 4th edition rule books start coming out in May of 2008. Say it takes at least—at the amazing, feat of publication and editing least—three months to produce and print the finished book. Even then, if they started handing out fourth edition rules at the beginning of next month—a scant week and change away—that's still only six months for groups to get the rules, play test, offer feedback, and see that feedback incorporated into the new system. Six months would also be exactly half the time play testers had to tinker with third edition. So yeah… seems rushed.

Overall, there are definitely some neat things in the presentations. The Wayne Reynolds covers, Orcus on the front of the Monster Manual (weird that there's a biggie-sized Orcus mini coming out early next year, huh?), and some of the more streamed lined aspects of the game all sound cool. I've heard a lot of rumors and suppositions—which I'll direct you to pretty much every post on ENWorld in the last week for—but while I have my own gut feelings, I'll be saving my final judgment for when I actually see the rules. I honestly hope they're cool.

But I'm not the only one with some things to say about 4E. A bit later I'll post a few comments from the new D&D design team.

4th Edition Presentation Part 1

4th Edition Presentation Part 2