Comments on: D&D 4E review: Overview of the preview books

By: Zodd

Zodd — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 20:06:09 +0000

I was enthusiastic about getting the new books, and i’ve been playing the game avidly since the 1st edition.
For the most part, i’ve given every edition a try, always approaching it as a new game and not as an improvement of the old. Its interesting that I always had a way to make it fun for me and my players. With all the system changes, I took it in stride and dove in to explore the possibilities.

1st and 2nd had a feel to them, like a classic fantasy novel. It felt like true fantasy. I have fond memories of them.

3rd edition and 3.5 didn’t have that feeling. The art was more flashy, the monster descriptions were more brief, and so on. SO, It was up to me to bring about that old-style feeling in play, and I was able to do it with a bit of work. A lot of times I even relied on 2nd edition material for detailing monster ecologies and things.

I love 3rd, it’s wonderful, and it runs so nicely (though keeping a balanced game is harder).

Half-way through the 4th edition book, I put it down. I didn’t even finish it. I mean, I WANT TO LIKE IT, but there seems to be no flexibility at all.

So, every single rogue is a striker now? Every fighter is a defender? With abilities that they can use every round?

But my biggest complaint is the spell-casting classes. I am accustomed to having virtually THOUSANDS of spells available to give my players, that do TONS of different and unique things. They could scry in a dungeon pool, reverse gravity, stop time, create invisible mansions on extrademensional planes of existence, ect.
Seems now everything is for combat, which is only one part of a beautiful fantasy world to explore.

By: Review: “Races and Classes” / “Worlds and Monsters” : Critical Hits

Sat, 26 Jan 2008 16:22:29 +0000

[...] can check out a preview from Worlds and Monsters yourself on the WotC site, and you can read Yax’s impressions on [...]

By: Ganre

Ganre — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 06:47:54 +0000

pardon me, but i don’t need WotC to tell me how to RP, i can do that part myself, and very few supplements could top my own imagination for my character’s personality, so i buy their books for their system, not the RP advice

By: Alex H.

Alex H. — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 09:13:28 +0000

Ah, but a lot of things have changed. The entire magic system has been revamped, so the line that if it ain’t broke don’t fix it does not quite work. While at the same time I do admit that there are some problems with the way 3e and 3.5e worked the magic system, 4e takes everything that was done from the previous editions and throws them out the window. Any product that a game player had bought in the past is essentially not worth having now (except as an auction item on ebay I guess) because of the dramatic shift of the way that magic works. Also, the initial playable races and classes are vastly different from the original way of D&D and AD&D. The game design has seem to show that there is a massive movement at WotC (Wizards of the Coast) for more powergaming than role-playing. Alas, change is good for a business and I do see that it is essential for a business to do it. Though i question the changing of the game three times over a eight or so year time period. Kind of brings to question whether the company is concerned with the game or concerned with the money that the game is bringing in. Which is better? Seems the answer is given.

By: Dave T. Game

Dave T. Game — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 21:22:30 +0000

Beat me to the punch, Yax :) Expect to see my review of Races and Classes soon, but I agree with a lot of what you say. I worry that the target audience for the books is really small, though.

By: Maikl

Maikl — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 16:14:03 +0000

First of all, I am not going to buy preview books. Maybe I am not big enough D&D geek, but for me, this is just another way for WotC to get more money for one product.
Secondly, the sad thing is the time that takes a D&D book to be translated to some non-english language. At least half of year for mine (Polish).
Finally, I am going to buy English 4E D&D core books, obviously.