Thursday, August 16, 2007
Various places are already running the D&D 4E press release. According to the announcement, the Player's Handbook will be available in May 2008, but it sounds like the PHB is being released in more of a boxed set way, as the release makes mention of miniatures coming with it.
Since I haven't played D&D in over two years now, I'm firmly on the "not going to buy it" side of the fence, but there's this little voice in the back of my head that won't let me forget that I said the same thing about D&D 3E prior to its release. Then I picked up the D&D 3E preview issue of Dragon Magazine, and I really liked what I read.
To be fair, I had a lot of fun with D&D 3E for a few years, but then the last couple of years were a little brutal. Part of that change had to do with my own changing tastes, which were quickly becoming the opposite of most of the gaming group's, but part of it was also the time necessary to prepare for the game and to learn the rules. I mean, even after five years of playing D&D 3E, I still didn't know a good portion of the rules. There are far too many caveats and circumstance rules that can come into play at any given time -- and disrupting play, which grated on my nerves more and more. Even the most complicated war game doesn't have the complexity of D&D 3E -- or if it does, you know exactly what situational rules you're going to need based on the scenario you choose.
With this release of D&D, there won't be a Dragon Magazine to turn to for a preview, so I'll get most of my information from RPG.net and other online sources. However, I think the only way WotC could bring me back to the fold is if D&D 4E goes back to basics and isn't much more complex than the D&D boxed sets of the Eighties.
Since I haven't played D&D in over two years now, I'm firmly on the "not going to buy it" side of the fence, but there's this little voice in the back of my head that won't let me forget that I said the same thing about D&D 3E prior to its release. Then I picked up the D&D 3E preview issue of Dragon Magazine, and I really liked what I read.
To be fair, I had a lot of fun with D&D 3E for a few years, but then the last couple of years were a little brutal. Part of that change had to do with my own changing tastes, which were quickly becoming the opposite of most of the gaming group's, but part of it was also the time necessary to prepare for the game and to learn the rules. I mean, even after five years of playing D&D 3E, I still didn't know a good portion of the rules. There are far too many caveats and circumstance rules that can come into play at any given time -- and disrupting play, which grated on my nerves more and more. Even the most complicated war game doesn't have the complexity of D&D 3E -- or if it does, you know exactly what situational rules you're going to need based on the scenario you choose.
With this release of D&D, there won't be a Dragon Magazine to turn to for a preview, so I'll get most of my information from RPG.net and other online sources. However, I think the only way WotC could bring me back to the fold is if D&D 4E goes back to basics and isn't much more complex than the D&D boxed sets of the Eighties.
// posted by Chris @ 1:52 PM 
Number of visitors since Jan. 7, 2004:
