I’d like to think that I’ve had some experience running different types of games, but given the fact that I haven’t actually run a long campaign of D&D, 4e seemed to be a good place to start. So far, from what I’ve run, these are my observations with regards to the way 4e seems to play out, given the way the game is laid out.
- Low Immersion – Players in a 4e game seem to be more comfortable with the “distance” from their characters rather than being immersed in them. Unlike systems like nWoD or L5R, which actively encourage the idea of Role being of more significance than Build, 4e seems to flip this in reverse. Having played Warhammer Fantasy Tabletop before, there is the sense that there’s a more game-y approach over that of a narrative one.
- Casual – 4e is all about beer and pretzels gaming. Not that it can’t do serious roleplay and drama, but that’s what the players bring to the table. The tone of writing and the default assumptions for what an average game is like tends to favor an approach where everyone comes to the table expecting a dungeon crawl.
- Consistent – One thing I appreciate about the game is that it’s fairly consistent. Sure they took out a lot of the nitty gritty including disarm and trip, but the game is balanced and it shows. Some characters are better than others in certain things (as defined by their role), but no single character outstrips the others so completely as to make them useless.
From what I can see, I’ll have to alter my default GMing style when it comes to things like combat. Instead of going full on cinematic, I’ll have to turn on my Warhammer Brain (which admittedly isn’t my forte. My brother kicks my ass on a regular basis on tabletop wargames.)
Still I’m looking forward to seeing the rest of the campaign and how it shapes up. I’m finding my sea legs, and we’ll see how this goes later on.
This is kewl! Like a day-by-day E3 COverage report XD
Unfortunately, the more I read, the more I get turned off by 4e.. Too game-y I guess, might as well just play Neverwinter Nights or something.
I’m actually excited for the D&D Game Table over at Wizards of the Coast, although I do hope they make a 3.5ed version of it and not only the 4e. It looks quite promising and can give a little more depth than Pbp.
There’s no argument that it’s certainly a little more game-y in it’s approach, but I certainly had fun playing / running it, which is sadly more than I can say about 3.x.
I suppose it has something to do with my mindset… D&D is great for dungeon delving, but not quite so for personal horror like WoD, so by ditching my expectations for immersive, roleplay-intensive play, I end up having fun with beer-and-pretzels gaming.
I sincerely doubt the DDI gametable will be version specific, but if it is, you can ignore the stats and just play with the virtual miniatures.
Well, you still can come up with an in-depth story-like game if you put your mind to it.
Just like the proverbial saying:
You can do anything if you try~ 8D
Yesh, that is the truth.
But I think they got 4ed right this time. They’ve gone back to what they do best: being the gateway drug to the world of RPGs.
I actually had fun though I still say “curse you d20!” every so often but other than that it is a boat load of fun so far.
As for it being story-intensive, it’ll highly depend on the GM. If the GM has the drive to make it so, he can make it so irregardless of what system it is. If not then, then there’s no other choice but hope that D&D comes out with modules with “story-intensive” feel to it.
Hmm.. True.
Maybe it’s just that 3rd ed was the very first Tabletop I played, so I guess I kinda have a bias to it.. hehehe XD
But yeah, I stil don’t like the Point-and-click approach of 4e. Although I do like the new balancing to the Classes.
im still lol’ing at heinikens ” ill attack *wink* *wink* ”
lolz
this actually the most enjoyable dnd game for me as of now, not counting neverwinter nights, why its less technical for me i guess unlike the old one
still….. pointyman was able to nail my npc to the bone, i guess thats why im enjoying this lol