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4e is a'commin'
Aug. 16th, 2007 11:36 amWell, it looks like it's all officially happening today. Wizards is looking like they'll announce the 4th Edition of D&D as evidenced by the countdown on their D&D homepage. I refer you to the front-page news article on ENWorld, as well as this thread on their message boards.
Some specifically interesting things:
* Still 3 core books, PHB, DMG, MM, releasing 1 month apart just like 3e.
* No 4e OGL or D20 license, but you can pay WotC for a 4e license. Of course, the old licenses will still exist. However this means every 3rd-party publisher now has to make a choice: stick w/ 3.5e, pay WotC, or get out of the D&D business. Given the extremely narrow margins most of those 3rd-party publishers operate on, I doubt many of them will go for 4e (unless the license only costs $100).
* WotC is pushing even harder into the online aspect of gaming. I suspect they look at the success of MMOs and the strength of online RPG communities, and see that as the new frontier. Although I agree with them, I don't think the time is now -- the cost of entry and complexities of the existing tools are just too much. Heck, look at eTools (which was payed for by WotC, took forever to develop, and had too steep a cost for the average gamer to buy in) or PCGen (which was open source, had a relatively bad UI, and also cost too much for the average user to buy). Yes computers and virtual gaming are the future of the hobby, but I just don't think the future is here yet.
One other thought: when WotC went into 3e they did a ton of market research to figure out what the players wanted, and how they perceived D&D. I hope that WotC has done the same thing this time around. I know that one of the most consistent complaints I've seen is complexity -- it takes too damn long to design a character, and the system is way too complex for smooth gameplay. Any GM who's designed a high-level wizard antagonist, painstakingly crafting spell books, magic items, etc. only too see the character get blown away in the first round of combat, knows what I mean.
And, of course, bloat was a big problem too. It's too be expected, I suppose. Maybe the way that gaming is going to go is 1) rev game 2) publish game basics 3) publish books that add unnecessary extras 4) slightly revise game to incorporate all the extra shit you've published 5) publish more extra stuff 6) rev game again and repeat steps 2-6.
Things I want from 4e:
* Reduce reliance on magic.
* Decrease complexity.
* Decrease prep time.
* Fluff, not crunch (yeah, I'm dreamin').
* A class system flexible enough to eliminate prestige classes.
I guess we'll all have to wait and see what WotC actually announces. How much I buy into a 4e will depend on how good a job they do designing it, and whether or not the games I'm in convert to the new system.
Some specifically interesting things:
* Still 3 core books, PHB, DMG, MM, releasing 1 month apart just like 3e.
* No 4e OGL or D20 license, but you can pay WotC for a 4e license. Of course, the old licenses will still exist. However this means every 3rd-party publisher now has to make a choice: stick w/ 3.5e, pay WotC, or get out of the D&D business. Given the extremely narrow margins most of those 3rd-party publishers operate on, I doubt many of them will go for 4e (unless the license only costs $100).
* WotC is pushing even harder into the online aspect of gaming. I suspect they look at the success of MMOs and the strength of online RPG communities, and see that as the new frontier. Although I agree with them, I don't think the time is now -- the cost of entry and complexities of the existing tools are just too much. Heck, look at eTools (which was payed for by WotC, took forever to develop, and had too steep a cost for the average gamer to buy in) or PCGen (which was open source, had a relatively bad UI, and also cost too much for the average user to buy). Yes computers and virtual gaming are the future of the hobby, but I just don't think the future is here yet.
One other thought: when WotC went into 3e they did a ton of market research to figure out what the players wanted, and how they perceived D&D. I hope that WotC has done the same thing this time around. I know that one of the most consistent complaints I've seen is complexity -- it takes too damn long to design a character, and the system is way too complex for smooth gameplay. Any GM who's designed a high-level wizard antagonist, painstakingly crafting spell books, magic items, etc. only too see the character get blown away in the first round of combat, knows what I mean.
And, of course, bloat was a big problem too. It's too be expected, I suppose. Maybe the way that gaming is going to go is 1) rev game 2) publish game basics 3) publish books that add unnecessary extras 4) slightly revise game to incorporate all the extra shit you've published 5) publish more extra stuff 6) rev game again and repeat steps 2-6.
Things I want from 4e:
* Reduce reliance on magic.
* Decrease complexity.
* Decrease prep time.
* Fluff, not crunch (yeah, I'm dreamin').
* A class system flexible enough to eliminate prestige classes.
I guess we'll all have to wait and see what WotC actually announces. How much I buy into a 4e will depend on how good a job they do designing it, and whether or not the games I'm in convert to the new system.
