Will Wheaton does 4E


4th Edition

Dark Archive

The actor and his views of playing 4E (with a new class, damn him!):

Wil Wheaton's Geek In Review: Keeping The Borderlands Alive


It might be prudent to mention that that site is NSFW/grannies/children.

Scarab Sages

There are a number of the more famous peeps that play 4e.
Felicia Day plays it too (but that's not really a surprise...!)

Cheers! :D

The Exchange Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 6

I wonder how many of his boxed set comments he got from talking with Scott Kurtz - both made very similar comments, including getting the chronology of D&D basic wrong (the sets they remember came after AD&D, not before). Both of them apparently haven't really liked D&D since the red box days, though obviously Wheaton played more in the intervening period than Kurtz did.

Scarab Sages

Russ Taylor wrote:
...getting the chronology of D&D basic wrong (the sets they remember came after AD&D, not before).

Maybe so, but that doesn't mean he played the in the order they came out, which was what he was addressing.

I started on the Pink Box Basic Set in 1980/81, and moved onto AD&D a couple of years later, despite it having been out first, and I suspect I'm not alone, since Basic was touted as an introductory system, to cut your teeth on, before qualifying to play with the 'big boys' at AD&D.

Liberty's Edge RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32, 2011 Top 16

ComicJam wrote:

There are a number of the more famous peeps that play 4e.

Felicia Day plays it too (but that's not really a surprise...!)

Cheers! :D

While this might be true, I have no idea who Felicia Day is. I don't think she qualifies as more famous than Wil Wheaton. If she does, then that qualifies as making me feel old.


JoelF847 wrote:
ComicJam wrote:

There are a number of the more famous peeps that play 4e.

Felicia Day plays it too (but that's not really a surprise...!)

Cheers! :D

While this might be true, I have no idea who Felicia Day is. I don't think she qualifies as more famous than Wil Wheaton. If she does, then that qualifies as making me feel old.

I've never heard of her either, so who is she?

Scarab Sages

Ok, maybe she's not that famous...
IMDB

Cheers! :D

Liberty's Edge

Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
JoelF847 wrote:
ComicJam wrote:

There are a number of the more famous peeps that play 4e.

Felicia Day plays it too (but that's not really a surprise...!)

Cheers! :D

While this might be true, I have no idea who Felicia Day is. I don't think she qualifies as more famous than Wil Wheaton. If she does, then that qualifies as making me feel old.

Think Potential Slayer (redhead) from Season 7 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Or The Guild (web series). Or Doctor Horrible's Sing Along Blog. And if you haven't seen at least one of the three of these; you are seriously missing out on some of the best entertainment available!

Plus, she's really hot....

Dark Archive

I was as anti-4e as anyone could be after the announcement and even in the weeks following release. I tried playing it once and hated the gameplay and walked away from it. My wife read the books though, and basically pestered me til I relented to play again. The second time around, I had a ton of fun. Now, I love playing 4e and have managed to dispel a lot of my own misconceptions about it. I think the reason I disliked it so much the first time I tried it was because I "wanted" to not like it. Now I think it is one of the funnest games I have played. There is no doubt a schism that has been created by 4e and the horrific way in which the PR for the change was handled. That said, I think a lot more who are against 4e would find they actually do like it if they would try playing it for a bit.

Oh well, thats the way the cookie crumbles.

Scarab Sages

Yeah suicidegirls.com is NSFW!
Joel, can you edit the post so people at work don't pull up this web page?

Felcia Day is an actor in The Guild and she's a sweet gamer chick too. She was on a House ep a few weeks ago.

(I'll read it at home.) :)

Vigilant Seal

Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber
Snorter wrote:
Maybe so, but that doesn't mean he played them in the order they came out, which was what he was addressing. I started on the Pink Box Basic Set in 1980/81, and moved onto AD&D a couple of years later, despite it having been out first, and I suspect I'm not alone, since Basic was touted as an introductory system, to cut your teeth on, before qualifying to play with the 'big boys' at AD&D.

