Happy D&D Game Day!
Today, June 7th, is the Worldwide Dungeons & Dragons Game Day! Hundreds of Friendly Local Gaming Stores all over the world (and even locations set up in Iraq and Afghanistan for serving military personnel) have a big action-packed day to celebrate the release of Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition, so if you have a chance to drop by you'll probably have a blast.
I'm certainly picking up my own copy of the game sometime this weekend, and I'm still very optimistic. In not too long, we'll have a big VelvetDiceBag weigh-in post where we air out our opinions and you post yours!
In the past eight months or so (can you believe it's been that long?), I hope I've showcased a big variety of RPGs, showing that there was more to the hobby than D&D--tons and tons of games by small presses, medium-sized presses and even no presses at all that are well worth your attention and maybe even perfectly suited to your group. Nevertheless, D&D has a special place in my heart as my first RPG and I'm very excited--I hope some of that excitement rubs off on you guys!
*rub rub*
Mad Pawn
Posted to Hot Stuff, Industry News, Roleplaying Games on 7 June 2008
· Comments (2)
Other stuff like this: d&d 4e, d&d game day, dungeons & dragons, game day, wizards of the coast
i grabbed my copy today. i find the whole thing a mixed bag.
mostly, the graphic design seems to have returned to something that wont get dated NEARLY as quick (one of 3e's largest problems) and i commend that.
beyond that, i found the game interesting. some stuff is just silly. "healing surges" isnt something i REALLY dont want to say nearly as often as this game makes you. but still, as a game, its interesting.
its also disappointing in many aspects. its basically Wow and Magic: the Gathering crammed together (which WotC swore they would never do, but here it sits). its really not D&D at all and i wish Wizards would quit pretending they have been making that game in any sense. it misses ALL the main points of D&D in favor of a more videogame style of play. it just comes off as a licensed version of TSRs baby for another system. (but not nearly as generic as 3e seemed)
anyway, as a game with no name, its so different from the old D&D that its like looking at something totally brand new and groundbreaking. Akin to first playing a Storyteller game, for instance. i still cant forgive some silliness like Knock requiring time and components as a ritual when its always been the best emergency spell around. But its just a totally different game here. Thats just how magic works in this world. and for all that, its less offensive than the previous edition because it really doesnt seem to be trying as hard to convince you its awesome. maybe thats just me.
there are flaws aplenty. mostly its TOTALLY combat oriented play (and specifically its miniatures focus), but lesser ones like alignment. if you are only going to have four picked from the hat of all the old ones, why bother at ALL?
ill just kinda reserve the rest for after fooling with it for a while. i imagine it will go the exact same route 3e did with me and sit on the shelf as a curiosity in favor of the system that STILL works for us. but at least i have the optimism this time around to see using this for playing in a setting created specifically for these rules. never forgotten realms or the like, but i can see some really good possibilities otherwise.
I'd like to second everything Kyle said.
4e is just a game designed from the ground up to appeal to as wide an audience as possible and to hell with the gamers who've supported the game for the last thirty years.
I can't help but feel incredibly disappointed by it all. If I wanted to play WOW the RPG, I'd go buy the RPG...
I'll stick to Second Edition, thanks. It had a lot more character than this bland and featureless Fourth Edition.