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I think Underling makes some very valid points. I for one have enough disposable income to buy every wtoc product, but in terms of 3.5 I do NOT own every single product, and I've always considered myself a collector. (namely I arbitrarily stopped buying ALL FR products...I haven't played FR since 2E and while some of the material is great, I just wasn't using it...of course that means I bought a lot of NON-FR CRAP!)
Its somewhat telling when Hasbro execs start selling off stock when one of their flagship companies makes a huge announcement: *READ HERE*
In addition, the 5-year trend for Hasbro stock has been relatively flat except for a recent spike starting in mid '06. Ask yourself what did Hasbro release then? (Clue: There is "more than meets the eye" and it came from a "Galaxy far, far, away") Obviously, not all of Hasbro products are RPG related.
I think D&D is evolving, and 4E is a the next evolutionary step forward. ANd yes, I agree that while it will attract many new players, it will certainly alienate old ones. This is not like other edition changes. Basic to 1E was clearly a maturing of the game. 1E to 2E was an attempt to consolidate and clarify what had become a hodge-podge of rule sets. It was successful in that it did accomplish just that, it brought new players to the game as well. The alienation that the old players felt was due to a "blanding" of the product. 2E-3E was a revamp of mechanics and was a great success, and could be argued the 1st evolutionary step. 3E to 3.5E was a a PR disaster. I think WOTC is still reeling from it. I think the glut of book releases was due in part by an honest attempt to provide 3.0 material in a 3.5 format for people who want "official" content, but it only served to reinforce negative stereotypes of corporate aims. 3E-4E seems to be an evolution into the digital age. By bringing Dungeon and Dragon magazines into a Digital format, you save money by cutting printing costs, the profit margin becomes larger.
I think WoTC and Hasbro know that "kids today" do not have the literary skills necessary to devour books, nor the patience. For the old timers, D&D is what taught us to read, to critically think, to do complex calculations on the fly. I think 4E is eliminating that to make it more accessible to todays younger player.
I am NOT sayin they are dumbing it down. I just think they are including more "tools" and "built-in" mechanics to make such efforts less necessary. It would be like saying the automobile is the dumbed-down version of the horse and cart. Thats ridiculus. The end-user requires less knowledge of the automobile than the horse and cart (namely the horse) but the actual device is vastly more complicated.
I think comparisons of 4E to Star Wars Saga are good and bad. Good in that Saga foreshadows what WoTC is trying to accomplish Mechanics-wise, bad in that people think the SINGLE BOOK for saga is the level of detail and complexity that D&D and its 3 CORE BOOKS will be. That's foolish. D&D has so much more going for it. Saga is "light" because the market is light and a single book is the only "risk" WoTC will take.
Personally, I think 4E core books will be "fine". There are some pretty talented people working on it. What I think will bomb will be the whole DI and Virtual Tabletop. I think those products will go through a very painful "Pay to Play Beta" that will sour the community even further. Eventually they'll drop it or improve it, but I am going to wait until 2009 and they work out the bugs before I even consider the subscription.
I think WoTC and Hasbro know that "kids today" do not have the literary skills necessary to devour books, nor the patience.
WTF?????!!!!! i has mad littering skillz!!!!!11!!!1!11
RPG Superstar 2013 Top 4, RPG Superstar 2011 Top 16
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I think WoTC and Hasbro know that "kids today" do not have the literary skills necessary to devour books, nor the patience.WTF?????!!!!! i has mad littering skillz!!!!!11!!!1!11
LOL... If that's not a wake up call for the XBOX generation to pick up a dictionary and expand their vocabulary, I don't what is!
I think WoTC and Hasbro know that "kids today" do not have the literary skills necessary to devour books, nor the patience.WTF?????!!!!! i has mad littering skillz!!!!!11!!!1!11LOL... If that's not a wake up call for the XBOX generation to pick up a dictionary and expand their vocabulary, I don't what is!
** spoiler omitted **
Since coming to the States, I've been flabbergasted by the level of semi literacy amongst adults, so no need for our generation to feel all smug on the high moral ground.
That said, my wife's cousin has a girlfriend who is a teacher- this genius thought that Seahorses were mythical beasts, akin to unicorns.Seriously.