It realy has been a long time since AD&D (which is what I started playing). After a few years of heavy, complicated math equations and unfinished rules, I shifted right into 3.0, with its pretty art work and simple rules. Shortly after that, out came 3.5, and the min-maxing twink master that I have now become was born. After all these years of memorization, loop-holing, system crashing, randy goblin-smashing glory days, I heard that they were realeasing the next edition. As if we all couldn't see it coming, right? Sure, 3.5 has its flaws, but I've managed to work around them in some shape or form, but a whole new set of books that I have to buy? Yes, I'd buy them, if only to keep pace with this ever-changing RPG world that we gamers have grown used to. Up to the release date, one cannot but hear the rumors, suspicions, and opinions that others may have on the upcoming new edition. Me? Yes, I had some of my own thoughts and ideas on what was about to come, but as is true to my personality, I would wait until I got the books and tried the new edition for myself before I had any real opinion on the matter.
Well, I have the books now. Upon opening the 4e Player's Handbook, this is my initial reaction:
I took out the 3.Xe gum I had been chewing on for the past five years [with its long-lasting flavor ^^], and stuck it back in its wrapper for another day. Unwrapping the brand new 4e gum, I popped it into my mouth, and after a couple chews, I went, "hm, this tastes a lot like WoW."
At least it still tastes like D20. You roll, you add, you win, the same thing we've been doing for eight years, so the base mechanics hopefully hold true. But, with my talents in table-top rpgs, I noticed that everything has been 'dumbed' down in an almost grade school tounge. They give you three basic rules, and one of them is a given (we've always rounded down unless it told us to otherwise). Whilst I am happy that one of the starting races is reptilian, they only give you so many starting race options to choose from. Plus, they got rid of the half-orc as a starting race, and I'm a huge fan of half-orcs. The loss of the Gnomes as a basic race almost makes me laugh (the toilet paper of D&D), so I cannot see why everyone has their panties in a bunch over it. Besides, the 4e Monster Manual has Gnomes, as well as one of my all-time favorite races, the Kobold. I'm not very happy with the fact that they don't have the Barbarian, Druid, and Monk classes in the initial release, and those are my top three favorite classes. They did state that they were going to release another Player's Handbook for those classes plus the psionic ones, but I'm no idiot when it comes to economics. Now knowing how they have everything set up, I know that those classes will never be as good as they were. So until they give me the option to rage, kick some arse in the name of nature, and fight completely nekkid and unarmed without a problem, I will not be fully satisfied. While there is also no Bard or Sorcerer class, I can live with that loss for now. What this all means is that starting options are limited. In 3.5e, you had a minimum of 77 race/class options to choose from, and that's not including any of the other starting classes or every ECL 1 race that's out there. In 4e, you've got 64, and while not a bad number, there's realy no where else to go with it.
Another big thing is that it seriously looks and feels more like a MMO instead of a table-top. The good thing about the feel is that it's not alien to our senses. We're familiar by now to the workings of both D20 and MMOs, so this new edition doesn't take long to pick up. I've only just got it, but I understand what they're talking about. Sure, it doesn't feel like Dungeons and Dragons anymore, but we still have 3.5 to fall back on for a good time. The bad thing is that for people like me, who are used to long math equations dealing with physics and percentiles, have to deal with a system that's so simple, it's confusing. However, I do realize that it is almost an entirely different system than what we were used to, and one doesn't put their hand in a motor they're not familiar with. WTH is up with this class roles? If I want to create a Warlord who works more like a 'striker' than a 'leader', then I'm going to do so. I don't want to feel like I'm filling a certian nich in the party, or the game, period.
Being an artist, I expect some dang good pictures and artists to draw character inspiration from. One question: Where the [PG 13] is Lockwood?! The art is nice, yes, but it doesn't have that 'real' feel to it. The pictures almost make you think of games such as MtG and WoW, and is fairly decent, but without realistic pictures, it feels animated. Don't even get me started on how the 4e dragons look [so totally frikken lame!]. I can't be that miffed, the rest is simply O.Oj. Orcus? Oh yeah, if his picture alone doesn't strike fear into the hearts and souls of even the most hard-bitten players, I don't know what will.
Speaking of monsters. No Metalic Dragons in the initial books. Again, economics, eh? At least they still have the option to play as a Kobold, but time will tell if half-orcs ever make it back into the sceen. A new race, this Shadar-Kai, piques my intrest, as does a few more monsters.
My final say? Tastes funny, but I'm sure the flavor will last long enough for me to enjoy it. Now, time to create a Human Mage and see if I get it...
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