Blog Comments

What we are asked to pay to actually play the game is a fraction of what many other hobbies would cost, especially if you are a player. This idea that you have to buy every book a company produces is ridiculous. A player needs a player's handbook. Those are usually between $30-40. Even if they print a new edition every five years you are paying between $6-$8 a year to play. If you pay attention and use the web there are piles of free ideas to be converted to your game.

The books are heavy and if there is any reason to be upset it is bookshelf sag. This is just a dangerous condition that role-playing game publishers have turned a blind eye to for years. I am starting a new organization, GASS (Gamers Against Shelf Sag) and take on the powers that be.

I'll simply repeat the comments that I made to my regular game group, and that I posted elsewhere.

The changing of games really doesn't bother me much at all. If I like a game I buy it, and if I don't like it, then I don't buy it. Gaming, to me, is more about sitting around a table with a bunch of friends than about what particular game we're playing. Besides I get a lot of freebies from running games so I spend less, and less over time. When a new game gets announced is also a great time to get some "bargain bin" deals on the previous game if you liked the previous books, and are a cheapskate like me.

How often they update games is a commercial decision for WotC, so I don't let my emotions get the best of me when WotC announces their new business goals. By the same token I don't let their business goals affect my gaming. If I had liked Pathfinder better than D&D I would have migrated in that direction. I didn't, mostly because all of the niggling details that bothered me about 3.x were not really taken care of in PF, IMO. I just didn't see a whole lot of reason to support something that I personally did not enjoy running. That doesn't make PF a bad game, it's just one that I don't prefer to run. D&D scratched that itch, and PF didn't. Had it been the other way around I would be running PF instead of D&D.

We took our sweet time enjoying other games before jumping to 4e, so we've never really been on a path to jump to the new shiny. So I don't think we'll be in a hurry to jump to the new shiny whenever it comes out.

The fact that they are using an open playtest is both a marketing gimmick, and a good way of finding out what seems to "please" more people. They will never be able to produce a game that pleases all. So I'm not even bothered by that. But if it pleases me enough I'll probably buy it. If it doesn't then I'll skip purchasing it.

When 4e was announced my 3.x books didn't spontaneously combust. As a matter of fact, I still use quite a bit of them for reference material. Which is a good thing because my wife keeps wondering why I keep buying more books... LOL

The open playtest lets people look at several iterations of the game as it goes through development and let's them provide comments if something seriously bothers them. It's a good idea from a design standpoint and from a marketing standpoint. You start to see how much "buy in" people are having in your game.

I wish WotC the very best of luck with this game. I've enjoyed D&D in all its forms since 1979, so I want the game to grow and be relevant to my children too. I'm sure the "ink" won't be dry on my comments before someone, somewhere is already complaining that WotC made them buy more books, that it's a money grab, that Publisher X Rules and WotC sucks, or that they (WotC) shot their dog. It's simply the noise of the internet. I plug my ears and go, "la, la, la" all the way to a great time playing games with my friends.

I agree, D&D needs to stick to an edition and quit changing it to something else. Those books are expensive and take up a lot of space.

Originally Posted by Matt James

I just got into the game last night and it's pretty sweet!

It still has its hiccups (like my level 1 Wizard with almost 2K xp) but so far I'm enjoying it A LOT more than other FB games. Depending on how much variety the dungeons get, I may stick with this one for a bit.

Sounds like a great session, I love it when players get on the ropes because they start thinking and appreciate the victory. Encounters is a great way to get back into the game if you have been out awhile. I really didn't consider it as a way to get back into DM'ing but it makes great sense. If you are having an off night, well next week new material, characters, players, etc. Good angle on Encouters, thanks.

I just got into the game last night and it's pretty sweet!

Welcome back! I'm glad you found a home. We at Loremaster are always looking to shepherd in homeless gamers everywhere