This was me, too. I started playing D&D in 1984 upon purchase of the red boxed set. Advanced D&D was there, too. But I thought back then, erroneously, that I'd need to play through basic to immortal before jumping into AD&D a year or so later.

Anyway, I like and agree with Wheaton's comments about D&D 4th Edition.

Sovereign Court

Personally I would say one of the more famous D&D Players is Vin Diesel. He's done several interviews where he talks about it keeping him out of trouble.


fray wrote:

Yeah suicidegirls.com is NSFW!

Joel, can you edit the post so people at work don't pull up this web page?

Felcia Day is an actor in The Guild and she's a sweet gamer chick too. She was on a House ep a few weeks ago.

(I'll read it at home.) :)

For anyone who's interested, Felicia Day's episode of House is on tonight on FOX (8PM EDT).

As for whom the most famous gamer is right now (or more properly, ex-gamer), I would say that it is Stephen Colbert. Vin Diesel's time has passed IMO.


Hiya.

I read Wil's review/experience and it sounds like a lot of other ones I've read from others.

The true test will be in, say 3 or so months...many/most of the stories I read or hear about then are of those same people saying things which boil down to "At first, I was like, Frickin'A! This game rawks! ... ... But now, I'm like, waitaminute...you've been a Fighter for the last 4 game sessions? I thought you were a wizard! Gaaaa! Everything's blurring together into one non-descript mass of grey!"

I look forward to reading his 'reviews' in a few months to see if he can maintain his love for 4e.

Liberty's Edge

Interesting.

I continue to be on the fence, myself. But I like reading Wil's columns.


pming wrote:

Hiya.

I read Wil's review/experience and it sounds like a lot of other ones I've read from others.

The true test will be in, say 3 or so months...many/most of the stories I read or hear about then are of those same people saying things which boil down to "At first, I was like, Frickin'A! This game rawks! ... ... But now, I'm like, waitaminute...you've been a Fighter for the last 4 game sessions? I thought you were a wizard! Gaaaa! Everything's blurring together into one non-descript mass of grey!"

I look forward to reading his 'reviews' in a few months to see if he can maintain his love for 4e.

I've been playing 4e for 3 months now and I think that the differences between the classes have become more pronounced over time (especially as we grok'd the system and tactics), and our party features two leaders (a cleric and an artificer)!

Scarab Sages

Doesn't/didn't Mr. T play?

Cheers! :D

Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8

Glad Mr. Wheaton enjoys 4e.

He also enjoys acting, I don't do that either ;-)

Cheers.

The Exchange

joela wrote:

The actor and his views of playing 4E (with a new class, damn him!):

Wil Wheaton's Geek In Review: Keeping The Borderlands Alive

Generally speaking, I hate Wil Wheaton. Every time he opens his mouth I cringe, and swear somewhere, some rat bastard is killing a whole bunch of baby kittens.

Alas! I *love* his writing, and I really like the WW-person whom I refuse to acknowledge is same WW-person I detest so much from too many years of Star Trek. Oh, and that G4 game show stint he did too.

Sovereign Court

Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber; Pathfinder Maps, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber

I told my wife how giddy everyone gets over celebs who play D&D and she said it reminded her of AA when someone discovers a famous member - "Did you know ___ is in AA? Oooo, cool!" She said we need a code question like AA has for quietly identifying who's in and who's not. AA has "Are you a friend of ___ ?" [not sure I can say the name, it is a secret code after all :)] Gay folk had "Are you a friend of Dorthy?" Maybe D&Ders need "Are you a friend of Gary G's?"

By the way, I never had much of an opinion on Wil Wheaton the actor, but I used to really enjoy his column in Dragon.

The Exchange

Mosaic wrote:
"Are you a friend of Gary G's?"

HAHAHAHAHA!

