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13 months ago ::
May 28, 2012 - 8:00PM
#1
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Date Joined:
Mar 16, 2006
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So, I've read enough on the forums to get a rough feel for what people think of DDNext from the POV of a player of previous systems. I'm kind of curious to know if people think it can have any attraction for a non-D&D player. Basically, if I am not a fan of any previous version of D&D, is there any chance I might like this new version or is it pretty much the same thing as before?
I've played D&D in many forms over the past quarter century, but have always played other games systems as much or more (BESM, GURPSRolemaster, Cthulhu, Savage Worlds, Dr. Who, Supernatural, Deadlands classic , Hero are samples of systems I have played or run for campaigns of at least 12 sessions, most many more). For me, if I want simple systems that are rules-light and not combat-focused, I have lots of good options. D&D as a whole seems designed to appeal to those who like a fair amount of rules and who generally like combat. Please don't send a knee-jerk reaction post about "you can RP in D&D" or tell me about your game where you never touched a rule for 3 straight months. Absolutely. No question. But take a deep breath and think about what is a canonical D&D experience.
What I am curious about is, within this area, if D&DNext will be competitive. I'm more than casually interested as I am planning a new gritty fantasy campaign using Savage Worlds, but would be willing to switch over planning if I thought it might work better in DDNext.
So, challenge: Take a look at Savage Worlds and their promise of "Fast, furious fun" and give me some hope that DDNext can compete in this area. Alternatively, is DDNext simply going to cannabalize the D&D market and further segment us so this time in two years cons will feature THREE isolated groups of D&D players instead of this year's two?
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13 months ago ::
May 28, 2012 - 8:04PM
#2
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Date Joined:
Feb 20, 2012
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So, I've read enough on the forums to get a rough feel for what people think of DDNext from the POV of a player of previous systems. I'm kind of curious to know if people think it can have any attraction for a non-D&D player. Basically, if I am not a fan of any previous version of D&D, is there any chance I might like this new version or is it pretty much the same thing as before?
Pretty much the same thing as before. They've literally copy-pasted equipment sections out of the 3.5 PHB.
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13 months ago ::
May 28, 2012 - 8:05PM
#3
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For fast furious fun Savage Worlds wins hands down. For wizard saves the day 5e wins. But it does not seem to offer more than 3.5, or castles and crusades. At least not this early in development.
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13 months ago ::
May 28, 2012 - 8:07PM
#4
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Date Joined:
Jun 27, 2004
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I honestly don't really know what D&D Next is going to offer me that Old School Hack doesn't already offer, in a manner I'm more fond of. There are a few things I may steal and port over (considering Adv/disadvantage), but by and large, it's looking like it's aiming at being the same game, only mired in 3e D&D design.
Feedback Disclaimer
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Yes, I am expressing my opinions (even complaints - le gasp!) about the current iteration of the play-test that we actually have in front of us.
No, I'm not going to wait for you to tell me when it's okay to start expressing my concerns (unless you are WotC).
(And no, my comments on this forum are not of the same tone or quality as my actual survey feedback.)
A Psion for Next (Playable Draft)A Barbarian for Next (Brainstorming Still)My 4e Projects
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13 months ago ::
May 28, 2012 - 8:15PM
#5
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I'm partial to New World Of Darkness's system myself, especially Mage. The magic system is crazy flexible, once you get the hang of it. Magic is immensely powerful but then again when everyone is a mage caster supremacy is kind of a non issue. Also the theme the game is "power corrupts" so while eventually the PCs reach a point when there is almost nothing they can't do, the question shifts to not "Can I do that" but "should I do that."
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13 months ago ::
May 28, 2012 - 8:17PM
#6
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Date Joined:
Nov 30, 2010
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My critisism of 5e isn't a comparation to 4e or any other past edition...my critisism is as game mechanic/design as a whole, i am getting tired of people saying things should devolve because they wanted to make it feel like D&D...where the reason they were removed was for design/mechanic decisions, they were removed because they were flawed mechanics and outdated by modern tabletop gaming in general.
