D&D 4th Edition: Behind the Scenes, Part 2

[LordSathar]

I personally can't think of any way to lose more of a customerbase in this particular industry than to say. "I know you love your character and game, but we would like to make you start over" If you can't port people over from edition to edition it's not the same game, it's a new game that you're stamping the old name on for a few quick sales. It's the same marketing fiasco as "New Coke" back in the 1980's.

[Letori]

I'm all for new systems, I'll being praying along with the other Augury guys for some new, and f^@*awesome mechanics that we can use.

[MikhailBakunin]

I've been a DM for a couple of years now, and I hate hearing people complaining about losing 'favourite characters'. D&D is supposed to be about creativity and imagination, not a system where you have THIS character and THESE rules. I want it to be flexible, fun and easy to set up, but not lose those nuances that make you love the game; plot, combat, intrigue and humour. I want difficulty in terms of game challenges, not metagame rule arguments. It's all still there; same old core from the 70s.

[ianguage]

Honestly, I've never been happy with D&D. The reason is fairly simple. All the attention was paid to the Magic Classes, and basically Sword & Board Classes always had one option - attack.

I'm exicted abotu some of the new changes. Well overdo if you ask me.

[Aelfas]

RPG means ROLE playing game.Not COMBAT playing game.All i hear is about combat.D&D died and HASBRO killed it.

[danethefurry]

I thought 3.5 edtion was great because of the detail done into it. If 4.0 isn't up to standards to 3.5 I'm not even buying the books.

[Velocinox]

So basically you're saying the player feedback you accepted boiled down to 'yea or nay' on the products you released in the last 2-3 years? Not deep enough. Stop playing WoW and make an original game for once. (And no AD&D doesn't count, you didn't make it.)

[mshea01]

I agree! Don't dumb down the game to the point where I can actually get through two battles at level 16! Make sure not to make the game easy enough that I can invite new players over and actually have them get involved in the game instead of wondering how the hell to memorize and cast spells. Don't dumb down the game to the point where I, as a DM, can spend most of my time on a good story instead of rolling up NPCs. What fun would any of that be!

/sarcasm off.

[turdrhinofiend]

lol "which skill focus feat do i take this level".

[alcari]

this is starting to sounds like a diablo-type skill tree...ugh

[Kynblackvein]

They need more guys like Andy.

[kyros1986]

sadly for me I can't playtest 4E...I hate living in the country and no one to play with.

[nospacesallowed]

sadness, u could try playing online. I luckily fell into a dnd group in south dakota.

[kyros1986]

know anyone I can get a hold of for some online gaming?

[ray53208]

sad. dumd down the game any more and it will be candy land.

[tarhun]

"it's not dumbing down."

[HiramGoldberg]

There is a very clear and tangible difference between "dumbed down" and "streamlined". D&D 3e made the rules a little less tedious to slog through, 3.5 streamlined yet further.

Star Wars Saga edition has pared down the rules to make things faster and smoother in play as well.

I imagine that 4e will retain the core concepts that have existed since the late 70s and bring some of the more rules-intensive facets into a more easily handled rule-set.

[goatbert]

they're not dumbing down anything. it's called streamlining, getting rid of those tedious and unnecessary rules that bog the game speed down.

[cgreypaw]

None of the rules in 3.5 were truly unnecessary. A lot of the minutiae was present so that the DM could include it if he or she wished or fudge over if as well. By removing the finer points from the system entirely, they're taking that choice out of the hands of players everywhere.

[Zorelei]

But I love those tedious and unnecessary rules that blog the game speed down.

[PONGVIDEO]

wtf? candy land is teh awesome

[gideonpepys]

What exactly do you mean by 'dumb down'? YOU are the players of the game. The mechanics are simply the means by which certain elements of the game are expressed. The true complexity, or intelligence if you prefer, resides in the character development and storylines that YOU provide. If you see the game in terms of stats and mechanics then changes of that sort will bother you.

[AlmightyWatashi]

I like it dumbed down. Less work more play :)