Roaming The Exhibition Hall Part 2
I didn't realize I would take as long with this particular post, so I decided to make it a two parter. Hopefully I won't need three parts. We last left off at the Wizards of the Coast booth, so let's go back there.
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On Friday, the video presentation from the D&D 4th Edition announcement was playing, and many people stood there that day watching it. I must admit, it was interesting. My experience with 3.5 D&D is mainly through Neverwinter Nights. I have to admit I found the 3.5 books too complex for my tastes. Gimme Moldvay or Mentzer Basic D&D please.
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The problem is there are just too many character details for me. Yeah, I know other gamers love it. This is why I'm working on HotDC, so I'll spare you. In that Beginners D&D Game I played at my local store (and blogged about) a while back, it just seemed overwhelming to me. It didn't help that I had a DM who seemed too controlling and determined to make us role play his way. I wanted to hack.
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Having to look at this stat or that for an attack or a save or a skill gets way too confusing for a newbie, but if we had played a little Hack N Slash and I had been allowed to get familiar with things that way, who knows? When my local store moves closer next month, I may try again, provided we have a different DM, no offense to the other guy (at least he tried, and that game is still going). What I like about Basic is it's six stats, plus AC and HP and five Saving Throws. Nothing too confusing, and I always liked the simplicity of THAC0.
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But, I'm drifting, and I have much to cover here.
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They showed the covers on that screen for 4th Edition (they are posted further down on the blog. Pretty damn cool and old school looking to me. That's a plus. I like the logo too. The video was saying things I liked hearing, but lo and behold, one of the designers was at the booth, Chris Perkins. I didn't even know who he was until going to the Forgotten Realms Seminar later.
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But, Chris seemed pretty enthusiastic, and nice. I liked that about him. His job of selling the idea to the gamers at Gencon could not have been easy. Some welcome 4.0, but others are not happy. They did 3.0 about 8 years ago and had to revise to 3.5 a couple years later. If I recall correctly, Wizards offered a deal to those who bought the 3.0 Core Rule Books. Well, these six years down the line, the 3.0 crowd is where the 2.0 crowd and Gary's 1.0 crowd were before them.
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They bought the core books. They bought the supplements. They bough the modules. They have invested heavily into the game, and they are comfortable where they are at now. Many 1st and 2nd Edition gamers are still playing the version they like, and I guess the 3rd Edition crowd who doesn't update will be the next group of outcasts. It might seem a bit greedy to those who invested heavily to now have to buy new books, but it is a business. Those who don't make (good) new product and sell it are soon out of business.
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Chris probably heard it all and is still hearing it all, the good and the bad. He must really be excited about this new version, because I have learned through other endeavors how negativity can wear your enthusiasm down to the nub and make you forget why you were even doing it in the first place. So, I was standing there when this man walked up and started asking Chris about 4.0.
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I'm not familiar enough with 3.5 to begin with, so some stuff flew right over my head, but I picked up on a few things. We're talking about a streamlined game here. Some clunky rules that slowed down 3.5 have been eliminated from 4.0. Less book time during the game and more game time is the result, according to Chris. Certain feats will become class specific that weren't in 3.5. Makes sense to me.
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Chris also discussed the digital initiative. There will be a digital table that goes with 4.0, and new content available only on line through a subscripion. Yeah, more money in their pocket, but you won't need it to play. The core books will be all you need. The digital will offer more to help your game. The magazines, Dungeon and Dragon, are now exclusively on line and will continue to offer more content for the gamer, and that digital table? Wow. Looks sharp, and it will make it possible for gamers to play with fellow gamers all over the world.
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And the graphics for that look nice, very nice. I've even read posts from old schoolers like Frank Mentzer discussing a need for this. Well, Wizards is doing it. There will be that monthly fee to deal with, but if you wanna be cheap about it, give it a while. There will be a free knock off version out there at some point. This is the net we are talking about here. Wizards needed to do something like this with World of Warcraft, EverQuest and other games out there taking the money. Otherwise, somebody else would have. It's good business.
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I'm not defending them to those who think they are being greedy, but I understand why they need to do this. Wizards is owned by Hasbro, and Hasbro didn't become the big boys of kids games by accident. Wizards needs to put money in the coffers, or the D&D train can be derailed. What happens if Hasbro pulls the plug on D&D? Would they even be willing to sell it to somebody else, or would that be it? Granted, this is a worst case scenario, and I've heard NOTHING about hard times with D&D.
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I did hear a lot of excitement about the future, and Chris is one who feels pretty good about the future. D&D lives with 4th Edition, and I will be willing to take a look at it. Certainly this Basic D&D that Chris spoke of, if nothing else. According to Chris, it won't be like the most recent Basic, as in a couple sessions and that's it. It will be more like Moldvay's version in that it covers the first three levels, allowing for several sessions. If this holds true, I'll get a box and check it out. Perhaps an Expert Edition will follow?
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By the way, you can see about getting in on play testing and reading more behind the scenes stuff by going to the Wizards of the Coast site and signing up for the D&D Insider. It's free for now.
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With my Gencon coming to a close on Sunday, I was hanging around the booth for a crack at getting into a Demo Game. I managed to get in. It was the Basic D&D game they have now, and I picked out the Fighter. I figured it would be easy enough to swing a sword. Boy was I wrong. At the start, we hit a room with a goblin. We took it out before an ogre appeared, followed by a goblin archer. Well, I kept fumbling on the 20 sider and got taken out by the ogre. After the group won the fight, I was healed by the cleric.
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I managed to bash open a treasure chest for some goodies, but we neglected to listen at the door to the only other room we'd get to enter. A harpy was waiting and charmed all but the wizard. I wanted to use the dice I brought, but figured I'd better not. Well, we watched as the wizard nearly killed the harpy in hand to hand by himself. This would never happen with a first level wizard in old Basic. He would have been toast. The rogue was knocked out of his charm by the harpy and won the battle for the party. And, that was that.
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I'm still not all that sure about 3.5, to be honest with you, but this was more action in 30 minutes than I had in that Beginners Game I was in that took four hours a while back. I may give it another shot, but what I'd really like is a HotDC session or an old Basic D&D session.
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I had one of those demo cards the Wizards handed out on Friday, and with three checks on it, I headed for the line to roll the big 20 sider and win a prize. It was a long wait, about 30 minutes. I noticed some leather bound D&D books and copies of D&D Online. From what I heard, you needed to complete all 10 demos and roll a 20 to win that. I rolled a 16 and with my 3 bonus got a grab bag with a Star Wars Miniatures Game Book and a Forgotten Realms novel. Not too bad for free.
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Well, I'm still wandering the Exhibit Hall and I used quite a bit of room here. Guess I'll continue it in the next post.
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To be continued...
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Next
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Roaming The Exhibition Hall Part 3
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