I've played 4e several times now and each time I've enjoyed it. This isn't about how 4e plays or whether you or I like it or not. It is about the 4e Players' Handbook and the books in general. Although I am a long-in-the-tooth DM, I'm not DMing 4e (nor do I own anything other than the PH). This is just my (passive) perception.
A lot of comments have been made about the omission of core classes and races, inclusion of magic items and so on. My own personal opinion is that the designers of 4e have done a sterling job - the mechanics work and the game flows freely. They have been done a great disservice by the company they work for though.
The PH feels rushed. Apart from the omissions, there just aren't enough powers. Choose to play a human anything and you end up deciding which encounter power you don't want. Speaking of powers, who's idea was it to exclude some kind of index to them all? If all you have is a name, you end up browsing the whole lot!
It then struck me that Wizards missed a trick. They have already said that the PH will be released in chunks, so why not the most logical chunk? Heroic first, Paragon second and Epic third. You'd have more space to include the classes and races that were omitted, more space for powers and it would feel much more logical.
With the calamity that is D&D Insider, the poor editing of the newly released AP and the lack of attention to detail in the core books themselves it doesn't bode well. It's a great game, but someone somewhere (most likely in an ivory tower wearing a suit and tie) has decreed the products to be released in this manner. It could have been oh so much different.
Of course, YMMV. :)
I've seen others suggest that the books should have been split via Tier to make room for more powers/races/classes/etc. But truly, I think this would have been a pretty bad idea.
Just as a simple example, listen to the great gnashing of teeth the removal of the Druid to the PHB II has caused. I can't help but imagine removal of levels 11-30 would have been ten times worse. One can complain that the game does not have as many options as you would like it to have, but it is still certainly a complete game that you can play from beginning to "end" using the Core rules released so far. To segregate by Tier you'll be forcing people to pay for effectively 1/3rd of the rules, with levels 11-30 available only for additional fees.
Cheers! :)
RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16
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I've seen others suggest that the books should have been split via Tier to make room for more powers/races/classes/etc. But truly, I think this would have been a pretty bad idea.
That would be called the Basic / Expert / Companion / Master / Immortals set. (grin)
Actually, seperating by tiers might eventually have proven itself useful. That way, a party playing any given tier would only need to bring one set of books to the table. The current set-up would involve, after three years, every player poentially needing material three books to play her character, and the poor DM needing to reference nine Core Books.
I've seen others suggest that the books should have been split via Tier to make room for more powers/races/classes/etc. But truly, I think this would have been a pretty bad idea.That would be called the Basic / Expert / Companion / Master / Immortals set. (grin)
Actually, seperating by tiers might eventually have proven itself useful. That way, a party playing any given tier would only need to bring one set of books to the table. The current set-up would involve, after three years, every player poentially needing material three books to play her character, and the poor DM needing to reference nine Core Books.
True, but how would future expansions be handled if it was split by tier? Three books for each new set of classes? The mind boggles.
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It then struck me that Wizards missed a trick. They have already said that the PH will be released in chunks, so why not the most logical chunk? Heroic first, Paragon second and Epic third. You'd have more space to include the classes and races that were omitted, more space for powers and it would feel much more logical.
Could the Paragon and Epic parts be fitted together?
Since you wouldn't need to reprint the 'rules' section, just the class options.
Similarly with the MM; if the high-level threats were held off for a year, there'd be space to expand the entries for more of the monstrous races playable as PCs.
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I've seen others suggest that the books should have been split via Tier to make room for more powers/races/classes/etc. But truly, I think this would have been a pretty bad idea.That would be called the Basic / Expert / Companion / Master / Immortals set. (grin)
Actually, seperating by tiers might eventually have proven itself useful. That way, a party playing any given tier would only need to bring one set of books to the table. The current set-up would involve, after three years, every player poentially needing material three books to play her character, and the poor DM needing to reference nine Core Books.
I think I agree with this as well. I like the idea of breaking it up by tier and releasing the three sets closer together. That way if a GM decides his campaign only goes to level ten, he doesn't need the other material. And it would have hearkened back to the BECMI set, which is always a great thing IMO. Too bad it didn't happen this way.