Scarab Sages

Mosaic wrote:
Maybe D&Ders need "Are you a friend of Gary G's?"

"Are you a friend of Mr Mordenkainen?"

As an aside, is there a real Mr Mordenkainen?
Some poor bemused guy in Finland, who gets the strangest e-mails, about 'terrible iron golems' and "How do you get through Kerzit's Fane"?


Mosaic wrote:
Gay folk had "Are you a friend of Dorthy?"

Why do you know this? :)

I'm not a huge fan of Wil's, but I don't have any real issue with him. His writing is good and it was always fun to read him in the magazine simply because he had a face behind the name.

My wife hates him, his involvement in D&D only fuels her "you are such a geek" opinion of the game I play (and she plays...claiming I force her to).


pming wrote:

Hiya.

I read Wil's review/experience and it sounds like a lot of other ones I've read from others.

The true test will be in, say 3 or so months...many/most of the stories I read or hear about then are of those same people saying things which boil down to "At first, I was like, Frickin'A! This game rawks! ... ... But now, I'm like, waitaminute...you've been a Fighter for the last 4 game sessions? I thought you were a wizard! Gaaaa! Everything's blurring together into one non-descript mass of grey!"

I look forward to reading his 'reviews' in a few months to see if he can maintain his love for 4e.

"4e is Frickin'A! This game rawks!... ... I been playing it since release... There is no non-descript mass of grey."


Brent wrote:

I was as anti-4e as anyone could be after the announcement and even in the weeks following release. I tried playing it once and hated the gameplay and walked away from it. My wife read the books though, and basically pestered me til I relented to play again. The second time around, I had a ton of fun. Now, I love playing 4e and have managed to dispel a lot of my own misconceptions about it. I think the reason I disliked it so much the first time I tried it was because I "wanted" to not like it. Now I think it is one of the funnest games I have played. There is no doubt a schism that has been created by 4e and the horrific way in which the PR for the change was handled. That said, I think a lot more who are against 4e would find they actually do like it if they would try playing it for a bit.

Oh well, thats the way the cookie crumbles.

I've actually enjoyed being a player in a 4E game. While part of this has to do with having a good DM and a good group, there are some things that I do like about the 4E ruleset, not the least of which is that, as a player, its not too hard to pick up (there are still, however, some powers and abilities that feel clunky to me, but they are pretty easy to avoid if you don't want to slog through them).

I still don't want to use it as my game of choice when I GM. While the system is logical on its own, there are things that I'm used to having as options that I'm not willing to loose or have drastically altered in 4E.

In the end, what helps me enjoy this is that its pretty easy to separate what I play as a player from the ruleset that I run as a GM. In the end, I enjoy it because its about the same for me as playing Spycraft or Star Wars, i.e. its a different d20 game than the one I run.


Will Wheaton? That's the guy who played the least popular Star Trek character ever, wasn't he? Measly Crusher or something like that.

A more ringing endorsement against 4e I can hardly think of. ;-P

Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8

KaeYoss wrote:

Will Wheaton? That's the guy who played the least popular Star Trek character ever, wasn't he? Measly Crusher or something like that.

A more ringing endorsement against 4e I can hardly think of. ;-P

Least popular ever? i think you're confusing him with Jonothan Archer.


Matthew Morris wrote:


Least popular ever? i think you're confusing him with Jonothan Archer.

Archer kicked way more ass then mister whiny i wanna be in starfleet.


You guys do understand that Wheaton knows and AGREES that the character he portrayed was a bad character. Cut him some slack.


Its not like Will got paid to write those terrible lines and story arcs (and lack thereof)

he's just an actor, if you want to compleign about content, go hit up the writers


not got anything aginest the acter, we all know his char sucked, but it was a paycheck after all and he got to be on star trek and all that.

Liberty's Edge

Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber; Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber
Matthew Morris wrote:


Least popular ever? i think you're confusing him with Jonothan Archer.

I loved Star Trek: Enterprise!!...

Am I the only one?


Dragnmoon wrote:

[

I loved Star Trek: Enterprise!!...

Am I the only one?

Oh no best trek show since DS9, a nice refreshing reboot as its no longer the 1960's why should we be held to the limits of that areas ability to show the future.

The Exchange Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 6

You can fault the lines, but the delivery's got something to do with it too. Wil Wheaton is fairly short on quality acting performaces. I did enjoy him on Criminal Minds.


Dragnmoon wrote:
Matthew Morris wrote:


Least popular ever? i think you're confusing him with Jonothan Archer.

I loved Star Trek: Enterprise!!...

Am I the only one?

I certainly enjoyed the show. Not sure if I would say I was in love with it.

Sovereign Court

Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber; Pathfinder Maps, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber
Dragnmoon wrote:

I loved Star Trek: Enterprise!!...

Am I the only one?

Great show. Fun to see Earthlings not at the top of the galactic pyramid.

Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8

Star Trek Enterprise was only good the last season. The Mirror episodes rocked, and they finally decided to flesh out history and not do the stupid Time War stuff.

I've exchanged e-mails with Mr. Wheaton, I'll be the first to defend his character as a man.


I just want to say, I have never seen an episode of Star Trek. I first found out about Wil Wheaton from his column in the back of Dragon during the Paizo years. I think he writes excellent geeky stuff. I also think that he actively promotes the geek way of life, and is open and honest. He reads these forums. Be nice if you can.


He's a good writer. I found his contributions to Dragon always interesting to read, and was disappointed when they ended. Being similar in age meant that his experiences often resonated. His history as an actor really has no relevance to my impression of him as a writer or a gamer.

Spoiler:
But checkout Stand By Me. Give him the right material, and he rocked it.

The Exchange

Matthew Morris wrote:
I've exchanged e-mails with Mr. Wheaton, I'll be the first to defend his character as a man.

Yeah. I'd really like to clarify my comments in that, for someone I've had an almost instinctual dislike for a long long time, that I really find the person inside to be quite interesting and I can't think of a single thing he's written that I have a problem with. I certainly would NOT call his character into question.

All that being said, I wouldn't mind rolling dice with him at all. I'm certain it would help me break the association between the screen face and the actor in person. Alas, I don't run in such a prestigious crowd. I think I am one of the few people who is more than six steps of separation from Kevin Bacon ...


EileenProphetofIstus wrote:
JoelF847 wrote:
ComicJam wrote:

There are a number of the more famous peeps that play 4e.

Felicia Day plays it too (but that's not really a surprise...!)

Cheers! :D

While this might be true, I have no idea who Felicia Day is. I don't think she qualifies as more famous than Wil Wheaton. If she does, then that qualifies as making me feel old.
I've never heard of her either, so who is she?

She's Penny in Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

Brent wrote:

I was as anti-4e as anyone could be after the announcement and even in the weeks following release. I tried playing it once and hated the gameplay and walked away from it. My wife read the books though, and basically pestered me til I relented to play again. The second time around, I had a ton of fun. Now, I love playing 4e and have managed to dispel a lot of my own misconceptions about it. I think the reason I disliked it so much the first time I tried it was because I "wanted" to not like it. Now I think it is one of the funnest games I have played. There is no doubt a schism that has been created by 4e and the horrific way in which the PR for the change was handled. That said, I think a lot more who are against 4e would find they actually do like it if they would try playing it for a bit.

Oh well, thats the way the cookie crumbles.

Heh, it's not frightening in how similar mine and Brent's story is, it's frightening in how exactly the same mine and Brent's story is...

*goes back to converting Into the Haunted Forest*

Sovereign Court

Trent Slabaugh wrote:
Personally I would say one of the more famous D&D Players is Vin Diesel. He's done several interviews where he talks about it keeping him out of trouble.

Stephen Colbert played too, that's a better endorsement for me.

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