Foruth Ed for You Know and Oh Yeah
I've been playing and loving 4E.
I know it's not for everyone, and don't misread me into trying to finagle you into something. Listen, though:
I've been playing since 2nd Ed, and I've always struggled. I never fully grasped the mechanics, and the various and myriad rules intimidated me from mastering even one class. I played to hang with friends, and just did what I was told. Combine this which everyone and their dogs publishing little sourcebooks in 3-3.5, and I was just drowning in text that was, largely, incomprehensible.
Enter 4E. Now, I find it ironic that table-top wargamers have issues with it, as that's pretty much what it is. You could practically put all of my 4th level Warlock's abilities on a Warmachine Card. Maybe 2. Simplification isn't necessarily a bad thing, and in may case, it enabled me to really get in and grok the concepts they threw out. I'm even going to be DMing for once on Saturday.
Maybe I should have studied the books more. Maybe I'm some brand of retarded or something. But really, I can't have an issue with changes that takes away complexity and adds fun because I'm not haggling over the rules every 5 minutes.
On the RP aspect: I find this to be almost wholly dependent upon the group and DM. RP is not dead in 4E, but the Skill system got streamlined way down. This doesn't mean you can't make a shifty, fast-talking Rogue or a stiff educated Wizard. If RP is dead, WotC didn't do it.
4E isn't for everyone, and it's unlikely to be the OMG BEST RPG EVAR (in fact, the odds of any single game having that distinction is low,) but it's made itself into a fun and easy way to swoon a princess, raid some tombs, and maybe stab a dragon in the eye until it stops being funny. It trades off of miniatures, sure. Of course, since my hobby time typically centers around painting and playing miniature games, it has a real draw to me.
I know it's not for everyone, and don't misread me into trying to finagle you into something. Listen, though:
I've been playing since 2nd Ed, and I've always struggled. I never fully grasped the mechanics, and the various and myriad rules intimidated me from mastering even one class. I played to hang with friends, and just did what I was told. Combine this which everyone and their dogs publishing little sourcebooks in 3-3.5, and I was just drowning in text that was, largely, incomprehensible.
Enter 4E. Now, I find it ironic that table-top wargamers have issues with it, as that's pretty much what it is. You could practically put all of my 4th level Warlock's abilities on a Warmachine Card. Maybe 2. Simplification isn't necessarily a bad thing, and in may case, it enabled me to really get in and grok the concepts they threw out. I'm even going to be DMing for once on Saturday.
Maybe I should have studied the books more. Maybe I'm some brand of retarded or something. But really, I can't have an issue with changes that takes away complexity and adds fun because I'm not haggling over the rules every 5 minutes.
On the RP aspect: I find this to be almost wholly dependent upon the group and DM. RP is not dead in 4E, but the Skill system got streamlined way down. This doesn't mean you can't make a shifty, fast-talking Rogue or a stiff educated Wizard. If RP is dead, WotC didn't do it.
4E isn't for everyone, and it's unlikely to be the OMG BEST RPG EVAR (in fact, the odds of any single game having that distinction is low,) but it's made itself into a fun and easy way to swoon a princess, raid some tombs, and maybe stab a dragon in the eye until it stops being funny. It trades off of miniatures, sure. Of course, since my hobby time typically centers around painting and playing miniature games, it has a real draw to me.