Like a lot of you, I've been burned before.
You put up with all of their B.S. until you finally say to yourself, "I don't have to take this!" and you leave. For a while. Then they come back, swearing that they're not like they were, they've seen the error of their ways and and have been working on themselves, getting better. So, like the inherently good person you are, you take them back... and get burned. Again.
I am, of course, talking about Dungeons and Dragons; specifically, D&D's many revisions over the years. My first edition was AD&D (circa 1981), although I didn't join my first serious gaming group until 1987 and by then, 2nd Edition held sway. Then we had 3rd Edition followed by Edition 3.5, because there's nothing game designers like to do more than to tinker with things that weren't really all that big of a deal to begin with. Still, it was D&D and it was fun.
Then 4.0 arrived. Like a lot of people, I had high hopes for it, running it consistently for over 3 years, trying to make myself like it until my most recent gaming group stated categorically that they actually preferred 3.0/3.5. That's when it hit me: I could run any game I wanted! I also know that I should have come to this realization about 25 years ago, but I tend to be attracted to bright shiny objects, the next big thing, and cool game art (seriously, I've bought game books just for the art - this was pre-Internet, whereas now I can just download the art from the publisher's site, usually).
What's my point? Glad you asked. The other day, Wizards of the Coast released the street date for the new iteration of D&D, with each of the main books (PH, MM, and DMG) costing around $50. But, get this: they are also providing Basic D&D as a PDF, free of charge. This is a bare-bones version of the new game, with limited class and race options, selected monsters, etc. On the one hand, I applaud this: it gets D&D into the hands of as many people as possible, introducing the game to new players who are curious but are frightened by the steep cost of entry, and lets people decide if this version is for them or not. However, I do see the other motivation: give the customer the fishing pole for free, then make a fortune on bait and tackle.
Here's hoping it's not just another game of bait and switch.
Take care,
~Rob
Your first paragraph had me thinking you were talking about bad RPG players, the ones that take game masters for granted, and in various ways ruin & / or spoil what could have been a great gaming experience.
As for D&D, I have mixed feelings about 5th edition, as well. A lot of my gaming friends & I still prefer 3.5 or Pathfinder over the other versions.
Here’s to hoping that they release a good game, and for the sake of the players, not their wallets.
p.s. I love Meat Shield, thank you for writing & drawing such a wonderful comic, and please keep it up. 🙂
I read the Player Manual for 4.0 and realized it wasn’t for me. One of the first things they discussed for character development was magic armor and weapons. At that point I knew they were catering to the WoW demographic (hack’n’slashers, mini-maxers, etc…) and not the role-players. Now, any game is as only as good as the group, and if you have fun, then knock yourselves out. Me, I got turned onto Pathfinder 3.5 by a fellow role-player when he and I were discussing the change in gaming marketing, and I’ve been extremely pleased with the system, from the low and high fantasy point of view.
Still, home-brewed, skill-based systems are my first love, and luckily there are plenty of those kinds of nuts available to keep this nut happy.
I soured on AD&D 2nd edition, way back when. I’ve been playing a small press game ever since, and haven’t looked back.
Unless they really take a flying leap away from 4th Ed I have little hope for 5th. The only thing that 4th had going for it was player races which if you played 3rd or 3.5 you could always easily add races from MM to become player races. I am a strong believer that all kinds of races can become adventurers,… from an oddly intelligent goblin that lives as a rouge in the underbelly of a town and gets away pretending to be a small scared up child to a Wemic Barbarian who trades meat to the local town for things the Wemics cannot make. Either way I was started with 2nd Ed and moved to 3rd 3.5,…and I was happy there,… well that and recently played Pathfinder which is also good,….
You can play anything, if you have the sourcebooks. And I’ve kept nearly all of mine — I have AD&D 1st, 2ed, and probably 3ed, not to mention a few GURPS books (a decent rules mechanic can almost always translate GURPS into other systems), ShadowRun (had to give up on it, the milieu is just too hopeless and doomed), and my absolute favorite, EarthDawn, a setting with a better reason for a map with plenty of abandoned cities and underground fortifications filled with monsters and traps.