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

Gamer Zer0 gets the scoop on 4th Edition from Andy Collins, rules design and development manager for Dungeons & Dragons.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• games
• gen
• con
• d&d
• dungeons
• dragons

[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.

[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.

[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.

[Zorelei]

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

[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.)

[AlmightyWatashi]

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