alexandraerin (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
alexandraerin) wrote2008-07-13 12:25 pm
alexandraerin) wrote2008-07-13 12:25 pm
(no subject)
I didn't get Tales of MU updated for Saturday until just a few minutes ago. My friends just got copies of D&D 4th edition and abducted me at d20-point for an all-day-and-night gaming session. My first impressions of the new version:
1) They're trying really hard to capture the MMORPG market.
2) Combat plays fast and snappy (assuming you've got your character's moves down) but with infinite variety, rules are less than robust in other areas.
3) As with any roleplaying game, how fun it is depends on the players and a flexible DM.
This is probably the biggest example of a "pure product" release. There was nothing wrong with 3rd edition that 4th edition fixes, except that it was losing ground against World of Warcraft and not selling as many new copies as when it first came out.* The core rulebooks, apart from resembling MMORPG play in its mechanics, notably don't involve very many non-combat abilities or abilities that would require roleplaying/human judgment to "mechanic" (no animal companions/mounts/cohorts/thingies, no paladins falling, etc.), which makes me wonder what they've got in the pipeline after D&D Insider (which looks awesome) is up and running... both in terms of electronic adaptations, and supplement books that will no doubt add back in some of the more popular deleted features... and make more money for WotC.
*(Note that I'm not criticizing them for doing this. We've all got to eat.)
1) They're trying really hard to capture the MMORPG market.
2) Combat plays fast and snappy (assuming you've got your character's moves down) but with infinite variety, rules are less than robust in other areas.
3) As with any roleplaying game, how fun it is depends on the players and a flexible DM.
This is probably the biggest example of a "pure product" release. There was nothing wrong with 3rd edition that 4th edition fixes, except that it was losing ground against World of Warcraft and not selling as many new copies as when it first came out.* The core rulebooks, apart from resembling MMORPG play in its mechanics, notably don't involve very many non-combat abilities or abilities that would require roleplaying/human judgment to "mechanic" (no animal companions/mounts/cohorts/thingies, no paladins falling, etc.), which makes me wonder what they've got in the pipeline after D&D Insider (which looks awesome) is up and running... both in terms of electronic adaptations, and supplement books that will no doubt add back in some of the more popular deleted features... and make more money for WotC.
*(Note that I'm not criticizing them for doing this. We've all got to eat.)
Re: 4e
(Anonymous) 2008-07-15 03:04 am (UTC)(link)Paizo published Dragon and Dungeon magazine until Wizards canceled the print editions. They now produce the Pathfinder Adventure Paths, and are the main support going forward for 3rd edition.
They're doing that by having a year long Alpha & Beta playtest of the Pathfinder RPG, which is designed to be a backwards compatible enhancement to the 3.5 rules - polishing instead of demolishing. The Alpha (and Beta next month) are available as Free PDFs.
If it sounds like something they'd be interested in, tell them to check it out - Paizo is responsible for much of the best RPG material available to date. They had similar concerns about 4th edition's focus, which is one reason they went ahead with the new system (and to keep an "in-print" copy of the rules available).
Take care - love MU!
TCM