The complete set of Playtesting 4th Edition posts have been compiled into a single essay for easy reference and linkage. This pretty much constitutes my definitive statement on the system. I have a couple more sessions of Keep on the Shadowfell to play through with one of my groups and, if anything of note comes up during those sessions, I may post a coda of some sort.
But both of my gaming groups have decided to return to 3rd Edition and stay there. And, at this point, I don’t anticipate that I will ever be returning to 4th Edition. The game is, in the final analysis, not only poorly designed, but designed specifically with a philosophy which is antithetical to my roleplaying.
Other people may find enough interest in the game to spend the time necessary to fix the fundamental design flaws, but I don’t see any reason to waste my time with it.
(Oh, look! WotC just changed the DCs for skill checks again. I’m so glad they took such great pride in fixing the math with 4th Edition…. and fixing it… and fixing it… and fixing it… They’re like the Energizer Bunny of math fixing.)
ARCHIVED HALOSCAN COMMENTS
Dave
I agree with almost everything you said in this article. If I had read it before I played 4e I might never have played. Which would have been unfortunate, because I have had a great time playing 4e. It has been the most fun D&D since 1e for me.
It is funny, when I read your article it made me really dislike the design choices in 4e; however, when I play – it all goes out the window! I think I would prefer a game that was less abstract or “disassociated” but it really doesn’t detract from the fun of roll playing for our group.
Very interesting analysis and thank you for your time and effort
Monday, February 28, 2011, 8:37:35 PM
Guest
Interesting read. Have you had a chance to go back and try it again? I was turned off by 3e and stopped playing as it didn’t seem like D&D to me, but 4e brought me back. I have had great fun with it. But, I have never concerned myself to much with the rules, so I may not be the best person to debate with on this subject.
To me 3e was no fun, so I stopped playing. 4e was fun, so I played. That was all the analysis I needed.
Thursday, February 24, 2011, 10:16:40 PM