There are alot of RPGs out there, some of them really good (and alot of them really terrible to the point of being unplayable like aces & eights!). D&DNext just as 4e did, should compete against them, not against itself or against the past editions.
R&D team should first focus on making a good game/mechanics above anything else, Nostalgia is just memories, they are on the past and those memories of nostalgia from the gognards isn't for the game mechanics, but the time they had together with their friends and family playing D&D back then, instead of wanting to get new experiences, they decide to be attached to something that is on the past now and even if AD&D was rereleased, those memories won't happend again, because they are now on the past... and that's my 2 cents
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13 months ago ::
May 28, 2012 - 8:17PM
#7
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Date Joined:
Jun 27, 2004
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I really want to try Mage, at some point. I really like the NWoD mechanics, on paper, but haven't ever had a chance to play in a game.
Feedback Disclaimer
Show
Yes, I am expressing my opinions (even complaints - le gasp!) about the current iteration of the play-test that we actually have in front of us.
No, I'm not going to wait for you to tell me when it's okay to start expressing my concerns (unless you are WotC).
(And no, my comments on this forum are not of the same tone or quality as my actual survey feedback.)
A Psion for Next (Playable Draft)A Barbarian for Next (Brainstorming Still)My 4e Projects
Show
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13 months ago ::
May 28, 2012 - 9:21PM
#8
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I really want to try Mage, at some point. I really like the NWoD mechanics, on paper, but haven't ever had a chance to play in a game.
OSH delivers on all of Next's promises in greater abundance.
Reign does better than 5e in the epic story arena, the D&D boardgames offer a better dungeoncrawl experience, Savage Worlds has a lower barrier to entry, and Pathfinder has been catering to the 3x crowd for years now.
Every edition of Hackmaster "feels" more like D&D than AD&D ever did. And if you want gritty salt-of-the-earth heroes there's always WHFRP. And if you want that salt complimented with contemporary design, there's WHFRP3.
My point here is that D&D has been slacking at being D&D. When you hold a cut-and-paste of D&D's first 27 years against any of these, it really starts to show its age.
D&D Next was a slow candy pitch that should have been knocked out of the park - but a chorous of disenfranchised coaches were screaming for a bunt and that's all we got.
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13 months ago ::
May 28, 2012 - 9:27PM
#9
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Date Joined:
Mar 31, 2010
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I think there is a way to keep the DnD 'feel' and move forward, but they haven't found it.
It's sort of like your first serious video, or the first band you really loved, it's hard to find something that compares, even when things are better.
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13 months ago ::
May 28, 2012 - 10:41PM
#10
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Date Joined:
May 24, 2012
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Short answer: No.
Less short answer:
Staying away from anything D&D or its descendents, spin-offs and clones, and looking only at the rest of the industry, I honestly can't think of a compelling reason to choose the new edition over other games that deliver a more targeted experience.
Even just among fantasy games, WFRP has its own very strong atmosphere and a depth and breadth of lore that even D&D can't match (along with about a bazillion minis), Savage Worlds does a better job of being simple and fluid while also retaining a furiously fun combat system, and the dozen or so niche systems (like Green Ronin's AGE) all target a kind of gameplay experience that D&D simply doesn't, and never has.
I can see all of these coexisting with D&D in the libraries of less brand-myopic gamers, but I can't see D&D displacing any of them as weapon of choice to people looking for a specific experience.
Here's the funny thing, though: What there isn't in the industry right now is an in-depth, tactically-focused fantasy RPG. If I were designing a fantasy RPG in 2012, that's the niche I'd be aiming at. Of course, if I were designing a tactical fantasy RPG in 2012, I'd be working for Privateer Press developing Iron Kingdoms Mk. II, which is set to plug that hole in a month or two.
So in effect, the only thing that the new edition of D&D is designed to compete with, is its own past versions. Because that always works.
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